Performance vs Comfort 50-foot Cats - real difference

[dannc]

Originally Posted by Anders

Why don't you do what you want to do and let him do what he wants to do so that this thread does not pop up on the top of the homepage just because you want to argue about it again?

Agreed.

[Simi 60]

Originally Posted by Anders

Why don't you do what you want to do and let him do what he wants to do so that this thread does not pop up on the top of the homepage just because you want to argue about it again?

Yep.
I should have got him to take it over to here
Apologies

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ml#post3792217
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[fxykty]

Originally Posted by CaptainRivet

…
No.idea why boaters don't buy only bifacials anymore. Work.with difusion light and you have reflexting water all around you, cannot benbetter for them
20-25% from backside install 4 get power of 5...

BF panels weigh 50% more because they need two panes of glass. Some of us don’t want that weight penalty.

We hang our dinghy from the davits where we’ve got 3x 330W of panels. Not sure how much benefit BF panels would provide as the light is pretty diffuse because of the dinghy and the extra weight would limit our dinghy options.

We’ve got 4x 395W panels as part of our hard top bimini. Since they’re over a shaded cockpit I’m not sure BF panels would provide much benefit, though I guess the white side decks would reflect a fair bit of light?

What makes a performance cat?
- A boat that is a pleasure to sail at any wind angle and wind strength.
- A boat that doesn’t need a lot of sail area (power) to sail decent averages. This opens up further day sailing and single overnight distances without having to push hard or resort to motoring.
- A boat that can be easily slowed down for comfort and additional gust resilience, while still reeling off 200 mile days.
- A boat where motoring can be done with lower hp engines and has more interior space due to smaller fuel tanks.
- Buying new gets you some pretty awesome products (love the Balance 526), though at eye-watering prices. Buy 20 years old and you can get a heck a lot of performance for not a lot of money - for spaciousness and performance the original Lagoon 57 is amazing. Many of the French designs from the 90s are pretty darn good and they sure as heck have a lot less windage than the current crop of performance cats. Why are the hulls so tall now?

[Jeannius]

Originally Posted by fxykty

Buy 20 years old and you can get a heck a lot of performance for not a lot of money - for spaciousness and performance the original Lagoon 57 is amazing. Many of the French designs from the 90s are pretty darn good and they sure as heck have a lot less windage than the current crop of performance cats. Why are the hulls so tall now?

Always thought they were the best looking cat. This one may be a bit of a bargain but would need a thorough survey...
https://www.catamaransite.com/catama...au-lagoon-55s/

[Sos]

Originally Posted by Jeannius

Always thought they were the best looking cat. This one may be a bit of a bargain but would need a thorough survey...
https://www.catamaransite.com/catama...au-lagoon-55s/

That's a really nice looking boat, just somehow looks right unlike the modern designed boats. Even the performance cats have got so large.

[CaptainRivet]

Originally Posted by Jeannius

Always thought they were the best looking cat. This one may be a bit of a bargain but would need a thorough survey...
https://www.catamaransite.com/catama...au-lagoon-55s/

Wow, I don't believe saying this but this is really a great Lagoon and the current owner really seem to done it right.
A true around the world cat, fast in comfort on a bargain price.
Yes you need a good surveyor to check that.

[cakito]

Originally Posted by eneas

Hi, struggling with a major decision we need to make as we consider buying a new ~50-foot cat for family of 4.
(a) Option A: Performance cat - Outremer 55 or HH52
(b) Option B: Comfort Cruiser cat - Privilege 510

Our choices in both options are top-tier cats with premium build qualities, great safety features (compared to production cats), excellent finish, etc. Pls do not suggest other brands - we looked them all and these are our choices in terms of design, interior, features etc.

The Privilege 510 has substantially more storage space, bigger cabins, more luxurious beds, feels like a proper "home" on the ocean, fits all the toys and gadgets and some more.

Outremer and HH are top Performance cats but still with great attention to detail and both very spacious saloon but with smaller cabins and significantly less storage.

Since most of the time is spent in anchor at various islands and coastlines and much less actually doing long crossings, I wonder how much really does one benefit from a performance cat in the long-run by sacrificing a significant amount of comfort?

An important criterion for me was to be able to sail at light winds already (6-8 knots). While performance cats can do this easily, it seems to me with a good sail plan (adding a screecher etc) one could do decent sailing even with a more comfort cruising cat?

Although I know ultimately this is personal preference, we've been back-and-forth on this topic my mind is hurting so some extra thoughts or opinions would be very welcome to get some additional perspectives / angles.

Many thanks in advance!

i was in a similar situation before i decided to go for the O55. As you described and many others have underlined, it comes to personal preference at the end of the day. For us spending 3+ months every year on sea means to move away from our comfort zones thus we tend to keep everything out of the boat unless we definitely need it. Creating as little waste as possible

[Nautes]

Thank you for the info.

[Nautes]

Can you post a photo of your layout?