Pocket Cruiser Catamaran

[brownoarsman]

I've seen a few of these boats discussed individually, but never a thread on pocket cruising cats, so I thought I'd start one as I begin searching for a next boat. Pocket cruising catamarans would seem to make the ideal pocket cruisers (so long as they are demountable), because:

1) Generally they'd be lighter than other trailered boats of equivalent interior volume.
2) Shallower draft for all the gunkhole loving pocket cruisers.
3) More space for less length = easier towing.

Cons would be that the set-up process might be too lengthy for a weekend put-in, and the beam (if not demountable) may require special permits or, if legal, effect stability.

My needs would be weekend sailing at home, and then a week up in the Vineyard every year (towing it there). The models I am keeping an eye out for are:

Jarcat
Apparently more of a motorboat than a sailer; but on the plus side, much easier to find in the USA, and apparently a somewhat simple build.

Waller 670
A better sailing boat than the Jarcat, but with a higher CG and possibly more tender.

El Gato Especial
Plans not yet available. Parts come off Hobie beach cats so are readily available. Will come in an 8'6" and a 10' beam version, so you could have your choice of how much a hassle it will be to trailer. Should sail well, but using a Hobie sail, I don't think it will be possible to reef (my beach cats never did)

Woods Shadow/Strider
Available in a GRP version, so one of the few that I wouldn't have to build myself. Probably the most cramped version, and additional setup required if putting the 'box' on top that Woods has also designed to turn these more into cruisers. One of the more rigorously tested with success in some offshore racing.

Waller Coral Sea 25
Billed as being cheap and easy to build. No central pod, so more like a Stiletto than I would like.

Tennant Chevron
Probably the least prone to capsize. No center pod but makes up for it with some balloon like hulls.

Makro25
The most performance-oriented and best production build, most likely. Unavailable outside of Australia. If home-build plans were available, this would almost certainly win the contest!

Fish and Chips
Long setup time, and little information to review.

Any thoughts or opinions? Any other boats that might merit consideration?

[brownoarsman]

I forgot to add the Hirondelle
The 10' beam means that special permits will be required. It is, however, one of the most widely available on the used market (though they are still scarce), and the owners love them. It would be a fine boat for my purposes.

[tomfl]

Not to hijack the thread but it is hard for me to see any small cat competing with any of the sub 27/28 foot fboats. The tramps/eagles offer spartan camp cruising, the F22 is more comfortable, the F24 and its later versions even more comfortable, and the F27/28 are fairly comfortable. All the fboats will out sail any of the cats you listed. Also note the old Dragonfly 25 is another small tri that seems a better fit than small cats. I add a Seawind 24 to your list, but the problem with them, as almost all multihulls, is when cruising they are easily overloaded.

[brownoarsman]

No worries about hijacking - that's what the thread is for! I've looked at the DragonFly 25 at the Annapolis boatshow, but haven't been on any of the Fboats. The main problem I see with any smaller trimaran is the lack of space. On the cats, between the hulls and the cabin, it would seem you just get a lot more usable interior volume. I know families of four that very much enjoyed camp-cruising the jarcat, which would seem much more difficult in the smaller F-boats (dual-hull privacy, space, etc.). Some of the ones above, especially the Coral Sea, appear to have sacrificed performance for some very wide living areas.

I think certainly the Fboats would outsail any of those small cats, though.

[SearenitySail]

Probably the F27 and/or the F24 will be the most bang for the buck in a used boat.

A Stiletto owner has evidently decided to reintroduce the Stiletto brand, evidently with some input from the Class, owners of the brand name, and someone involved with the original design.

The new company will be producing the Stiletto X, and a foiling version--the Stiletto Xf

The 30' Stiletto X is intended to be a trailer-sailer, but it won't be cheap!

Here is a link-
https://sailstiletto.com/stiletto-x-trailer-sailer/

Marshall

[Howaya]

Brownoarsman,

There is a listing for a 22' Gumprecht not far from you. I know nothing about it or your financial flexibility, yet it seems worthy of this discussion.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by brownoarsman

No worries about hijacking - that's what the thread is for! I've looked at the DragonFly 25

SNIP

Sorry about my poor wording, I was talking about the older DragonFLy 25 from the 1990s. They are available used often for $US20k or so.

link

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by brownoarsman

No worries about hijacking - that's what the thread is for! I've looked at the DragonFly 25 at the Annapolis boatshow, but haven't been on any of the Fboats. The main problem I see with any smaller trimaran is the lack of space. On the cats, between the hulls and the cabin, it would seem you just get a lot more usable interior volume. I know families of four that very much enjoyed camp-cruising the jarcat, which would seem much more difficult in the smaller F-boats (dual-hull privacy, space, etc.). Some of the ones above, especially the Coral Sea, appear to have sacrificed performance for some very wide living areas.

I think certainly the Fboats would outsail any of those small cats, though.

The smaller cats with with a significant enclosed space between the hulls suffer not only in performance but can be subject to damage from large waves and their windage can also be an issue. Sleeping in the hulls is often described as being like sleeping in a damp coffin. Some of the smaller cats are also constructed of plywood which in an older boat can be a problem to maintain. Even the Seawind 24 I mentioned earlier, and consider superior to any of the small cats you mentioned, lacks not only room but load carrying capacity.

Another huge advantage of the Fboats is the big advantage they have in ease of trailering and ease of taking apart and putting together. The newer Dragonflys have several advantages even over the Fboats, and a huge disadvantage as well; the cost.

All the small cats you mentioned do have a huge price advantage over anything except the older tramp/eagles and the 1990 Dragonfly.

One thing you did not mention is your price point, knowing that makes it much easier to suggest a boat for your needs.

[brownoarsman]

Thanks for your advice, Tom. I'd like to keep it under $20k, if possible. That's always the problem with multis-the mono I cruised with from Tampa to Annapolis only cost me 8! (To buy...) Building some of the simpler cats myself I think would keep it in this range, especially with hardware from the salvage yards.

I think I will look at the older DF 25. To be honest, it will be just me and maybe one other for a few years yet, so probably shouldn't dream to big about inviting other family!

Every boat is a compromise of course, but with this use case, seaworthiness or big waves (grounds are just the vineyard and Nantucket and parts of the Chesapeake), isn't a huge consideration to me; fun to sail is though, and I think that's where the Seawind and dragonfly out perform the others.

On performance, have you been on the Waller 670? With the hobie wings on the edges, I was thinking it might get a bit more spirited. The hard part will be finding any of these to sail.


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[brownoarsman]

Howaya-do you have a link for the gumprecht? I didn't see any mention on the typical sites, and duckworks doesn't have him making anything larger than a 17.

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[CruiserBrad]

I have a Jarcat 6 in Little River, SC. You are welcome to come take a look at it if you are in the area.

[Howaya]

Originally Posted by brownoarsman

Howaya-do you have a link for the gumprecht? I didn't see any mention on the typical sites, and duckworks doesn't have him making anything larger than a 17.

Sent from my Nexus 5X using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

It is listed on The Multihull Source web site. They are located in Marion MA but I am not certain where the boat may be.

[Howaya]

Forgot to mention ... No finder's fee is necessary if you buy it, but an invitation to crew for a few hours is very welcome!

[paxfish]

Sticking with the Farrier solution, something like this trailertri might fill the bill. $7K plus maybe that much again to spruce her up:

Farrier TrailerTri 680 sailboat for sale in Utah

There is a pretty Marple out there also:

http://www.sailboatlistings.com/view/58920

[brownoarsman]

Thanks Brad, if I am in the area I hope to look you up!

Sadly howaya, I wasn't in the position to pick up the gumprecht this year as I'm just working too much and also house shopping, but do have a decent stretch of time coming up so will get back into the market then! If anyone is interested, this is the gumprecht link on yachtworld though it has since been sold. http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/2005...s#.WAnx9nMpBnE

At the Annapolis boat show, the smallest cruising/camping tri was the DF 28. A fun looking boat with a much better aka system than the Telstar 28 (new, not old, model). That I think would be the dream, though giving up the central pod would be hard

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