Sell me on your favorite cat

[Boatguy30]

SMJ might have a cat for you to buy.


my favorite Vardo 34 isn't for sale. do like the woods 31 Tamar I think is the design name.

[smj]

Originally Posted by Boatguy30

SMJ might have a cat for you to buy.


my favorite Vardo 34 isn't for sale. do like the woods 31 Tamar I think is the design name.

We are on our last cat and definitely not for sale.

[Ruffriders]

Originally Posted by Sailingveterinarian

If when you travel on land, you always eat at Howard Johnson's, Ponderosa, Golden Corral, McDonalds...then look at Lagoons, Leopards, Fonte Pajot. They are all the same, built the same, sail the same.
Want something difererent, better...look at the smaller South African cat builders.
I have been living on a Knysna 480, for 3 1/2 years. While first looking at cats, I never heard of this company, but happened to look at one. Everything is better, the quality of the build, the sailing, how it comes equipt from the factory. Lots of storage space to make it easy to liveaboard.Large heads and showers. Large, easy to work in galley. Wide decks to make it easy to walk around in rough seas. No drink holders, because we don't need them. Very stable platform. Ready to go.
Knysna only makes about 5 boats a year. All are semi custom. Lots of owner involvement. They love feedback from previous buyers...by only making a few boats a year, they can easily make upgrades based on the feedback.
Many owners of cookie cutter boats come aboard my boat and ask why they hadn't seen these before. It's a better boat and usually cost less than their for charter built boat.
Unfortunately, due to personal, family changes, mine is for sale. This is the only Knysna 480 for sale in the world. All the others are out exploring the world.
Look at it on Boattrader or sailingveterinarian@gmail.com.

Nice! I was leaning to lagoon but now I’m thinking!!!

[estarzinger]

but she is not for sale!

[Factor]

Originally Posted by estarzinger

but she is not for sale!

See what you did there - so funny and so original, never seen anyone use that pun before

[GARRYOWEN]

I think he meant "Sailing Cat" not just a normal cat.

Like this probably

[tp12]

Haha, that's funny

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by Kita

The idea or stress levels of running aground were very high on a boat that had a 4ft draft,the Gemini is a different critter..I had only a few days sailing experience on a 30ft mono as a mate before I flew out to Texas to solo sail back to Tampa Bay. .I really loved the idea of using the shallow draft to get to places where I knew most everyone else couldn't get to..so I was kinda using the shallows to hide for protection from other boat traffic,,like in the intercoastal you can get off to the side & sleep fairly safe... I got into marinas that are normally not available to sailing vessels for same reason.. docks in a standard size slip,very handy for some fuel stops..& I am setting up the same as yours with one aft cabin as a pantry & the other as storage. .I am solo so far but I absolutely agree that it's good for a couple comfortable. And the bridge deck is extremely nice to watch fireworks or whatever or laying in the Sun. And the Rudders kick up and you can still steer with them while they are up. The one thing that I didn't like about it so far is if you do run aground you can't back up because the Rudders kick up so easy that by the time you realize what's going on if you're not watching your depth gauge you can't back up because they act like a trap but it really isn't that big of a deal because by that time you're in about 18 in of water and you really should know better by then. LOL....don't ask how I figured that one out!

We've always managed to swing the helm over to get back to deep water before actually grounding if we just wander out of the channel, then you just go back pull the line and the rudders are back down. Don't even need to come to a full stop. But if you do run aground, you can climb off the bow and push off from knee deep water.(being careful not to fall off a ledge or something similar and make sure the rudders and boards are up first).

If we are intentionally going into shallow water, everything get's retracted before hand and we go very slow, so we shouldn't wedge on hard.

Another handy thing, if you snag something on the prop, I can pull the motor up, then lying on the back deck reach down and untangle it. Good luck trying that with an inboard.

[solarbri]

My boat, Cat2Fold.
If you value super easy, safe, flat, comfortable sailing with a decent turn of speed, then this 36’ x 24’ biplane rigged Cat is GREAT!!!



If you also value being able to travel over land at highway speeds, to the choicest locations, in its 36’ x 8.5’ trailerable format, that was folded on the water, completely by one person, then this Cat is THE BOMB!



Here’s a little clip of us cruising downhill at 12-15 knots!

https://youtu.be/sYlhkn0OT4A

I’ve sailed over 20,000 miles on her since 2011. Mostly Mexico, but also a couple weeks on the high alpine lakes of Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks!
She may be coming up for sale again in the near future, if I can strike a deal on this much bigger, unfinished multi I’m checking...
Meanwhile, down here in Paradise, where I’ve been living aboard, 6 months at a time...

https://youtu.be/ERcZAId8AzU

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by smj

We are on our last cat and definitely not for sale.

Me too. And I definitely want to see why you think the Searunner is almost equal to the Seawind. Also wondering about singlehanding it compared to the Seawind. I still enjoy solo sailing it; probably because I can't get anyone to sail with me.

[smj]

Originally Posted by tomfl

Me too. And I definitely want to see why you think the Searunner is almost equal to the Seawind. Also wondering about singlehanding it compared to the Seawind. I still enjoy solo sailing it; probably because I can't get anyone to sail with me.

In some ways the Searunner is superior to the Seawind and in others the Seawind is superior.
As we bought the Searunner as a shell we were able to finish her of as we wanted. The entire port hull is galley and entire starboard hull is a queen sized bunk and head, so very well laid out and spacious for a couple but a terrible charter boat. So for us the layout is more livable.
The Searunner is slightly longer and the hulls slightly skinnier than the Seawind’s. The Searunner also weighs about 4000 lbs less so she definitely sails faster. Bridgedeck pounding on the Searunner has been a non issue and the boat is incredibly quiet under sail as nothing squeaks or creaks.
I really like the beam construction of the Seawind as it lets the hulls move independently giving an unbelievable motion. You can’t beat the salon integrated with the cockpit of the Seawind, a huge area and so nice to put the boat on autopilot and sit on the settee with 360 degree visibility. The ventilation is fantastic and she is a great tropical climate boat. And as you stated, so easy and enjoyable to single hand with the huge cockpit and twin wheels. The twin outboards give a little better maneuverability and redundancy on the Seawind.
But for what we have into the Searunner we would have only been able to own half a Seawind! Something to think about[emoji16]

[multihuler]

There are condo cats and there are sailboats, the Maine cat 41 has the high bridgedeck, gorgeous daggerboards and is a sailor's catamaran, mine will be available for a long term, affordable lease this winter. I can only use her three months at a time,.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by solarbri

My boat, Cat2Fold.
If you value super easy, safe, flat, comfortable sailing with a decent turn of speed, then this 36’ x 24’ biplane rigged Cat is GREAT!!!

Cool boat. What is the process like to get her road ready?

[solarbri]

Originally Posted by valhalla360

Cool boat. What is the process like to get her road ready?

Thanks!
Because I have her set up to liveaboard for 6 months at a time, she takes a little bit of time, but I can do everything solo.
My preferred routine is to get a slip the day before folding her, take down the central pod/dodger, remove the benches/bed, the back bench, the railing, and now the new front beam, load all that stuff onto the trailer, bring it to the work yard in Marina San Carlos Seca, then the next morning, drive it over to the ramp and close her, on the water, by myself, in an hour or two.
Then I drive her, masts up, to the work yard, wash her down, take down the masts, either with my own set up, or lately, I’ve been using the work yards telescoping forklift to lower the masts quickly and super easily. The masts are carbon tubes that weigh just over 100lbs each.
So, all in all, I take two days to go from 6 month live aboard, to highway capable.
The last few years, I’ve just been leaving her in Mex for the summers for $50 per month.
I will be actually listing her for Sale very soon.
$115,000 obo

[Hodgdon87]

I've sailed a lot of different makes and models but my favorite all-round is the Privilege 585. Obviously there are more expensive, faster, and fancier options but they always have a downside (usually price).

Privilege's generally have a much better build quality than Lagoon, FP, Leopard, and Voyage. Of the high volume production catamarans, they definitely have the best fit and finish. Their interior is beautiful while the others are plastic. In addition, they hold their own on the performance side. My 2004 Privilege 585 tipped the scales at 40,000lbs displacement but could easily do 8+ knots on all points of sail in 15-18kts wind. If the sea state wasn't too severe we were regularly seeing 10+kts. The helm placement next to the salon door, under the hard top with a slide away window over the the wheel was ideal. In poor conditions you have have good protection from the elements but when its nice, just slide the window open and have great visibility for sailing or docking. I honestly hate the newer cat designs with the massive flybridges. Not only does it move the COE too high for decent sailing performance but many of them leave the helm station entirely too exposed.

Finally, the layout of the boat was one of the best I've ever encountered. Very little wasted space and very spacious. We had the "up galley" version with 4 king suites and 3 crew single berths. Even the crew berths were huge compared to comparable sized boats. The galley in the salon doesn't cause the annoying choke point in the hallway of many cats, but is tucked away enough to provide the chef with some privacy. It was all just well thought out.

I'm now running a Gunboat and, yes, it's amazing under sail. But you have to accept sacrifices for speed. Storage space is at a MAJOR premium on this boat, more like a monohull honestly. Plus the thing has a huge price tag. Don't get me wrong, i've been on a number of high performance cats and they are all awesome. Outremers seem to be a happy medium in price and performance but something about them rubs me the wrong way. I'd love to get my hands on an HH too. I digress...

Buying a production cat for myself, considering all the factors of price, comfort, build quality, storage, maintenance, etc. Privilege would be at the top of my list.