I've owned a 2001 Wildcat 350 for a year and a half and have been very happy with it. You could pick them up in the low to mid 100's. They were made in
South Africa and recently went out of business during the process of moving from Durban to
Cape Town.
Oftentimes when you mention a Wildcat you'll hear a story about a boat named Bumfuzzle. It happened to me when I was Cat
shopping. Seems like that one particular boat put a bad name on the rest of them. The owners of Bumfuzzle were very
internet savy. They posted their correspondance online with a grievance they had with the Charter Cat factory (builders of the Wildcat 350 and
Jaguar 36). This involved a problem they had with
delamination under the waterline. Prior to
purchase they had a
survey done by one of the leading
catamaran surveyors in South
Florida. No delam was noted in the
survey. Once the new owners bought the boat and sailed it down to
Panama they hauled it out for a bottom job. That's when they first discovered the
delamination. Strange that the
surveyor in
Florida wouldn't have picked up on that since they usually tap out the entire bottom looking for such a defect. The factory claimed they must have been struck by
lightning or hit something after the
purchase date while enroute to
Panama from Florida that may have caused the delam. In either case, they sailed from Florida to Panama (where they discovered the problem) then headed off to
New Zealand (with delamed hull) where they had her hauled. The local
repair yard in NZ claimed the glass wasn't wetted enough where it was delaminated. Poor workmanship if that's the case. According to the factory specs they're suppose to be vacuumed bagged laminated.., The discussions between the owners and the factory seemed like a nightmare but after a lengthy and costly haul out/repair the boat eventually got an
epoxy barrier coat and they were on their way sailing around the world.
Two years later they made it back into Ft. Lauderdale without any major problems with the boat (besides that delam issue). Upon return they put the boat up
for sale. They're an adventure seeking couple that's off on another journey cruising the world in a restored VW van. This couple is incredible. They left on their
circumnavigation being self proclaimed "clueless" (the meaning of the word Bumfuzzle) and returned to Florida a couple years later being quite an accomplished sailing couple.
I wonder if they are bummed that they publicized their problems so loudly on the
internet because noone wants to buy their infamous Bumfuzzle. Since the market is so competitive you'll hear
references to Bumfuzzle whenever someone mentions a Wildcat
catamaran. Granted they're not the top of the line catamarans they're still a viable choice for a cat in the mid-lower $100K range. Although the Charter Cat company (the builder/factory) is out of business, I've had great and timely feedback with the
designer in
Australia (Schionning Marine) regarding the proper method of replacing the windows (leaks) and other questions regarding there design.[EMAIL="brett@schionningdesigns.com.au"]
Bottom line is, I wouldn't let the one boat scare you from at least checking out a Wildcat. There's been nightmare stories about alot of boats - but none more broadcasted out loud on the internet than Bumfuzzle. In the pro category, the layout to the Wildcat year model 2001 and on is awesome and is what first caught our attention. Nice sugar scoops that lead up into a roomy swim platform then a walkthrough transom into a curvey
cockpit. We have the galley down which I love cause it gives us so much more room in our saloon for entertaining, etc.. It's like a living room and the galley still has room to stay in contact with above. We looked at the Fountain Poujet
Tobago 35 and it wasn't even close to the room and comfort of the Wildcat. I've had several cat owners say that our boat has the room of a 40 foot cat. We have the twin
Volvo MD2020's with
Volvo saildrives. The
Tobago we checked had two 10 hp Yanmars that seemed very underpowered. I'm not knocking FP's by any means. In fact I'd love to see the FP
Mahe 36. I also really liked the Maxuum 38, which is the same boat as the Voyage 38, and liked the Admiral 38. It's also worth checking out a
Manta Catamaran that are made in Florida. They're all awesome but the price point and layout lead me to the Wildcat.
Best thing to do is take time out and do your
research. Make boat decision
buying a fun process. Give it time and a little luck and you'll end up in the boat of your dreams.
Kevin
S/V Bladerunner