Weaknesses of 40+ cats & 2003 Fountaine Pajot 43?

[Moontide]

Have put Moontide on the hard several times in the US and Mexico. Just remember to check for rocks at low tide and not to put it up at a max spring tide or you might be there a month.

Slightly different design as the keels on Lagoons are part of the hull. Would imagine that the FP keels would work fine for this. Just need to confirm that the rudders are higher than the bottom of the keels. Now that I think of it ,a friends older FP got blown up on a beach during a hurricane and the only damage was that caused by boats that blew into him.

Have hauled at Driscoll's and the old Knight and Carver yards in San Diego. Heard that Shelter Island Boat Yard now has a large enough lift also. Noticed that you might heead to Mexico. Have hauled at one place in La Paz (years ago next to Marina Palmira) and in La Cruz (near Puerto Vallarta). Boat is currently in Puerto Chiapas and they may be building a trailer to haul large cats as their Travelift only take to around 23' beam.

Enjoy your new adventures.

[ozsailer]

Hi Eve, when we were looking for a cat we had the good fortune to do delivery trip on a Belize 43. The trip was supposed to be from Port Macquarie to Southport on the Gold Coast on the east coast of Australia but we had to go into Coffs Harbour to take shelter from a severe east coast low and never completed our journey due to time constraints.

What was so good was that we were able to test out a production catamaran in real sea and weather conditions. A test sail can be very limiting in what it tells you about the boat and is very dependant on who takes you out and the conditions you take it out in.

A number of issues you have raised such as the condensation and leaking front sliding door were a couple of the things we identified as issues. One of the big things that we found was an issue to us was the helm and cockpit area in wet weather. With the design of the bimini it was impossible to stay dry or out of the weather. We have very good wet weather gear but it was still uncomfortable sitting at the helm for hours. Even in the cockpit a vortex would occur which would cause the rain to come back into the cockpit. The only relative dry spot was the seat next to the sliding door. We found this issue with our Lagoon 410 as well so we extended the bimini at the sides making it a lot drier in inclement weather.

We really loved the Belize and it was on our short list of boats to purchase. Good luck with your purchase.


Greg and Sue
Sunshine
Lagoon 410S2

[Eve Carlson]

Thanks Greg and Sue,

I'm glad this wasn't a "deal-breaker" issue because the survey came out clean, and we agreed to buy the boat!

I guess the PO had the same issues in bad weather, because he figured out how to fix the drainage issue with the door and enclosed the bimini with sides that can be zipped in and out. We will have to wait for el Nino to test it out.

We were aware of the problem of limited sea trials, but were sold on the boat when the sea trial took place on a windy day on SF Bay. The boat not only sailed very fast, but pointed as well as the small monohulls that were trying to catch us. When we sailed downwind, the owner said that cats don't really go wing to wing well, but the broker tied the 140% genoa to a starboard cleat and we sailed very nicely wing to wing. The only thing we didn't get to experience was light winds, which we know is not a strong suit for cats. But you can't have everything, and the boat satisfies a lot of our needs/wants. So we are giving her a try! She even has a great name...Chat de Mer (which is French for seacat). Now I guess I had better end the thread, lest someone come up with a terrible weakness!

[ozsailer]

Hi Eve,
big congratulations, you won't be disappointed :big grin:. enjoy 18 months after buying our cat we are having a ball living the dream.



Greg and Sue
SV Sunshine

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by Eve Carlson

Thanks Greg and Sue,

I'm glad this wasn't a "deal-breaker" issue because the survey came out clean, and we agreed to buy the boat!

I guess the PO had the same issues in bad weather, because he figured out how to fix the drainage issue with the door and enclosed the bimini with sides that can be zipped in and out. We will have to wait for el Nino to test it out.

We were aware of the problem of limited sea trials, but were sold on the boat when the sea trial took place on a windy day on SF Bay. The boat not only sailed very fast, but pointed as well as the small monohulls that were trying to catch us. When we sailed downwind, the owner said that cats don't really go wing to wing well, but the broker tied the 140% genoa to a starboard cleat and we sailed very nicely wing to wing. The only thing we didn't get to experience was light winds, which we know is not a strong suit for cats. But you can't have everything, and the boat satisfies a lot of our needs/wants. So we are giving her a try! She even has a great name...Chat de Mer (which is French for seacat). Now I guess I had better end the thread, lest someone come up with a terrible weakness!

Congrats! You'll enjoy it!

[travellerw]

Congrats...

[Lucky]

Originally Posted by Eve Carlson

Thanks, Lucky! You are a font of useful info. We will note these issues and ask about them. And may come back to you with some questions!

You are most welocome, send me a PM and i can provide my experience with the Belize.happy lead free sailing from Lucky

[Eve Carlson]

Originally Posted by Lucky

You are most welocome, send me a PM and i can provide my experience with the Belize.happy lead free sailing from Lucky

Hi Lucky,

I sent you some PMs about moving the port jib sheet to the starboard winch! Hope you have a chance to answer. Our boat is in the yard and they are afraid to proceed without and example!

[DotDun]

Originally Posted by Eve Carlson

Hi Lucky,

I sent you some PMs about moving the port jib sheet to the starboard winch! Hope you have a chance to answer. Our boat is in the yard and they are afraid to proceed without and example!

It would take (2) large cheek blocks to bring the port sheet to the helm, that sheet is ~16mm. I would suggest you use it for a while first before making the change. You may not find it as bad as you think.

[takeabow40]

haulout not really an issue you can always organize a crane like most large tri's have to