Which Cat Do You Recommend For Cruising the European Canals

[Phred]

Does any one have suggestions as to the best cat to take through the European canal system (primary requirements are reasonable power, lots of fuel, carrying the mast and maximum 5 meter width) from the UK to the Med, then setting up the boat for cruising the Med? 2 adults, no time horizons. Oh, and of course cost is important; we can only afford £60,000 .

[Southern Star]

Hello Phred and welcome to the forum! In your price range (and with your intended use and the beam restriction in the canals), I would recommend the Solaris Sunrise 36. While they are not known as fast sailors, they were well built, very comodious, typically fit with inboard diesel power and had a BOA of 4.82 meters.

You could also consider a used Gemini 3200 or 3400, although most were fitted with outboards rather than diesels. These are still comodious and while not as solidly built as the Sunrise 36, they were much faster on all points of sail (albiet availability in the UK/Europe may be limited).

Finally, various Prouts and Catalacs in your price range will also meet your beam limitations and will have comparable construction quality to the Solaris (and sadly, comparable performance limitations, especially if heavily loaded for cruising).

Cheers and happy cat hunting!

Brad

[careka]

what is the maks--- maximum--- width that will do on the channels down to med, and wich one is it ?

Where to go ?

[shnean66]

Originally Posted by Phred

Oh, and of course cost is important; we can only afford £60,000 .

In yachtworld.com there are two Gemini 105 in the UK: 1998 for 75K GBP, 2000 for 79k GBP.
Slightly above your budget but I have no clue how long they have been on the market. maybe an offer may go through

[goboatingnow]

Don't exceed 5 metres beam

[bastonjock]

theres as guy on this forum who has done a lot of the french water ways,cant remember his name right now,but he lists the various widths and depths of the canals.he has a website giving a lot of infor on the subject.

Does your budget allow for any works to be carried out on the boat? or is 60k your entire budget?

[Islander]

Yolimba

Although they seem to have stopped for over a year, don't know when/if they plan to continue.

Some more stuff I've ferreted away:
French Waterways information guide to cruising through the canals and rivers by boat : Grehan : Afloat in France
Carte de la France fluviale - Dictionnaire des canaux et rivières de France (en Français)

Cheers.

[Tropic Cat]

Both the Catalac 8M and the Catalac 9M have self lowering tabernacle masts designed specifically for navigating the French Canal system. As you travel the canals you will find 100's of them already there.