# Safety of Edel Cat 35 as a blue water cruiser?



## Craigy (Sep 20, 2001)

I''ve read the opinion of the publisher of latitude 38 that one should not do blue water cruising in any catamaran less than 40'' OAL. On the other hand at least one Prout 33 (Alec Mayne family) has circumnavigated. We''ve also read the pursuasive arguments of the Pardey''s concerning the "savings" of smaller boats.

Currently, of the smaller used catamarans on the market the Edel Cat 35 seems most available. Does any know the boat well enough to comment on its qualifications as a blue water boat? Diesel option vs. gas auxilary? etc.

Thank you.


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

flyfisher,
I know somone wiyh a Edel Cat thirty-five. It''s on ok boat but as far as an open ocean boat?..I would not.It''s just not built for that.

Dennis

P.S. And I don''t agree with that forty foot opinion. The smallest boat to cross the Atlantic was under six feet.


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## casperholst (Apr 19, 2007)

is there anyone out there who has deep water experience with the edel 35 cat. These boats seem suitable but it would be great to have some first hand experience. I am presently bidding on an edel 35.
many thanks for any information.
casper


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Casper-

Good luck on the bidding... While I haven't had direct experience with the Edel cat, I have sailed on quite a number of catamarans and trimarans.

A couple of things about multihulls, you need to reef for the gusts, unlike a monohull, where you tend to reef for the average wind speeds and let the boat handle the gusts. You're much better reefing earlier than you would on a monohull, as the extreme stability of a catamaran puts much more strain on the rigging than a comparable size monohull could.

Watch the netting, it can fail pretty dangerously. If you have any doubts about its integrity or age, replace it.

Two books you may want to pick up if you haven't already. "Multihull Voyaging" by Thomas Firth Jones and "The Cruising Multihull" by Chris White.

I'd also take the opinions of people not familiar with multihulls about their seaworthiness with a grain of salt. A monohull often has to be built much heavier in construction, due to the inertia the amount of ballast it has gives it. A multihull, not having a heavy metal keel, often can be built lighter without sacrificing safety. Where monohulls tend to have to bash through the waves, multihulls tend to float on top of them. A multihull's light mass is often its best defense, as it will tend to move-instead of resisting a wave and getting crushed.

*Things to watch out for on the Edel 35:
*
It has a partially cored hull IIRC, and you need to make sure that water hasn't gotten in and caused any delamination. I don't believe the core in the hull will rot as I believe it is PVC-based foam.

The cross beams that connect the hulls to the bridgedeck are aluminum.

Corrosion is going to be a problem at the fasteners, since I believe the fasteners are stainless steel. I personally prefer cats that have the hull molded as a single piece... but that's just me.

The forestay connects to crossbeam that is also supported by a "dolphin striker" and that needs to be in good shape, otherwise the forestay support can fail.

Rudder shafts on this boat were aluminum originally. I believe the bearings were bronze... this is a galvanic corrosion problem in many cases, and should be checked closely.

I believe the deck is also cored, and needs to be checked for any signs of water intrusion or delamination.

Also, I believe the cabin soles are fiberglass and plywood, so you may want to check the sole for any water intrusion that may have rotted the plywood. I don't believe the plywood was fully encapsulated in fiberglass on these boats.

From what I know of the Edels, they were pretty decent boats with a fair amount of sail area for a catamaran. Windward performance and tacking on them is probably not the best, and you may have to ease the mainsheet to help the boat tack. Weight is going to be your biggest enemy.

I hope this helps a bit.


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## gershel (Feb 4, 2001)

I met someone in Norfolk, Va. a few years ago in an Edel 35 that had sailed to Bermuda with the WestMarine Bermuda Rally. They encountered very rough weather and successfuly deployed a sea-anchor. They're experience was detailed in "Drag Device Data Base" by Victor Shane. By the way, this is a great read.
From what I gathered from the owner, the boat was quite capable.

Marc


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## casperholst (Apr 19, 2007)

Thank you very much for your comments, i have not used this excellent resource before.
I am now about to sign for this edel 35 and I feel it is a fine boat and a good compromise between many conflicting issues. will definately invest in a sea anchor. Again thanks for your interest.
all the best.
Casper


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Instead of a sea anchor, I would highly recommend you get a Jordan Series Drogue. You can read more about them at: Jordan Series Drogue


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## gershel (Feb 4, 2001)

Since you've been reading DDDB, I suppose you read the account of the Edel cat, S/C-14. You could probably contact the owner directly to get a first hand account of his experience with his parachute, and his boat. He seemed to be a very knowledgable guy when I spoke with him.
Marc


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## casperholst (Apr 19, 2007)

Again, thank you for the contribution and will do my homework on this before getting any gear. Had a look at the Jordan drogue which looks better then a sea anchor due to its flexibility and give. i am not sure if it would be better to keep the bows of the boat into the wind as the stern is more vunerable with more openings and a cockpit to fill?! I understand that drogues do not work from the bows due to the amount of reverse movement. Sea anchors have problems with very high loading and shafe.
yet another interesting dilemma. i suppose one could strengthen hatches and washboards etc.

On a different note i have been considering the best self steering system for this edel 35. Due to simplicity and rod style steering system, giving fairly high resistance, i would favour an independant type vane self steering system such as the Hydrovane.
Does anyone have any experience with this system and does it work on cats? I imagine that there could be problems with the apparent wind direction shifting and excessive yaw or is the hydrovane sensitive enough?
Looking forward to any knowledge out there.
Many thanks and all the best.


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

As I understand it, breaking seas haven't been much of an issue for the Jordan Series Drogue users, as the drogue allows the boat to move with the wave quite a bit, and doesn't stop it dead in the water, as a sea anchor would. Also, generally, most multihulls will tend to rise up with the waves, rather than get pulled through them, as they're not held down by a large chunk of metal in their keel. 

As for wind vane self-steering systems. You will need to go with a stand-alone system, that doesn't rely on the boat's rudders to steer, due to the excess friction in the edel's dual rudder system. However, on many cats and tris, the windvane becomes less reliable, as the apparent wind increases with the boat's speed, but I don't know if the Edel would suffer from this.


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## casperholst (Apr 19, 2007)

Thanks for that, i have been investigating the drogue which seems like a better device then the sea anchor as it will greatly reduce loads and is much easier to use.
casper


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## gershel (Feb 4, 2001)

KatieKat ParaAnchor Index


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## chiesad (Jan 22, 2008)

*Edel Cat 35 - Force 8 voyage*

I once spent 3 days on an 1990 Edel cat 35 in a force 8 with 10 to 13 ft waves.

We dropped sail, closed the hatches and locked the rotating mast. Dropped our 7 hp outboard and ran it on low revs to give us steerage, we pointed into the waves for comfort. Surprisingly our GPS made us making 1 kt over ground into the oncoming waves.

The motion was akin to driving a car over low hills, we only saw green water once during the whole voyage, and that was when we where surfing down a long wave/hill and met a short steep wave at the bottom of the curve. The water drained out off the cockpit almost immediatly.

Our autohelm was not up to the task of keeping us on track in the large swell, so we had to steer by hand the whole time during the storm. With only three crew this made for exhausting work.

Going forward on any boat in big waves is not my idea of fun, however this feels a lot safer on an Edel Cat 35 due to the wide walkways between the center cabin and the hulls.

After the initial shock over the size of the waves I felt very save during the whole voyage, the ride was comfortable and I was able to sleep without fear (While off watch, of course).

My father is 73 and still sails this boat single handedly from her berth in Crete, although he prefers to invite guests on board for company (So he says), but I think it's to help with the winches etc.  . Admittedly he is getting a little past it so sadly we will have to put the boat on the market soon.


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## chucklesR (Sep 17, 2007)

Charles Kanter (google the name for his many books on Multi's) gives the Edel 35 a thumbs up
Of course Gemini's are excellent also  - his comment was 'the best value'


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## Robby Barlow (Apr 23, 2006)

ups...was about to reply when I saw the OP is older than me!


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Considering that the Heavenly Twins 26, Catalac 8Ms, and many other fine European catamarans made it over here under their own power, I think the 40' minimum recommendation is a bit ridiculous. Granted, you won't be as comfortable, but crossing an ocean is definitely possible in a smaller cat.


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## christyleigh (Dec 17, 2001)

Robby Barlow said:


> ups...was about to reply when I saw the OP is older than me!


Ya.... and gee what a coincidence that SD didn't jump all over replyers to a 5 year old thread - On Multi-Hulls


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Hmm... Stan, you're not trying to imply I might be biased??? are you???


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## TrueBlue (Oct 11, 2004)

SD . . . biased to numerously-hulled sailboats? What ever do you mean by that implication Stan ?


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## christyleigh (Dec 17, 2001)

Ohh... No.... After all... between you and Chuckles you'll have us all convinced that Multi-Hulls are the cure to all sailing ills


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## TrueBlue (Oct 11, 2004)

Chuckles and sailingdog are Sailnet's multi-hull tag-team . . . sounds like they belong in a WWF ring.


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## camaraderie (May 22, 2002)

2 people....5 hulls...0 sense!!


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## sailingdog (Mar 19, 2006)

Easy there Obi Wan RV... 



camaraderie said:


> 2 people....5 hulls...0 sense!!


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