# Cruising cat comparison



## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

I am going to buy a catamaran in the next month or so and am having trouble getting reliable comparison information. I’ve sailed an Edel 35, Gemini 3400, Moorings 3800, Lagoon 38, Venezia 42, and Nautitech 395. I’ve extensively checked out the cats at the boats shows. Where would I get information about the relative performance of the various cats vs. comments that I’ve heard (i.e. Catana point better, Venezia is slow, Norseman get pounded with bridge deck slap, etc...). The books give basic information, but not what I need to make a decision. Does anyone have any experience on Catana vs. Norseman vs. Lagoon vs. whatever?


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## henryvand (May 2, 2000)

I recommend you get a copy of Charles Kantor''s book - Cruising in Catamarans - see www.sailcopress.com - He includes performance ratings on a good variety of boats and gives ratings to pointing ability, hull slap, etc. I just went thru the buying process and I found his book to contain the best reference materials. I bought a PDQ


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Hi: 
I am in the same boat as you so to speak. It looks like I will be reloating to N Carolina and will also be buying a Cruisng Cat in which I can sail the waters inside the Outebanks and then take off shore and down south and up north in a few years. I have the Kanter book and it is very good but leaves you with lots of questions and some boats don''t get much of a write up as others. He seems to favour PDQ''s and Prouts and he has a good way of categorizing various cats (can really help if you know what your priorities are cruising comfort vs. performance)

Have you looked at the Maine cats or the Island Spirits?

Let us know what you decided on. Good luck.


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

I''ve only looked at the Maine cat 30 at the Miami boat show and it is too small for my needs (family of 5). I''ve been looking at cats in the 37'' to 45'' range. I just walked through a Voyage 430 that was well equipped for coastal cruising. Kanter doesn''t review this boat, but he doesn''t like an early 400. I suspect the 430 suffers from similar bridge deck pounding. He doesn’t give many specifics on the Venezia 42 except some of the older ones can be in bad shape. This was one of the boats that I was considering. He gives Lagoon 41 & 42 mixed reviews. I’m a little at a loss at this point. The cats that I was considering are not high on his list. I may just go with a Moorings 3800 or 4500 that has come out of charter.


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Check out the maine Cat website www.mecat.com and scroll down to the botton onf the home page, they have a new 41 ft cruising cat featured that looks great and should be in the size range that you require.


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## saltydawg (May 20, 2004)

PDQ36 is a great boat... we''ve been cruising ours for several years and have no complaints. Check her out... it''s a great value and ready to cruise.

http://www.authenticyachts.com/core/listing/pl_boat_detail.jsp?&units=Feet&checked_boats=1207082&slim=broker&&hosturl=authenticyachtbrokerage&&ywo=authenticyachtbrokerage&


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Hello Salty:

What does she draw? Also would you feel comfortable taking her off shore for a run up and down the East Coast?


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## saltydawg (May 20, 2004)

She draws 2feet 10 inches officially, but fully loaded I would call it 3 feet. It''s great for tucking into safe little anchoring spots away from the crowds.

As for off shore -- we took her outside from Ft. Lauderdale to Charleston and then Cape Fear River to Norfolk in stiff November weather when we first got her. NO problems. We often made off shore hops when cruising the east coast, we took her all through the Bahamas in ALL kinds of weather, and around Cuba. Previous owner took her all throughout the Caribbean. Simon Slater - the president of PDQ - often says the PDQ36 "has alot more guts than her owners do". She is a VERY strongly built boat and although it''s a cliche used too much when buying/selling boats, our is TRULY ready to cruise. 

The only reason we are selling her now after outfitting her to the hilt... if because we are expecting our first baby in 4 weeks and we''re moving aboard a bigger boat.
Feel free to drop me a line if you have more questions. Best of luck and I hope to see you out there!
Cindy


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

I checked out the Maine cat 41 (on the web), but since I want to be on a boat in a month or so, it won''t work for me. We are also leaning towards 4 stateroom models. We are cruising with 3 kids...

The PDQ also doesn''t appear to be sized right for my family. 

What is the larger boat that you are moving up to?


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## saltydawg (May 20, 2004)

We are moving on to St. Francis 44. We have a beautiful 1999 model that we just took delivery of. She sails like a dream and is very roomy and bright. Four cabin, Four head, galley down. Might be right up your alley. 
We surveyed and sea trialed a DIFFERENT 1999 St. Francis than the one we ended up buying that I would suggest you have a look at. It''s called Mustard Seed and she is in GREAT condition, sitting with her lovely owners in Tortola. 
We paid for a survey just a couple of months ago and flew out to see her and she checked out great. The ONLY reason we didn''t buy her was because the timing and logistics were not good for us with the baby on the way and we found her sistership Stateside and ready to go. Southern Trades is the brokerage and Bob Carson is the broker - great guy. Tell him Cindy sent ya. You can work your way down some from the list price.
Best of luck!!! Hope to see ya out there.

http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listing/pl_boat_detail.jsp?currency=USD&units=Feet&checked_boats=1100923&slim=quick&


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Sounds like a great boat Cindy. And Congratulations on the soon to arrive new member of the crew!


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Cindy,

I checked out ''Sea Quest'' (1995 St. Francis 44) at the 2Hulls dock a couple weeks ago. My concern is the 2'' bridge deck clearance. Have you noticed any slamming in your trials? Other than that, it seems to be a good match for my family.

Jeff


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Just was reading The Moorings Mainsheet and saw that there is a now a Leopard 40 and from what the professional skipper who delivers them says it sounds like they are a pretty good blue water brand.


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## saltydawg (May 20, 2004)

We have been very happy with the preformance of the boat thus far. Here''s what I can tell you... We took Mustard Seed (a 199 St.F44 now for sale) out on sea trial on a fairly choppy day in Tortola and didn''t experience any slamming. We also took our new boat out for a spin before starting projects this week, and had the same smooth sail. I DO know that in 1999, I believe, they raised the bridge deck on the boats, so older models like the one you are looking at may experience more slamming than 1999 and later models. All cats slam now and again, keep that in mind.
Have a look at Mustard Seed, listed with SouthernTrades.com, she is the sistership to the one we bought and the owners have taken extremely good care of her. We paid for a full survey just a few months ago and she checked out nearly flawlessly. The only thing that kept us from buying her was timing and logistics with our baby on the way.

Also, we found a GREAT resource for opionions on cats is to talk to delviery crews. They see the good, the bad, and the ugly of these cats and can give you some greta insights. Scott and Debbie Cundy, and husband wife delivery team who brought our boat up from FLA for us, were a great resource for input on performance of various cats we were considering. And they are a TOP RATE crew and GREAT people in general. Check out their web site at

yacht-delivery-team.com

Hope this helps, feel free to email me off board if you want more info on the St. F44, we have been aboard and researched many of the ones on the market currently. 
best of luck! Keep us posted!


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## LuckyLuciano (Nov 21, 2000)

I went through the same concerns in 1999 when I purchased my Catana 381. I build an excel spreadsheet in which I compared the sail area/displacement, displacement/length ratios, light/heavy displacement, engine sizes/drives, draft, keel types, helm location(s), cabin sizes, galley location, mast height, bridgedeck clearance. I found the information over many months of web searching, talking to the architects, many performance numbers I calculated from information provided by manufacturers. I gave each a value and the boats with the highest scores were on my short list. The value of each attribute is where the compromises are made (performance vs comfort vs cost). I placed safety high on the list. The catana is a catagory 1 certified boat with dagger boards. The combination provides great sailing and higher pointing than shoal keel cats. Plus with the 6'' boards up I have 3''6" draft. The 381 can be handled by one. There is enough room for eight to live and spread out onboard for personal times as needed. As with any fast catamaran, they are sensitive to weight. The slower cats don''t react so quickly to a bit heavier load.
High bridgedeck clearance will provide for smoother and more comefortable sailing is chop and confused seas. A large netted tramp will allow for water to pass through, where a solid one will hold any water falling onto the tramp. The catana has ''bulbous'' plumb bows at/below the waterline. This keeps the bows from burying themselves into oncoming waves when in high/steep seas.
There is so much to consider. I wish you luck. Lucky


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## FlyingFeather (Nov 27, 2010)

Would it be possible to get a copy of your spreadsheet. I have a fully restored Iroqois and am on the hunt for a larger cat, in the 36 to 38ft range.

Apparently you've done a lot of work.

I can send you the simple spreadsheet I've compiled but I think you know more about the variables and yours must be much more detailed.

My email is 88buy[email protected]

Thanks,

PopPopEd


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## ottos (Aug 12, 2008)

PopPop,

That message is eight years old and was his only post....

Also, you may want to delete your email address from the post before the spambots get ahold of it. 


Fair winds.


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