Cats how fast are they

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AndCur

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Hi

Does anyone know how much faster cruising cats are say compared to a yacht of the same size. Say a 28ft yacht will average 5.5 to 6knts what will the same size cat do?

Cheers
 
In my experience most 'cruising' cats are little if any faster than similar price bracket monos. All the claims of impressive speeds would appear to be realised on lightweight speed machines.

Above I say 'price bracket' as its probably more relavent than size...a 36ft cat is not in the same league as a 36ft mono.

I noticed last year whilst sailing the same course as a Gemini cat that he was maintaining the same speed as me in my 40yr old heavy weight in conditions that I would have thought were pretty much in his favor...ie 15kt broad reach.

I tend to be a bit more tempted by the Dragonfly and Farrier multies..(until I look at the price !)

Regards Nick
 
A useful guide is to see if any of the design you are interested in have done a 'Round the Island Race' then compare with a monohull on the same day.
Some are not very quick at all.
Some don't point either.
Some are quite quick.
Some are ****quick.
You should be able to get some sort of Yardstick/Handicap for most cat designs to relate different cats. But I don't think it relates directly to IRC or PY.
All multis are sensitive to being loaded down, esp smaller ones.
 
With a good wind (25-30 knots) on a reach, my 34ft Gemini catamaran will sail at up to 13-14 knots, but averages nearer 9-10 knots. Close hauled, the speed will drop to around 7-8 knots. Keeping a cruising cat heavily loaded (easily done with so much space!) can slow it down considerably.
 
For us it depends on direction, we will beat many on a beam reach, easily any cruising boat in the same size bracket... But then, we are rubbish at sailing uphill, so it averages out. But then, not many people cook a fresh meal on passage or bake, on a 26ft boat. Not many are walking about on the flat either, swings and roundabouts.

I do fancy a bigger faster cat myself though, I would really like Stingo's boat.. all sing, dream dream dream, dre.....
 
We have a solaris sunrise 36ft. Nominal weight 5ton. We have approx 3 ton onboard as we live aboard. In 6-8 knts we do an average of 7knts BUT and this is where the mirackle happens, as soon as we have 10 knts we zoom up to 12knts and yesterday in 35knts with two reefs in the main and a well rolled in gennie we doing 14.8 knots. We were comfotable unlike a mono hull which would have had half the deck under water. Nuff sed
 
As a very happy owner of a cat(Prout Event 34) I have over the years had numerous conversations with half boat people about the various merits etc of mono v multi. I concede it is all a matter of tastes but I always manage to quieten down my mono friends by dropping in the 1988 America Cup. Stars and Stripes v KZ1. The most modern mono at 27.43 metres o/a against Connors Cat at 18.3 mtrs. First race a 20 mile beat followed by a 20 mile run. Catamaran won by over 18 minutes (who said cats can't beat) 2nd race a triangular course the cat won by over 20 minutes.
 
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Most are incredibly quick after my labrador spots them /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

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Should see them go with the Sea Fairing Whippets close behind........... as normal some are faster than others and some handle themselves better in close quarters! /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif

Tom
 
I remember somewhere an experienced delivery company who delivers mostly stuff from the Caribbean back to the UK saying that a cat is on average 25% faster than a monohull of the same length.

Of course if you start to compare the speed of things vs how much they cost, the equation tips the other way.

In the end it depends on your taste (or lack of it). /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Make sure you compare like with like - age, cruier or racer and length. So our 27 foot cruiser from the early 90's will be a little bit faster than a 27 foot mono cruiser from the early 90's. Mind you, the reason we got it had more to do with the 12 foot wide aft cabin, wide foredeck, shower room, large galley and family friendly sailing /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
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