Help with choosing a CAT

[Jimmy_James]

Hello,

Im on a budget and have been looking at some catamarans - Ive seen a Prout 26' ' castaway ' built in late 80's. Its had the a cabin professionally built up, new rigging, sales, stations etc etc. In fact is in excellent nick with all the extras !

The only thing that I'm concerned about is its length - I've never sailed a Cat but I am trying to find a boat that I can go cruising on as well as weekend jaunts with friends. This 26' cat looks like it doesn't have much 'keel' area and I'm worried that if I had more than 4 or 5 people on it the boat might not sail too well !!! The boat is out of the water so I cant check her easily, and to be honest having had little helming experience on bigger boats before It would take me some sailing time to check her out.

Should I be looking for something a tad bigger, 28 - 31 feet ? Is the 26 foot Prout a reputable model ? Does this cat sail well ? It's on the market for around £15,000.

I've also seen a 1971 31 foot prout ranger, same sort of money - Its much bigger - you can stand up in the galley etc. The only thing is it needs loads of work doing to it - new interior, sails, stations, outboard etc. The rigging is new mind. Wonder what I should do -

Help from you experienced people much appreciated.

Regards
James

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Robin2]

A 26' cat should carry 4 people better than a 26' keelboat and 4 or 5 is hardly too many for the keelboat - leaving aside the question of comfort and privacy while berthed or moored.

Unless you are very dedicated be very wary of boats that need a lot of work.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Boathook]

A cruising Cat has quite a carrying capacity but the fore aft trim is more critical than any thing else. I had 8 on board my 9m Cat at Easter with no major problems on the perfomance until every one was aft !

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Birdseye]

one approach to minimise the likelyhood of capsize is to limit the depth to which the keels go down.

cat sailing performance suffers much more from weight than does that of a mono. so, in disagreement with the other posters, i would not be keen on cruising in my 33 ft prout with 6 people on board. its not just that i'm anti social. i also like the boat to sail well.

having had a 26ft mono ( and a relatively modern high volume one) i wouldnt consider sailing with 6 people on board, unless the other 5 were skimpily clad young ladies. way too crowded for comfort with 6 guys on board.

have a look at a heavenly twins cat. good safe cockpit, passable sailing performance, lots of them about including some quite attractively priced.

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Guest]

don't forget the Catalac 8 mtr or 9mtr good head room very large cockpit safe & stable lots of room not fast but safer, i looked at heavenly twins when looking for a cat didn't like the lack of space, felt too enclosed the prout didn't offer good head room or stowage compared to the Catalac. There are not too many about for sale but look in pbo & sailing today many are used for livaboards & have traveled far must be good. check one out before discounting them you may be surprised as we were. they have a very supportive association.
best of luck

<hr width=100% size=1>

 

[Porthandbuoy]

I sailed a 9M Catalac for a number of years. With my family we cruised from 56N (Scotland) to 35N (Tunisia) and spent 4 years daudling around the middle of the Med.
Cats are brilliant, if, a) you don't expect to point like an Admiral's Cupper, and b) don't mind paying 1.5x, or worse, the going rate for a pontoon berth.


<hr width=100% size=1>"Mariposa"

 

[Jools_of_Top_Cat]

Ah, but the Heavenly Twins has neater lines IMHO, and more private berths, important if you are carrying friends regularly.

Whichever Cat you buy you will join an exlusive club, die hard mono fans will hate you, but you wont care /forums/images/icons/smile.gif

<hr width=100% size=1>Julian

<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.topcatsail.co.uk/TC_minicruise_2003_01.html>Cardigan Bay Cruise</A>

 

[timevans2000]

you need to decide what you are going to do with your boat. if you are going to live onboard every weekend and take you summer hols on it, space will probably be high on the agenda. If speed, sailing close to the wind excitiment, these preferences will probably clash with your desire for space.

eg comfort & space try a Catalac. Performance try a Prout Ranger 27 or 31. Having rebuilt a Prout Ranger I woulnt do it again. Tremendous work and you will spend a huge amount of money even if you do all the work yourself.
Heavinly Twins are expensive and sit somewhere in between Catalac and Ranger. I have never sailed the Prout Scirroco but on Paper it looks too heavy to have any performance so I guess it something like the Heavinly Twins in performance. Note all cats of this sort of length will pitch a lot. The Ranger less so because she will keep her stern up due to large volume. She will also go through waves to windward due to lack of bouyancy. This is not a problem, she just gets a bit wet. Performance doesnt seem to suffer either.

Think long and hard. If you get the wrong boat you wont be happy. Try and get some sailing on the models you are interested in.

Hope this helps

<hr width=100% size=1>