The missus wants a catamaran

There are very few people who move from cat to mono. Sure I miss the feel of a monohull, I'd miss my wife and 3 children coming sailing more though! Some would be happy on a monohull, mine weren't, sowe made a deal and now I wouldn't go back either. We sail a Heavenly Twins 27 with a huge aft cabin with a 6' wide bed. There is also a large single aft cabin and a child's cabin midships. Full standing headroom in heads/shower & in the galley but you stoop when standing in the saloon. Sailing performance is only OK on a dead run with no kite; excellent on a reach with 11 knots our best so far; and no better than moderate performance to windward. I haven't noticed the hobby horsing motion some allude to, maybe that's something other cats do, but she sure don't like a short choppy sea because there's no weight to power her through. Still, she packs a lot of family sailing into 27 feet. Some have twin diesels and turn on a sixpence, but unless you have two folding props you loose 2 knots of speed.
 
In fairness, my light weight mono-full cruiser racer of a similiar length does not like a heavy sea either... and 11kts is a pipedream.
 
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The "headroom" is not the constraint, nor is the layout, but the draft is. Even twin keels are unlikely to meet that requirement, so you have to look for centreboard/drop keel.

[/ QUOTE ]Maybe the draft was a wish, not a hard requirement. Nevertheless we currently have a 1m draft, and there are plenty of times where I would prefer not to have any more than that - for example this year we only have 1.8m depth at the shallows 2hrs before high, not much margin if there's a bit of swell running.

So less than 1m would be a blessing. Deeper would be a disadvantage over what we have at the moment, although maybe acceptable if offset by enough advantages.
 
I looked at Catamaran's in the early 90's after my higher authority had major back surgery. Came to the conclusion that had to go for an older 35ft ish boat to get what we wanted. At the time I lived in Hampshire but found these guys very helpful.
http://www.multihullcentre.co.uk/index.html

she recovered fully and we stayed with mono /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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the Prout Sirocco 26 is an update of the older Prout Ranger 27. I have cruised extensively in both, and in this equation the OP's Griffon is the sluggard - sorry Tony.

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You are of course correct the Sirocco is a later design but as far as Prouts were concerned it failed to make any impression on the market and they dropped it. Of course compared with a Griffon it could be seen to be faster but thats not the only thing to consider. Frankly if I were to downsize to 26 ft I would not have a cat at all, but if I did it would be more likely to be a heavenly twinge.
 
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Tell her to get stuffed cos cats are for old men and you're still too young and virile

[/ QUOTE ] /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
We sailed an Iroquois for 13 years while our kids were growing up and thoroughly enjoyed it. BUT the lack of standing headroom, the amount of maintenance required, the relatively narrow 'double' berth, the winter storage fees eventually got me looking for something more manageable once the kids had left. We eventually found a Stag 28 which seems to be almost what you are asking for... except of course it heels and isn't as fast /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif.
 
The Stag 28 is a nice boat, looked at that a few years ago. But the trouble with getting a mono to be 'like a catamaran' is that you can't. There is nothing like a cruising cat, and you either want one or not. If your partner hates the heeling, you're not going to persuade them by pointing out the aft cabin on a mono. Iroquois aside (big issues), at 26-30 feet you get twice the space and sail a bit faster than a similar era mono cruiser. If that's what they want then you have a lifetime sailing partner and I'd sail in just about anything to ensure that! It so happens that I'm now a cat convert, but only by accident.

Have a look at Heavenly Twins 26 & 27 and Catalac 8m & 9m, but go for a test sail and I suspect your wife will:

a. Love it
b. Suggest a higher budget to get that one that's a bit better!
 
They seem to be a good investment. I bought one of the first Prout Quest at the Earls Court Boat Show back in 1978. I sold her in Miami after five or six years cruising both sides of the Atlantic.

A few month ago I was surprised to see her for sale at £35000 equivelant in Fort Laurdedale. Considering I paid £3000 for her (brand spanking new) she seemed to be a bit overpriced. Looking at other catamarans though, I revised my opinion. They seem in great demand and that raises the price.
 
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Iroquois aside (big issues), at 26-30 feet you get twice the space and sail a bit faster than a similar era mono cruiser.

[/ QUOTE ]I have an Iroquois. I'm very happy with it.
The downsides seem to be:
Lots of work refurbishing, wet balsa is frightening the first time but just painful after that. Buy a refurbished one if DIY is not your thing.
Capsize history - I reckon people tried to sail a performance cat like a monohull, they got bitten, no surprise there. Just reef earlier.

When I look at modern 30 foot cats I find it hard to justify the extra money.

So what are these big issues? Or are you in magazine sales? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

Paul
 
It's true - in practice you really don't miss the lack of headroom whilst lounging and eating. Just had four friends on my Prout 33 the other weekend. They had only been on mono's before. They all thought the feeling of "roominess" was fantastic and nobody complained about headroom.

They DID say the "feeling" of sailing wasn't the same which is true. But when I had us doing 9 knots under Genny some we changing their minds back !

But as other posters have said Cats DO MOVE - especially the smaller ones. I don't find it a bad motion but some do so you need to try.
 
Kingsize bed (if you pick the right model)
0.8 m draft
Bullet proof reputation
Multiple circumnavigations
Oh and 3 additional berths in separate cabins (for 5 people if you cram in couples in addition to your kingsize)
I have done 13 knots downwind but will be the first to admit that upwind I am not going to be first to the bar.

= Prout Quest 33

Loads of pictures to give you some ideas on my blog - link below.

I am sure there are others too. Second the suggestion of Multiworld at Thornham for getting a good idea of what is out there

I know a friend who has a Prout 34 for sale - they have larger berths in the ends of the hulls but reputedly don't sail quite a well. PM me if you are interested. Quite a price jump though from 33 to 34 - not justified IMHO.

An old thread on small Prouts which might be of interest


Prouts
 
The underwater profile of the hulls shows a fine entry with quite a distinctive rocker, they also have a fairly fine exit. In effect the boat floats on the more bouyant part of the hulls while going up and down as the waves interact with the narrow bow and stern. This means that she will rock forwards and backwards over waves
 
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