What are fast trawlers all about?

I suspect he does understand the market. Having got himself involved in cats, probably for emotional rather than business reasons, he's discovered they don't sell, and is desperately trying to create a market where one doesn't exist
 
The title is deliberately provocative - thats what promote discussion is it not?. I have advertised the competition hard so not sure that is fair either. I have promoted the fact that we want red to stay. Our boats use diesel as well!!! I am saying I dont understand why a type of boat is popular anymore given the current climate. I have said their are better alternatives that manufacturers are not putting any money into. The commercial chaps fishing, diving etc are turning to cats in droves - presuambly because of cost savings, space and comfort or am I the only one who has noticed. I beleive S hemispere use cats for lifeboat activities in S Ocean. Why would they do that in such trecherous seas if the design was flawed/forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif?
 
I got involved in cats for the long haul amongst other business activities. The market is already changing. Actually orders for our new model are doing rather well considering the first has not even arrived in UK yet and some of the major mags are not even acknowledging its presence at he show in their Boat show preview.
 
One of the posts above was a good one IMHO.

In truth category SD do not exist. Semi D boats do have a hard chine and not a round bilge, and therefore plane.

I go back to my original question then. What the hell is a heavyweight trawler type boat trying to plane for - ie get out of the water for - its obscene!! Can anyone seriously defend this. Has the world gone mad. Do you have to adjust throttles all the time as on a normal planing boat and use tabs etc. ?

Displacement cat means you apply power evenly up to speeds over 20 knots in a fuel efficient way. It is designed to speed efficiently through the water not try and fly through the air to acheive better speeds.

Mike Tyson trying to be a ballerina springs to mind when I think of fast trawlers.
 
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Just surprised you never mentioned the stand no in the last post.

[/ QUOTE ] He'll get round to it; these things take time. Softly, softly catchee monkey and all that.

One question asked, on several occasions, is why sales of motor cats are so buoyant in the US and so, erm, lousy over here. I have conducted some in-depth research into this matter and, having Googled "US motor car design", have come to the conclusion that, as their cars are (almost) all pig-ugly, poncing about in an aesthetically challenged boat is neither here nor there.

The US is also, of course, the land of the Pontoon Boat:

pontoon%20boat.jpg


The Prosecution rests, M'Lud.
 
Re: Fashion.

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Too many builders follow fashion and end up with poor build

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I'd agree in principle, though fashionable and well built boats do exist.
But I was actually trying to address the original question.
In fact, I do think that the pleasure boating market is not about what makes sense or what is more fuel efficient, reliable, and so on.
It is mainly about selling the idea of a better lifestyle, whatever that could mean in the potential buyer view.
If and when submarine will be considered the most fashionable way of cruising, I'm sure we would see Princess or Nelson subs advertised and tested in boating magazines...
...and boats like the Predator 72 or the Trader 70 will be both sold for peanuts on the second hand market.
I'm looking forward to that moment! /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Fast trawlers exist because we are a speed obsessed world (most of us). People want the design and features of a trawler but they also want high(ish) speed so manufacturers have to make them go fast to sell them.
 
Think your missing the whole point here, design and build of any product be it a doo dah, or a yacht only survives if customers want it, you could build the most fabulous cat ever but if the customers don't want it your doomed and unfortunately for cats the geometry of a cat means that it is always going to produce a shape similar to a skip no matter how many curves and squiggly bits you add. The leisure yacht market is driven by aspirational motives, no one absolutely no one goes to a boat show and says I'll buy the most economical boat I can find, they might if they were visiting a commercial work boat show or fishing boat show but not the leisure market. Buyers buy on as much emotion as sense and at the moment there isn't a cat out there under 50' that stirs any kind of emotion in the majority of buyers so you have an almighty uphill struggle.

As far as new build pandering to fashion at the cost of quality, what a load of old tripe, modern leisure boats are in many cases (but not all) better built than they ever were, the quality of finish on hulls is becoming near faultless, they are lighter, faster, more economical than ever. They are also very complex pieces of engineering and like any complex piece of kit need looking after which unfortunately many don't and suffer accordingly. The truth is there are no bad boats from the major players these days as far as handling or safety is concerned. It is very rare a new boat from a respected yard has weird or down right dangerous performance. Years ago there was stuff manufactured that had some very dodgy handling and some were darn well dangerous, quality from one boat to another could vary enormously and the environmental control of moulding shops amounted to a sheet of plastic a blow heater and a wing and a prayer it wasn't too damp the day when layup started. Modern boat building has its faults but God forbid we go back to the 70's and early 80's.

As far a lifeboat institutions using cats, the reason there are very few cats used for UK or north European duties is the sea state we tend to have, short, sharp rock and roll stuff is not the home of fast cats. They will survive for sure but that is not the game here, you want to go as fast as possible in the most horrendous weather imaginable, take a phenomenal amount of pounding and to date the best machine for the job is a heavy SD hull with big doo dah engines. Every combination of hull and propulsion system has been tried in every configuration imaginable and the results still keep coming back to SD and big motors.
 
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Think your missing the whole point here, design and build of any product be it a doo dah, or a yacht only survives if customers want it, you could build the most fabulous cat ever but if the customers don't want it your doomed and unfortunately for cats the geometry of a cat means that it is always going to produce a shape similar to a skip no matter how many curves and squiggly bits you add. The leisure yacht market is driven by aspirational motives, no one absolutely no one goes to a boat show and says I'll buy the most economical boat I can find, they might if they were visiting a commercial work boat show or fishing boat show but not the leisure market. Buyers buy on as much emotion as sense and at the moment there isn't a cat out there under 50' that stirs any kind of emotion in the majority of buyers so you have an almighty uphill struggle.


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Exactly the point I made - you don't have go on /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
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Exactly the point I made

[/ QUOTE ]Hi Mick /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

Yes market forces do the talking. Good points all round generally stating the obvious. Small cats do not suit the conditions on these isles. If bush the crazy shrub screws the world up even more and drives the barrel of oil up to $250 then we might have a relook at it, but I suggest if that happened most of us would move from fast fuel hungry boats to large slow displacement boats, rather than cramped ugly cats getting tossed around in the channel or Irish sea. Anyway if oil rocketted all you have to do is keep yer hand off the throttle level (eg we use only 2gph at 7.5kt, but 25gph at 26kt). Enjoy the trip south.
 
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To be honest, we don't care about these things.
The advertising worked and we looked, we didn't like what we saw so we walked.


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Understandable and honest post and if displacement catamarans are to succeed - (and there are sound reasons why they should) then designers and manufacturers will have to supply some good product and there needs to be new sexy designs in some nice locations to create desire.
 
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Small cats do not suit the conditions on these isles.

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Sadly this post is completely wrong. The short seas are ideally suited to a cat as they slice through them and there is no pounding with big flat grp panels of mono. Recent test report said of them "they provide a ride granny would be proud of". My kids simply play cards on the table even in big short seas with air between hulls giving cushion effect. Price of fuel is added factor and ability to ground here.
 
I own a a 43ft semi displacment boat for the following reason;
The keel provides brilliant directional stability at displacement speed.
At displacement speed it is effiecient ie 8knot 4mpg.
It is heavy, great Ive got a washing machine, freezer, etc
In a way its the best of both worlds, very sea friendly, unlike a cats motion in any sea which is awful.
Dont know why you keep mentioning Princess, dont think Princess have made a fast trawler yacht for years if ever and dont think Brooms have ever made a fast trawler yacht, but do make semi displacement mobo's.
I dont consider my boat is fast at around 16knots at 1mpg, but its weighs 15 tonne and is our home. Wouldnt fancy putting all our gear on a cat, it would probably snap in half!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
STOP PRESS ***** latest fast trawler design launched at show. Round bilge efficient displacement has been altered to flat panels aft to provide planing surface sacrificing fuel efficiency, comfort and seaworthiness in displacement mode. We have put bigger engines and made it lighter so it can plane. It is called a "The Princess trawler"

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