Kevlacat v Dominator Owners Feedback

[slugger]

Hi Fellas, Just thought I'd ask for some feedback on the things you like and don't like about your Dominators & Kevlacats in the 5.2 - 6.2 range eg the Dominator has a walk thru transom between motors, how handy is that compared to the stepover transom on the Kevlacat. What are the best and worst features for you ? Best power etc.

Cheers Slugger.

[TheDeepSix]

slugger,
I'm happy with my little KCat tiger (5.2m), it has a walk through transom with a vertical sliding removeable door,
This is probably an option on the larger models too? When I can afford it going to repower it with twin 60 yamaha 4 strokes, currently runin 70 yamaha 2 stokes........
Cheers Tiga..

[Az]

try a search mate

[slugger]

Hey Tiga, what do you like most about it compared to other boats youve been in or owned. Ride, stability,layout, room, finish? What dont you like about it?
In your opinion are they worth the $ or would you be just as happy with a good mono?
cheers slugger.

[insideout]

gday slugger, from what i can gather, a cat is a cat , no matter what sort it is . They all offer a better ride than any mono ( foot for foot ) and this has been a heated issue for a long time, but a cat offers more fishing room, more water saftey, and a softer ride. The trade off is that a cat will not turn as well as a mono, will not generally have as much fuel ecom (because 2 outboards on cat 1 one mono, as a general rule of thumb, but there is exceptions to the rule) and cost a sh@tload more to buy new, but in my OWN OPINION ,worth every cent for me , for i spend a lot of time on the water, and so do a lot of my mates that come with. I tested lots of cats and my personal choice was a 2400 kevlacat, but this is a personal choice, and while i was testing all the cats i could, each had there own merits and bad points. Stability is better and i will debate this with anybody,for i have owned a large cross section of monos- cats ect, and ,as a lot of ausfishers on this site, been in some big sea , and terrible bar crossings. In situations like that i would rather be overpowered than underpowered , and i prefer to have 2 outboards than one, especially on nasty bar crossings, because in my head, while all outboards are good in todays market, two is always better than one, and if you think in a money mindset, the life of yours ,and whoever is with you, be it family , friends ect ,is worth more than say 15000 dollars for the second engine. anyhow ,enough of my waffling on , im getting another drink, if you would like to speak more, i am only to glad to try to help....

[kitty_cat]

HEY SLUGGER,
i own a 5.2 kevlacat as well and as stated above foot for foot there is no better boat on the market for stubbility, comfort of ride and deck space.
i work for springwood marine as well but hope my fishing posts prove that i do plenty of offshore work to back myself up as well . i would have no problems in helping you out in a demo and price on any of the kevlacats .the walk through transom door is definatly something we can do as well.pm me if you would like anymore infomation i would be happy to help
wayne

[TheDeepSix]

Slugger
Before I bought my Kcat 5.2 I phoned the Websters (father/son-Editors of Fisherman & Boatowner Magazine) & asked them what was their favourite boat they have ever owned, answer I got - Kevlacat 5.2. You can't beat them for their combination of soft ride/seaworthyness/stability/deckspace/horsepower needed to push & also ease of towing (I tow mine once a year up to Stanage Bay , 900km each way no worries) . You can rarely find them on the used market (maybe 2/3 change hands a year in the whole of Ozz) and this says something for the standing of this boat. I bought mine 2 days after it was advertised & had to drive from Brizzy to Sydney to collect. As with all offshore boats Bigger is better & one day I'll be gettting a bigger one.
Hope this helps, Tiga............

[XR]

Slugger,
I was looking at purchasing a new cat late last year. I water tested the Dominator 7m and the 2400 Kevla cat. Coming from a deep vee mono hull (Cruise craft Scorpion), i was mainly chasing a better ride, as a fish the offshore reefs etc, and quite often have to pound my way in/out for hours. I did like a lot of things about the Dominator layout, it is quite good and has a huge deck space. There were a couple of layout issues that did not suit me ie no rear live bait tank and the bunks go across the boat rather than fore/aft. The Kelva cat is smaller in size and also has a smaller deck area, due to having a larger cabin ie the bunks run fore/aft. So basically on the layout front it would be personal preference between the two.
However as far as ride goes there was no comparision. The Dominator pounded much like a mono hull, probably a little better riding than a deep vee mono, but not much. Have a look at the hull and you can see why. Head on into the chop a mono would have been better. It did handle well and would "Lean" into the turns if driven correctly, however for offshore work i do not see any benifit in a boat that turns like a ski boat. It was very stable and planned effortlessly.
The Kevla cat ride was superb. It carved up the 1m chop, at all speeds, we could do 40+ knots head into it. It also planned effortlessly and was extremely stable at rest.
Summing the Kelva cat would be my choice every time, as i think one of the main reasons to go for a cat is the ride, so i cannot see the point in something that rides like a mono.
At the time i was arranging to test a 2400 Power cat also, which apparently rides as good or better than the Kevla, but due to business reasons, i have had to pull the pin on buying a new $100k boat for the moment.
Hope this helps.