User experiences of powered catamarans

[jusii]

I was eagerly reading the thread of Dominator Cats, but found it got off topic towards the end. Since where I am from, we don't have powered cats, I am kindly asking those of you who have a boat of such construction or have on board experience of such boat, to write a little more.

The nearest cat manufacturer to me is the British Power Cat www.powercats.co.uk. Its a 5,25 m boat and is rated max for 2* 40 hp engines. Its semidisplacement boat and thus economical to run. Its power range is within 30 - 80 hp installed power. Its range is said to be 90 miles at 16 kts with 2*15 hp engines and 60 miles at 26 - 30 kts with either 2*30 hp or 2*40 hp engines when it consumes 50 l gas. These figures are from their brochyre and for me its not clear if they refer to Nautical Miles or Statute Miles when speaking of distance. I see this type of development in boatmarket supply as very important and the way to go in the future.

How about the australian cats? Are they all with planing hulls? How hard riding is the Webster boat compeared with a Dominator, Noosa or Kevla Cat of the same size? I have learnt over the web that Dominator leans in on turns, Noosa and Webster have single engine versions and Kevla Cat looks great. Can you give me some additional info of their behavior when the sea is choppy, when you head these boats in different angles in the waves? Are the smaller ones any more seaworthy than similar size monohulls? I know where I can go with a 5,5 m monohull, but what is the case with a cat. Any nasty fearures nowadays?

Regards
Jusii

[flatstrap]

Hi Jusii,

I've just recently joined the Ausfish community. See New member (be gentle). I have owned three other cats in my boating life. Once you've had the experience of a few hundred hours in a tinnie, then a glass mono, then you'll appreciate the definite step up to a cat.


The best behaved mono I've had was the Haines Hunter 773SC. Power was 2x Mercruiser (freshwater cooled) 470's. From memory I think each motor pumped out 170hp and used straight petrol. Great boat!

My first cat was a 5m SharkCat built by Bruce Harris. Then a rush of adrenalin, and ordered the first 7m Flybridge SharkCat by then built by Anderson. This boat was featured in Fishing World and tested by Ron Calcutt. I towed this rig (4.4m height) from Sydney to Mackay NQ. Took four days of great suffering but hugely compensated by incredible bottom bashing
on the GBReef.

The main annoyance of Aus waters is not always big swells (waves) but steep chop. The cat handles this really well especially with a following sea.

Don't want to hog the forum, but just a few observations over the years. More if you're interested. I'll dig up some pix to make it more interesting.


Cheers....Flatstrap

[TheDeepSix]

Flatstrap
I'd be keen to see your pics as well,
Thanks
Tiga

[jusii]

Terve (= Hi) Flatstrap!

Thanks for responding to this thread. I am also a new member and as you can tell I am not a native englis speaking man (it requires even a little bit more to be visible here!).

Please show your pictures of cats.

One definition; "following sea" does it mean that one is going down wind or is it referring to some tidal current situation? I have no experience of tide phenomenons since our Baltic Sea doesn't have any tidal movement never the less its connected to Atlantic Ocean through Danish straits.

Regards
Jukka (alias jusii)

[Blackened]

G'day jukka
A following sea means you're running the same direction as the waves/swell. If the waves are heading south, you're heading south, following it .
Dave

[jusii]

Okay Dave, so with your pacific ocean waters the wind can be of remarkably different direction as the waves (swells). Thanks for the explanation.

Anybody who happens to sea this, I put a report of my visit to Helsinki Boat fair 2006 as a new thread. The moderator kindly moved it to Boating Forum in the midds of generating it. Now I cannot open it. Can anybody else see it or is it lost for good. The report was not finished and would have had a few more pics and descriptions included.

Jukka

[chanquetas]

Jukka,
Yes, there seems to be a problem with the thread "Helsinki 2006 Boat Fair visit".
I have sent a message to the administrator for you who will no doubt fix it.

Cheers,
Jake

EDIT: Helsinki thread now fixed by Ausfish.

[flatstrap]

Hi Jusii,
What part of the world are you from? The cats are interesting boats. As in all things there are pluses and minuses. The cat's big plus is hull integrity and the way they are set up, there are two independent systems for batteries, fuel, etc. So the odds are a bit better than most.

They handle differently from monos as they lean outwards (like a car) around corners, and when I have mono owners on board that haven't been in a cat, this freaks them out.

Sometimes too, the 'mist' just sweeps into the boat on mysterious occasions. This is a pic of cat #3. Made by Haines Hunter in Brisbane. 7m and powered by 2x200HP Mercury.

Easier to tow on the road than the flybridge SharkCat.
Regards...Flatstrap

[Moray2004]

I have an old (circa 1986) 6.2m Kevlacat and bought it about four years ago. # #I fish out of Cairns and although we are protected from the big swells we get a relatively short chop that really pounds the spine in most monohulls (15 to 20knts). #I'd read a lot about cats and took the plunge in buying it. #Could not be happier.

It is only a 6.2m hull but it rides much better than other similar sized monohulls i have been in- provided you are going at speed. I can almost always come home at around 24knts in a 18-20knot sea provided it is not head on. #You might take a few good knocks but the proof of the ride is that i can still sit in my seat and not be uncomfortable. #In fact the other day it was blowing 18knts and two of the crew managed to fall asleep on the deck on the way home. #The wind was coming from the south south east and i was headed south west so it was almost side on.

The handling of cats is very different to monohulls. #Yes, they lean into turns and this can be very un-nerving at first but i've pushed it pretty hard at times and think you would have to do something very silly to get into trouble. #Too tight a turn will result in the motor on the inside of the turn losing traction and so you lose power. #With a head on sea you tend to land a lot "softer" than most monohulls but i think that a deep vee would probably have the edge in rideabilty head on. #At all other angles, whether coming at 45 degrees from the front or rear the boat tends to oscillate from hull to hull so the ride is very smooth. #Again though, it is very different to how a monohull behaves but it becomes quite rhymthic as it oscillates from left to right. It is not a bad feeling but can leave you very nervous for your first few rides.

Other advantages of cats are: stability on anchor - no comparison to monohulls in this regard, especially compared to deep vee hulls that rock and roll on anchor( especialy if the wind and wave oppose each other and you hang side on;also you can get everyone across to the same side looking at something (eg about to land a great fish) and the boat hardly leans over at all; space - loads of space for a relatively small boat due to the box shape of cats; two engines - this is a double edged sword as it offers greater security and safety but much higher capital and operating costs.

I have ridden in a new 2400 Kevlacat but only for short runs (on a ferry service) and it had a noticeably softer ride than my version but generally speaking it had the same ride characteristics.

Over the past four years i've taken out many experienced monohull boaties and apart from getting used to the different ride they have been impressed. Certainly the biggest negative is cost. #Expensive to buy and expensive to run. #However, why do we work so hard in the first place? To get the money to be able to enjoy our hobbies.

Cheers

Michael

[finga64]

Where's Ahoj??? :-/
This is right up his alley

[flatstrap]

Hi Moray2004 (Michael),
I managed to overcome the biggest disadvantage of the cat (cost). I happened to be at the right spot at the right time and discovered my present cat on the net. It turned up at Campvale (near Port Stephens NSW) advertised for sale. Imagine my surprise when I went to look at it. Sitting on a yard trailer, an ex-Police Patrol boat built to survey Cat by Edencraft. WoooHooo! This guy had bought it at auction as a project boat but didn't go on with it as he had two other cats he hadn't touched for 10 years. I made him an offer he couldn't refuse as his wife (standing beside him) was sick and tired of his procastination. They were living in an acreage block and very basic. Thousands of dollars tied up in his unfinished projects.

You won,t believe what he accepted...wife (staring at him) having a large influence in accepting.
Regards,...Flatstrap