7 M Rollinator Real Facts.......

[julian1]

Julian,

If you were put in the driving seat of a totally unknown, never been in before boat (Cat), could you absolutely and categorically guarantee you would not come unstuck, especially in first up conditions that were not ideal without any background in the boat what so ever?

In a vessel you have absolutely no background of or knowledge about or know any of its special/particular quirks then this is why I raise this particualr query.

Regards, Kerry.

Hi Kerry, if i did not have any Cat experience then i would be feeling very unconfident in a 25kt side wind, but even in my own Cat let alone one i have never driven, i would be very careful in those sorts of conditions, but to tip over yes it could occur from driver error, but not a cat driver that has many hours under his belt (unless they were pushing it), try 25kt side wind with a 3-4m swell up your stern then you start concentrating on the driveing but you can still maintain 15-18kt in those conditions without too much stress as long as you don't drop into the really big holes !

[Kerry]

I think much of the Cat can do stuff is very much over rated to the point of exaggerated "at times" as they can/will become quirky at times and it is knowing these times that can/will make all the difference. There is quite a difference between 1000's of "cat" hours and no sea time on an unknown boat/cat!

Really there are so many variables in all of this.

Maybe the sales rep should have been given 2 options, here take the wheel yourself otherwise go down the back, sit down and shutup.

All this about a boat not being able to run across a sea in a straight line has a rather limitless approach to the whole thing, but there does become a limit where thinking has to change as it's simply not always possible regarldess of what the sales rep thought/wanted/expects or any potential buyer was expecting.

Regards, Kerry.

[Kerry]

Hi Kerry, if i did not have any Cat experience then i would be feeling very unconfident in a 25kt side wind, but even in my own Cat let alone one i have never driven, i would be very careful in those sorts of conditions, but to tip over yes it could occur from driver error, but not a cat driver that has many hours under his belt (unless they were pushing it), try 25kt side wind with a 3-4m swell up your stern then you start concentrating on the driveing but you can still maintain 15-18kt in those conditions without too much stress as long as you don't drop into the really big holes !

Yes and it only takes one hole, one lapse, in the wrong conditions if you are pushing things beyond the limits there are generally no second chances! Somehow there continues to be this thinking that because it is a Cat it will do it regardless!

All this hours of cat driver stuff is really quite irrelvant as it really has all to do with hours on particular vessel not type in all conditions.

[julian1]

much agreed Kerry, and as I said earlier in these sorts of conditions on the wrong wave at thge wrong time to have the port side engine stall when the starboard sponson is digging in and not coming back up very well, you certainly could see the potential for a roll over, but why has there been a few of these models roll over ? all driver error ? maybe and as i asked earlier (and you would be well informed i'm sure) how many Kevla's and Noosa's and Sharkcats have rolled over the years ? and by the way mono's roll as well and when a deepvee rolls onto one chine in averge conditions its not much fun either
i'm sure there are lots of factors why these cats have rolled and its very interesting, i have not driven or been in a 7m Dominator so I can't comment on there performance, but Seamedia had a high regard in there tests ? (does that mean anything?)

cheers Julian

[Kiktz]

Kerry,

I agree with you as well when it comes to sea time in a vessel.
Myself with our mono hull was not totally confident for some time. It wasn't until i did some time in some ugly conditions that I purposefully cross the southport sea way in, also being caught in the bay on the way back in.

But I would ask your opinion as I do have the same thoughts as Julian,
It seems that the 7m Dominator has had more "Failings" If you like than a lot of other cats on the market. As Julian stated yeah driver error, but you would have to think that not all could / would be driver error.

From what I gather you have had your fair share of sea time in all sorts of vessels.
Where is the line drawn if it possibly can be, between hull design and driver error?

Regards Aj

[saurian]

Why did the port motor , just give up the ghost .
Seems to me this has more bearing on rollover than the make of boat .
And if the port motor did fail why are the speeds talked about in this thread relavent ???
One motor , failing , bang and the starboard side with heaps of downward trim falling into a hole without the port motor , of course it's going to dig in let alone roll-depending on sea state.
Isn't that more likely than blame this or that ?????
Sorry to not blame a boat totally unknown to me , but read what the bloke said instead of witch hunting a boat brand.
Ta

[Getout]

Seems to me that having to go fast to make the cat ride better is part of the problem here. I've been in some horrendous seas in monos and never felt like I was goiung fast enough to trip over.

[julian1]

Seems to me that having to go fast to make the cat ride better is part of the problem here. I've been in some horrendous seas in monos and never felt like I was goiung fast enough to trip over.

cats will ride better if you can get more air through the tunnel and hence the faster you go the more air, however sea condtions will restrict this speed as it will with any boat, the laws of physics will take over eventually, i think in this case the stalling of the motor would have had a great deal to do with this, should we blaming Honda ? but the question still remains, why has there been more than one case with this particular model ?

[finding_time]

The 150 like most Hondas have 2 stages of oil and temp safety systems, on both accounts the engine slows to 1800rpm for 20-30 seconds to re asses the fault if the engine does not recover, then the engine can be shut down. After reading your statement I am of the opinion the engine may have initialy come back to 1800 thru a temporary loss of oil pressure (rough weather and low oil level combined can cause this) after lossing power and the cat rolling onto its side it's a fair assumption thet the high pressure fueol pump could loose suction (due to the angle of the boat) and would cause the engine to stall

Garry

Saurian

The above quote by Garry probably awnsers your question

Ian

[Spaniard_King]

should we blaming Honda ? but the question still remains, why has there been more than one case with this particular model ?

Julian,

why should "WE" be blaming anyone? We are not performing the investigation

Trial by media will not get a conclusion

Garry

[BM]

I suggest we await the outcome of a properly conducted investigation into the incident. Rather than the Ausfish commentary teams verdict.........

[julian1]

Julian,

why should "WE" be blaming anyone? We are not performing the investigation

Trial by media will not get a conclusion

Garry

HI Garry, maybe blaming is the wrong terminology, but in effect that is what this post is doing, but really we are looking for an answer as to why it happened ? so far we have:

Hull design
conditions
driver error
Port side outboard stalling (honda)

and its probably a combination of all the above, but still there has been others, does anyone have the facts on the other stories of this problem ?

[DR]

I suggest we await the outcome of a properly conducted investigation into the incident. Rather than the Ausfish commentary teams verdict.........

:grin::grin::grin::grin::grin:
you've been around long enough to know that will NEVER happen...

[BM]

Yes, a bit utopian I suspect DR!!!

Tall poppy syndrome (cutting them down I mean) is alive on well on the various forums thats for sure.

Anonymity probably has something to do with that......

[finding_time]

Considering that Markham's and Northside Marine have been telling anyone that would listen for the last 8 months that the whole inncident was "DRIVER ERROR" even though there rep was on the boat giving instruction

I think threads like this are very valid , This isn't a trial but an examination and a post from either Northside marine or markhams would be more than welcomed after all there are 3 side to every story

Ian