Can you identify this cat?

[allied35]

This is the cat that made me sell my monohull. I sailed it for an hour or two in Elizabeth harbor, Bahamas with a guy who was delivering it to Turks and Caicos. I can't remember what make he said it was and I want one!
This thing was so fast and nimble, we didn't get the GPS out but we had one hull starting to lift a little and it seemed like we were going at least 20 knots; is that possible?
Sorry if I sound ignorant but it was the only time I have sailed on a cat so I have no idea. After sailing this thing, 6 knots in my old 35' monohull seemed like such a drag that there is no way I could ever cruise on another one.
I realise this cat is not a cruiser but my needs are very basic and I have no need for a living room on top of the hulls
This is what I know about the boat. It was 34' long, had one outboard in the center abaft of the mast which was of the rotating type. It had tillers and the rudders were mounted behind and not underneath. It had kevlar sails (if I remember right). It had standing head-room in the taller part of the hulls.

Also how strong is the aluminum pole set-up to connect the hulls? Could a cat built like this endure ocean crossings? It seems a bit flimsy.

Thanks for any help/advice.

[allied35]

I am posting the picture again as it seems to have disappeared from the first post

[CTMD]

Great barrier express? I know of a few of these that have crossed between the pacific islands and New Zealand and I'm pretty sure they have crossed the Tasman too.

If you like this style of boat investigate the New Zealand Formula 8.5 class, there are lots of designs to choose from.

[allied35]

Great thanks, I will google them now!

[charmc]

Hello, and welcome, allied35!

Your experience is common for a first time sail in a multihull in a good wind. Yes, it's possible you could have hit 20 knots, depending on the conditions, etc.

I'm not a cat expert, and I don't recognize the make from that one photo. Appearances can be deceiving with regard to strength in multihulls, as weight saving is always a factor in design. That forward hull brace looks light, but there could be some strong reinforcement in the hull attachment points. The bridge deck looks pretty solid.

Overall, she looks fast and might be good for coastal and shorter offshore passages. You'll need an expert's opinion on suitability for long ocean passaging. One of the experienced multihull sailors or designers here may recognize her.

There are many good cats out there. Since you've just been "bitten" by the multihull bug, I'd suggest a lot of research and trying as many as you can before making any financial commitment.

[allied35]

Thanks Charmc,

My finances will ensure that I don't buy before having a good bit of time for research
Thanks for the advice.

[Capn Mud]

Great barrier express? I know of a few of these that have crossed between the pacific islands and New Zealand and I'm pretty sure they have crossed the Tasman too.

If you like this style of boat investigate the New Zealand Formula 8.5 class, there are lots of designs to choose from.

Or check out Firefly 8.5, designed by Mark Pescott and built in Phuket (and other places). FUN!!

http://www.latitude8yachts.com/crewed-firefly.htm

[tspeer]

Originally Posted by allied35

This is the cat that made me sell my monohull. ...
Sorry if I sound ignorant but it was the only time I have sailed on a cat so I have no idea. After sailing this thing, 6 knots in my old 35' monohull seemed like such a drag that there is no way I could ever cruise on another one.
I realise this cat is not a cruiser but my needs are very basic and I have no need for a living room on top of the hulls...

Ah, the multihull moment! An innocent no longer - you've tasted of the fruit and there's no going back, now.

In multihulls under roughly 30 ft, a trimaran typically has more accommodation than a catamaran. Above 40 ft, the cat usually has more room than the tri. So you might want to look at trimarans as well as catamarans. Surprisingly, trimarans are actually more similar to monohulls than cats in many ways. Speedwise, it's horses for courses - each design will have conditions in which it will excel.

The Farrier designs, in production by Corsair (and home-built), are perhaps more expensive than cats of the same length, but not necessarily more expensive if you compare on the basis of equal accommodation. I would guess you could buy an F27, F28 or an F31/F9 for what you'd get for your 35' cruiser. Balancing the purchase price is the fact that F-boats hold their value well, and since you can trailer them, you don't need to pay the cost of wet moorage. They are great boats for the way most people actually use their boats, since very few make long passages. They won't carry the kind of load your 35' cruiser will, but with "15 kt by sea, 55 kt by land" you can jump to where you really want to sail if you're going up and down the coast. And they will fold on the water to fit into a normal slip, which can sometimes make a big difference.

You should contact your local multihull sailing club, show up at some meetings to meet people, and start crewing in a variety of different types of boats. That's the best and cheapest way to find out what kind of boat suits you best.

[Capn Mud]

Tom,

Gotta agree with all that. I currently have an F27 and it is the best boat under 30 foot of any configuration I have sailed on. Prior to her I had a 30' Albin Ballad and I can remember having the "multihull moment" (as you so appropriately term it) on the F27 with my best sailing mate - we both cracked huge grins as we effortlessly cracked 10 knots.

In Jakarta here we have generally quite light winds and often it seems like she is making her own breeze while skimming along at 5 knots while the heavy monos crawl along at 2 or less. Being fair the monos have more space below decks - but not that much more and here in the topics sleeping above decks is more comfortable and there is certainly more room on the tramsp for a comfy sleep than in some bunk in a stuffy below decks.

[allied35]

Thanks for the info tspeer and capn mud. One thing that also really annoyed me about my monohull was the rolling in some anchorages (especially south of Georgetown, Bahamas), I read that some tris also roll a bit from one ama (or aka?) to the other, is this true?
Thanks, Leo.

[tspeer]

The time I've spent sleeping on a tri have all been while sailing or tied to the dock. I've not done it while anchored.

I suppose some tris could walk from side to side if they had a great deal of clearance under the amas. But most designs have the amas just clear of the water when bolt upright. So there may be some rolling, but nothing like what you'd get from a monohull. If it did walk from ama to ama, you could shift some gear to one side to make it stay heeled in one direction.

Don't forget that nearly all these boats can raise their boards and even the rudders in most cases. So you don't have the lateral plane area underneath to be as affected by the waves. Multihulls tend to have a motion that is more like a raft. Since the "apparent gravity" is always at right angles to the water's surface, you don't get the side forces from moving in the waves that you would from a monohull, even as the boat rolled to stay parallel to the water's surface in a wave.

[catsketcher]

Hello

At over 30ft the cat is a Turissimo. Malcolm Tennant designed a 9 metre and a 10 metre version. The 9 metre one was more popular - quite a few in NZ.

As to your question of tris bouncing at anchor - if you are serious about cruising I would recommend you steer clear of ones with the amas lightly loaded - especially with one ama out of the water at rest. In my years of cruising aboard my Twiggy (31ft racing tri -one ama 2 feet out of the water) we often got a rough nights sleep when no one in a cat knew there was a chop. The thing would flop in a chaotic way. I loved her anyway but I get a much better sleep in a cat.

Another thing to note - these racers that feel so evocative will not be the same when you put all your junk on board. A multi with slightly more volume in the hulls is needed - it is all about the immersion rate. Look at multis cruising - heaps of them have sterns immersed or have had transom extensions. As opposed to your mono the things go down really quickly with any weight put in them.

When cruising the tri we once sent home 40kg on the train - I could see the difference. I could always tell whether my wife (and she is light) was in the stern bunk from the dinghy by the way the tri shifted slightly.

cheers

Phil Thompson

[Capn Mud]

Thanks for the info tspeer and capn mud. One thing that also really annoyed me about my monohull was the rolling in some anchorages (especially south of Georgetown, Bahamas), I read that some tris also roll a bit from one ama (or aka?) to the other, is this true?

Answer: What Tom said!

Cheers,
Andrew

[Chris Ostlind]

This rolling at anchorage thing is all about the boat design and your personal preferences. Get yourself tired enough from a hard day of sailing and there's not a boat bunk around that won't hold you deeply in its arms.

While in the military, I learned how to sleep in a moving tank. Loud as hell and bouncy like an amusement park ride inside, with hard, pointy things all around you.. and some of them go boom!

The guys on the big maxi-cats do it all the time and the reports are that the interior noise level is just like a freight train at speed, with all the movement of same and then some.

The human body is incredible at adapting to the needs of the moment. And it helps to be in your early, to mid, twenties.

[teamvmg]

To stop the flip-floping at anchor, jam the inflatable tender under one of the amas