Okay....went out on a PDQ 36 and we really liked the speed and room,
especially now that Thomas is nearly 5. I think we'll probably keep
the 35s5 Beneteau for a couple of years more, but the idea of the PDQ
36 or a boat like it looks like a lot of fun.
The PDQ didn't go upwind like our 35s5, but it still made 6 knots
fairly close and did nearly 11 on a reach.

So....some questions.....I'm studying the PDQ 36 and Seawind 1000. I'd
like a FAST cat, but with accommodations in the same league as the
PDQ. Maybe the PDQ is best? The Seawind?

I'm looking at a budget of under 200K. Of course that may improve as
we'll have lots of time to arrange things, but 200K seems appropriate.

I'm still looking at pilothouse boats (my favorite looking craft), but
few do what I need. The Corbin 39 remains interesting. So for
now...just fishing for ideas on the PDQ 36 and boats like her!

Thanks,



Robert B
Beneteau 35s5
NY

Capt. Rob wrote:

Okay....went out on a PDQ 36 and we really liked the speed and room,
especially now that Thomas is nearly 5. I think we'll probably keep
the 35s5 Beneteau for a couple of years more, but the idea of the PDQ
36 or a boat like it looks like a lot of fun.
The PDQ didn't go upwind like our 35s5, but it still made 6 knots
fairly close and did nearly 11 on a reach.

So....some questions.....I'm studying the PDQ 36 and Seawind 1000. I'd
like a FAST cat, but with accommodations in the same league as the
PDQ. Maybe the PDQ is best? The Seawind?

I'm looking at a budget of under 200K. Of course that may improve as
we'll have lots of time to arrange things, but 200K seems appropriate.

I'm still looking at pilothouse boats (my favorite looking craft), but
few do what I need. The Corbin 39 remains interesting. So for
now...just fishing for ideas on the PDQ 36 and boats like her!

Sorry for the delay - we've been cruising and have had limited broadband
connections. Actually, the cell phones and my new Kindle give us most
of the connectivity we need, so I don't bother to hook up the wifi
antenna often.

I've haven't sailed the Seawinds, and only went on the 1000 once at
Annapolis. My recollection is that it didn't make me regret getting the
PDQ at all, but I don't remember the specifics. The layout is similar,
but the PDQ "felt better" to me. By the numbers, the Seawind is 14
inches wider, which can be a problem: our haulout marina hoist is maxed
out by our 18'3". The Seawind carries more sail, but weighs 30-40%
more. I might guess the Seawind is faster than my loaded LRC (with
diesels) but slower than a stripped out PDQ Classic. Also, the twin
outboards won't push it very fast, especially against the elements. And
the fuel tank is small, so it isn't made for something like an ICW trip.

You probably won't have a problem getting a PDQ for under $200K,
assuming you can find one the suits your needs. Older boats have been
as low as $130K, and the newest have not been much over $200K. In a few
years you might be able to get ours if we decide to downsize. (A house
on the Vineyard with a catboat in the harbor is looking nice now!)

One small point - the "queen size" bunks on the PDQ are actually a few
inches smaller. As I recall, you put a premium on long bunks, so this
could be an issue!

Jeff, aboard Loki, Vineyard Haven

On Aug 14, 9:56 am, Jeff wrote:
Capt. Rob wrote:

Okay....went out on a PDQ 36 and we really liked the speed and room,
especially now that Thomas is nearly 5. I think we'll probably keep
the 35s5 Beneteau for a couple of years more, but the idea of the PDQ
36 or a boat like it looks like a lot of fun.
The PDQ didn't go upwind like our 35s5, but it still made 6 knots
fairly close and did nearly 11 on a reach.

So....some questions.....I'm studying the PDQ 36 and Seawind 1000. I'd
like a FAST cat, but with accommodations in the same league as the
PDQ. Maybe the PDQ is best? The Seawind?

I'm looking at a budget of under 200K. Of course that may improve as
we'll have lots of time to arrange things, but 200K seems appropriate.

I'm still looking at pilothouse boats (my favorite looking craft), but
few do what I need. The Corbin 39 remains interesting. So for
now...just fishing for ideas on the PDQ 36 and boats like her!

Sorry for the delay - we've been cruising and have had limited broadband
connections. Actually, the cell phones and my new Kindle give us most
of the connectivity we need, so I don't bother to hook up the wifi
antenna often.

I've haven't sailed the Seawinds, and only went on the 1000 once at
Annapolis. My recollection is that it didn't make me regret getting the
PDQ at all, but I don't remember the specifics. The layout is similar,
but the PDQ "felt better" to me. By the numbers, the Seawind is 14
inches wider, which can be a problem: our haulout marina hoist is maxed
out by our 18'3". The Seawind carries more sail, but weighs 30-40%
more. I might guess the Seawind is faster than my loaded LRC (with
diesels) but slower than a stripped out PDQ Classic. Also, the twin
outboards won't push it very fast, especially against the elements. And
the fuel tank is small, so it isn't made for something like an ICW trip.

You probably won't have a problem getting a PDQ for under $200K,
assuming you can find one the suits your needs. Older boats have been
as low as $130K, and the newest have not been much over $200K. In a few
years you might be able to get ours if we decide to downsize. (A house
on the Vineyard with a catboat in the harbor is looking nice now!)

One small point - the "queen size" bunks on the PDQ are actually a few
inches smaller. As I recall, you put a premium on long bunks, so this
could be an issue!

Jeff, aboard Loki, Vineyard Haven



Jeff, thanks for the comments. I like the PDQ. My main issue at this
point is the very different sailing experience delivered by the PDQ.
To be frank, it's quite numb and uninvolving compared to the boats I
typically sail. On the other
hand the PDQ is immensely practical and Thomas had a blast with the
space. I very much appreciated the speed of the PDQ and it was fun in
it's own right. Also, handling the sails was so easy compared to my
35s5's
giant mainsail.
We're having a lot of fun with the Beneteau and there's no rush. But I
would like to try something different with the design of the next
boat, so a cat would prove interesting for a few years. I expect I'd
return to a monohull at some point.



RB
35s5
NY

We were also aboard a Gemini 105m yesterday....interesting boat,
though smaller. Build quality looked pretty good. The owner claimed he
hit 14 knots on a reach.



RB
35s5
NY

Capt. Rob wrote:

We were also aboard a Gemini 105m yesterday....interesting boat,
though smaller. Build quality looked pretty good. The owner claimed he
hit 14 knots on a reach.

The quality seems to be getting better - we rejected the Gemini because
of poor quality/finish; the one we saw in Newport at the '94 show looked
like it was pulled off the line a few days before it was completed.
Although one did an Atlantic crossing (with much fanfare), the rumor was
that they might not have made if they didn't have a factory engineer on
board, and people came off muttering "never again"! I was also a bit
freaked when I kept finding mentions of propane leaks caused by using RV
quality propane fridges that rusted in the marine environment. On the
other hand, as a sheltered water cruiser, (Chesapeake, LIS, etc.)
they're not that bad.

As for 14 knots, that shouldn't be too hard on any modern cat that isn't
loaded down, if you go looking for wind. During our first summer
(before we added an extra 1000 lbs of crap) we hit 13+ a number of times
reaching in about 22 knots, and were sustaining 11+ consistently. And
as I've said, we have the heavier LRC, plus cruising sails (heavy main
with stack pack, high cut 115% jib). This was also "low effort
sailing," with my wife reading magazines, me on the stern bench with the
autopilot remote, and the kid probably watching videos. The factory
guys always talked about 17 knots, but I never wanted to put in the work
to do that! If you really want speed, one PDQ was built for the CEO's
brother that had a dagger board instead of keels, a tall rig, one
outboard, and leaving out as much weight as their new CAD software would
permit. The result was a real speed demon, but the price I saw on it
was pretty high.

If you really want speed, the tri's (such as the Corsair) are the way to
go. A bit short on the accommodations, but you can be fairly confident
you'll get an exciting ride almost every time out.

"Jeff" wrote in message
...
Capt. Rob wrote:

We were also aboard a Gemini 105m yesterday....interesting boat,
though smaller. Build quality looked pretty good. The owner claimed he
hit 14 knots on a reach.

The quality seems to be getting better - we rejected the Gemini because of
poor quality/finish; the one we saw in Newport at the '94 show looked like
it was pulled off the line a few days before it was completed. Although
one did an Atlantic crossing (with much fanfare), the rumor was that they
might not have made if they didn't have a factory engineer on board, and
people came off muttering "never again"! I was also a bit freaked when I
kept finding mentions of propane leaks caused by using RV quality propane
fridges that rusted in the marine environment. On the other hand, as a
sheltered water cruiser, (Chesapeake, LIS, etc.) they're not that bad.

As for 14 knots, that shouldn't be too hard on any modern cat that isn't
loaded down, if you go looking for wind. During our first summer (before
we added an extra 1000 lbs of crap) we hit 13+ a number of times reaching
in about 22 knots, and were sustaining 11+ consistently. And as I've
said, we have the heavier LRC, plus cruising sails (heavy main with stack
pack, high cut 115% jib). This was also "low effort sailing," with my
wife reading magazines, me on the stern bench with the autopilot remote,
and the kid probably watching videos. The factory guys always talked
about 17 knots, but I never wanted to put in the work to do that! If you
really want speed, one PDQ was built for the CEO's brother that had a
dagger board instead of keels, a tall rig, one outboard, and leaving out
as much weight as their new CAD software would permit. The result was a
real speed demon, but the price I saw on it was pretty high.

If you really want speed, the tri's (such as the Corsair) are the way to
go. A bit short on the accommodations, but you can be fairly confident
you'll get an exciting ride almost every time out.


In your previous post, you mentioned the Seawind 1000... nice boat, although
I wasn't impressed with the accomodations, especially the galley-down. It's
possibly smart for a passage, since you'd be able to brace yourself (which I
suppose could come up even with a stable boat like this), but I find it
restrictive and uncomfortable, which is one of the main points of sailing a
cat. I've not sailed a PDQ. It's on my list.

I've sailed the 1000 many times out here... sustained 25kts air, typically,
and we regularly got into and sustained double-digit speed. I like the
double triangular spreaders, which increased the stability of the rig,
certainly felt that way. At one point, we were sailing in over 30kts with a
full main. It didn't seem to struggle but we did finally reef her down.


--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Capt. Rob wrote:
We were also aboard a Gemini 105m yesterday....interesting boat,
though smaller. Build quality looked pretty good. The owner claimed he
hit 14 knots on a reach.

Last Saturday we rode a Gemini 105m back from a local anchorage in Barnegat
Bay in light following winds. To our delight we somehow managed to outrun a
Stiletto catamaran who initially was ahead of us by perhaps 2 to 3 hundred
meters. I will not say the Stiletto was well sailed, but he finally gave up
the ghost in disgust and refused to compete (we know where this boat lives
and would most likely have been going for the night). I must say the the
Gemini was a delightful experience for me, a monohull type of person.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegat
http://home.comcast.net/~kerrydeare

On Aug 18, 11:49 am, "Armond Perretta"
wrote:
Capt. Rob wrote:
We were also aboard a Gemini 105m yesterday....interesting boat,
though smaller. Build quality looked pretty good. The owner claimed he
hit 14 knots on a reach.

Last Saturday we rode a Gemini 105m back from a local anchorage in Barnegat
Bay in light following winds. To our delight we somehow managed to outrun a
Stiletto catamaran who initially was ahead of us by perhaps 2 to 3 hundred
meters. I will not say the Stiletto was well sailed, but he finally gave up
the ghost in disgust and refused to compete (we know where this boat lives
and would most likely have been going for the night). I must say the the
Gemini was a delightful experience for me, a monohull type of person.

--
Good luck and good sailing.
s/v Kerry Deare of Barnegathttp://home.comcast.net/~kerrydeare



Thanks for the comments. Cats are not common on the LIS, but I've
become very curious about them. We're not sure what comes next. I met
a Corbin 39 pilothouse and fell in love. Then I sailed on a big
Beneteau 51 and that's a lot of boat with comfort and good speed. Then
I saw my second Pacific Seacraft 32 Pilothouse...utterly terrible for
my waters, but a sweet boat. And finally there's what we sail now, the
Beneteau 35s5 is fast, fun and roomy enough to make us question buying
another boat, but I'm ever curious about trying out other designs.
Boats like the PDQ 36 or Gemini are very appealing, but I'm not sure I
want to give up the "feel" of a monohull.


RB
35s5
NY