"Jere Lull" wrote in message
...
In article .com,
"Capt. Rob" wrote:

I find it interesting that this ultimately pragmatic thread has not
touched on the actual sailing experience itself.

I've chartered a half dozen 45-48' cats, been on smaller ones, and of
course a bunch of monohulls. I can get either type to go well, so
that's not an issue.

Same here.

The space of a cat is wonderful -- and horrible. From experience, if we
have space, we'll fill it up. We'll make a cat heavy pretty fast. There
goes any speed advantage.

And, safety. One should not overload a multi.

Price is certainly a factor. We can cruise for a few years on the cost
difference for the same amount of space.

Yup... they are more expensive.

My major question, though is how long will cats be serviceable? Our
little Xan is 33 years old and seems destined to celebrate 50
comfortably. That seems not unusual for most well-maintained monohulls
I see.

I saw what happened to a Gemini that smacked a wall. It wasn't going
that fast, but both hulls shattered and the construction revealed
wasn't pretty. (Truth be told, our old Macgregor seemed more solidly
constructed.) Friend on an "older" (late 80's) cat is discovering some
interesting structural projects.

Cats are built relatively lightly, and that's a good selling point, but
will it hurt them in the long run? New Hunters and Macgregors certainly
are capable of what they're designed for, but I wouldn't trust older
ones for serious cruising.

Definitely interesting questions/points... no idea really, but there are a
lot of older multis out there that are still going.

"Capt. JG" wrote in message
...
"Jere Lull" wrote in message
...

My major question, though is how long will cats be serviceable? Our
little Xan is 33 years old and seems destined to celebrate 50
comfortably. That seems not unusual for most well-maintained monohulls


To be frank, one needs to compare apples with apples. Many modern day
performance monos are very lightly built and not destined for longevity. The
same is true for higher performance multis.

There are many cruising monos that last an age and certainly, here in Oz,
many examples of cruising multis that are well built, will never win a race
because they are a bit heavier, but last very well.

My last cruising cat was built in 1983 and when I sold it at age 21 years
the survey found no issues with the structure of the boat. The gelcoat was a
bit faded but had not a single crack. Being vinylester/airex there was no
osmosis.
It surely had at least another 21 years.

She was a little slow by multi standards- 150 mile days were routine but 200
mile days would have needed a racing crew pushing hard. Nothing ever broke.

Everything is a compromise.

Peter HK