Conference unifix::sailing

    May be Cats are more popular in the Med where the waters are kinder
 than in Northern Europe where you see Cats about but not in great numbers.
    At the recent Southampton Boat Show the cats were outnumbered
    considerably by mono's. I believe that the French builders are now
    building production cats in great numbers. So over in your neck
    of the woods I guess you could contyact the agents for Benteau ,
    Jeanneau , Gibsea or Dufour.
    
      
                              

    I chartered a 40' Cat in the Med for one week from a port near
    St. Tropez.   Cat's in that size have a fantastic amount of room
    and a large dining area.
    
    What was particularly *Fantastic*  was the ability to sail at
    
    14 KNOTS.... AND serve soup in the cabin and the boat was perfectly
    flat!!!
    
    Frank
     

    In New England there are these drawbacks that come to mind......
    
    Haul out is not going to be easy for a large cat on the typical
    Travelift (too much beam).  
    
    Storage in most yards is calculated by length x beam (big number
    for a cat).
    
    Slips are probably out for a cat as we have very dense boating
    population and lots of narrow fingered floating docks which wouldn't
    accomodate a cat.
    
    All the above adds up to a built in bias against cats in colder
    waters with lots of boats where hauling is the norm in winter.
    Of course if you are going to live aboard, your hauling will not
    be to store for winter but you will still not find too many New England
    locations that could haul a large cat even for bottom painting.

    

    
    Check out the SIMMONS Sailing (sp?) on Long Island in New York.
    I was really impressed with the INTERCAT 28 last year and was close
    to the "lets go sail it" stage.  The pre construction prices were
    down right tempting!!!!  Prices are a lot higher now but seem to
    be in the "acceptable" range (what ever that is).  I may still have
    the info laying around if I havent gotten frustrated and tossed
    it.  I saw it in the Crusing World the last month with a new name
    like ??? INTERNATIONAL 1500 ???  I believe that it had to do with
    the interior size??  
    Any way if I can find the number and you need it send me mail. 
    I dont always get to keep up with this conf.  Good luck
    
    `Charlie'

I rented a 38' cat in France, during 3 weeks. Let me mention a few observations:

- Very fun in medium to strong winds ... but "heavy" to manage: Sails are big 
  and powerful, and the helm wasn't very well compensated. I don't recommend
  to singlehandle the boat (even more if you first idea was to buy a motorsailor)

- Needs a lot of place in harbours, which is rare and expensive

- 2 motors (1 one each hull) is a must

- If the boat is overloaded, she becomes really slow

My first conclusion was: "Never again". However, I'm now thinking that, yes, 
I could rent one again, but only in places where it's easy to find safe 
anchorages, and with a crew of 2 experimented and robust people ...

So I advise you not to buy one, without having really tried it yourself !

I'm fond of multihulls, for most of the obvious reasons and some less 
obvious ones, and am fortunate to crew from time to time on a Condor 40.
RE: hauling, yes, the size is awkward, but the weight is light.  The 
Condor 40, for example, is about 6000 lbs, which means a realtively modest
over-the-road crane can pluck-and-place with little fuss.  (You just have
to find a place!) 

*The* source for multihull info is Multihulls Magazine.  Call 617-328-8181,
or write them at 421 Hancock St, Quincy, MA 02171.  It's not going to wow 
you with it's writing or style, and the editor/publisher is rather biased
and occasionally petty in his views I think, but they do cover the entire
scene worldwide quite well.  While in Hobart recently, I spent quite a bit
of time viewing 45' ocean racing cat "John West" dockside and at *speed*
in 25+ kts of wind in the Derwent River -- it was especially interesting
having earlier followed her escapades in the pages of Multihulls.  The new
French and Japanese multis (mostly cats in the cruising market) are
mentioned and advertised, as well. 

J.

    Thank you John,
    
    I've ordered a copy of "MultiHulls" and will keep the Notesfile
    posted on my research on the subject.
    
    Cheers,
    
    Ray