Catamarans

[tains]

I have 2ft itis. Looking for around a 26' boat. I have been reading up on catamarans and how much better they are suppose to be than a v hull. Any one own one or can give some insight. Would love to find someone that owns one so I can check it out. Thanks for your time.

 

[Down 10]

i owned a 20 ft Glacier Bay Cat, this was the first generation hull and it road great, no pounding like in a mono hull, look at the 26 ft glacier Bays with twin 150 hp great boat, only problem i see is when fishing your down rigger cables are very close to the engines which are mounted on each hull, engines are only in about 12 inches in board. I am going to take a serious look at the when i go bigger, would be killer in the rough stuff at the rats nose, out at Bamfield.

 

[tains]

Thanks for the input Down. I will have to think about that one. Hoping to hear from someone who runs one.

 

[beemer]

I have 2ft itis. Looking for around a 26' boat. I have been reading up on catamarans and how much better they are suppose to be than a v hull. Any one own one or can give some insight. Would love to find someone that owns one so I can check it out. Thanks for your time.

Hey tains , my take is that cats are more stable in rougher weather and a softer ride. The downside is poor turning at speed and the need to always run two motors. You also get "more" cabin space , but it is awkward space. Try one out , many people luv em!

beemer

 

[nedarb2]

you don't need to run 2 motors all the time. I have fished on a 26 glacier bay trolling 1 motor all day long. The distance between the two engines is great for docking too, one in forward on in reverse and you pivot on a dime

 

[Pippen]

I have played around on one in Kyuquot 2 years ago; I can't recall the brand (26 to 28') but I'll ask my buddy when I am up there on Saturday.

In some bumpy water they actually were quite a nice ride with lots of space; the cuddy on this one was actually quite spacious too.

 

[spring time]

didn't grady white make one too

 

[nedarb2]

didn't grady white make one too

yes the tigercat. not their cup of tea and grady discontinued it rather than try to push something which wasnt happening for them

 

[Seafever]

The big RCMP boat up in Port Alberni is an aluminum catamaran ( The Nadon?....think that's the name of the boat).

It's a fairly big boat. They must have had some reason for choosing a cat.

 

[tains]

Thanks for the comments so far.

 

[mlaag]

I have one if you would like to check one out. The boat is in Sooke . Once a cat owner you will not go back

 

[tains]

What do you have for a cat mlaag?

 

[Cedarstrip]

RCMP Cats

Not to sidetrack the thread, but I think the RCMP use the cats (P.V. Naden, Higgett, etc) because they're very fast for a large vessel - 60' ish feet, but also because they can launch a zodiac off of the stern very quickly.
I was on a cat once up in Winter Harbour and I thought I was going to die. Bloody thing shook around so much and pounded even in light seas I thought it was going to break apart.
Can't remember the make of the boat, so this post is essentially worthless.

 

[mlaag]

I have a Kevlacat 2400. They were made under licience in the states but have since gone out of buss. These were designed in austrialia and you can find them on the internet where they are still manufactured and very popular. They really handle the rough water well

 

[sly_karma]

Cat hulls are very popular in Australia. Typical scenario for saltwater fishing there is moorage or launch ramp in one of the many shallow tidal lagoons, then blasting out through swells breaking across the sand bar that guards the mouth of most of these 'lakes'. The cat design traps a cushion of air between the hulls that damps the ride nicely on those short steep shallow water swells.
http://www.noosacat.com.au/us.html

 

[tains]

Booked a charter out of Renfrew on the advise of one of the members. What a great riding boat. We hit a couple swells and the boat was pretty much out of the water. Waiting for a big smack on the landing but smooth as can be. The boat was a 26' Glacier Bay.

 

[juandesooka]

I am fascinated by these too and have some 2-foot-itis dreams of going this way. The only negative I've heard is how they might handle in a following sea. Have you experienced any issues with that?

Oh, and another problem, the price! Ouch.

In my obsessive internet boat shopping habit a couple of years ago, though, I found some really good deals on 26' Glacier Bays in Florida. If you're in this market (which I'm not really at this time), then definitely worth trolling down south ... especially with USA economy worsening.

 

[tains]

There were times in the following seas that the boat did roll a fair bit but the boat seemed to correct itself. It took a bit getting use too. We had it on auto pilot most of the time which is an awesome feature. Over all myself and the guys I had out were all very impressed. I will be doing some serious searching this winter. Tired of getting the &*%$$# pounded out of me and the boat going up and down the inlet and offshore. Talking to the operator, he said the fuel economy was alot better than the Grady he used to fish out of. He ran twin 150 etechs. At 22knots the gauge said we were burner 27L/hr. Trolling was down to 1L/hr. And no more trim tabs.