Tom, I hear ya and agree both are great boats, the thing that really has me convinced to try the cat for now is with it I can go with outboards and get both speed and economy. I really don't care about the cabin and as for trailering the one I'm getting has a 9' beam so I'm good to go unless I decide later on to step up to a bigger / wider boat. At that point I'd also be getting away from outboards and the equation would have to be looked at again. As for rough water handling if a larger V hull runs past me on a rough day, cool, I'll try and get pictures for the owner but I think it's gonna have to be pretty rough for that to happen unless we're talking about a significantly larger V hull. From everything I'm hearing the 32 cat will handle about anything a standard 38 V will (a competition version is another animal I'm sure). Maybe I'm wrong but to be honest I don't care, if it's that rough we'll go somewhere it isn't and have more fun.

BTW I'm truly not trying to troll the Donzi thread and talk up the cat, I posted here in an honest request for data on the 38 ZR since my decision was between it and the 32 cat. It's just after I got quite a few opinions I've decided the IO route isn't for me right now. The boating season here is too short to worry about how I drive the boat in fear of hurting either the motor or outdrive all the while getting admittedly dismal fuel economy. With the outboards I can run them at 90% all day long and they don't care, try that with an IO and I'm not convinced it's going to hold up for a season much less 2 or more. I know it's all a part of the cost to play but for now I'm going to try the outboard cat.

Remember, it's addicting. Within five years you will have a Nor-Tech, Skater, or MTI. I wish you the best with your cat, you will be surprised on how well it handles rough water. If you get on top of the waves the ride is better than a V hull. If I could justify two boats my second choice would be a Donzi 38/43ZR. I like them both.