Need Opinions on a good 'starter' Cat
 

I'm getting out of my previous hobby of automotive racing and planning on moving into boats. I've been researching a lot over the past few months about powerboats and want to get into a catamaran. My uncle had a hustler a few years back that we would always take out and it was a ton of fun but, I wasn't a big fan of how it rode when pushed hard. Maybe it was the way he drove it but it always felt a little unstable.

I'm looking for some opinions on what's good out there for starter cats. I don't want to spend tons and tons of money on something i'm not capible of driving to its potential. I would prefer something in the 28-34' range. I don't want to have something small getting tossed around like a rubber duck in a tub.

Furthermore, I'd love something that can accomodate sterndrives. I've built engines for years (and yes I know cars are different than boats in how they're mechanically built) but, the way I see it is that that would give me room to grow: ie start off with stock power and work my way up over time.

Any insight or ideas? thanks!

great idea, buy my boat :)
reasonable, stock poer to learn the handling of it, buildable to the higher degree for speed
1999 28' advantage sportcat with stock Merc 502's
Bravo 1's with 1.5s as well as two sets of props.

:)

Look at Spectre or Motion. A lot of boat for the money.

x1...

Have you checked on insurance yet? Cat insurance with no previous cat experience is gonna be pricey. Good luck on your search.

X2 on the Spectre or Motion route, but this statement above is the killer. A few years back I wanted a Spectre 30 with OBs and was looking at what was out there. There always seemed to be a couple in my price range. I called around for insurance and had zero luck. No one would insure me. I had no cat experience, but I did have 20yrs. boating experience.

Unstable? LOL, wait till you slide a cat into a turn for the first time. Very different feeling indeed.

+1 on the insurance too, a real eye opener!

Try to get some seat time in a cat before you buy one and def. talk to someone on the insurance end. Also at the 28' end you can get a single engine cat but I never liked them.

So how do you supposed to get the experience?:eek:

That's a great question. I didn't have performance twin experience at the time either. That may have added to it.

You pay through the nose to the few co's out there that will even write a policy on you being no CAT experience. V hulls aren't usually a problem getting a policy unless you get into really fast boats over 100mph plus. Being a Cat is the problem.

That about says it right there. Cats usually run in the 100mph range. Harder to insure than a 100mph V bottom probably not. Call the guys that handle Cat insurance and they will help you out, calling your home owners agent is going to get you anywhere.
Where do you boat?
30 Spectre is a good choice for an I/O setup to start.

Agreed, however I will mention that state farm would not insure my Sunsation Aggressor (25ft) because it has a 502 in it and so they rate the hp to length as too high even though it came from the factory that way. But generally you are 100% correct.

Your going to get killed on insurance and when you get it the deduct will be so high that the only way to use it would be if it was a total loss.....

TZrider took us for a ride on his 32 Skater last fall. Pretty much put me in a Skater fever. I priced insurance through a few advertisers and found that after I took the Tres Martin class I could be insured but at around 5% of the boats value per year.
There were some dang nice 28 Skaters for sale at the time.
Needless to say the insurance angle steered me away.

thats not bad...i was quoted 10k a year for a 80k skater with outboards!

The class was the kicker. No way they would touch me unless I took it. I think I'm a responsible boater and hold a 100 ton Coast Guard license. Good credit and no tickets for 10 years on the highway,I've run a lot of big boats but unfortunately none were cats.

thanks for the advice. In terms of insurance then how do you go about it? does everyone just pay out the ass for the first couple years or what? or would I be better off with a v hull for a little while first? (i've never had a boat in my name)

26 American Offshore Oh by the way I have one for sale.97 mph all day long! cheap on ins.

My family has had boats my entire life and I've had my own boats since 22. Cats are appealing but I just can't swing the ins. You'll pay thousands per year minimum with experience. Having never owned a boat it's likely you can't get ins at any price.....if you do get quoted I bet it's at least 10% of the boats value......and not only will it won't drop for many years, it won't drop much if it ever does.

If you are under 35 and lacking cat experience, I'd say you basically can't get insured at any price.

How to get experience? Buy a old, small cat with no loan, and insure w/ an umbrella or something? Alternatively you could get fast boat experience, and then after 35 get a cat?

I disagree, <--was under 35 and purchased a smaller cat and am insured with State Farm
Is it cheap, NOPE!, but it is a lot less then some others!
I feel it helps to have everything with one company, and a MUST to include an Umbrella policy that includes it all!
Kept the boat under 100mph for just that reason.
Guessing by his request that he is not wanting a 35+ 120mph cat to start off with. Actually glad to hear that as well since we have all heard of newly aquired high powered boats getting into some sort of trouble.

I have used St farm for several boats and they were always very clear that they did not insure boats over 75mph....and excluded a buddies 72 mph Top Gun cause they don't insure cigarette boats (they were covering my 382 Formula though).

It depends on what size and speed Cat you are talking about. If you are going 36 ft, and 150 mph cat, even V experience wont help on the insurance problem. But if you are talking 26 to 30 ft cat and less than 100 mph, V experience is looked at, and as said, if you can get some in even a small cat, STV, Mirage, or others it will help.
Do yourself a favor call Stacy, she will take the time to answer your questions about insurance. She has underwriten alot of boats on this site, and has a very good reputation.

Stacy Shute

The NO LIMITS Insurance Agency

Wake Zone Marine Insurance 480-357-9663 ext 101
For an online quote: www.wakezoneinsurance.com
[email protected]

The cats discussed here are mostly outboard. 30 Motion and Spectres are great hulls with outboards. The I/O versions are not the best setup and will porpoise a lot. Most good cats (true tunnel and light weight) under 32 feet are better with outboards. The 32 Skater with I/O power is as good as it gets. You might want to check out Eliminator hulls as well. Good lake boats. There are some good deals on 28-33' Daytonas.

I've been around speed long enough to know that no matter how good you think you are, you can't just jump into something that's stupid fast and think you're the cat's ass behind the wheel. Yeah, it would be awesome to have a boat that does 120+ but i'm sure i'd become complacent and try to push it which I really don't want to have the option to take the risk of. That's why I was looking at I/O boats. I figured i'd start with one that did 65-75 and then after a season swap props and put blowers on and work my way up or something similar.

Honestly for the amount i'd use the boat in a season and based on you're guys ballparks of insurance on a cat I don't even think it would be worth it. I've had cars that I spend over 1k a year on insurance for and put less than 400 miles on in a year. stuff like that burns my ass, but I realize thats how ins companies make their money.

Maybe it's time to start looking into a 30' or so V hull

Agree 100%, outboards are the way to go in a smaller cat.

What's the sense of having a cat if you're not going to break the 100 mark? :drink:

another person that hates his money LOL

That right there is funny! :drink:

I'd bet that your agent put something not completely honest through....... check all your policies. I agree with T500hps in that I'm pretty sure State Farm won't insure fast boats/cats.

State Farm insures my 502 powered Checkmate 253 Convincor. $400 a year I think is not too bad.

Not sure how you got that through.

I have everything with state farm, and when I bought my boat I called my rep and gave them all the info and they said ok, got a call 2 days later stating sorry but the policy cannot be written as the HP (415hp and its the 502mpi motor) to length (25ft) ratio was out of their guidelines and that the boat was too fast. I even threatened to pull all our policies and they said sorry but they will not insure the boat. I have a totally clean driving record, good credit, ect... I still have the letter they than sent me explaining it all in detail around here somewhere.

Not sure either but I just paid it two weeks ago.

New Spectre 32
 

this boat will be featured in Powerboat magazine this month along with the Cover..

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Insurance is not an issue, give us a call at Spectre, we have a program for first time cat buyers and can easily get you the insurance you need.
Speak to Mike. 727-546-3000