What do you give up in a CAT vs. V-hull
 

I have a 21' Baja for small lake "kid duty", but if I move up in size to an offshore CAT, what are the biggest differences?

A big 'ol CAT is supposed to be a hands down better rough water ride.

If that's true, why dosn't everyone have one?!?

Most v's have more cabin space than a cat. Have you priced insurance on a cat?

Insurance and cabin size are the major drawbacks.

Cord what do you have?

And where do you do most of your boating, your close enough for a ride:D

I've been talking to Jim @ Awesome a lot and it seems I have the warehouse he needs to put a dealer in this area but.....$$$

Plus I sell truck parts not boats.

wowchad-I have a 26' Firehawk. It's a center sponson catamaran. I'm definetly close enough for a ride! Looks like they are talking rain this weekend, but give me a call. I need a reason to get the boat out! 262-243-9663

adding to what's been said...
 

the beam thing does not come into play until you get into the mid 30' range for most cats.

Insurance for my 2001 Daytona is less than 2k, decent driving record and credit, 650 ponies.

The cabin is smaller, but I've overnighted and had "nooners" in mine. Some people enjoy a bigger cabin, some stuff junk in it and that's it- your call.

A mildly fast cat benefits from a pretty fast/low rpm cruising speed compared to a similar v bottom due to it's efficiencies. I cruise 55-60 at 3400 which is nice when shooting up the lake 20 miles to see friends. Many people buy a performance boat because they enjoy cruising at these speeds. Try it in a milder V and you're buzzing the motor at 4k- redline, tougher on parts and fuel.

with the 25' cat I can hang in rougher waters (for inland lakes anyway) with the 30-35' v-hulls my friends run in. While my insurance may be higher than a comparable V, it's still a bargain compared to buying a larger boat, feeding twins and insuring it. Most v-hulls my size just can't safely run at 60+ when the water get's sloppy around here- I've seen them try and it's scary

With all that said, I'm going deep V:( . My wife is skittish about the flatter cornering characteristics and really wants a bigger cabin, more freeboard etc. At the same time, My buddy and his wife went out Labor day and she loved the cat and could not believe how secure it felt, sliced thru waves, rode nice etc. Everybody is different, but in my case, you know what they say... If Momma ain't happy....

INSURANCE.......
 

I can't believe that insurance is that big of a factor.

My current boats are under Amer. Family with the house to save $$$ and they never even asked about hull type!

Well now that I've got your attention....

To you cat guys outboards or I/O?

I really like the sound of a BBC over a weed-eater but I'm sure sick of being covered in oil and grease.

I've got one blown-up 454 now with out very many hours on it.

An outboard set-up seems like a better way to go even though they sound like sh**

well
 

First........You will have to give up going slow.

Doooooh!!

maximus

I really don't like the smell of the outboards. I guess the big question is what size of boat are you looking at? What lake are you on? Most of the lakes out there are just too small for my boat. If you are looking at a small cat, 22' is the smallest that you can squeeze a stern drive into. Even then the engine will stick up like a tumor.

Re: INSURANCE.......
 

American Family will not insure a boat the does over 45 or 50. Be carefull if you ever need to make a claim.

2K ?!!!!
 

cattitude is that TWO THOUSAND DOLLARS a year? WOW

I'm glad you posted, I was wondering just how bad it was.

I'm really interested in the "flat cornering" you mentioned.



I've already dealt with the fact that you don't get the headroom in a cat but in an Awesome 26' there's a queen size bed in there!!

Plus being wider the cockpits are roomier, right?

I think it's actually closer to 14-1500, I forgot I had my ski boat in the policy too.

That's a 60k agreed value policy. Another way to look at it- My 30k truck costs about 1/2 as much a year to insure so it's kind of relative. And my ski boat costs about 400 and it's worth 20k so it's also relative.

Would you rather pay more for insurance or more for a bigger boat and power to get the ride and speed you are more than likely after?

Now if you are a young kid with bad credit and a bad driving record you'll need a canoe:D

The Awsomes do have a bed, but no head room. You lay on the bed with the deck right above you. You can only roll over, not sit up. There is also a small sink and maybe a head. I really can't remember. The problem is that you are in the bottom of the sponson so things are really tight. The cockpit is also very tight and hard to move around. With 5 people, the cockpit would be very crowded. The 26 is really a race boat.

You must have mild power in your daytona if you are only paying $1500.00 a year.

I had Two 26' DCB cats, One with twin 2.5's the other with a blown 510 (800 hp). My premium was about 3500 a year on an agreed value policy of 125k.

Once you go over the century mark insurance gets harder to find.

31 chris cat, twin 525SCs, 103mph. Over $2K/year for $55K value.

Havasu- Your agreed value is twice mine so I'd expect your premium to be no less. I suspect any 100mph boat is $$$ to insure but I really don't know. Not sure if Havasu is considered more of a High risk area too??? More traffic/idiots per square mile? No offense- but they're out there.

I just think a lot of people poo-poo cats because of the insurance but think nothing of dropping 30-40k more on the v of their choice, feeding twins etc and then I smile when I go by at cruise speeds-

no free rides, it's gotta come from somewhere.:D

Back to subject a little-

10 days ago I test drove the 24 degree V boat I'm buying, and it's beautiful. I got up on plane, trimmed where I wanted to be, tabs up, no traffic, looked at RPM- the familiar sound of 3400 RPM, looked at the GPS speedo- 20 digits too low:( Now granted, the new ride is 575 vs 650 in the cat- but still, that 20mph difference really slapped me hard. A little tweaking will have to take place over the winter- more for the decent cruise than the big number.

I hear you and the $$$ amount of the policy, but performance seems to effect the premium more. Our Cig with an agreed value policy of 225k is the same as my cats at almost half the value.

I know some guys out here that have 22' cats with twin o/b's running 115 - 135 mph that there insurance, if you can find it, is 5k a year. Value of the boat is about half of what my previous cats were.

I love cats, and will probably go back someday, but there are some downsides as well. Towing as others have mentioned is also one of the reasons I won't go with a cat over 32' or so.

Our Cig in rough water offshore at 70-80 mph is as much fun, or more, than running 100+ on Havasu.

in my experience, you give up some cabin room. But you don't give up cockpit room, most cats are wider than v's so you generally have more room in the cockpit. You also give up that bull**** of being the last one to make it where you are going. cuz your ahead of the group.......

Don

Heres the deal...... Don't ride in a good cat unless you are prepared to buy one. Once you have you won't be happy with your old V. For me the decision to go outboard was one of money . You will go faster per dollar with the weed whackers in anything smaller then 32'. The flat turning is no big deal once you get used to it
Have fun :eureka:

In mine I lost EVERYTHING but the speed, only gained 30 MPH.:crazy: