http://www.cigaraficionado.com/Cigar...22,595,00.html



a 4 engine turbine skater?

damn that is long.. I like this part (yes I own a cat)
Or you can forget about a mere 100 mph. If you have big enough balls, and want to leave mono-hulled V's in your wake, a 120- to 160-mph catamaran, or "cat," is the only way to go.

The badass of offshore boats, with a reputation for flipping over and laying upside-down in the water, these smokin' winged-type cats with two hulls (called sponsons) and a tunnel running between them are not for the faint-hearted (and arguably not for the entry-level buyer).

Catamarans are said to be less forgiving than V's since each hull can respond to waves differently in rough seas. Air rushes under the hulls and is compressed in the tunnel, giving the boat extra air-lift. While going airborne is exciting, the inexperienced driver can easily launch or hit the water at too precipitous an angle. Which is why Beline describes a cat's rocket-style kick as "a ticket to the jaws of hell."

Recalling the catamaran crash that claimed the life of Stefano Casiraghi, the husband of Monaco's Princess Caroline, off the coast of Monaco in 1990, Beline says, "Cats are just too radical a boat for the beginner. They don't handle rough water well and don't right themselves after tipping over, forcing the occupant to swim out and up. Cats are simply too dangerous."

Cruising at 100 mph, cats still offer the ultimate thrill on water: head-turning speed, especially in a top-of-the-line Douglas Skater, a 46-footer with four gasoline turbines selling for $700,000.

This is the machine for those who want to wreak havoc--and maybe lose some friends en route. "Pit this baby against an Apache, a Cigarette, any deep-V, and you annihilate them," boasts Douglas Marine owner Peter Hledin. "The only drawback to owning a cat is intimidating your friends. They hate you, for once you open a cat up, their V-bottoms are ancient history."

Yet even if cats are short on socializing (usually not for sunbathing, most cats have protective canopies with riders strapped and helmeted in separate compartments), catamarans are that expression of freedom a cigar smoker can relate to.

"Cats are the last true refuge for speed freaks," says Connecticut anesthesiologist John Golia, who traded in his Cougar V-bottom for a Skater about two years ago. "Very fuel-efficient, cats are the future. In them, having no fear of getting ticketed on the open sea, I can escape, numb myself and just go crazy."

Just what I want to be in a cat going 100+ Numb and crazy!

No, they are the chit if its speed you want at a whole lot $$$$$$ less then V`s. But you gotta,have too respect them..You really have to read the water and be aware of whats around you at all times. The big Yatchs can send a wake your way from miles away,and you dont pick up on it till its right there. Remember 100 mph things are changing quickly around you,but once you get the hang of it there nothing like it. You sacrifice the launch in the big rollers for triple digit speed. Some say you can launch with these cats,but I do not have that much of a death wish. Like pacinair said,you have two sponsons that need to land right or things can go bad fast, he`s right its a white knuckle ride when they dont.

Only 700,000 for 4 turbine/drives/skater? haha, right.

Hyper, the article was published in 1996. It may have been true back then...

a 4 engine turbine never existed....and when does a v hull self right after having been flipped?

Ok, makes a little more sense now. Now 100k would be drives for that boat.

"The only drawback to owning a cat is intimidating your friends. They hate you, for once you open a cat up, their V-bottoms are ancient history."



This quote is soo true.

and when does a v hull self right after having been flipped?

I rolled a 38'Activator Super V at Savannah last year and it ended right side up.

It's funny reading articles like that when the author only uses bits and pieces of quotes and embelishes the rest as they feel necessary.