Sorry for the long post and sorry for rehashing a cat/V discussion...

I've never owned a performance cat and have little interest in the 100 mph + that most cats offer. Where I go boating, the seas are usually a confused chop, 2'-3' on a good day but more likely 4' from all directions. I'd like to have 80ish mph available for the odd calm day but more importantly, cruise at 50 in small chop and still maintain a reasonably comfortable 30-35 mph in 4 footers. Purely social boating so comfort matters.

My current 27ZR needs more than 30 mph to plane and when the sea is choppy, the boat is too small. How would a cat in the 25'-30' range compare? Would she plane in the low 30's and still handle 4' chop without getting belted around? I suspect a 25 footer wouldn't make the cut but a 30 footer might. Anyone have any experience comparing a 27' stepped Vee and a cat under 30'? Considering outboard power only, I like to be seen but not heard.

RR

You will get beet up , had a couple 28 cat.s unless your up on the bubble 50 60 plus it gets smoother but slop in 4 + footers no .

An American Offshore/Awesome Cat/Chris Craft 30-3100 with twin outboards may meet your criteria. I’m under the impression the hulls built in the 90s and earlier are a bit heavier and may suit your rough needs a little better. I don’t think you’re going to find a better riding cat for the money in this size range. They also have useable cabins and seating for 6 in the cockpit, cool boats!

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I always loved the Chris cats ==> Chris Cat






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the Chris Cat and later derived hulls are not the thing for you. they were designed to run in the upper 80's and above so they dont start to air out until 85 or so depending on the weight. most cats are going to have the same problem and run wet until you get them moving. they depend on air up under the tunnel to lift them and with out it they get really unhappy. that said, if you want to run in that type of water at 90+ comfortably then the Chris Cat is the hot ticket. 3-4 foot at 90 is nothing in them and I have run several in way worse conditions at that speed. for overall comfort I would look for a straight bottom Vee hull as it will be most at home in that water at slower speeds.

Here's a video highlighting what these gals can do with a little air under em.

This video is a 28 skater in water as rough as your saying or worse, we were running 65-80 mph. It was a good ride for the conditions. Look in the background at the waves whitecapping. In a 27' v-bottom you would not be able to run over 30 mph. But we could not run under about 50 mph or it would have started riding as bad as the v-bottom would.
Video in quote below
https://youtu.be/7q1SUJizLj4

Now the link works.

Real 4’ers you better have 38 + ft v or cat to be comfortable on a regular basis.

Thanks for all the replies, and a couple of good videos too.

I had a suspicion you'd tell me I need bigger than 30' and I understand cats like to go faster to get the air and lift to run well, which means a bumpy ride on top. Bigger Vee hulls are tough because I can't service custom engines or blue motors over here so the 496HO is the limit. I would much prefer outboards if possible, Spectre 30 looked interesting, appears to offer a bit more size than most but still sounds too small after reading here.

Might have to consider something bigger. My old Fountain CC handled the chop well but I get bored and change boats a bit easily. Don't want to go back to another CC, not sure, ummmmm!

Thanks again,
RR