catalac 27 catamaran

8 Best Catamarans That Are 30 Feet or Less

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Large-sized catamarans are appealing due to their ample spacing and comfort. Therefore, a cruising family or couple looking to buy a boat is more likely to go for one of these. But are there small cruising catamarans that provide the performance, comfort, and amenities found in larger boats?  

The best catamarans under 30 feet (9.14 m) include the TomCat 6.2, Cadillac 27and 30, Gemini 30, Endeavour 30, and Maine Cat. These time-tested cruising cats are easy to handle, premium built, and are great for daytime sailing, overnight trips, and some even suitable for long-range sea passages. 

In this article, you’ll find a list of the best cruising catamarans below 30 feet (9.14 m). Keep reading to discover which catamarans make this list, what they have to offer, their pros and cons, and how much they cost.

If you are unsure whether or not 30ft is too small for your needs, then I suggest you check out another article I wrote named Best Size Catamaran , it will discuss why length matters and how it affects safety.

Unlike most catamarans designed for racing purposes, the TomCat 6.2 is a medium-sized cat that’s well-suited to daytime cruising. It boasts high-quality construction, vacuum-bagged hulls, and a plywood-reinforced deck.

This 20 footer (6.09 m) comes with an 11-foot (3.35 m) beam and not only offers you safety and comfort but performance and versatility as well. 

This boat has a centrally placed outboard engine and two rudders that allow it to turn quickly and maneuver confidently into and out of marina slips. The 9.9 hp outboard propels it to speeds of around 8 knots (9.21 mph or 14.8 kph), though the boat has the potential to move faster if desired.

This simpler type of cat (just one engine as an example) also allows for cheaper and easier maintenance. Maintenance costs are something most people underestimate when getting a cat, if you want to get some real numbers from actual sailors then I suggest you read this article (How much does it cost to maintain a cat).

The boat sails with minimal heeling, comfortably accommodate 6-8 people, and you can sail it single-handed or take a crew. 

High and narrow hulls bearing arched bottoms allow for a low wetted surface. The hull design provides low resistance and a great deal of reserved buoyancy and also enables you to drive through closely spaced waves.

On most 20-footers (6.1 m), driving through waves generates a smooth but wet ride, but with the TomCat’s enclosed deck (link to parts names explained here ), you are safe and protected behind a windshield and the high bulwark.

The TomCat makes an excellent cruiser because it performs impressively well both under sail and power. It combines the performance of a modern sailing cat with the comfort, style, and convenience of a powerboat. It’s also trailerable since you can detach the hulls from the deck , winch up the deck on a trailer, and slide the hulls underneath.

But the best part is that it’s easy on the pocket, with the price ranging between $36,750 and $44,580 .

Catalac 30 (9M)

The Catalac brand consists of strongly built vessels that sport thick hulls, glass windows, narrow beams, and vertical transoms . Catalac 30 was the first vessel in this popular British cruising line designed by Tom Lack in the late 60s. The boat’s appeal was attributed to its safety, ample spacing, well-built interior, and load-carrying abilities.

These characteristics are extremely important on a safe catamaran, overloading your cat makes it sit lower in the water, increases drag, reduces handling and speed, there is stuff you should know about this (so that you can make an educated buy). I have created an article where I try to explain the basics of a safe cat ( link here )

Sporting 5 berths, a massive galley, plus a cockpit with a sheltered steering position, the 30-foot (9.1 m) Catalac makes an excellent floating home for a cruising family. It sails exceptionally well, doesn’t heel ( heeling explained here ), and delivers a reasonable motor-sailer level of performance.

Furthermore, the hulls provide adequate headroom, allowing those on board to move around comfortably, and there’s enough space on the deck for sunbathing. 

The Catalac’s structure features solid fiberglass, chined hulls, and a staggered sheerline that allows easy aft access. With a modest rig that’s easy to handle, the Catalac can deliver top speeds of up to 12-14 knots (13.81-16.11 mph / 22.22-25.9 kph) under sail.

Given that the boat’s design focuses more on comfort than speed, this is a spectacular performance.  

Catalac 9M requires a skilled hand when turning into the wind as it is prone to blowing sideways. This is because the boat lacks ballast (which helps in keeping momentum during a tack) but also centerboards ( explained here ).

Skills are always the most essential things to bring aboard and you can acquire them in many ways, my two favorite ways are through NauticEd courses (two free courses here ) or by reading books (my top 15 books here )

Back to the boat! This model came in two versions; the standard layout contained a 30-40hp outboard, while the second option had duo engines. The latter is easier to maneuver into a marina. 

These cats retain their value pretty well. However, they might not be easy to come by since most owners find it challenging to get their hands on a larger boat with similar qualities and performance.

A Catalac 30 (9M) goes for between $33,000 and $55,000.

Catalac 27 (8M)

The Catalac 27 8M is a pocket cruiser that boasts a strong reputation for high quality, durability, and strength. Besides, the boat’s design makes it somewhat suitable for bluewater sailing ( understand why the small size is an offshore problem).

Built like a battleship, the boat contains solid fiberglass hulls. Additionally, it comes with double engines, a large cockpit fitted with cushions all around, and features standing headroom in each hull.

Like the Catalac 9M, this boat comes with two different layouts; a twin inboard diesel engine or an outboard engine. The twin-engine models can motor up to 1000 km (621 miles, read more on cat fuel consumption here ) without needing to refuel, while the 70 amps of charge plus water tanks (70 gallons / 265 liters) make these vessels remarkable coastal cruisers. 

Catalacs equipped with outboard engines sail faster since you can raise the engine during sailing and are also lighter. This helps to minimize drag . Catalac 8M sports a short but thick mast that helps make the boat stable. 

Though small in size, this catamaran packs a lot of features in its small frame. It has a full-sized berth, a large galley that’s almost 8 feet (2.4 m) long, a quarter berth, head, and navigation station.

What’s more, the cockpit is as large as that of a 38 to 40-foot (11.5 to 12.1 m) cat.

Catalac 27 costs about $31,836.

The Endeavour 30 

The Endeavour 30 catamaran is a boat characterized by stability, ample deck space, and a spacious interior. It boasts fast cruising speeds under both sail and power.

The boat has mini keels and rudders plus symmetrical hulls separated by a hydra-cell. The latter is a center section with a characteristic V-shape. 

The boat’s vacuum-bagged construction helps enhance strength and stiffness while reducing weight. Furthermore, the interior has a fiberglass mold, providing extra strength and rigidity. With sufficient breeze, this vessel can deliver reasonable off-the-wind and doable upwind speeds.

As such, you can expect to attain speeds of about ~10 knots (11.51 mph or 18.5 kph) on power reaches. Below is a video showing a panoramic tour of the Endeavour 30:

This vessel has the internal capacity of a 40-foot (12.1 m) monohull. And you can tell this from the unique layout merging the cabin and cockpit with wide doors to the numerous features packed into this 30-foot (9.14 m) vessel.

It has a spacious salon, an enormous galley, two queen berth staterooms with plenty of storage space, a head with separate showers, and a sizable U-shaped dinette. 

You can get this boat for under $50,000 .

The Geminis by Tony Smith were the United States’s first production cruising cats. Today, these vessels remain the most appealing American-built cruising catamarans. Built between 1981 and 1990, the Gemini 30 does not have a contemporary design, but it works remarkably well for cruisers desiring generous living space in a small affordable sailboat.

At only 14 feet (4.2 m) across, Gemini cats are somewhat narrow. But this mean s they can easily fit into most of the regular marina berths.

Besides, the boats still contain enough interior space for a queen-size double berth and two smaller doubles housed in separate guest rooms.

There’s also a modest but serviceable saloon with duo settees and a collapsible table that can transform into an additional double berth.

For the Gemini 30, this translates to a cruising cat with standing headroom that can comfortably accommodate 3 couples in private cabins or a family with small children. A good-sized galley, a spacious head with a shower, nav desk, and a large comfy cockpit make up the Gemini 30’s cruising palace.

Catamaran layout is highly personal and if you want to learn more about different characteristics then I suggest you read my article Designing the perfect catamaran layout ( Link )

While not that fast, the Gemini 30 will easily outsail the Endeavor 30 discussed above. Its daggerboards (which are explained in detail here ) can point well, and if you keep it light, it can do 7-8 knots (12.9-14.8 km/hr) under sail.

Besides, raising the daggerboards reduces the wetted surface area, and increases the speed downwind.

The Gemini 30 tends to pound and hobbyhorse a little when sailing in choppy waters – particularly when overloaded (more on load carrying capabilities in this article ), but the deep pivoting daggerboards provide stability and lift underwater.

Furthermore, the Gemini’s retractable rudders enable it to venture into shallow waters.

This is a very popular cruising cat that’ll give you a lot of bang for your bucks.

You can find a Gemini for less than $65,000.

Maine Cat 30 

The Maine Cat 30 combines premium quality construction materials with the most advanced building techniques to create a lightweight vessel capable of handling most offshore conditions. What’s more, this boat can remain trouble-free for years on end with little effort.

If you are in the market for a simple liveaboard cruiser that you can use for a short weekend getaway or a cruising voyage, this is it.

The boat has a sizable primary stateroom berth with ample overhead space and a dresser fitted with a hanging storage cabinet. The enormous head includes a toilet, sink, 20-gallon (75.71 L) holding tank, vanity, and a pressurized shower.

Covering the open bridgedeck is a permanent hardtop. This spacious bridgedeck can hold quite a crowd and comes with a convertible dinette that turns into an extra berth. If need be, you can even enclose the entire space using acrylic windows or screens. Gabo

The 360-degree visibility from the cockpit allows the captain plus the crew a panoramic view, and all sail controls go back to the cockpit, which is very useful if wanting to sail single-handedly.

I believe that most boats should be set up in this way since sooner or later you might be in a situation where there is only one person to handle the controls, such as in an emergency. But more on that in another article ( Link ).

The Maine Cat 30 is a classic boat that delivers on high-performance multihull sailing. Designed to offer much better performance than catamarans bearing tall and heavy bridge decks, this cat weighs less and suffers less windage thanks to the acrylic windows.

The boat’s interior layout allows for easy cleaning as surfaces sport a smooth gel coat and satin-finished cherry trim. The solid but lightweight furniture bears the same Core-Cell foam core employed on the hull, deck, and hardtop. Plus, there’s ample storage for all your sailing equipment, cleaning supplies, and provisions.

A Maine Cat 30 can cost up to $110,000.

Heavenly Twins 27

The overall design of this well-equipped catamaran makes it a superb pocket cruiser.

Heavenly Twins 27 manages to fit not one but two coachroofs on hulls that are only 27 feet (8.20 m) long. Canoe sterns and a central cockpit separating the duo coachroofs form the boat’s other prominent features. 

Famous for their excellent build quality, medium-depth draft, and narrow beams, Heavenly Twins 27 appeals to a wide range of boating enthusiasts.

These include solo sailors, weekend sailors, cruising families, circumnavigators, beginner sailors, and experienced liveaboards such as this famous Youtube channel “Kittiwake”.

The vessels house double cabins in the hulls while the forward starboard contains the heads and, to port, the galley. You can easily access the bar from the well-protected cockpit while the Comfordesk accommodation converts into a double dock. 

A stoop through allows access from below-deck to the aft compartment without going through the cockpit. There’s ample storage space throughout the boat, plus you can section off the large stateroom into smaller double compartments if desired.

The price range for this boat is $ 20,098 to $24,193. (I believe that kittiwake is for sale too)

The last cruising catamaran on my list is the Aquilon 26 . This French-built cruising vessel is light in weight and trailerable, which means you can disassemble it in a few hours or transport it as-is.

Designing a boat that is possible to disassemble usually means that it is structurally less strong, which by no means is a problem during coastal sailing but the Aquilon 26 is mostly attractive to sailors who prefer inland lake sailing. It’s also suitable for beginner sailors.

Although there are no real “beginner cats” there are specs to consider if you are a beginner with catamarans, most of them I have listed in another article ( here ). Gabo

This 26-footer (7.92 m) has the potential for good speed though its layout is anything but conventional- which forms part of its appeal.

The cockpit works as the saloon, and a full bimini protects the crew from lousy weather. The starboard hull contains a dinette and galley, and the port has a double berth stateroom. The windows are quite unusual, but they provide lots of light, remarkably enhancing interior visibility.

Aquilon 26 can deliver an average cruising speed of 10knots (11.51 mph or 18.5 kph).

On a beam reach, you can expect around 25 knots (28.77 mph or 46.3 kph) with an adequate breeze ( I have never sailed at 25knots but researching this boat supposedly it is possible).

You can get this boat for under $50,000.

What Makes Small Cruising Cats Attractive?

Small cruising cats are ideal for sailing along the coast. But that’s not all. Under capable hands, properly fitted smaller cats can also deliver spectacular offshore passages similar to their larger counterpart (Heres a list of full-sized bluewater cats).

They can operate over long cruise ranges, cross oceans , and circumnavigate the globe . Smaller cats are also suitable for day sailing, overnight trips, and coastal or inland voyages. 

For most sailors, comfort on board is crucial, so they’ll look for a vessel that guarantees a comfortable cruising experience. The good thing is that smaller vessels provide almost the same qualities and amenities that bigger vessels offer. Plus, you can do quite a bit with the available space, especially if it’s well laid out.  

You’ll find that most 30-footer (9.14 m) or more miniature cruising cats comprise a galley, head, bunks, navigation and entertainment electronics, and refrigeration.

Sailors usually talk about these benefits of smaller cats:

• They’re less expensive. Large boats are costly to buy. They also cost more to hire, maintain, and dock. You can buy a small-sized boat at a much lower price, and parts tend to cost less too. Besides, you get to use smaller sails, winches, and lighter lines than those applicable on a larger boat. And since marine services such as moorings and haul-outs get billed via boat length, a smaller cat makes sailing more affordable.
• They boast superior builds. Most cruising boats under 30 feet (9.14 m) feature designs that are 30+ years old. In those days, weather forecasts were hard to come by and not as accurate, so boat builders used hulls with thicker fiberglass than the type found in today’s builds. Furthermore, everything in the boat, including rigs, rudders, hulls, keels and decks, was designed to withstand strong winds and high waves. 
• They have simpler systems. This means less time spent fixing and maintaining your boat. For instance, most small cruising cats often lack water-makers, hot water systems, or electric anchor windlasses. 
• They’re easier to handle. Smaller cats are simpler to sail than larger cats. It’s also easier to sail one single-handed or with a small crew.

What is the largest cat on person can sail?

The Disadvantages of Smaller Cruising Cats

Below are some of the most discussed downsides of small cats:

• They have limited living space, storage, and amenities.
• Though they don’t heel much, they are less comfortable than larger boats since they get tossed around much more easily in big ocean swells.
• It’s not easy to accommodate crew for extended periods; hence there are fewer hands to share work.
• They are slower and take longer to get to their destination.

Though fewer are on the cruising trails than their larger counterparts, small catamarans make ideal cruisers because they are simple, seaworthy, and pocket-friendly.

When choosing the best cat for your needs, focus on quality rather than size. A well-planned 30-footer (9.14 m) is reliable and provides ample space for your accommodation, dining, and relaxation, plus a storage room for provisions and any spare parts you might need. 

And if you want even more info than I have presented to you in this article I would recommend a book from Serj, he makes it easy to understand why size matters and how to find a cat suited for your needs (amazon link )

Owner of CatamaranFreedom.com. A minimalist that has lived in a caravan in Sweden, 35ft Monohull in the Bahamas, and right now in his self-built Van. He just started the next adventure, to circumnavigate the world on a Catamaran!

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Here’s what to know about a US couple missing in the Caribbean

Police in Grenada said the U.S. elderly couple Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel, whose catamaran was hijacked a week earlier, were likely dead. (AP Video: Kenton X. Chance)

The yacht “Simplicity”, that officials say was hijacked by three escaped prisoners with two people aboard, is docked at the St. Vincent and the Grenadines Coastguard Service Calliaqua Base, in Calliaqua, St. Vincent, Friday, Feb. 23, 2024. Authorities in the eastern Caribbean said they were trying to locate two people believed to be U.S. citizens who were aboard the yacht that was hijacked by the three escaped prisoners from Grenada. (AP Photo/Kenton X. Chance)

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SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — Authorities in the eastern Caribbean are scouring waters in the region in hopes of finding a missing U.S. couple who were aboard their catamaran Simplicity more than a week ago when police say it was hijacked by three escaped prisoners from Grenada.

Police have said that Ralph Hendry and Kathy Brandel are presumed dead . The search for them began on Feb. 21 after someone discovered their catamaran abandoned on the shores of St. Vincent and alerted authorities.

Police say the three prisoners escaped from a police station on Feb. 18 and hijacked the catamaran a day later. Authorities said the prisoners then illegally entered the southwest coast of St. Vincent on Feb. 19 and docked the boat. Two days later, the three men were arrested along the island’s northwest coast.

Here’s what to know about the case:

WHY WAS THE COUPLE TARGETED?

It’s unclear why the escaped prisoners hijacked the couple’s catamaran, but it was moored at Grand Anse beach, near to the police station where the three men escaped.

Police believe the men hijacked the catamaran with the couple aboard and then allegedly threw them into the water while traveling to St. Vincent, which is located north of Grenada.

They have noted that there were signs of violence aboard the catamaran.

WHO ARE THE ESCAPED PRISONERS?

Police in Grenada have identified the escaped prisoners as Trevon Robertson, a 19-year-old unemployed man; Abita Stanislaus, a 25-year-old farmer; and Ron Mitchell, a 30-year-old sailor.

All were charged a couple of months ago with one count of robbery with violence. Mitchell also was charged with one count of rape, three counts of attempted rape and two counts of indecent assault and causing harm.

Vannie Curwen, Grenada’s assistant police commissioner, has said the men had been placed in a holding cell rather than in jail, because a judge hadn’t yet ruled whether they would be released on bail.

WHO IS THE COUPLE?

The Salty Dawg Sailing Association has described Brandel and Hendry as veteran cruisers and longtime members who were “warm-hearted and capable.” It noted that Brandel served on the association’s board for two years.

The association said the couple had sailed their boat in the 2023 Caribbean Rally from Hampton, Virginia, to Antigua and planned to spend the winter cruising the eastern Caribbean. A GoFundMe donation page stated that Brandel had become a first-time grandmother.

Nick Buro, Brandel’s son, and Bryan Hendry, Hendry’s son, said in a statement Tuesday that they were “incredibly saddened” to hear that the couple was presumed dead, but added that they remain optimistic about the ongoing search.

“While the end of their life may have been dark, they brought light, and that light will never be extinguished from the hearts and minds of the people who knew, loved and cared so deeply about them,” they said.

WHY HAVEN’T THE PRISONERS BEEN CHARGED IN THE CASE?

Police in Grenada and St. Vincent have provided limited information about the case of the missing couple, noting that the investigation is ongoing, though they have said the couple is presumed dead.

Authorities haven’t yet shared any specific evidence linking the three men to the couple’s disappearance. St. Vincent police say the men have been cooperating in the investigation.

The men pleaded guilty this week to immigration-related charges, and are scheduled to be sentenced on those counts in early March.

WHO HAS JURISDICTION OF THE CASE?

Authorities haven’t said whether prosecutors in St. Vincent or Grenada would pursue the case involving the couple.

Grenada Police Commissioner Don McKenzie said the attorney generals and prosecutors on both islands “are in discussions.”

Meanwhile, Grenada police sent a team of five officials to help with the investigation in nearby St. Vincent.

WHAT’S NEXT?

Police in Grenada have launched an investigation into how the men were able to escape from their holding cell.

McKenzie has said the police station should have been secure enough to prevent such an escape, and that authorities are looking into whether it was a “system failure” or a “slip up.”

McKenzie has said no officers have resigned or been disciplined, although one supervisor at the station has been transferred to another location “to ensure a thorough investigation in this matter.”

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• Sailboat Guide

Catalac is a 29 ′ 3 ″ / 8.9 m catamaran sailboat designed by J. Winterbotom/Tom & Mary Lack and built by Catalac / Tom Lack Catamarans Ltd. starting in 1971.

Rig and Sails

Auxilary power, accomodations, calculations.

The theoretical maximum speed that a displacement hull can move efficiently through the water is determined by it's waterline length and displacement. It may be unable to reach this speed if the boat is underpowered or heavily loaded, though it may exceed this speed given enough power. Read more.

Classic hull speed formula:

Hull Speed = 1.34 x √LWL

Max Speed/Length ratio = 8.26 ÷ Displacement/Length ratio .311 Hull Speed = Max Speed/Length ratio x √LWL

Sail Area / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the power of the sails relative to the weight of the boat. The higher the number, the higher the performance, but the harder the boat will be to handle. This ratio is a "non-dimensional" value that facilitates comparisons between boats of different types and sizes. Read more.

SA/D = SA ÷ (D ÷ 64) 2/3

• SA : Sail area in square feet, derived by adding the mainsail area to 100% of the foretriangle area (the lateral area above the deck between the mast and the forestay).
• D : Displacement in pounds.

Ballast / Displacement Ratio

A measure of the stability of a boat's hull that suggests how well a monohull will stand up to its sails. The ballast displacement ratio indicates how much of the weight of a boat is placed for maximum stability against capsizing and is an indicator of stiffness and resistance to capsize.

Ballast / Displacement * 100

Displacement / Length Ratio

A measure of the weight of the boat relative to it's length at the waterline. The higher a boat’s D/L ratio, the more easily it will carry a load and the more comfortable its motion will be. The lower a boat's ratio is, the less power it takes to drive the boat to its nominal hull speed or beyond. Read more.

D/L = (D ÷ 2240) ÷ (0.01 x LWL)³

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds.
• LWL: Waterline length in feet

Comfort Ratio

This ratio assess how quickly and abruptly a boat’s hull reacts to waves in a significant seaway, these being the elements of a boat’s motion most likely to cause seasickness. Read more.

Comfort ratio = D ÷ (.65 x (.7 LWL + .3 LOA) x Beam 1.33 )

• D: Displacement of the boat in pounds
• LOA: Length overall in feet
• Beam: Width of boat at the widest point in feet

Capsize Screening Formula

This formula attempts to indicate whether a given boat might be too wide and light to readily right itself after being overturned in extreme conditions. Read more.

CSV = Beam ÷ ³√(D / 64)

The first CATALAC. First imported to the US in 1972 by Ocean Catamarans. (Miami, FL) Became the CATALAC 9M or CATALAC 30.

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THE 10 BEST Moscow Parks

Parks in moscow.

• Playgrounds
• Bodies of Water
• 5.0 of 5 bubbles
• 4.0 of 5 bubbles & up
• 3.0 of 5 bubbles & up
• 3rd Transport Ring (TTK)
• District Central (TsAO)
• Garden Ring
• District North-Eastern (SVAO)
• Good for Kids
• Budget-friendly
• Good for Couples
• Good for Big Groups
• Honeymoon spot
• Hidden Gems
• Good for Adrenaline Seekers
• Adventurous
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• Things to do ranked using Tripadvisor data including reviews, ratings, photos, and popularity.

1. Kuskovo Estate

2. Sparrow Hills (Vorobyovy Gory)

3. Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure

4. Sokolniki Park

5. Victory Park

6. Patriarch's Pond

7. Neskuchny sad

8. Izmailovsky Park

9. Hermitage Garden

10. Park Zaryadye

11. Serebryanyi Bor Park

12. Filevskiy Park

13. Sad Baumana

14. Boulevard Ring

15. Yekaterininskiy Park

16. Meshherskiy Park

17. Ostankino Park

18. Park Pokrovskoye-Streshnevo

19. Troparevsky Forest Park

20. Park Vorontsovo Estate

21. Kuzminki Park of Culture and Leisure

22. Park 50th Anniversary of October

23. Park Novodevichi Prudy

24. Presnenskiy Park

25. Nature Historical Park Bitsevskiy Wood

26. Timiryazevskiy Park

27. Golosov Ravine

28. Izmailovo Natural and Historical Park

29. Landscape Park Mitino

30. U Lukomor'ya

What travelers are saying.

• Victory Park
• Gorky Central Park of Culture and Leisure
• Kuskovo Estate
• Sokolniki Park
• Neskuchny sad
• Patriarch's Pond
• Sparrow Hills (Vorobyovy Gory)
• Meshherskiy Park
• Park Novodevichi Prudy

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Catalac 8M Review and Owner Interview “S/V Chateau Cat”

• Post author By Diane Selkirk
• Post date January 2, 2021
• 1 Comment on Catalac 8M Review and Owner Interview “S/V Chateau Cat”

In this episode, we interview Simon who owns a Catalac 8M called S/V Chateau Cat. He’s had it for two years. Simon came to catamaran sailing after growing up with a monohull, so we’re really curious about how it’s been to have a catamaran for him. What kind of experiences he’s had.

A big thank you for him in participating and generously sharing his stories and photos!

Executive Summary

• Chose catamaran for space and larger solar footprint. Used to have a solar panel business and has 2 small children. 44 years old.
• Grew up on a 24 foot monohull with 2 brothers. Inspired by a sail on a Dazcat, he decided a catamaran would be more comfortable with better performance. The Catalac 8M was an affordable option that met his criteria.
• Built in 1980 (an 8m Mark II which as skegs in front of the rudders) in Chichester, South coast of UK.
• He is currently sailing the North Sea. One downside to catamarans is pointing angle. Especially on the Catalac 8M it is hard to sail closer than 60 degrees to the wind.
• Sails include roller furling genoa, slab reefing main, asymmetric spinnaker and spare (slightly larger) genoa.
• Does not sail well in light winds. Anything below about 10 knots and she barely moves.
• But handled well a gale in the North Sea although windows are leaking and he plans to tackle resealing them. No bridge deck slamming issues. Good in heavy weather.
• Average speed of 3-4 knots – probably 6 knots maximum.
• Low maintenance surprisingly considering 40 year old boat.
• Great space maximization inside, despite still having a very large cockpit
• Headroom is fine up to around 5’10’’. Over 6’ and you’d probably be stooping quite often.
• Storage is excellent. Massive lockers in the cockpit. You could even fit two double beds either side if you wanted
• Engine is an outboard which makes it easy to maintain and helps with maneuvering and docking easily because it turns with rudders.
• Ideal for coastal sailing (including shallow water and drying out if necessary) and traverses of up to a few days (e.g. North Sea). People do cross the Atlantic (and even the Pacific) but Simon thinks he would want something bigger if only to hold enough food and water.
• She is very solid but would sink if filled with water (no balsa core and just lots of fiberglass). He is thinking of filling the bow and stern wet lockers with foam and also sealing the bulkheads to make her less likely to sink.

Can you tell us a bit about yourself and your boat?

• Me 44 years old. Two children boy 8 and girl 5, one wife.
• We bought Chateau Cat 2 years ago. She’s 8x4m and weighed 3.7 tonnes when she was lifted out of the water at the end of last summer.
• We have roller furling genoa, slab reefing main, asymmetric spinnaker and spare (slightly larger) genoa.
• We use her for spring / summer sailing as far as Denmark last year.

What made you choose a catamaran and what led you to the Catalac 8M specifically?

There were two real reasons for choosing a catamaran. Firstly I wanted a lot of space. Secondly I wanted to be able to put lots of solar panels on it because I used to have a solar panel business and i’m really interested in fully electrifying this boat so even having electric motors that powered along when necessary. I haven’t got there yet but i have started getting the layout there of the solar panels.

And then also there was the size of it.

In terms of the internal space, which is important, I’ve got two small children and so with the four of us it was important to have enough internal space. You get so much more space on a catamaran which is a 27 foot or 8 meter catamaran. So much more internal space than you do on an equivalent sized monohull.

Combination of size, comfort, solidity and price. Also I used to have a solar panel business and plan to convert her to fully electric charged with solar panels. So the dog house roof and solid foredeck are helpful to give space for solar panels.

Key Features

In terms of size and comfort:

• Easily sleeps the 4 of us with a spare bunk for a visitor.
• When sailing overnight, the central sleeping area easily sleeps 3, could also quite easily take 4
• The waterline is almost as long as the overall length (so giving a bit greater stability)

In terms of solidity

• Apparently none has ever flown a hull, let alone capsized
• Apparently they were made for sailing in the North Sea and she does perform very well in the North Sea
• I expect to be able to seal some of the bulkheads to make watertight compartments in the future
• I’ve heard them called the Humvees of catamarans. Downside though is that she is very heavy compared to more modern similar sized vessels

In terms of price

• Much cheaper than an equivalent-sized newer boat

So you grew up on a monohull though so was the leap to a catamaran? What made you make that decision?

Yes i grew up on a 24 foot monohull which my dad built and i had two brothers as well so there were five of us on a 24-foot boat which was quite compact let’s say. But then recently I sailed in the Dazcat. I think it was a 9 meter or 10 meter Dazcat. It was unbelievable. I mean this is a racing catamaran, but the space inside, the stabilit, and the speed with which it would sail at was quite incredible when you compare that to the boat that i grew up on.

So i was looking for something close to that but for a tiny fraction of the price, and the Catalac comes there as a tiny fraction of the price and gets a little bit close certainly with stability. And actually it’s a lot faster than the monohult was that i grew up on as well.

That’s cool so what have you been doing with your catamaran where have you been traveling? I understand you took it on a fairly significant journey?

Yes. So I have two years and the first summer we took along the south coast of England. We went over to France a few times and then we parked us in the Thames Estuary over the winter.

But then last summer just even with the Covid problems we were able to get across the North Sea over to the north coast of Holland and Germany and even as far as Denmark. And then we sailed it all the way back as well.

Tell me a little bit about that journey, some of your experiences. Was everything smooth sailing the whole time or how did the boat handle?

Yeah the boat handled really well there were three key passages that we did the first one was getting across to northern Holland in the first place. And that was with two children and my brother and that went really well.

It took nearly two days. It took four to seven hours so a little bit longer than we expected and that was because we were tacking into wind for part of it but the weather was really perfect. We didn’t have very strong winds and it didn’t rain at all I don’t think.

So four to seven hours of pretty nice sailing in the North Sea and i would say actually that tacking into wind is one of the downsides of the Catalac and catamarans in general but particularly the Catalac. It’s really difficult to get it any more than about 60 degrees to the wind or any less than 60 degrees to the wind so that can be challenging but we got there in 4 to 7 hours and it was a nice crossing.

Then the two other crossings. Fortunately we started off with a fairly nice one. The two other difficult crossings were coming back from Denmark to northern Holland. We got caught in a thunderstorm overnight. And then actually coming from Holland all the way back to England. That’s about 150 nautical miles and we went to a gale actually there and that was really quite exciting.

Fortunately we’ve had the experiences of the previous sailing so I knew how to reef well and how to handle it fairly well in strong winds so and the winds were in a good direction there, so we didn’t have to go into wind at all.

How did the boat do and how did you do?

I think i would say I got a lot better at sailing it over this period and particularly reefing proactively. That was the really important point the the main sail is slab reefing. You can do roller reefing around the boom although i haven’t worked out exactly how to do that.

Slab reefing gets it relatively small and it’s never been never been too much sail that we’ve had up. Except that the roller furling in the jib was a little bit problematic. I think i’ve sorted out how to work that well now but actually in this first thunderstorm that we got caught in the roller reefing didn’t work. It had slipped off the drum that it rolls around and so um for quite awhile the jib was flapping. And i was pointing it into winds. I turned the motor on, so we damaged the jib unfortunately a little bit.

But if i proactively reefed like i did in the gale going and we got into the gale about halfway across the North Sea and it was quite a clear juncture between fairly calm weather and then we went through this front and into the gale and proactive reefing. By that time i had already gone upwind fairly well so i wasn’t having to go into wind at all.

I was going across the wind directly and with a very small jib and the smallest main sail we could put it up that worked really well actually and it actually flew across. It was going to about eight knots most of the time during those strong winds.

What’s she like in heavy weather / a blow / big seas?

• Surprisingly stable in big seas. Can sometimes tank slap in shorter wavelength chop but turning a few degrees tends to resolve that.
• Waves breaking over the front or side do expose the problem with the windows leaking. However, even in those conditions, leaving the cockpit you feel relatively safe and round the mast there’s lots of rigging that you can brace yourself against.
• Reefing while sailing can be a bit of a hassle (but that’s a problem with the jib and roller furling system that I have, rather than a problem with the boat)
• 20 knots is perfect (can get 7 knots speed quite happily)
• 25 knots you want to be reefed in anything but the calmest seas. Still a lot of fun (still 7 knots of speed quite happily)
• 30-35 knots you want to be very well reefed and starts to be difficult to sail to windward but goes really really well across the wind (i.e. 7, maybe even 8 knots J )
• Above that I haven’t tried but I’d expect I’d want to be going slightly down wind and might even want to take down the mainsail (or have another reefing point put in).

Wow so it sounds like the boat handled it beautifully!

It did really and actually this was overnight as well and in the morning when the sun started coming up and i could see the size of the waves that we were going across i was really quite surprised that i hadn’t noticed it being too uncomfortable during the night.

So yes it did really handle extremely well.

I would say one challenge was um the some of the waves were actually breaking over the boat and when they got to being quite a lot of force on the windows then a lot of water came into the window, so I’ve got to do something to sort out sealing those windows a little bit better but then it’s a 40 year old catamaran. So maybe that’s understandable. I think there are quite often problems with the windows and so there’s quite a lot of people sharing advice on how you can seal all these.

So that’s a project over this winter?

Yes i think windows are a problem on every boat. It’s especially older boats. It’s an ongoing thing and the technology is definitely coming along about how we can attach and keep them dry.

Is there anything else that you’ve found particularly challenging about the Catalac 8M?

No not really. One of the things is it’s amazingly low maintenance. I would have thought particularly on a 40 year old boat like this that it would have needed more maintenance, but actually it’s got the original fuse box still in it and quite a lot of the original electrics. A lot has been upgraded as new things have been put in it. But it’s got an awful lot of the original features that are actually still working really well apart from the windows maybe right.

What are changes he would make to the Catalac 8M?

• The windows leaking.
• The rigging to enable the jib to be pulled in more
• The cockpit lockers (to have clasps to hold them open so they don’t fall on your head).
• Maybe slightly large rudders to make it easier to go about and sculpted to come to a point at the trailing edge to reduce the judder when going at over 6 knots

So it sounds like it’s been a great boat for you. What are some of your favorite aspects?

Yeah it has been a really good boat. One good aspect and i looked at this specifically when i bought it was that it’s got an inboard outboard engine. So it’s in the cockpit and a normal outboard engine put in the cockpit and that swivels with the rudders.

It makes it extremely maneuverable and actually it also makes it easy to maintain as well. So quite easy to lift the motor out and that’s actually in the back of my car at the moment. I’m going to service it over the winter but it was very easy just to lift that motor out using the boom and move it across and into the back of the car.

That must make it really easy to dock?

Yes and actually we came back in these storms that what happens we came back from Denmark back to England we first went Denmark to Holland and then went through the canals in Holland.

There’s a mastery there that you can go through with your mast up and it was really maneuverable there, and I was certainly not envying the monohulls that I saw that were having trouble getting through the various docks and the various places that you had just like squeeze and you had to moor up. It was just so easy with this because the engine turns with the rudders that makes it extremely movable.

That’s interesting. You’ve done one big trip. You don’t have a lot of projects that you have to do on the boat, so you must be making plans. What’s the future for you?

Yeah I think this summer the plan is to go as far as the north of Scotland and probably stay around the UK. Maybe we’ll even get as far as the Pharaoh Islands, but the key plan is probably spent about six weeks going around the UK up to the Scottish Islands.

That sounds pretty great and you’re confident that’s the right location for the boat and your family?

I think so. Maybe weather-wise it gets a little bit colder the further north you go but these boats apparently were developed for sailing through the North Sea and certainly it did very well last summer sailing through the North Sea so i think in terms of the boats that will be fine.

In terms of whether my family likes the weather, we’ll see fair enough.

Well thank you so much Simon for speaking with us the it sounds like a great boat and that you’re having some good adventures and I was really curious about the Catalac so that’s been really neat to learn more thank you.

My pleasure.

• Tags Catamaran Interviews , Catamaran Reviews

By Diane Selkirk

I love to travel and have spent the past seven years sailing with my family aboard our 40 Woods Meander catamaran - traveling from B.C.'s north coast, to the west coast of the US, Mexico, the South Pacific, Australia, New Zealand, South East Asia, across the Indian Ocean to South Africa and on to St Helena, South America, the Caribbean and Central America.

1 reply on “Catalac 8M Review and Owner Interview “S/V Chateau Cat””

This may just be the best boat review I have ever read! Nothing beats first-hand knowledge, especially the part about how the Catalac fairs in different winds were helpful to me 🙂

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