Family Freindly Beach Cat

[F18 Sailor]

From the OP

I hear ya...not sure what that means exactly as one mans cheap is not the same as another...the cheapest boats that are upgrades from his current Prindle 16 would be a Hobie 18 or Prindle 18, both 30+ years old at this point.

 

[TBW]

Budget is a bit flexible.  Would be selling a reasonably nice 21 ft monohull to pay for it.  I would say the Hobie Pearl is in about the right ballpark but at the upper end.  I am not looking for a 40 year old Prindle,  I already have one of those

 

[MN3]

My 6.0 is for sale and is cheaper 

will sell with the wings for $5.500

https://www.thebeachcats.com/classifieds/catamarans-for-sale/p15090-custom-mystere-6-0.html

 

[xonk1]

TBW, There may be one glitch in your plans to get a new boat. The " reasonably nice 21 ft monohull " you plan to sell represents two potential problems: 1) it may take a  long time to sell  2) you will probably get less money than you expect. However, once sold, you are free to move on. The range of boats you are considering seems to be expanding rather than narrowing. Narrow it down and avoid driving yourself crazy. Summer is coming. Happy Sailing!

 

[patmo141]

I'll throw a wildcard in the mix.  The Maine Cat 22.

The Bad:
1)  Expense.  There aren't many, and the owners like them, so when they sell it's usually a little too high imo.  We paid too much for ours, but then again we paid it.  So expect to be $15k in by the time you have it ready to go.  

2)  It's not super practical to trailer and rig/derig for just a weekend. If you have fam, work etc, the time you loose in setup/takedown is not going to be worth it for a quick weekend... (see #6)

3) come for sale about 1 per 1.5 years?

The Good

1)  It's stable as heck

2)  room for small kids.

3)  capacity for cargo.  Boat will be fine with you, kids, wife...or with 6 adults with cocktails when the kids are with the grandparents?

4) Speed.  Not crazy, but totally adequate.  We've been 15knots with 4 adults in 20kt wind.  However, sailing at 7 to 10 knots effortlessly when it's blowing 12 to 15 is just awesome.

5) It's just small enough to man handle on and off the beach but not to roll it up on rollers or dolly.

6)  If you can keep it anchored or on a dock for the season, then you are in business....it's minutes from stepping on to sailing.  With the lazy jacks on the main, and roller furler on jib.  We usually step on, throw the gear in the center, back the boat out and get sailing. We then organize while we are in motion.  This is 100% against how I was used to sailing, but the large surface area of the deck and all the control lines run to the rails allows this kind of behavior

 

 

[Tomfl]

I got the impression your price point was a lot lower than it seems to be now.  I would look for something like a Super Tramp, a nice little tri Ian designed early on.  

 

[basketcase]

I'll throw a wildcard in the mix.  The Maine Cat 22.

The Bad:
1)  Expense.  There aren't many, and the owners like them, so when they sell it's usually a little too high imo.  We paid too much for ours, but then again we paid it.  So expect to be $15k in by the time you have it ready to go.  

2)  It's not super practical to trailer and rig/derig for just a weekend. If you have fam, work etc, the time you loose in setup/takedown is not going to be worth it for a quick weekend... (see #6)

3) come for sale about 1 per 1.5 years?

The Good

1)  It's stable as heck

2)  room for small kids.

3)  capacity for cargo.  Boat will be fine with you, kids, wife...or with 6 adults with cocktails when the kids are with the grandparents?

4) Speed.  Not crazy, but totally adequate.  We've been 15knots with 4 adults in 20kt wind.  However, sailing at 7 to 10 knots effortlessly when it's blowing 12 to 15 is just awesome.

5) It's just small enough to man handle on and off the beach but not to roll it up on rollers or dolly.

6)  If you can keep it anchored or on a dock for the season, then you are in business....it's minutes from stepping on to sailing.  With the lazy jacks on the main, and roller furler on jib.  We usually step on, throw the gear in the center, back the boat out and get sailing. We then organize while we are in motion.  This is 100% against how I was used to sailing, but the large surface area of the deck and all the control lines run to the rails allows this kind of behavior

 

if you are going to toss the maine cat 22 in, i ll counter with the tomcat 6.2 and its much faster setup and break down times. same sort of price point, but the possibility to buy new (i think)       https://tomcatboats.com/tc_62_overview/

 

[triple trouble]

I got the impression your price point was a lot lower than it seems to be now.  I would look for something like a Super Tramp, a nice little tri Ian designed early on.  

Sailed one several times in Naptown. Loved it, wife didn't - no place for a 'private' porta-potty  Fun sailor,  would make a good boat for kids on board.

 

[madboutcats]

I’ll throw a Nacra 5.8 into the mix, lots of buoyancy, plenty of room inside the hulls, just buy big round portholes and put them in where you won’t want to sit, no boom so easy to get under the sail, plenty of power to safely sail with you all on board but easily depower by pulling boards up, rudders are pulled down by rope to cleat so easy to raise and lower rudders, very robust boat, heaps around with cheap parts. Safe boat to sail with family members I always sail with my wife or daughter as crew

 

[patmo141]

if you are going to toss the maine cat 22 in, i ll counter with the tomcat 6.2 and its much faster setup and break down times. same sort of price point, but the possibility to buy new (i think)       https://tomcatboats.com/tc_62_overview/

Absolutely!  A great option.  This thread is pretty sweet with a lot of good info and options.

 

[Waynemarlow]

F18's are so cheap now that you would be far better off getting an older F18, they are built like tanks, sail pretty well and fit the smaller main and jib that is available, you would have a fast but modernish boat, with resale value.

The only downside is their weight but then you can't have toughness, cheapness and lightweight at the same time.

 

[MN3]

The only downside is their weight but then you can't have toughness, cheapness and lightweight at the same time.

I would say having dagger boards  may not be optimal for a family boat. sure it can work but it is another item that can cause injury in a bow stuff or capsize

and f18 boards and rudders are very sharp too - i would avoid them if at all possible and is why i own 2 boats with centerboards

 

[Waynemarlow]

I would say having dagger boards  may not be optimal for a family boat. sure it can work but it is another item that can cause injury in a bow stuff or capsize

and f18 boards and rudders are very sharp too - i would avoid them if at all possible and is why i own 2 boats with centerboards

I did say old F18 and the likely hood of sharp is. Never the less Daggerboards are not all bad, in a blow you can lift them 1/2 way up and it will quieten the boat down some what. Fit a a 2:1 halyard with a proper pulley at the top ( make sure you look up how to rig the halyard otherwise you will put twice the additional downward pressure on the mast rather than 1 1/2 times the pressure ) , a couple of reef grommet holes and you even have a solid boom to reef the main.

 

[PatsyQPatsy]

This is just one of those things you need to ask the French.

Set google language to francaise and start searching with various combinations of Raid, Cat, Catmaran, Camping...they do all the time. They do it alone, they do it on mass:

Raid catamaran de sport

That would be "en masse"  It's Franche you know

 

[KC375]

That would be "en masse"  It's Franche you know

Yes French is one of the many languages I misspell in

I prefer to think of it as the creative assembly of letters

If The Bard signed his own name with six different combinations of letters who are we to quibble over such picayune matters.

 

[MultiThom]

Yes French is one of the many languages I misspell in

I prefer to think of it as the creative assembly of letters

If The Bard signed his own name with six different combinations of letters who are we to quibble over such picayune matters.

Hey, it started at the top of this topic with "freindly"

 

[KC375]

Yes, English is such an intuitive language.

What could be easier than i before e except after c

But of course to be really prescriptive you would have to go with

I before e, except after c
Or when sounded as 'a' as in 'neighbor' and 'weigh'
Unless the 'c' is part of a 'sh' sound as in 'glacier'
Or it appears in comparatives and superlatives like 'fancier'
And also except when the vowels are sounded as 'e' as in 'seize'
Or 'i' as in 'height'
Or also in '-ing' inflections ending in '-e' as in 'cueing'
Or in compound words as in 'albeit'
Or occasionally in technical words with strong etymological links to their parent languages as in 'cuneiform'
Or in other numerous and random exceptions such as 'science', 'forfeit', and 'weird'.

 

[unShirley]

F18's are so cheap now that you would be far better off getting an older F18, they are built like tanks, sail pretty well and fit the smaller main and jib that is available, you would have a fast but modernish boat, with resale value.

The only downside is their weight but then you can't have toughness, cheapness and lightweight at the same time.

Huh?  anybody else find this to be a contradiction?

 

[Waynemarlow]

Why a contradiction, the older F18’s have fallen to such a low level that they have reached a level where they are not likely to fall much more. Buy it, sail it, do basic maintenance and sell it a couple of years later when you realise that small beach cats are simply not going to fulfill your original brief for the same money, use that money then for a deposit on a Corsair 24 if you haven’t already put the wife and kids off. Far better in my view to just buy the Corsair now before you do put the wife off 

 

[MultiThom]

Why a contradiction, the older F18’s have fallen to such a low level that they have reached a level where they are not likely to fall much more. Buy it, sail it, do basic maintenance and sell it a couple of years later when you realise that small beach cats are simply not going to fulfill your original brief for the same money, use that money then for a deposit on a Corsair 24 if you haven’t already put the wife and kids off. Far better in my view to just buy the Corsair now before you do put the wife off 

Concur it isn't a contradiction assuming buying used.

Corsair 24 (F24 1 or 2) is a family friendly boat, but certainly not a beach cat.  OP wants to camp out (on land, island...), not camp in (or on) the boat.  Can't pull a F242 onto the beach very far, gotta anchor or tie to tree if one is handy and if there's surf--could be yikes.  Can't tow F242 with a car (well, I did with a MBZ but it eventually broke the transmission).  I enjoyed my F242 (nearly 2 tons to tow) and my Hobie Getaway (less than half ton to tow)...but way different experiences.