Hey Rod, get over it, frankly if you think catamarans can compete with
monohulls in numbers you are pretty naove after thirty years in the business.
Once you go over 15' of beam you are screwed when it comes to doing any
appreciable volume, because you cant put it on a truck and send it down the
road. As far as aesthetics the Roger Hill designs have been around for years,
nothing new really and his designs have never really been that impressive when
it comes to seakeeping and fuel economy. The Awesome 60 came out what ten
years ago? I don't think anyone would say that boat was ugly, it also had
great seakeeping qualities, and fuel economy. Why didn't it catch on?, Well
25' of beam probably had something to do with it, also building cat's for a
given length is more expensive, not just because of square footage, but
because of the required more involved, engineering. As a dealer its easy to
arm chair quarterback and be a critic, how about trying to design and build
something yourself? Maybe you will develop some empathy for those who do.

Interesting to see Pat Reischmann mentioning the Awesome 60.  I designed the
original Awesome 16years ago and it seemed to have great promise. Everybody
loved its looks and it performance was indeed Awesome. There were something
like eight examples built [I can't be sure of the exact number because I
never got paid any design royalties] Awesome Boats got into financial and
legal difficulties both in New Zealand and the USA and the whole thing
ultimately collapsed. However it appears that a lot of the original owners
still have their boats and they do seem to sell well when they do come up
for sale.

A couple of years ago I was exhibiting at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show [ I
exhibited there for some 8 years in all] and I had photos and the model of
my Escape design which I considered a reasonably handsome boat. I talked to
a lot of brokers about how good it was in rough water, how fuel efficient it
was and how fast it went for the size of its engines. All the things that I
as a designer considered important. The universal response was " It doesn't
matter how well it goes. The important thing is how it looks on the marina".

Malcolm Tennant.

MALCOLM TENNANT MULTIHULL DESIGN LTD
PO Box 60513, Titirangi.
Waitakere 0642
NEW ZEALAND
Ph: +64 9 817 1988
e-mail: malcolm@tennantdesign.co.nz
www.tennantdesign.co.nz
www.catdesigners.com