It was foggy and cool on Puget Sound, but the morning spent aboard a MotorCat 30 was delightful. The MC30 is an exceptional boat. http://www.motorcat.com/ The MotorCat looks larger than its 29 feet 11 inches when it's sitting on a trailer, but it doesn't take more than a few minutes for Scott Karren and Thomas, his 12-year-old son, to launch the yacht. And a yacht it is, when you look inside and see the mahogany trim and teak-and-holly sole. The level of fit and finish erases any questions about the workmanship at Bond Yachts, the builder in Poland. The interior arrangement is ideal for a couple, even a young family with two children, and for a short cruise, it would accommodate four adults in relative comfort. The double berth is big enough for three. There are two quarter berths in each hull. Headroom throughout enables the 6-foot-2-inch Scott to move about without fear of banging his head anywhere. The enclosed head and sink functions well for someone my size, 6 feet 1.5 inches and 240 pounds. The galley, located in the port hull, will work well even in a seaway. It has everything a cook will want: sink, 2-burner stove, microwave oven, small refrigerator and decent storage. The permanent table will seat four in comfort, five or even six in a pinch. The standard boat has an open helm station and cockpit behind a high, curved windscreen. Most folks will want to take the optional bimini, some will want the fully enclosed camperback. The remarkable feature of the MotorCat 30 that two different passing fishermen immediately noticed when we were launching and retrieving the boat is that is powered by Honda outboards that are only 50 horsepower. Given its fine-tuned semi-displacement hull design, low wetted surface, and exceptionally low weight, the MotorCat needs no more power to cruise at speeds up to 20 knots. In mixed use--in and out of harbors, exploring, and running at speed--Scott says he averages 3 gallons per hour. During my brief cruise, there was a light breeze of less than 10 knots and a chop of about a foot. At 800 rpm, we were loafing along at 2.3 knots. At a wide open 5,500, we hit 19.6 knots. At 4,000 to 4,5000, one could run all day at 14 to 16 knots. At that cruising speed, you are aware of the Hondas working away but there is no need to raise voices for conversation in the cockpit. The reason why the MotorCat will perform so well is its light weight. Dry weight WITH two 50-hp outboards in 4,850 pounds, according to factory specs. For comparison, the new 25-foot-5-inch TomCat weighs 6,000 pounds WITHOUT engines. The 26-foot-1-inch Glacier Bay 2690 weighs 5,790 pounds WITHOUT engines. And there you have the reason why those boats need more horsepower, that is, larger engines, more expensive to buy and more costly to fill up at the fuel dock. Mind you, if you want to run the MotorCat at 30 knots, you, too, will need more horsepower, but Jerzy Kostanski of Vancouver, designer of the MotorCat and project manager at Bond Yachts, believes most people are happy with 20 knots as the top end and prefer to cruise at 12 to 16 knots; thus, the MC30 has been designed with twin 50s as standard. Compare that to twin 150s as the standard recommendation for the TomCat 255 and the Glacier Bay 2690. The MotorCat 30 demonstrates an innovative approach to power cruising where efficiency is paramount. I would imagine the MotorCat 27 coming next year will only be more of the same in a more affordable package, perhaps even under $100,000 all up, as compared to about $125,000 for a well-equipped MC30. And, yes, there is a larger MotorCat in the offing. My thanks to Scott Karren for making his MotorCat 30o available for a brief sea trial. Scott owns North Sound Cruising Center in Kingston, Washington, and serves as dealer for MotorCat in the Pacific Northwest. http://www.northsoundcruising.com/index.html At the site, click on MC30 Journal to read his blog on cruising and maintaining his own MotorCat. --Georgs -- Georgs Kolesnikovs Power Catamaran World http://www.powercatamaranworld.com