DISCLAIMER: The following writer is a catamaran dealer: As regards John Schieffelin's recent e-mail (please see below) regarding the CS-42, I've gotta say that I'm .... ummm...."less charitable" about that design. I've been selling sailing cats for nearly 30 years. If you'd come to me 8 or 9 years ago, seeking a "good" production-built POWER cat, I'd have had no suggestions for you. Then, a couple of the leading sailing-cat manufacturers (first Fountaine Pajot, then Lagoon) introduced power-cat models. Close on their heels came the PDQs, Endeavors, Mantas, et al. And so my company began offering power cats, too. In about 2003 I wrote that the spate of recent (as of then) power-cat models coming into the market place had me thinking that within another five years that power cats might well offer as many appealing alternative models as it had taken the sailing cats 30 years to create. Well -- alas -- I was wrong. Here we are, five years later, and only a handful of production built, power-cruising cats are available. Why? In my opinion, we still lack the power-cat equivalent of what those in the software industry refer to as a "killer app." By that, I mean the following. In the 1980s, as personal computers first appeared their manufacturers were casting about for a good reason as to why the public should own one. You'd often hear, "What a great way to balance your checkbook." But sheesh -- a $1,000 checkbook balancer? Then (tah-dah!), Lotus 1-2-3 appeared. (Followed thereafter by Excel.) Suddenly, the green-visor boys could develop spread sheets in a matter of minutes that, heretofore, could take a person hours....or DAYS to create. And there it was: the "killer application" for computers, which suddenly created a substantial reason for owning a computer. Well, it seems to me that when it comes to "killer apps" among power cats, that such an "app" has yet to appear. To segue to another analogy, I'm reminded of boxing. It's not good enough for a challenger to be "as good as" the existing champ -- he's got to be demonstrably BETTER, or the title remains with the champ. What I mean here is that until a power cat design (or designs) come along that are DEMONSTRABLY superior to their monohull peers, that the power-cruising cat just isn't going to make any substantial inroads among powerboat cruisers. Oh sure, the PDQ 34's modest "blip" of success is to be applauded. But sales tallied "by the dozen" are barely worth noting compared to same-size/priced monohulls that sell by the hundreds ... or thousands! All of which, in a circuituous manner, brings me to the CS-42. When such acknowledgements as "no side decks" . . . "too-steep stairways between salon and hulls" . . . not to mention the boat's too-narrow beam (barely 15' I believe), or its slab-sided appearance are mentioned, I have to side with my clients who say, "Why bother?" That is, why put oneself in the position of having to "try" to find positive points about a particular design, when said design incorporates so many immediately apparent drawbacks? Why "try", when comparable size/price monohulls do so much better of a job, whether in the categories of design, aesthetics, ergonomics or style? Why bother indeed. And I don't mean this as a slam solely against the CS-42. It's a blanket appraisal of production-built, cruising power cats in general! In similar fashion (and without mentioning names), almost all of today's current power cats are (at best) just plain odd or boxy looking -- while others are, sadly, downright "butt ugly." So, when you combine BAD aesthetics . . . ALONG WITH various design features for which apologies must be made from the get go . . . well, power cats are NOT going to make any appreciable inroads into the monohull power-boat world. (As noted: the "contender" has to BEAT the "champ," not merely score a tie with him.) What's strange to me is that this situation does NOT have to exist. I saw a proposed design at a Lagoon dealers' meeting fully 3 or 4 years ago for a 38' (or was it 39') power cat that was just plain knock-out GREAT looking -- and with an equally appealing interior layout. Similarly, there was a gorgeous, 57' Roger Hill-designed power cat on exhibit at the Annapolis power boat show about 3 years ago that needed NO apologies compared to ANY 57' monohull at that show. (Unfortunately, it was only a one-off produced cat, last I heard residing near it's owner's San Francisco home.) The fact is, power cats CAN be designed to look as good as the most stylish and attractive monohulls -- but for some reason almost none are. (Please don't confuse this observation with your personal belief that your PDQ/Manta/Endeavour is "cute" or "charming" or a "character-type catamaran." I'm not saying that such designs don't have their respective fans. But I AM saying that if you take 100 "average" boaters, virtually none are going to find the majority of today's cat designs "sleek" or "stylish" or "aesthetically appealing." We can all come to "love" a favored VW bug, or a favored Boston bull terrier . . . but neither of the latter will draw majority raves for its appearance.) Have I any optimism about this situation? Well, less so than five years ago. But given that there are some interesting new designs on the horizon, I'm not completely pessimistic. Here are some examples that give me hope: (a) The all-new Schionning-designed Coastal Cat 34 (a near-twin is also produced in Turkey as, I think, the PCM-33). This intriguing pocket-cruiser (34' x 16'), offers some intriguing alternatives to the PDQ 34 (lower fuel consumption -- $75,000 less expensive). The first is to debut in Australia in the fall, with the U.S. debut occurring in Seattle in November/December, 2008. (b) And Roger Hill's BearCat 46 (a new, production-built, luxury power cat which began construction at a large Chinese yard in January), gives promise of dramatically rebuking the "too many power cats are butt-ugly" reputation. The first BC-46 is scheduled to launch in Dec. 2008. The price is exceptionally low -- about $250,000 LESS than if the cat were built in the U.S. or Europe -- thanks to China's exceedingly low labor rate. (c) Speaking of Roger Hill, in October I was able to visit a 47' one-off design of his, newly arrived at the owner's waterside home in Annapolis. It, too, had highly appealing exterior lines. And the cat's interior, designed by the owner's wife, was also particularly attractive. Again, though, unfortunately, this was a one-off design. But if it were available as a production-model cat? I think it'd be a hit. (d) The Destiny 42 (from Jennings Yachts, in Washington State), is a handsome power cat design, from the design board of Greg (San Juan 38 and San Juan 48) Marshall, of Victoria, BC. (Marshall was also involved in the final styling touches of the BearCat 46 & 51.) CONCLUSION: Almost ALL of the production-built power cats currently available seem to elicit "apologies or excuses", from the get-go, for various facets of their appearance or ergonomics or features. This need not be. Upcoming models (including those noted above), and some current one-off models, show us there ARE appealing alternatives possible when it comes to power-cat design. But until MORE of the available production-built models achieve a higher level of aesthetics and features, it's difficult to imagine models surpassing current sales "records" of a mere 12 to 20 boats per year. And as such, those extremely low numbers will continue to relegate power-cruising catamarans to little more than "odd-ball" or "evolutionary dead-end" status." (Ummm....could somebody remind me again: why is it that my company is exclusively devoted to selling only catamarans? . . . grin) Rod Gibbons Cruising Cats USA Seattle - Portland - Oakland - Hawaii >---------------------------------------------------------------------- > >Message: 1 >Date: Thu, 21 Feb 2008 10:05:48 -0500 >From: "John Schieffelin" <jsschieff@cox.net> >Subject: [PCW] Revived powervat CS-42 >To: <power-catamaran@lists.samurai.com> >Message-ID: <000601c8749b$3e439af0$bacad0d0$@net> >Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" > >When I went aboard the CS42 at the Stuart Trawlerfest, the builder was >aboard as well as a marketing guy based in the U.S. The boat at the show was >indeed the first one built, and was for sale. It was built for a guy about >6'7", so floors were lowered and access ladders were quite steep. Both the >builder and the marketing rep said the intention was to resume production, >but I believe they were not going to start up again unless a buyer or two >stepped forth. >> > >I agree with Henry that the CS42 is far from perfect - no side decks along >the salon area, some finish issues - but the basic layout, with a large >king-berth forward of the saloon/pilothouse offers some advantages over the >PDQ 34 and Manta 44 layouts where the berths are crammed into the hulls aft. >> >John S.