In the latest posting people were wondering if there's any "New-Cats" news:

Well, I've been receiving photos each week for the past 2 months from Jensen
Yachts, a yard in Anacortes, WA. -- photos of the new Coastal Cat 34 power
catamaran long-time boat builder Linn Jennings is now building. (For several
years he oversaw production of the Livingston catamarans. And he's built
large, custom charter cats for the Hawaiian commercial market. He also spent a
few recent years as the head "green-visor" guy for finances/production at
North Star yachts on the Columbia River, makers of luxury yachts in the 80' to
120' range.)

This boat is already manufactured in New Zealand under the name "Prowler by
Logan." (see a thorough and favorable review in June, '08 issue of New Zealand
Boating) But the U.S. version has some notable enhancements and upgrades
compared to the NZ version. For example, the NZ version has curtains on the
two head compartments; the CC-34 has doors. The CC-34 offers an optional
freezer. The CC-34 has a more "posh" and aesthetically appealing interior than
the "Prowler." And, unlike the Prowler, it offers an optional flybridge.

Also, in consultation with the designer, Jensen has added a couple of extra
inches of draft, thus giving her an additional 650 lbs. of load-carrying
capability in each hull. I've been told this is for (a) U.S. east-coast and
Gulf buyers who, most likely, will want to add a genset and air-conditioning,
and (b) for "all" U.S. buyers, for the latter typically add a lot more "stuff"
to their cruisers than do the Aussies and Kiwis.

The CC-34 cruises at 15 knots, top speed of 20 knots. (The designer says the
added few inches of draft in the CC-34 will have little added added effect on
these already proven "Prowler" figures.) Fuel consumption at 15 knots is only
3.3 GPH. (That's using twin 60 HP, 4-cycle outboard motors...with a 600-mile
range. By comparison, the PDQ-34 cruises at 15, top 20, and claims that at 15
knots it uses 4.5 GPH... of more expensive diesel fuel.)

The Coastal Cat comes with 2 double-berth cabins (plus 1 or 2 single berths)
and 2 heads w/showers. The U.S. version will debut in early April, and
purportedly will have her "official debut" at the Trawler Fest in Anacortes in
May, 2009. (I can send photos, off-line, if anyone's interested in viewing the
ongoing production -- I also can e-mail a copy of the "Prowler" review from
"N.Z.Boating" magazine.)

The CC-34's price is $349K...but, for now, the introductory price begins at
$310,000 for hull #1, with each succeeding boat about $8,000 more than the
preceding one until about the 5th or 6th hull, at which time it'll reach that
$349K price. Jensen is only asking for a $10K reservation deposit, fully
refundable (!!) if you're not pleased with your test-run aboard hull #1 when
it launches in April. (Because her beam is just under the 16' highway limit,
shipping anywhere in the U.S. will be financially reasonable. It's this limit
that has kept almost no PDQs or MainCats from being trucked to the western
U.S. Once you pass 16', the shipping rate almost doubles!) This introductory
rate for the CC-34 would make it appreciably less expensive than the PDQ 34
(which is approx. $400K...and especially less expensive for west-coast, or
Gulf-coast buyers, again because of the shipping rates). However, I've gotten
some recent reports that Pearson yachts (in R.I., who earlier had been
reported to have acquired the tooling from the Canadian PDQ company that went
out of business), may be delaying its production of the PDQ-34 because of the
current economic situation. (Does anyone have an accurate status-report about
the new, US-built PDQ-34? Is it, in fact, under production? One hopes so; it
was a fine little motor cat when built in Canada, and I expect Pearson would
do a good job, too.)

Cheers,

Rod Gibbons
founder:  Cruising Cats USA
Seattle, WA
(206) 297-1330

On Jan 3, 2009, at 11:57:28 PM, rodgibbons@mindspring.com wrote:
From:  rodgibbons@mindspring.com
Subject:    [PCW] U.S.-built, Coastal Cat 34.
Date:  January 3, 2009 11:57:28 PM PST
To: power-catamaran@lists.samurai.com
In the latest posting people were wondering if there's any "New-Cats" news:

Well, I've been receiving photos each week for the past 2 months from Jensen
Yachts, a yard in Anacortes, WA. -- photos of the new Coastal Cat 34 power
catamaran long-time boat builder Linn Jennings is now building. (For several
years he oversaw production of the Livingston catamarans. And he's built
large, custom charter cats for the Hawaiian commercial market. He also spent
a
few recent years as the head "green-visor" guy for finances/production at
North Star yachts on the Columbia River, makers of luxury yachts in the 80'
to
120' range.)

This boat is already manufactured in New Zealand under the name "Prowler by
Logan." (see a thorough and favorable review in June, '08 issue of New
Zealand
Boating) But the U.S. version has some notable enhancements and upgrades
compared to the NZ version. For example, the NZ version has curtains on the
two head compartments; the CC-34 has doors. The CC-34 offers an optional
freezer. The CC-34 has a more "posh" and aesthetically appealing interior
than
the "Prowler." And, unlike the Prowler, it offers an optional flybridge.

Also, in consultation with the designer, Jensen has added a couple of extra
inches of draft, thus giving her an additional 650 lbs. of load-carrying
capability in each hull. I've been told this is for (a) U.S. east-coast and
Gulf buyers who, most likely, will want to add a genset and air-conditioning,
and (b) for "all" U.S. buyers, for the latter typically add a lot more
"stuff"
to their cruisers than do the Aussies and Kiwis.

The CC-34 cruises at 15 knots, top speed of 20 knots. (The designer says the
added few inches of draft in the CC-34 will have little added added effect on
these already proven "Prowler" figures.) Fuel consumption at 15 knots is only
3.3 GPH. (That's using twin 60 HP, 4-cycle outboard motors...with a 600-mile
range. By comparison, the PDQ-34 cruises at 15, top 20, and claims that at 15
knots it uses 4.5 GPH... of more expensive diesel fuel.)

The Coastal Cat comes with 2 double-berth cabins (plus 1 or 2 single berths)
and 2 heads w/showers. The U.S. version will debut in early April, and
purportedly will have her "official debut" at the Trawler Fest in Anacortes
in
May, 2009. (I can send photos, off-line, if anyone's interested in viewing
the
ongoing production -- I also can e-mail a copy of the "Prowler" review from
"N.Z.Boating" magazine.)

The CC-34's price is $349K...but, for now, the introductory price begins at
$310,000 for hull #1, with each succeeding boat about $8,000 more than the
preceding one until about the 5th or 6th hull, at which time it'll reach that
$349K price. Jensen is only asking for a $10K reservation deposit, fully
refundable (!!) if you're not pleased with your test-run aboard hull #1 when
it launches in April. (Because her beam is just under the 16' highway limit,
shipping anywhere in the U.S. will be financially reasonable. It's this limit
that has kept almost no PDQs or MainCats from being trucked to the western
U.S. Once you pass 16', the shipping rate almost doubles!) This introductory
rate for the CC-34 would make it appreciably less expensive than the PDQ 34
(which is approx. $400K...and especially less expensive for west-coast, or
Gulf-coast buyers, again because of the shipping rates). However, I've gotten
some recent reports that Pearson yachts (in R.I., who earlier had been
reported to have acquired the tooling from the Canadian PDQ company that went
out of business), may be delaying its production of the PDQ-34 because of the
current economic situation. (Does anyone have an accurate status-report about
the new, US-built PDQ-34? Is it, in fact, under production? One hopes so; it
was a fine little motor cat when built in Canada, and I expect Pearson would
do a good job, too.)

Cheers,

Rod Gibbons
founder: Cruising Cats USA
Seattle, WA
(206) 297-1330

Power-Catamaran Mailing List

I was in the Pearson factory and they indeed have the PDQ molds and have made
some finish upgrades to the boats.  As I understand they have orders and are
producing them.  I don't know if that has changed.  Pearson appears to be a
very high quality manufacturer.

Tom Green.