In a message dated 11/29/2005 10:40:43 AM Eastern Standard Time,
beiland@usa.net writes:

Brian asks:
Would you mine expanding on this analysis you made, and  how you arrived at
the
results. What proportions you assigned slenderness  ratio, vessel weights,
etc?? And where did you obtained the performance  figures for the various
models with the various engine  choices?

Henry, I'm not trying to challenge any of your results, just  interested in
your analysis, that is most likely more thorough than most  folks explore.

Brian,

As a potential buyer, I've spent quite a bit time trying  to get a handle on
the relative merit of each the various  designs we've considered.  But I may
have overstated the case a  bit when I said I performed "an efficiency
comparison".

My analysis was based on the best information I was  able to gather.  As you
know, it is difficult to obtain  detailed, objective data from manufacturers
-- especially when it  comes to weight and performance figures.  In reality, my
conclusions were also based on subjective  information gathered from owners,
e-mails, web postings,  etc.

There's no doubt catamaran designers face a  difficult challenge trying to
maximize accommodations while  maintaining an efficient hull design.  It's
funny, that dilemma  really hits home in our own decision-making process -- I'm
obsessed  with efficiency while my wife  looks mainly at accommodations!

length-to-beam ratio (at the waterline) of about 10.  I have read,  perhaps in Malcolm
Tennant's writings, that this is about the minimum for "good  performance".
There is good documentation on performance and fuel  usage of the PDQ available
from owners (several of these  are accessible from the PDQ website).  I did put
together a  spreadsheet listing most of the available powercats from 34 to 44
feet, but I  admit that I had to fill in the blanks from a variety of
sources, so they are  likely less accurate than for the PDQ.  Nevertheless, a general
trend is  discernible: PDQ is the clear economy winner followed (not terribly
closely) by Fountaine-Pajot, Manta(?), the African, Australian and  NZ cats
and Endeavour.

I should say that as our search has narrowed to the PDQ, I  have not updated
the information -- particularly for the bigger boats.  I  guess we'd all
appreciate a good review and comparison, preferably from an  independent observer.
What ever happened to Power Catamaran  World?

Happy cat-ing,
Henry
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Henry  M.  Clews
http://www.geocities.com/snodoglog/ (http://www.geocities.com/snodoglog/)
Hanover,  New Hampshire  03755  USA
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It's taking longer to develop the site than expected, partially
because I lost the techie who was going to work with me. Information
and data are being collected slowly yet surely, but they still have
to be organized in a meaningful manner. There is so much that could
be done, but limited time and resources available. Thus, I still must
be vague about when the site will go live.

One other reason the site has been on a side burner is that the idea
for a power-catamaran magazine is gathering momentum. (For those who
don't know, I'm in the magazine business.)

I've been travelling around the U.S., talking to manufacturers and
dealers about the state of the market. Recently, I visited the
Pacific Northwest and New England. This week, I'm travelling in
Southern California. After Christmas, I plan to swing through
Alabama, Florida, the Carolinas, Virginia and the Chesapeake.

By February, things could be starting to happen.

--Georgs

Georgs Kolesnikovs
Power Catamaran World
http://www.powercatamaranworld.com