The Glacier Bay 2690 has regularly shown to be a good platform in conditions similar to or considerably worse than what I described off Marina Del Rey. Not only the height of swell, but the interval of swell is very important in a boat at speed. The difference is planing hulls in the Tom Cat 255, which has an extremely narrow tolerance to being on a plane or off a plane--and on a plane in those conditions was pounding enough to cause pain in my back. Versis the Glacier Bay in similar conditions, where the semi displacement hull allowed much better control of speed, there was no pounding and good air compression in the tunnel as the boat landed. So my conclusion (and the people at Tom Cat also affirm this) that the semi displacement boat is better in rough seas. Because both Marie and I have serious back degeneration, the ability to ride rough seas is important. The conditions were typical or perhaps even less than typical for the area of Southern California on an afternoon. However similar conditions would be encountered in many areas. The Glacier Bay's are used extensively in fishing on both coasts and outrun deep V monohulls in contitions which are significantly worse than conditions described. Even in the PNW--where the boat is manufactured--worse conditions are often found in the various straits regularly--San Juan de Fuca, Georgia etc. However, in my mind, the Tom Cat 255 has superior accomidations (Galley, head, dinette, storage, but poor access foreward)--in comparison to the Glacier Bay--(smaller dinette and galley; head next to the bunk--and a wider side deck on STB for easy access foreward.) Compromise is always the name of the game. The Forum "The hull Truth" has extensive discussions about the ride of trailerable catmarrans. Bob Austin

I agree about the GB cabin layout. The TomCat is superior but......GB is introducing a 32 footer in a year which is well designed, cabin wise. A true cruiser. Speaking of cabin layout, it seems to me that the Zeta cat has one of the nices layouts. I love the one-queen bed forward layout. How does their ride compare to GB or TC? -Greg ----- Original Message ----- From: <thataway4@cox.net> To: <power-catamaran@lists.samurai.com> Sent: Sunday, April 09, 2006 7:29 PM Subject: [PCW] Tomcat 255 > The Glacier Bay 2690 has regularly shown to be a good platform in conditions similar to or considerably worse than what I described off Marina Del Rey. Not only the height of swell, but the interval of swell is very important in a boat at speed. The difference is planing hulls in the Tom Cat 255, which has an extremely narrow tolerance to being on a plane or off a plane--and on a plane in those conditions was pounding enough to cause pain in my back. Versis the Glacier Bay in similar conditions, where the semi displacement hull allowed much better control of speed, there was no pounding and good air compression in the tunnel as the boat landed. So my conclusion (and the people at Tom Cat also affirm this) that the semi displacement boat is better in rough seas. Because both Marie and I have serious back degeneration, the ability to ride rough seas is important. > > The conditions were typical or perhaps even less than typical for the area of Southern California on an afternoon. However similar conditions would be encountered in many areas. > The Glacier Bay's are used extensively in fishing on both coasts and outrun deep V monohulls in contitions which are significantly worse than conditions described. > > Even in the PNW--where the boat is manufactured--worse conditions are often found in the various straits regularly--San Juan de Fuca, Georgia etc. > > However, in my mind, the Tom Cat 255 has superior accomidations (Galley, head, dinette, storage, but poor access foreward)--in comparison to the Glacier Bay--(smaller dinette and galley; head next to the bunk--and a wider side deck on STB for easy access foreward.) > > Compromise is always the name of the game. The Forum "The hull Truth" has extensive discussions about the ride of trailerable catmarrans. > > Bob Austin > _______________________________________________ > Power-Catamaran Mailing List