It is obvious that I think power cats can cross oceans safely, or I would never would have left New Zealand to go to Seattle. When one thinks about surviving the ultimate storm many things come into play. I have never been in what I would call and extremely large storm. I have been aboard a 40' mono sailboat in the North Atlantic in 50-60kn winds in which we laid a hull. Surviving the storm is just one aspect of the ordeal. Fuel supply is the other. You may be able to maneuver the boat in such a way to survive, but then you still have to be able to get somewhere. This can be a problem if you spent a lot of fuel during the storm. I felt this way a little when I left Hawaii and had head winds the first two days. I reduced speed to five to seven kn just to keep the fuel burn on schedule. Large seas are not the problem if you are willing to head the boat in the direction that is best for survival. I have found that the first few hours of high winds are the most critical. The sea are shorter and tend to break . When the storm winds mature the seas are longer and rounder as I experienced in the N Atlantic. I have had two experiences where I believe that a mono in the same circumstances my have rolled over. Once has off Huahine in French Polynesia and the other time was between NZ and Fiji. Both cases the boat dropped severely to the Starboard side, just like falling off a wall. In both cases I was heading slightly in to the wind and a large Southern Ocean swell connected with the normal wind driven sea and made a square wave. This is where I believe a mast and sail would have helped to dampen the the action. I know people shoot me down when I talk about power cats with sail rigs, but for me, who has done it both ways, if I were to build another circumnavigating boat it would have a mast. The mast would steady the quick beam action of a power cat even if no sail was set. Also after the storm mentioned above one would be more tempted to use the fuel needed to out last a storm if he knew that he could always get to a destination. One other point is that most power boats on a transocean passage travels at 6-8 knots. I traveled that and more in Wild Wind III ,a sailing cat, when circumnavigating. I once went 440 KM in 48 hrs. I believe a power cat with a specially designed rig which could be remove easily would be the best of both worlds. Not like what we now think of as a motor sailer. The power cat I propose would be able to be lighter because you would not need to carry so much fuel. My ride from NZ to Seattle would have been as fast or faster if Wild Wind IV had a rig. I have designed a rig that fits the needs of us older guys who don't want to pull strings any more and could be stored on the boat when not used. I would like to talk to someone who wants to build a circumnavigating power cat with a mast. I always say that we all design things in relation to the experiences we have had. Just like Steve Dashew who never thought sailboats needed real good engines till he went up from Panama to S. California. I almost bought a Deerfoot. Thank goodness I bought a cat instead. Hi Steve. All cats are not equal and don't need to be. Each boat is designed for different uses. We need to remember this. I qualified my proposed cat as a circumnavigating cat. Wild Wind IV is perfect for the use I will give her now that I am back on the East Coast, with trips to the Bahamas and around the Great Lakes. I have no qualms about going anywhere on Lake Superior where the weather can be as bad as anywhere. Our pure trawler friends have not yet figured out that they could buy a good used sailing cat and motor as fast or faster and have more room and draw less water and spend less money and never need to hank on a sail. The only drawback is the beam and maybe the length for storage. While I am on my soap box, a thought about the Transatlantic Power Boat Rally. I don't think the boats that make such a passage are the best type of boats for the passage. For relatively small boats a sailboat is a better ride and a lot safer. Anyone can send comments to me directly. I have not signed onto the list because we are busy getting things together here at home and preparing to go up the East Coast and then up the St. Lawrence to our home waters of Lake Superior. If you see Wild Wind IV don't hesitate to hail us, we always love to talk to other boaters. Dennis Raedeke Wild Wind IV http://www.trawlerworld.com/passagemaking_wildwind_01.htm Georgs Kolesnikovs wrote: > Any thoughts, Dennis, on the suitability of power catamarans for > trans-oceanic passagemaking? I'll be glad to pass your comments on to > the Power Catamaran List. > > --Georgs

>Dennis Raedeke >Wild Wind IV > >http://www.trawlerworld.com/passagemaking_wildwind_01.htm Oops! I neglected to add another related URL, from the site of designer Malcolm Tennant. http://www.tennantdesign.co.nz/boatdesigns/128/Wild%20Wind.htm --Georgs