[johndproctor]

At the risk of starting a thermonuclear war I will ask an obvious question:

Is there a catamaran design which is seaworthy (blue water cruiser) and recognises that the average male is taller than 6'?

Let me explain the background to this religious war starting question. I had a Jeanneau 37.2 SO (owner's version) and headroom in the salon was quite good. even in the stern cabin as well as the foreword cabin! Alas I sold her 12 years ago and now wish to get back on the water with a catamaran. No I don't want a mono so that decision is already cast in concrete. I also need to add I reside in Australia.

Now I have looked at several Crowther designs in the 36' range and to say the salon area is cramped is an understatement in extreme. My wife could not even stand up in them and she is 5' 8"! My son is 6' 4" what hope would he have? I am 6' so the family is looking for tall space. There was no problem in the hulls lots of headroom.

Next I looked at a couple of Simpson's. A 10.5M and an 11M and they too were barely better than the Crowthers. I understand making the bridge deck higher increases windage and will result in a taller mast etc. You can't buck geometry! You certainly don't want to lower the bridge deck clearance so my search continues.

So to amplify the question is there a proven design out there (available in a used boat) that can meet the following criteria:

- headroom in salon and cockpit areas at 6' or better
- 36'-40' LOA
- sleeps 6
- suitable for blue water island hopping in the South Pacific
- cost to $150,000 AUD

I don't think these are unreasonable design goals but they do seem to be rarer than hen's teeth in a single design. Also bear in mind that many designs available in the US and Europe just are not present here in Australia. The cost of getting a boat from these areas is very high and importing a boat into Australia (I've done it with my Jeanneau) is high too.

 

[smj]

All criteria was great until you hit the last one, cost. We've owned a few catamarans and I'm 6'4", I've learned to tilt my head in the salon. I think Australia has some of the best designed catamarans out there, but the price for a used cat in Aus seems to be on the high side. If you could double or triple your budget you would be golden. Or possibly buy in the US or Caribbean.

 

[johndproctor]

I agree about the Australian designs. Jeff Schionning, Loch Crowther both designed very good seaworthy as well as fast catamarans. The problem is in the 34' to 40' range everything seems to get scaled down including salon height and area. I don't need 6' 4" clearance, my son can learn to duck, but something approaching 6' would be nice.

Boats in Australia are over-priced and older compared to other locales that is for sure. I bought my Jeanneau overseas (Tahiti) and had her shipped in, paid Duty and GST as well as quarantine fumigation costs. Sold the boat several years later and made money. You can't do that with an Australian sourced boat. The problem is the transport cost have at least doubled in the intervening years as one might expect.

Being retired forces one onto a fixed budget