Catana 431/471

Not sailed one but watched the market in Europe. Catanas have always held their value and I would say you are now paying too much for an old boat.
The Cannes boat show was just on and about 1/3 of the sailing boats were cats. With the market exploding in Europe I would think you could pick up a more modern package that will give you more space for the family and better sailing capabilities.
As always when buying a boat, what will you actually do with it ??? Where will you keep it and how much will that cost?? What are the running costs?? Buying an older boat where electronics etc are a nightmare might cost you more in the long run.
If it flies floats or does something else starting with f rent it.

" a quick way to destroy the joy of sailing " .are you taking the piss or trying to start the old mono versus multi argument.

Maybe this would be of interest

www.facebook.com/commerce/listing/482339733797129/?media_id=0&ref=share_attachment

Thanks guys. All very good points which are bobbing around in my mind while I ponder the possibility.

Having just retired and having had a good friend pass away another friend (who already has a large-but slow- cat) recently said to me "Julian this is the end game and there is no point in leaving this world with the most super still saved". Also when I was looking for a boat there were quite a number for sale by older guys who although they might still have a number of years left were not fit enough to sail their boats any more.

I guess there is no substitute for actually sailing one yourself. Certainly wouldn't consider anything that didn't have centre boards or wasn't build as a "performance" cat although it's hard to know whether performance cat just means in relation to other catamarans or whether it would be truly enjoyable to sail.

Yes it's a big boat but I think some of the boat handling issues are mitigated by having the twin screws which certainly enhance manoeuvrability.

Thanks Sparau and Chris 249 for those performance comparisons.

Yes they are extremely expensive at the moment but then again more modern cats are even more expensive. Yes I also realise that they are old boats and that many will tequire 3x as much work to get them back in to acceptable condition than I have already performed on my 1988 North shore over nearly 18 months.

As an aside there is one for sale in New Zealand at the moment and I joined a Catana Facebook page which contained an interesting comment about that particular boat being for sale for the 3rd time in 2 years. Comments like these are extremely valuable to boat buyers and can save the considerable cost of a survey or possibly even a very expensive mistake.

For the moment I'll keep dreaming and biding my time until an opportunity presents itself locally for a test sail. Who knows we might even have a recession soon which should present good buying opportunities.

Btw - managed to hold onto an IT contract for 2020-21 and we chartered a Seawind 1000 for 14 days as it was daughter's finish year 12 present / request to revisit the Whitsundays.
So somewhat baggy sails etc but for a laugh here is a shot of our track trying get to Nara inlet, E wind 10-15 kn, flat water end of flood tide so possibly against a slight current. The squiggle is me giving up after 90 minutes lol. So I tried 60 apparent thinking speed, then 45 and finally pinching at 30 where it just slipped sideways.

I'm in 2 minds about galley up/down. For quick access to make a coffee or grab a snack while keeping watch and involvement of whomever is cooking with rest of crew galley up is great.
The usual downside people say is movement while underway, which depending on intended uses could be a factor but I reckon it's more about storage. If half your ingredients are below you could end up with a fair amount of faffing about.
I'd probably choose galley up given 2 identically maintained boats but I have only seen 1 galley up smaller Schionning for sale over years.

As to outboards this boat managed a RTW, might be closer to the Catana in capability, galley up.
yachthub.com/list/yachts-for-sale/used/sail-catamarans/grainger-43/280814

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sparau said..
I'm struggling a bit with the under bridgedeck profile of the 431?

What part of it don't you like?

I think it's nearly identical to the 471 and although not really evident in your picture it is a lot further back and a lot higher than on pigs like the Lagoons (see pic below).

I also think the inward steps which extend from the forward escape hatches to the rear under the bridge deck (but the not the transom) are a master stroke to reduce waterline beam but allow internal accommodation where it is needed. Kind of reminiscent of pre-dreadnought area era battleship gun emplacement bulges :).They correspond in height to the base of the front(and rear) cabin bunks where the width is needed and taper out towards the extremities immediately after the bunks. The longitudinal bunks (as opposed to transverse beds in front cabins) also serve to reduce bridge deck profile and therefore increase height forward. In some models they correspond with the vanity in one of the heads as pictured below.
Also love the round topped doors to maintain strength and about the only thing I am not mad about is the colour of the internal wood trim. I noticed that Blue Indigo, the one for sale in Malaysia at the moment, has had it's internal timber work removed and substituted with a lighter colour.

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sparau said..


This was an interesting read, guy sells 471 due to saying it won't sail well in ~5 knots, buys an Outremer Clearly not cash strapped... : )
sailpuffin.com/2019/05/18/chasing-performance/

Great read thanks for that :-)

Sorry can't find it now but it sounded more like an unusual thing, owner? was below loud noise under berth.
It was in a cruisers forum thread in multihulls.
However there seem to be many threads about them being great in confused cross seas so can't be an issue.
e.g.
www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f48/cat-buying-causing-domestic-strife-181934-5.html
"Catanas have a high bridgedeck clearance and we were able to maintain 10-11kts speed through 8'-12' cross seas between the islands (martinique, St Vincent, St. Lucia) and the boat never slammed once. The motion inside was "jerky" at this speed and you had to be careful moving around. Some of the other charter cats with lower bridge deck clearance had to motor through these seas at 5-6 kts "picking their way through" due to slamming. "

Compared to a Schionning under bridge deck which usually have smooth radius or an angle like these I had an "ooh thats looks odd" moment.