Just to get the DazCat forum started...

[Boreades]

Their website is here:
http://www.dazcat.co.uk/

[miki]

I had a demo sail of the 1150 at the Southampton boat show. In 24 to 25 knots and flat water it creamed along at almost 20 knots. It looks and is a superb cruiser racer. I love the fact there is no crossbeam and no massive high freeboard. Sleek and racy. Not a condomaran. If you want good looks and to sail fast this is the boat for you.

Miki

[Talbot]

A fun boat especially for coastal stuff.

You call it a cruiser racer. I think the emphasis should be much more slanted towards the racer aspects.

[3Psuite]

Here is a link to one that is going to do both

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTMUP...eature=related

Notice the rope rigging and carbon mast

[Catcruiser27]

Would you go on a world cruise on a 1195?

[multihullsailor6]

Would you go on a world cruise on a 1195?

Having been on a Dazcat 1195 and seen her around Plymouth my answer is a very definitive "YES"

[Catcruiser27]

Having been on a Dazcat 1195 and seen her around Plymouth my answer is a very definitive "YES"

Hmm, interesting. I can´t really judge from Youtube video´s and the Dazcat website how big or small everything is. I can see they are brilliant sailing vessels, but the cockpit seems small to me, so does the actual living space (narrow hulls). But I just need to go and see one for real I suppose.
Not to keen about not having a crossbeam though. I know why they do that, but I would like to have something there... What´s your view on that multihullsailor6?

[multihullsailor6]

Hi Catcruiser27,

Darren Newton, the designer of the Dazcat range, isn't the only one who has termined it safe that a forward crossbeam is not needed on a modern design - I know that the French designer Erik Lerouge also has some designs without a forward crossbeam. That said, I also know that some years back Pete Goss' cat "Team Philipps" had some structural problems apparently due to no crossbeam and flexing and "bad construction".

On my cat off Dunkerque, France I have burried into seas with the crossbeam being deep underwater and in that situation I surely would have wished to have less "water resistance". Those seas, by the way, also destroyed one of my forward trampolines which was of the wide webbing type, since changed to a "no resistance" open net mesh type.

[Catcruiser27]

Yes, I can see advantages for not having a crossbeam, but I wouldn´t feel very safe in say heavy weather and having to "work" there. Somehow a crossbeam feels more safe.
Erik Lerouge also has cats with a very large (bowed) crossbeam and no downtensioners. So the whole forestay pulls on the crossbeam. I also looked at Ksenia cats, hence I noticed this.
Oh well, I will keep looking. But the Dazcats do rock my boat!

[downunder]

i like the look of the dazcat Open Ocean 47 !

[Catcruiser27]

I am actually visiting Dazcat/Multimarine near Plymouth Tuesday and Wednesday of this coming week! Have to see what it is all about and whether or not a Dazcat is a "go" or "no go". I am also hoping to drive to Falmouth, where the 1195 is.
A 1395 is being built at this very moment, so that is also interesting to see.

[Catcruiser27]

See my Dazcat visit comments here: http://www.multihulls4us.com/forums/...ead.php?t=2028

[Nordic]

I have always liked most of the Dazcat designs, but the saloon/coachroof on the left picture just doesn't cut it for me...the hulls ar all curvy and then they stick a "box" on top of them??

[Catcruiser27]

Yes Nordic, you´re right.
However, the good news is: you don´t have to!
I.e. the 14 metre cat (white in photo) has the canopy of a 10 metre Dazcat fitted. But....how much space and standing room do you require.
And, it is still a lot lower profile than any other cat I know off with standing head room in the lounge area.
But sailing wise...my god, it is a seriously good sailing cat.

[multihullsailor6]

Catcruiser27,
How did you like the sailing experience with a non-front-crossbeam cat? What had the owner to report on this issue?

[Catcruiser27]

Hi MHS6,

We talked about it extensively and I concluded that in the end it only gives extra weight in the bow and a higher risk of tripping this boat.
You have to see it in the whole design context though, as this is a fast cat, with a much lower hull profile, it is the correct decision made by Dazcat not to have the crossbeam. And....you don´t miss it or need it either. I know of first hand experience now.

Also the hull configuration is much stiffer than say a Catana (remotely comparable, as it also has daggerboards and claims to be a good sailing cat). One of the tests they do is to put a jack under the most forward point of the hull and start jacking it up. Most Dazcats will start lifting the other hull between 1.5 and 2,5 cm (2,5 being the worst recorded by Dazcat). With the Catana it was 25cm!!! I think the new Catanas have improved now, with the use of more carbon, which was extensively shown at the last Palma boatshow. Shows there obviously was a problem in that area.
But Dazcat don´t build a cat around an interior where 3 or 4 bathrooms are needed or walk around beds etc. It is the other way around. Everything is functional and aids to the whole construction.
By this I am not slating any other cat, but it is just what you are looking for and for what purpose. I can imagine the bulk of people wouldn´t go for a Dazcat. I would, because it exactly ticks my boxes for my plans.

[Tropic Cat]

I'm not qualified to comment on the structural integrity of these boats. However, removing the crossbeam from the design has other ramifications. It appears you then lose the entire forward 1/3 of the boat commoning used for the admiral's sunroom or just hanging about. Not to mention having a solid platform to deal with a jammed furler or stuck anchor.

Also, people forget that in the life of any boat, 99% of it's life is at anchor / mooring or at the dock. I like lounging on the foredeck, it's part of the charm of owning a cruising catamaran.

To each, their own...

[Catcruiser27]

Tropic cat: what are you going on about? You still have the trampolines like any other catamaran, so all the things you intend to do are "as usual".
The crossbeam is not a heavy alu beam, but a wire. That it the only difference.

[Catcruiser27]

Tropic Cat, here a picture, so you can see and it will make clear to you how this works. OK?

Cheerio!

[Tropic Cat]

It would be quite an experience cutting down a stuck jib in 50 knots of wind and 10 foot seas with that rig!!

I agree with Talbot, this appears to be a racer. It's the very same setup used in the new America Boats.