Just a simple sponson digging in , bit of herbs and over you go.
But yeah one of my mates still can't handle my cat when the chop gets big.
Should see him white knuckles hanging on, " scared mate " i say , he just replies
"I'm waiting for the bang , but it never happens ".
Copie your fears will become other peoples over time.
Ta
Well For What Its Worth I Had A Cat And Have Gone Back To A Mono,i Prefer To Have My Shower Hot With Fresh Water When I Get Home,not While Im Driving My Boat.
It Sounds Like The Old Cat Problem Which They All Suffer From To Some Degree,you Need To Run The Bow As Light As You Can,even Anchor And Chain Can Make A Difference.run Full Up Trim,if Your Running 4 Blade Props Go Back To 3 Blade.you Might Of Noticed The New Model 19 Kc Has Strakes Up The Front Of The Sponsons,this Is To Help Rectify This Problem,you Could Quite Easily Add Some To Your Hull It Would Help Enormously,or Do What I Did,sell It And Get A Mono.
Regards Opti;d
Just curious Opti, going from a cat to a mono, which mono did you choose?
######### Formula 233;d
Thats E-d-e-n-c-r-a-f-t F-o-r-m-u-l-a 233;d
Originally Posted by copie
Well hi to you all. I have a friend/associate with a near new 6 mt kevlar cat, twin 140 hp suzuki 4 strokes. He has previously owned mono hull boats. Travelling out to his fishing destinations he appears to be happy with the new boat, BUT when it's time to come home so running with a following sea he say's the handling is frightening to say the least. In fact a coment was white knucklesfrom all on board. It appears the new cat can comfortably run out or head on at reasonable speeds and handles it well. When running with the sea he backs right off to approx. 12knts.His complaint is the boat appears to dive nose down with a lean to his side (driver side) down the face of a swell or wave with the apparent feeling that it wont come back up. The boat was returned to the manufacturer for inspection and they checked inspected and even ex-rayed the right side hull in case it was filling with water. they apparently found nothing wrong and returned the boat to the owner. The boat still reacts in the same maner. I personally have never owned a cat but thought some of you cat owners and in particular kevlar cat owners could offer some assistance. Oh it's apparent handling vice is so that he wont take his family out in the boat in any weather as it frightens them all.
I THANK ALL IN ADVANCE FOR ANY ADVICE MARK.
Hi Mark,
First of all i love that image on your sounder ,. some solid formations !!
We have a 35ft noosa cat with suzi outboards and have found that, generally speaking the faster the cat goes the better ride you will get. the more speed equals more air pressure under the hulls, resulting in massive lift and minimal porposing and digging in like you mentioned.
As a heap of the guys have previously stated just ensure the engines arent trimmed down too much. in our situation we dont need to work the engines ever, honestly the last thing u want to be doing is powering in and out of swells, it makes for an unpleasant ride for everyone and a bit of a shock at the bowser!!, and i dont think its warranted. in my opinion the only time youd really need to work the throttles is doing a lumpy bar crossing or going into some decent sized swell. id suggest a good 20 knots crusing speed , and dont touch the throttles until your coming in the leads. a following sea @ 12 knots cruise you will find doesnt give enough air pressure under the hulls for the cat to lift and glide over the swells, id imagine the boat would be literally surfing down the swells barely keeping up with the swell and wouldnt think the boat would have enough power at that speed to climb up the back of the swell, let alone generate enough lift for the hull to truly work.
As a rule of thumb tell your mate to trim the outboards up until you hear them cavitate, then lower until they bite in but dont cavitate. he will notice great lift, and the hull shouldnt be digging in at all. it shouldnt continue to dig in, well not majorly anyway.
bear with it and i can guarantee you wont find a better hull or mono for that fact, in that size to match the performance of the vessel in question. your mate should be able to sit back with his feet on the wheel preparing to crack a coldie when your safe and sound!
enjoy, and i can gurantee once he gets the hang of it, he;l never go back to a mono hull.
well done to your mate on choosing a great boat too, cant go past them. and great to see that kevlacat ensured everything was A1 on their end with the hull scan ect, if only some other cat builders (wink wink) would do the same with their clients after the sale !
hope this helps,
fish guts
ft, It might sound a little cryptic and not very constructive but that's simply based on the info provided. Without knowing the "complete' situation it is rather speculative to suggest anything, yet everybody else makes out as if they have all the answers? that's BS.
What I've read so far is that this is a fairly "new" 6m kevlacat with 140 suzzies, so I would have to assume this is in fact a 6.5KC and not a 6m KC especially if it has 140 suzzies on the back, lets assume (hope) so?
Basically a 6m KC runs downhill very well, even with 30 knots of sea breeze in shallow water behind it no drama's and if this one (assume) 6.5 with 140 suzzies doesn't then i'm a bit lost to expalin why, without further info.
Are these 6.5's with 140 4S's that far out of balance? I don't know! And I'm not prepared to make a comment without additional info.
Some of the comments about "working the throttles" simply make my head shake!
Regards, Kerry.
Re: Scary Cat
Thanks Ian and eveyone for all the advice please keep it comong. Ian the boat is based brisbane southside now get this "the selling dealer has apparently offered to go out with the owner but when requested to makes excuses apparently the last one was it might be a little to rough.
Thanks again to all keep it coming MARK.
Kerry i do believe you are correct 6.5mt sorry for not being more specific. Just to add to a couple of the other replies he is not attempting to come back at 12knts but in fact slow to that speed so as to feel safe. Just one more thing this guy is not new to boating and regular trips to the shelf in prior boats "mono's" have been comon.
MARK
The day Kevlacat started introducing dealerships was one of those bad days!
Hi all,
After reading this thread I think that I am going to be in the same situation as
I have just bought myself a 5.2m Kevlacat with 70yammies. I am picking her up today and heading back to Mackay. I have never had a cat before either and am very interested in learning more about how to drive them. Does anyone know where that post on how to drive them from Grand_marlin is hiding?? I would be keen to take someone who knows how to handle a cat for a fish one day off Mackay in return for a few tips. Anyone keen???
Cheers
Daniel
i have owned 5.2 kevlacat for just over 3 years now & would only trade it for a bigger one.They do like to be run hard,20 knts is when the hull lifts & traps enough air to give that floating feeling.Runs alot better in choppy seas than a glass out(how often do we get a glass out)regulary run boat at 4500- 5000rpm for 45-50km\h Dont tend to work thottle much just set speed & head for horizon.when in a following sea, run as hard as possible cats love it.but cutting across a following sea is when she digs in.Trim down on the side that digs in to lift the nose on that side, leveling the boat,it will always dig in somewhat but can minimize this with trim.Have a pair of hondas on back(very heavy)& still run at about 3/4 trim for best ride. Just try trimming one side of boat then the other to get a feel for whats happening,practice makes perfect.Once u get used to it theres no going back
Re: Scary Cat
YOU HAVE TO WONDER WHY A MANUFACTURER SILICONS THE CLEARS TO THE WINDSCREEN AT THE FACTORY?KINDS OF TELLS YOU THERES A PROBLEM.
interesting that in a following sea you trim the kc out/up to reduce rolling/diggin in, when i trim my 7m coastal cat down, but i've still never burried a hull.
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