Any advice on handling a kevlacat 2400

[ozscott]

I dont know much about Cats. I know years ago - 70s - the most common rescue boats used by the Coast Guard were Seafarer Vagabonds and the 675(?) Haines Hunters (the big haines). I have one of those Vagabonds and Im happy with it. The Coast Guards etc eventually moved to the big cats. Am I right in saying that the main reason for doing that was the extra platform stability at rest for rescues? I dont know and would be interested in the feedback of guys that know first hand or are otherwise more knowledgable than me about rough water boats - which wouldnt be hard!

Cheers

[Kerry]

Coastguard/VMR's etc were moving to Cats in the early 70's for a number of reasons. One being the capability over and above a mono for the purpose. Community helicopter services were extremely rare as was many other organisations as they are today, including the water police in most locations.

Big Cats (as such) were really not part of the scene and these days with all the vessel requirements and other issues many organisations have generally gone for bigger conventional vessels to augment the mixture of rescue capabilities available.

[Kerry]

"The port engine you might notice over time uses more fuel, which is fairly normal as it works the hardest. Also would pay to check your props and if standard 19’s (too big) they need to disappear sooner than latter. You must be able to achieve max WOT (plus) under full load with whatever props you are running with. Standard 17's are about right."

What do you mean by 19's are to big?

I have 15 1/4d x 21p and I still reach WOT easy at about 4200rpm. Are you talking about outboards only?

Outboards only? With regard the subject of a 2400KC, no other choice.

Engine problems on many Cats can be attributed to the props, most are too big and generally setup for speed which is totally the wrong thing to do.

WOT for a pair of 115's on a 2400KC would want to see 5600rpm

[23-sharkcat]

Kerry are you saying that I should go smaller on the props? and why...

[soulfish]

oz scott .mate i'm no expert on cats either,i've owned 4 seafarers last 2 where 6.2 vagabonds and was very happy with them.for the last few years i've always wanted to own a cat to see for myself how good they are or not.finally after a fair bit of research i found and decided to buy a 2700 noosacat.after the first 5 -10hrs i thought that i'd made a big mistake felt very awkward to drive.65 hrs later mate words can't describe the ride totally blows me away how soft it is i can cruise 45-50 klm'shr in absolute 20-25knt shit and not land hard.only a few weeks back i checked the bom forecast 24knts at the cape lets go high speed trolling no problem obviously not soft hitting them head on ,just veer 10-20degrees and it never landed hardat all.i'm pretty exited about my cat because with every trip i grow with confidence in the hull and what it can do. i'm not saying it's the perfect boat that will never be invented.my seafarers served me well but i would find it hard going back .at the end of a big day offshore myself and my fishing buddy never feel no where near as drained as we used to in our monos.

[23-sharkcat]

soul fish what have you got powering your 2700 and what sort of performance do you get from her.

Is the 2700 the same as a 700 series mark 2 sharkcat the hull looks identical.

[ozscott]

Sounds good Soulfish - I have wondered for some time when one day I move to a bigger rig. To be fair to the old Seafarer 6.2 is a hell of a lot smaller than a 27 foot cat (and a lot lighter!). Thanks for sharing your story mate because that sort of balanced report is well recevied.

Cheers

[soulfish]

23 sharkcat. mate the 2700 carries a centerline measuerment of 7.8 mtrs including pods. i think the difference between your 23 is the pods plus the 2700 has more deck space due to no outboard wells.the beam i think is the same at 2.55m and wayne hennig has added a tunnel wave piercer.mines powered with 2+150 merc optimax's i'm really happy with the boat's performance top speed 38knts with 560liters on board 4 blokes and full water and gear but where it really counts for me i usually cruise at 25-27knts sitting on 3700-3900rpm very comfortable ride in any direction exept head on if seas are getting up(which in my experiance is every boat i've ever been on going into a head sea at speed} oz scott nothing wrong with the old vag mate;of course you've got to compare apples with apples . you pay a premium for that ride{want to swap fuel bills}

[ozscott]

fair enough mate!!

[Kerry]

Kerry are you saying that I should go smaller on the props? and why...

What are you running, what is it powered with, what sort of rpm are you pulling at WOT, what's your cruise speed and at what rpm?

[Kerry]

....but where it really counts for me i usually cruise at 25-27knts sitting on 3700-3900rpm very comfortable ....

Those revs at that speed for an engine with a max WOT of 5750 tends to indicate overproping? What is your max WOT?

[23-sharkcat]

My cat is powered by twin 470 mercruisers @ 170hp each

I cruise at 30knots at about 3250rpm

WOT @ 4200rpm

they are good on fuel as they run on unleaded. I us about 20-25ltrs an hour each. which for a bout of this size and weight is really good.

absoutley awsome out of the hole due to the torque of these big engines.

[saurian]

Be careful 23 ,
Kerry will bring out the prefix before comment rule.
Who cares you guys get out there enough to know what is going on .
Soulfish sounds like joy. My fuel bill isn't quite yours but I wouldn't save
fuel to get hammered.
Ta.

[soulfish]

kerry ,around 5450-5500 i'm no expert mate do you think that's ok ? i've had the boat 4 months ,bought it second hand.it was set up by noosa cat '

[JB]

[quote author=JB link=1168498553/15#20 date=1168572070][quote author=Kerry link=1168498553/0#11 date=1168510949][quote author=Kerry link=1168498553/0#5 date=1168505249]Out of interest what were the other 3 vessels you were comparing your Cats performance too?

Wasn't interested in your comments saurian, the question was in regard the actual original post, too Antony!

So saurain don't get up on your tippy toe, absolutely nothing to do with you!
[/quote]

Ha, good ol kewwy at it again wat a weapon lol[/quote]

Nothing to do with you either you fool! Just JB mouthing off as usual and saying absolutely nothing, get a life you clown! Be constructive JB otherwise simply pull your head in.
[/quote]


hahahaha, ZZZZZZZZZZZZZ better up the drag this ones running hard!! LMFAO