[PCW] trailerable MC-29 power cat

Sat Sep 9 02:10:30 EDT 2006

(Bias Alert:  the following e-mail is from a catamaran dealer.  "Danger, Will Robinson...Danger!")

Occasionally a thread will appear here about trailerable power cats (Glacier Bay, Twin-Vee, C-Dory, etc.)

For those interested in that topic, I just received an e-mail from Grahame Shannon, Vancouver BC resident, and co-designer (with Jerzy Kostanski) of the MC-29 trailerable power cat. He was writing to let me know a 3-minute video of the MC-29 is now available at his web-site.

The first MC-29 to arrive in North America was offloaded in Vancouver, BC about 4 weeks ago (hull #12). The MC29 will have its formal North American debut at the Seattle Boats-Afloat show next week (9/13 thru 9/17), with private seatrials available in the days right after the show. Grahame will be at the show to explain the merits of his design.

For those who are unable to inspect the boat at that show, you may find interest in seeing the short video at Grahame's web-site:

www.aviadesign.com/MC29

After the site opens on your screen, simply click on the word "video." 

I visited Vancouver 2 weeks ago, specifically to inspect and seatrial the MC-29. For those interested in my evaluation of the boat -- pros and cons -- feel free to contact me off-line.

Meanwhile, here are my primary observations.

PRO:

(1)  The finish and styling is the most appealing of any cats I've seen under 30' in length. Probably 85% of the trailerable cats currently available in the U.S. are, first and foremost, designed for fishing, with actual cruising a distant (or even unaddressed) afterthought. This boat is ALL about cruising, yet one could certainly add "rocket launchers" or "down-weight" trolling hardware and enjoy fishing from it, too.

(2)  Performance is heavily weighted toward economic, longer distance cruising. Top speed (with the 160 HP Volvo, or twin, 4-cycle outboards) is about 26 to 27 MPH. Economical cruising speed is about 18 to 21. (The Volvo diesel burns 4+ GPH at 20 MPH.) Twin 4-cycle, 40 HP outboards cost less, and, of course, give you less top speed, but even greater economy, with a cruising speed of 12 to 14 MPH.

(3)  I could easily imagine my girlfriend and me cruising aboard this pocket cruiser for anywhere from 3 days to 3 weeks. And the fine galley and head design, plus large owner's berth, wouldn't make 3 months of coastal cruising a struggle either. 

(4)  Ingenious inclusion of a fully private head with toilet, sink and shower fixture, h/c pressure water, AND 6'4" headroom. What a MAJOR difference from most other under-30 cats that often provide no more than a porta-potty and a flimsy curtain, calling that the "head area."

(5)  Trailerable, so great for sneaking off to Florida to launch for a Bahamas cruise...or down to the Sea of Cortez for a winter respite...or up to Bellingham and the San Juan Islands....or a New England coastal cruise.

(6)  Very comfortable owner's berth forward -- it's wider at one end than a queen-size bed, plus surprising amount of storage room in that compartment. Storage commodius enough for a pair of BIG duffle bags with room to spare.

(7)  Excellent headroom in the salon (about 6'5")

(8)  Easily transited side decks, with good hand-holds, and a surprisingly well-designed anchor locker and anchor sprit.

(9)  Without exception, this is the driest power cat I've ever been aboard. It soon becomes obvious this is because the odd-looking nacelle (oddly reminiscent of a "bull-frog's neck bulge") that's designed between the exceptionally slender cat hulls, thus precluding ANY "sneezing" whatsoever. I didn't see a single drop of spray on the windshield during 90-minutes of low-and-high speed maneuvering. Now THAT is unusual in a power cat.

CON:

(1)  Speaking of windshields, this design looks great from the outside, but inside I'd like to see a narrower post at either end of the windshield, port and starboard -- not much, just another inch or so. And there is no wiper system. For an upscale cruising boat like this, it would be nice if that were standard. (Although the dry ride is noted above, and one can add "drip-free" coating to the windshield like skiers use, to great success, on their goggles.)

(2)  This is highly subjective, but I'd not have bothered with keeping the beam to 8'6" for no-permit trailering. This isn't a boat that many American owners are going to launch and retrieve each weekend -- too easy (yet reasonably economical) to keep it berthed at a marina, ready to go. Instead, I'd have liked a beam of 9'10" or so, thus still allowing for inexpensive permit-capable trailering when occasionally desired, but thus always providing an even roomier craft. Then again, the boat's European built, and I believe they have more stringent rules over there regarding the trailering of boats that exceed the MC-29's current beam.

(3)  There's good visibility from the helm seat, but the spacious bench seat isn't quite big enough for today's "average size" American couple to sit there for an extended period. The boat wants a second raised seat, across from (to the port of) the current helm seat, also facing forward. The designers already have an option for that in mind, and it's something that would be good to see as standard.

(4)  When seated at the surprisingly roomy dinette (easily seats 4 adults, primarily because the designers wanted a convertible dinette that also would make into a ROOMY double berth for guests, which it does), there is no visibility out the sides of the salon. The admittedly large and pleasant side ports don't extend low enough to afford visibility for those seated at the dinette. But the designers have already come up with an additional (probably optional, but if so, well worth it) side window for each side of the salon, which would immediately fix this situation.

(5)  When I was aboard the boat there was a need for additional interior handles for moving about when underway. This has since been taken care of, and I've seen photos of these added handholds; a good item, whether standard or optional.

(6)  This first-in-North-America model is equipped with a single, aft-center mounted Volvo D-3, 160 HP inboard diesel. (as shown in the aforementioned video)  Noise is acceptable in the salon, especially with the aft sliding door closed. Plus the out-of-sight inboard installation makes for a clean appearance at the rear of the boat. But given my druthers, I'd probably opt for the twin, 4-cycle 60 HP outboards. Because they're mounted wide apart, they could only further enhance the already decent maneuvering capability. And the redundancy factor of twin engines is something I like. (But yes, there's something to be said for diesel over gasoline, and for the much larger alternator that a diesel engine includes, which affords much better battery charging.)

(7)  The boat had too little fuel capacity. The D-3 is quite fuel-miserly; the boat gets nearly 5 MPG at 20 MPH, but the range is only about 120 miles. I'd like to see that doubled. I'm told that added (doubled) fuel capacity is now available as an option, and may become standard. I'd definitely recommend ordering that increased tankage.

(8)  It's not fair to call the following a "con," but the motion aboard this boat is a new sensation to me. Due to the boat's modest, trailerable beam, and the relatively narrow fore sections of the "amas," there is an occasional, slight, side-to-side motion. Again, it encompasses only a few degrees, and is neither uncomfortable nor offputting. And I may have noticed it only because I'm so used to power cats where the beam often exceeds one-half the length of the boat. 

Overall observation? If I were seeking a trailerable cat for which most (or even much) of my time were spent fishing, I'd get a Glacier Bay, or Twin-Vee, or World Cat -- or one of their cousins -- that include rod-holding compartments, slide-out drawers for lures and lines, live-bait wells, recessed/walk-around decks, etc. (Conversely, I wouldn't choose to CRUISE for more than a couple days on ANY of those fishing-oriented cats.)

If you're seeking a truly comfortable under-30-feet cat, designed expressly for extended cruising (tho' still fishing capable), this is one of the few cats for your very-short, final-selection list. The only other cat that immediatley comes to mind for that list is the C-Dory. But the level of finish, and the excellent ergonomics (2nd forward seat not withstanding) of the MC-29 -- ergonomics including generous standing head room, large owner's berth, very workable galley unit, ingenious private head compartment, etc. -- that combination of design and comfort is likely to make this new, pocket-cruising cat a leading choice for would-be owners seeking an under-30' power cat.

And for those looking to "pimp their ride," the MC-29 offers an unusually extensive luxury-options list (gensets, heating and air-conditioning, electric anchor windlass, state-of-the-art electronics, etc.). In fact, the list is more extensive than that available from some builders of larger cats costing $100,000 to $200,000 more than the MC29. (Depending on the engine package selected, the MC-29 starts at about $110K to $120K.)

Check out Grahame's video. You'll see another unusual aspect of this boat. Until it's underway, you could easily confuse it for a monohull. Given its advantages over a monohull, you might say that makes the MC-29 a "wolf in sheep's clothing." 

Rod Gibbons
founder:  Cruising Cats USA
Seattle - Portland - SF Bay - Hawaii