[PCW] Planing Hulls - Displacement Hulls

[Jack Angus]

In response to Gary's knowledgeable but provocative piece, may I suggest that
there is a place for PowerCats with planing hulls. Think in terms of the
sports-fish style. If you need to go fast, and you don't have the length, then
you have to plane. There are many reasons (cost; moorage) why you will want to
stay below, say, 35-40 feet. In this length the planing PowerCat offers many
advantages over its mono-hull planing cousins - stability; sea-keeping
qualities; usable spaces. This style is perhaps most highly evolved in NZ and
Australia where it enjoys an excellent reputation for off-shore use. But even
for the weekend cruiser, where annual hours of use mean that the fuel bill is
not a huge part of the annual cost of ownership, the comfort and speed of the
planing PowerCat translates quickly into the ability to access many more
places.