[PCW] Powercat design

[Pat Reischmann]

When you get down to it, the real advantage power catamarans offer really only
matter to people who actually go cruising and or live aboard which is the
smallest part of the marine market. The advantages SHOULD include:

Fuel economy
Stability
Sea keeping
Propeller/drive train protection

Aesthetics for this group is at the bottom of the list. To achieve these
qualities and to maximize them requires:

Narrow hulls
Lighter displacement
Wider beams
Lower CG

None of this plays into the hands of aesthetics, so to an extent if you want a
true offshore capable catamaran, you are a bit locked in.

Attempts to make catamarans more aesthetically pleasing with narrower beam,
rounded surfaces, wider hulls, usually results in compromising the real reason
and advantage to a high efficiency displacement power cat for cruising. Based
on my observations these attempts have failed badly because they really end up
offering no real advantage over their mono hull counterparts (with the
exception maybe better stability), other than they can be called a catamaran.

I think the markets initial discovery infatuation a few years ago with the
"different" catamaran alternative is over, and it's going to boil down to
those who identify the fact they are after a specific more specialized, albeit
smaller part of the market, (livea board/offshore cruisers) who are much more
interested in fuel economy, and sea keeping, than having yacht club curb
appeal.