| Henry & Nancy's new boat - Page 5 |
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| Just back from the Miami Boat Show, I had a chance to look at some of the competition. Some non-cats I found appealing were the Camano 31 and the American Tug 34, but these offer much less living space, deeper draft and higher fuel consumption than the PDQ. As for power cats, most of the available models are much bigger and more expensive than the PDQ. Perhaps the closest competitor will be the new Fountaine Pajot Highland 35 coming out this spring, but for me the Euro-styling is a bit much! There's also the question of customer support -- which might be an issue with several of the imported cats. I met a number of PDQ owners at the show and heard nothing but heartwarming praise for their factory support. At an evening get-together I met several PDQ personalities and snapped the photo below. Shown (from L to R) are James Power, spokes-model "Adventurera", Salwa Farah, Rob Poirier, Jackie Power and Vicki Derusha. |
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| 2005 Miami International Boat Show |
| Catamarans dominated at the Miami Boat Show this year. |
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| As a bit of background, I should mention that we've been considering the purchase of a powercat for over a year now. I became intrigued by the powercat's ability to go fast without the excessive fuel burn of a monohull. Don & Ruth Kalen's exploits aboard their Endeavour TrawlerCat 36 (well documented on their website) caught our attention and Endeavour TrawlerCats became our prime focus for a time. Then we began looking at the growing number of alternatives (Passagemaker's April 2005 issue lists 32 powercats!) and we found that, if it's fuel economy vs.speed that you want, Endeavour is by no means at the top of the list. Their 36-footer uses twin 125-hp engines for a relatively modest 12-kt cruise speed with about an 8 gal/hr fuel burn. (The larger 38, 40 and 44 Endeavours use 240-hp engines for a 15-16 kt cruise speed while burning about 13 gal/hr). I also learned that while the manufacturer claims a 13,000-pound displacement for the Trawler-Cat 36, the actual weight (of a recently-launched boat without cruising gear) is closer to 18,000 pounds -- this according to an e-mail from the owner. Light weight is an important factor in the performance of power cats. |
| Some PDQ personalities with added background -- including the spokes-model |
Personally I think the PDQ stands alone at the moment. The only thing better may be their new 40 Powercat -- but it will come at a price. We have decided to give PDQ a (refundable) deposit in exchange for a May 2006 delivery slot. So there you have it -- you're up to date for now. HMC - 2/28/05 |
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