[quote=shortyfox][quote]It would be nice to have a boat that's Hobie/Getaway-esque, drawing some of the form of high-performance, wave piercing hulls with decent performance, yet easy to operate with a modest price. I think Hobie was going there, but couldn't get the market.[/quote]
G-Cat was such a boat, unfortunately they haven't made them for decades.
The apparent demise in the popularity of small catamarans makes for a very interesting discussion.
I started sailing beachcats in Southern California in the late seventies. They were everywhere. The most fun was informal races out to one of the offshore buoys and back and the one who came in last would buy the drinks. There were always people sailing and lots of comradery. By the time I moved away in '95
it was fading away and I don't know what it's like today.
I now live in Sarasota and with a bay 12 miles long and with sailing year-round you'd think it would be a hugely popular place for "Wet Boat" sailing. Over the years I've sailed my G-Cat over every inch of this Bay and there are hundreds of homes on the water, many with their own beach. An absolutely perfect set up! But sadly, there's only one house with a Hobie sitting out back. Go figure. There's a sailing club with a few cats but the only ones that go out frequently are the rental roto-molds and a handful of late model Nacras that seem to have their own club. On many perfect days I'll be the only catamaran out there.
Now we can go on and on about the "Good Old Days", but really, what happened?
One more thing, I keep hearing this term, "recreational boat". Aren't they all recreational? And can't they all be raced?[/quote]
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