Hello,
I found this catamaran on craigslist.org in the Florida keys
I had never heard of a Xanadu Catamaran so I contacted the owner to find out more info.
According to the owner
The Xanadu was produced in the 70s as a "resort catamaran" and was popular in the Caribbean region. It was known for the forward facing fiberglass inset and stick tiller control, rather than mesh, like a Hobie. Because it could hold coolers and gear, many Caribbean resorts had these boats to rent out to guests for the day.
He could not find any info online about Xanadu either, since they were a de-funked company well before the internet. He found out about its history by an old timer in the Florida Keys that knew the story. The old timer mentioned that "several" of these boats had been used at resorts in the Keys, and it had been years since he had seen one.
He said the boat came with the mast and boom that are on it, which he does not believe are the original mast and boom, but has no way to verify. His reasoning for it not being the original mast and boom are, that a cat sail usually is short and tight, with a very small if any pocket at all (low CE sail) and this one had a displacement boat sail (high CE large pocket).
The owner says he hand built all the standing rigging, and added a topping lift, as the boom rode too low and needed to be able to be adjusted while sailing and to be able to get it up and out of the way while motoring. He re finished the hulls two years ago.
He said when he posted it on Craigslist.org he listed it as a Bay Catamaran model Xanadua. He said he did this because the way it is set up now (big full cut sail) the boat is overpowered, and tends to want to submarine in any wind above 15-20kts. He wanted people to get the hint it is not a blue water or Atlantic side boat, although he did run it around Rodriguez key for 2 year on Atlantic side, near shore when he lived over there, but once you get it into any seas over 3ft is expression was ...woah and hold on baby.
The owner sent me more photos of his cat. I added a photo album in the identification album area of beach cats
https://www.thebeachcats.…ictures?g2_itemId=127839
Here is the craigslist listinghttps://keys.craigslist.org/boa/6134210362.html
I had not seen a beach cat with a yoke for a tiller. Does anyone else know of a beach cat with a yoke not a tiller?
I did not see a traveler in any of the photos nor where a traveler may have been at one time. Did any other manufacture make a beach cat with out a traveler?
Greg
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Prindle 18 w/ wings, Prindle 16, Prindle 15, current
Hobie 16 in rebuild
2 Hobie 18 past
NACRA 5.2 past
Saint Cloud, Florida
member Lake Eustis Sail Club
http://www.lakeeustissailingclub.org
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Xanadu Catamaran
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- Rank: Mate
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Posted: May 24, 2017 - 01:24 PM
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- Rank: Master Chief
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Posted: May 24, 2017 - 01:37 PM
pretty unique
the one pic with the sail up there is something there where a trav line would go - hard to tell what it is
it's not that hard to fab/put a yoke on a rudder system - just not practical on our cats and really - just more equip to maintain or have fail on you..
I sail on a 31' trimeran that has no travler - it uses a 3 way block set up - it's pretty wild
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Posted: May 24, 2017 - 06:16 PM
I just got in from 9 days on a new 48' Robertson & Caine catamaran that had a similar setup and it was awesome. So much easier to manage the loads and a huge boom and mainsail than screwing with the traditional traveler. This system gives you infinite sail shape, boom placement options, and it's fast and easy.
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Philip
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Posted: May 24, 2017 - 10:25 PM
Great find Greg, and thanks for following up and creating the album.
Just when I think we must have all the small sailing catamarans ever created, a new design is found.
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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN
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