My wife and I are considering the purchase of a cruising catamaran sometime in the next five years. In my research, I found a SEA-CAT 34 for sale. The Builder/Designer is listed as: MATONNAT, ARCACHON, FRANCEMICHEL LAURAT (said to be French-built)

I am intrigued about a sailing catamaran of this size with an aluminum hull. Unless I am mistaken, this seems to be somewhat rare. Unfortunately, I am not able to find any additional information about the Sea-Cat 34.

Does anyone know where I might learn more about this boat, in particular, or about other cruising catamarans (<40' LOA) with aluminum hulls?

Any assistance you can provide would be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,
Doug

I found the following:
http://www.sailmiami.com/Classifieds/french_aluminum_catamaran_for_sale.htm

The picture makes the boat look like a 40-footer. If in decent shape, it sounds like a good deal.
Rick

That is the site where I found the listing for the boat. I appreciate your opinion that it may be a good deal.

I am hoping to view the boat next weekend. Do you have any suggestions (or suggested reading references) regarding things to look for or questions to ask?

[Please note that I am a novice sailor and eventually-hope-to-be first time boat owner]

Thanks,
Doug

I've designed and built aluminum boats for 20 yrs. Ask if you like and I'll try to answer. Dave

I thought they marked the boat as already sold.
Rick

Doug,
Have you looked at sea-cat 34? What do you think?
This boat was sold by 2 Hulls several(5) years ago.
Eugene

Hi All,
I am interested in an aluminum hull cat and Dave mentioned he has built them for 2 years. I would love to get in touch with him.

Thank you,
Yogi

Send him a private message. Just click on his underlined name at the left of his post. That will take you to a window that has a place at the bottom to "Send a private message."

I owned two aluminum Sizzler beach cats, they were rather well made but the they started to rot out after 20 years of use. Pitted then became porious at the seams the repairs were to costly and time consuming, i had to cut them up and throw them out.

I don't think that Sizzler catamarans have anything to do with aluminum construction for big boats. It's not a valid comparison. Sizzlers probably "rotted out" because of electrolysis between the aluminum and the stainless "O" ring around the joining of the two halves of the hulls. After 20 years, I'm sure the rubber barrier between the two metals disintegrated.

Here is one web site I found with some information about aluminum boats. http://kastenmarine.com/aluminum.htm

One thing I have always wondered about with metal boats, though, is how they react with lightning. I mean, the whole boat is basically grounded; right? So you don't need to put in a grounding device; right? But is the boat more likely to
ATTRACT lightning because the whole boat is metal and grounded to the water?

One of the great thing about French designs is the interior accomodations. In the more exotic ports it is not at all uncommon to see a 24 ft cruiser pull in flying the French flag. As the crew starts to emerge you can count 3...4...5...

Regards
Chet

Are you still interested in sailing cats? I going to attempt to build a 38' aluminum.

Sincerely,
Robert

Hey how's it going...

I too have been on the search for an aluminum hulled cat...I live in Canada (Toronto) and have been considering getting a cat to live aboard. If you find a source for these cats please post.

John

I've also been searching for quite a while now for smaller alum cat build plans. I've heard a few people argue that aluminum is too heavy for smaller cats however If i wanna sail a 36' or smaller metal tank that's my perogative right ?
Can anyone help me get in touch with a designer with stock plans ?

Did you buy the aluminum catamaran? If so, how is working out?