[MHml] Multihull delivery gone badly wrong

[Marius Coomans]

Alan,

No need to apologise. We all make our own choices. We're the only catamaran
in the cruising division of club we belong to, so I'm used to our number of
hulls, let alone our boat's design being questioned :-)

Unfortunately, your views about production cats didn't get us any closer to
finding out what actually happened in this case.

Marius Coomans
http://temoana.coomans.com

On 2/23/07, Alan Christoffersen <alan at insatech.com> wrote:
>
>  Hi Marius,
>
>
>
> Firstly, please accept my apologies – there was absolutely no personal
> offence intended with my comments. I hadn't seen your website before sending
> off . We have just had a lot of snow here (in Denmark), in some areas the
> schools are closed, Police are asking people to stay at home etc. so a
>  visit to your website gets one dreaming of holiday times…
>
>
>
> I  agree with you, a trip along that beautiful coastline in comfort is
> what these boats are designed for – in my opinion. There seems to be a trend
> in certain market niches, where the boats are turning into very dangerous
> compromises..
>
>
>
> A few years ago – most of the French built "roomarans" had inadequate sail
> area to really be dangerous boats. I know, as I have a Fountaine Pajot
> Tobago 35!  (Building period was  between 94 and 99 I think)
>
>  I would really have to work hard to flip it,. In those days,  all the
> boatyards were terrified of any flips that could lead to questioning of the
> safety – and thereby limiting sales to the lucrative charter markets. In
> fact FP did have a well sailing boat in the 32 ft. Maldives – but as soon as
> one flipped, they stopped the production.  Later on the Athena 38 was simply
> too sluggish, so they quietly did a MKII version with increased sail area.
>
>
>
> The situation has changed now, production has been ramped up, the South
> African built boats are taking more and more market share – so the big
> builders have turned to increasingly to private buyers – making the boats
> more attractive from a price point. Here performance is again becoming a
> point – and we are now seeing increasingly large sail areas, with often
> inadequate deck hardware (cost saving) – I had a look at the FP Mahe – she
> has ONE undersized winch for practically all sail handling. So prices come
> down, sales go up – as does sail area...
>
>
>
> So as you also point out – large numbers of boats being sold to
> inexperienced sailors – is an accident waiting to happen.
>
>
>
> Heavy boats, lots of windage, high CoG, undersized deck hardware, and
> badly mounted /too few rope handling facilities – large fixed biminis…and
> big waves and wind is a dangerous mixture, when you then add
> inexperienced/tired/ crew something is bound to happen.
>
>
>
> Lets hope that we don't see too many more of these situations – hopefully
> the full story will come out so maybe we can all learn something..
>
>
>
> Regards
>
>
>
> Alan Christoffersen
>
>
>  ------------------------------
>
> *Fra:* multihulls-bounces at steamradio.com [mailto:
> multihulls-bounces at steamradio.com] *På vegne af *Marius Coomans
> *Sendt:* 23. februar 2007 04:15
> *Til:* Informed discussion of multihull issues
> *Emne:* Re: [MHml] Multihull delivery gone badly wrong
>
>
>
> Hi Alan,
>
> It's horses for courses. My wife and I enjoyed spending two months
> traveling in comfort along the East Australian Coast to the Great Barrier
> reef in our Lagoon 380. I make no apologies for their looks (a friend of
> mind calls ours a russian submarine) nor for their headroom (I'm 6 ft 4,
> 1.94).
>
> Instead I'm interested in finding out more about what actually happened.
> With over 400 built and many in the hands of relatively inexperienced
> sailors, I've never previously heard of one capsize.
>
> Marius Coomans
> http://temoana.coomans.com
>
> On 2/23/07, *Alan Christoffersen* < alan at insatech.com> wrote:
>
> Its always sad when lives are lost.
>
> Don't Lagoons have emergency exits/entrances so in the case of a flip, the
>
> crew can get into a protected room?
>
> I must say - IMO,  they represent some of the worst trends in catamaran
> design - for ocean going vessels that is. As a coastal cruiser for use in
> protected waters they are probably fine,  but there is obviously a large
> market out there -where the colour on the countertop and the curtains are
> important sales factors..  Does anyone think they look nice?  OK Price is
> low, so m3/? is very good.
>
> Sorry - I just couldn't resist the comment, having spoken to a salesperson
>
> on a Lagoon at the La Rochelle boat show , who kept on about how great
> they
> sail, sometimes over 10 knots!!!  they just seem clumbsy and downright
> ugly.
>
> Best Regards/Med venlig hilsen
>
> Alan Christoffersen
>
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