Merry Christmas all, We are in South Florida for the holidays and wanted to see an Aquila/Hudson/Horizon Powercat. I can't seem to find anything online....Wrong town? Wrong brands? Open to being steered here as I know little about the catamaran world. Thanks in advance!
I don't know anything about Aquila or Hudson, but I've sea-trialed, reviewed and strongly suggest looking at Horizon... http://www.yachtforums.com/review/horizon-yachts-pc-58-catamaran.18751/
One of my associates manages one of these new Horizon Cats. What a wonderful boat. If your looking at new power cats, you need to take some time on one of these.
I agree, I like the Horizon power cat. I looked at a 60'. Flybridge and aft decks were as large as a 100' MY. Nice design, my only negative is the master stateroom had like 9 short steep steps down to the head.....I can only imagine that being the walk of death when you wake up in the middle of the night.
I have chartered the Aquila 484 a few times and have nothing but good things to say about it as a charter. The layout is terrific, particularly the bridge access from both the salon and foredeck and the systems seem reasonably well designed and integrated. Having said that, it is a price-point boat and the Horizon, IMO, is in a different league. I have spent some time on an owner's PC 52 and was very impressed. Presumably you know that MarineMax is the US dealer for Aquila. Your best bet is probably to call the Ft Lauderdale or Pompano location to see where one might be in inventory as a quick glance at their website didn't reveal where one lies.
Nine steps is an eternity - better to have a chamber pot handy. Horizon is probably functional, as long as it doesn't have Volvo engines
MarineMax has actually contracted with their supplier to have the Aquila line made. I believe their 44 had some issues getting on to a plane. There is an article out there with a 44 without a bulbous bow and with one and the performance improvements from adding the bulbous bow was pretty substantial.
It still doesn't get on plane. The bulbous bows added like 2-3 knots......but still cruised at 11-12 knots if I remember correctly.
Yes, it got better but still wasn't great. I've been on one and the space was nice but didn't feel a sense of quality.
I've done 2 long deliveries on Lagoon Power Cats. One was a 43' and the other a 44'. Same boat, different flybridge/aft deck layouts. They both had the large Volvo's around 300 hp. They both cruised at 16.5 knots at 1.5 gpnm, at 12 knots 2nm per gallon, at 10 knots 3 nm per gallon. I got into 7-8' seas in the Yucatan peninsula with one and was VERY impressived with how they handled/rode. The bow staterooms were a little narrow and the owners stateroom very wide but low headroom.....I guess typical of being a cat.....but that's the direction I'd go.....access was good to everything..... they were outfitted weird......one had a large generator but no air or heat. The other no generator or a/c or heat, etc.
I was going to correct you, but you did it for me. Horse and buggy guy here - I don't like all the electronics. Not needed. Capt J: That's the one good thing about cats - they do well in heavy seas and slop btwn islands. A monohull beats you up. This is why when we go to VE, it's on a cat.
Cats ride very well UNTIL the sea gets to a height that it hits the top of the tunnel in the center and has nowhere to go. I've experienced that and it is not a pleasant ride, like slamming on the brakes over rail road tracks in a car.
That's why good designers build the bridge decks more than 1m high on sailcats and almost 2m high on powercats. The higher the better.
If you are looking at the Horizon's. You must charter one, even if just for a couple days. Great ride, great quality, and HUUUGE. There is one I know I could recommend and help arrange, albeit in the BVI.