Top 10 Performance Cruising Cats [50 Foot Range, 2022 Models]

If you were to buy a brand new Performance Cruising Cat today, what would you get?! As the Annapolis Boat Show comes to a close, we look at the Top 10 boats we would have liked to see during the show. We provide our thoughts on the types of questions you should ask when buying, what we consider important for a cruising cat, and list the pros and cons for each vessel. Just looking for a particular boat? No problem, just skip to the chapters below:

Take our 1 question survey, which boat would you buy?:
https://forms.gle/tXWZEFQCNb8Wovnv7

CORRECTIONS:
Since the release of this video we have been informed of a few (inevitable) mistakes. We’re sorry! But here are the corrections we wish we could go back and make:
1) The WINDELO price was off badly. We’re not sure where we got that information (as price info is hard to find, especially on new boats), but the price should be $1.1m USD. This is down significantly from the $1.6m we reported. It’s an interesting boat and one that everyone should check out if you find that layout interesting! And we love their Eco approach. Hopefully that spurs more competitors to do the same.
2) The SEAWIND 1600 is now heavier than reported. After producing the first few hulls they saw a need for improved Heavy Displacement payload and widened it a bit. I’m not sure it affects performance that much, but it is a change from what we reported.
3) The people at ITA reached out to inform us that you can get both Diesel and Electric engines on their new design. Again, this is a pretty cool new boat and very similar to Outremer in terms of design (and probably performance). If you’re looking for the fancy Italian version of that French yard, go check them out. Also of note, this boat is Epoxy Infused, which is one of only three boats listed here to have this strong production method.
4) The OC50 from HH CATAMARANS is also Epoxy Infused, making them one of three – along with the KINETIC KC54 (not sure we mentioned that). Epoxy is reportedly 3 times stronger than Polyester and Vinylester (although that depends on the yard producing them). Either way, it is a more expensive production technique and you should know what you are paying for and why. Hope this helps!

0:00 – Why a Performance Cruising Cat?
1:47 – Questions you should ask when buying a Performance Cat
7:06 – ORC50 (TS5) – “The Minimalist Racer”
10:18 – Seawind 1600 Passagemaker – “The Cheaper Outremer”
15:17 – Outremer 51 – “The Market Leader”
19:10 – Catana 53 – “The Old Guard”
22:39 – HH Catamarans OC50 – “The Quality Leader”
29:13 – Windelo 50 – “The Eco-Apartment Boat”
34:08 – Balance 526 – “The Versa-Boat”
38:51 – McConaghy MC52 – “The Flybridge Performance Cat”
42:27 – ITA 14.99 – “The Electric Outremer”
44:34 – HH50 – “Fly A Hull If You Want To”
46:14 – Kinetic KC54 – “Poor-mans Gunboat”
50:01 – What Boat Would You Pick & Why?

Want more info on these boats? Check out the outstanding online resource Katamarans:
https://www.katamarans.com/marsaudon-composites-ts5/
https://www.katamarans.com/seawind-1600/
https://www.katamarans.com/outremer-51/
https://www.katamarans.com/catana-53/
https://www.katamarans.com/hh-oc50/
https://www.katamarans.com/windelo-50/
https://www.katamarans.com/balance-526/
https://www.katamarans.com/ita1499/
https://www.katamarans.com/mcconaghy-mc50/
https://www.katamarans.com/kinetic-kc54/

BOATS WE LEFT OUT: We intentionally left out kit boats or boats with design plans like Schionning, Chris White and others. While we do have a lot of respect for boats like that, we are focusing today on companies that produce a line of boats and not one-off custom jobs. But that might make for a good future video, so stay tuned! Oh, and we regret leaving the Dazcat out. Click here to learn more: https://www.katamarans.com/dazcat-1495/

SPECIAL NOTE: The views expressed in this video are our own, and we were not compensated in any way for making this video. Although we are emotionally attached to our boat and the kind people at Outremer, we tried to be honest with ourselves on what boats we would look at today.

Special thanks to Hans at @GoSunChill who let us use his outstanding drone shot of the Annapolis Boat Show from the weekend! Thanks Hans!

Click here to check out that Scott Rocknak video I talked about:

Click here for the spreadsheet:
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1JMU7JtBhtu0ouYJmOaIrq6_thV1SFktkunm26O3Ex3I/edit?usp=sharing

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