We looked at several other boats in our quest for a trailerable catamaran cruiser. We would like to have a cruising range of over 300 miles, enough storage for 10 days food and gear, a n easy to get in bunk,  a head with shower, and speed up to 30 mph.  This needs to be trailerable behind a standard tow vehicle, and without permits.  We currently own a 22' C Dory Cruiser which is light, but hard to get into the bunk and no head (portipotty under the bunk).

This is my impression of the TomCat 24 (there is a new boat: the TomCat255, of which there is only one--and apparently still being finalized ref rigging, see C Brat web site for reports on that boat).  The 255 is 18" longer, weight about 1000 lbs more, and two 135 or 150 4 strokes, vs two 115 Yahama four strokes on theTomCat 24 we tested.

General fit and finish was typical of the C Dory line.  The interior was spray gel coated, but not polished.  The hull to deck joint fasteners had epoxy or some other sealant over them like the classic C Dory.  The side decks were extremely narrow (4")--and the hand rail on the cabin top was way inboard, so walking along the side deck was difficult--and almost impossiable to undo dock lines from the side.  There was just a side cleat about 1/3 aft, no foredeck or anchor cleat--no foreward cleats.  The windows were very large--the middle foreward window opened to allow a breeze, aft windows opened about half way, sliding windows opened slightly over a foot.  The boat was cool enough underway--but at rest, a bit hot in the enclosed pilot house. (90 degrees outside).

The cockpit was good size about 7'x6' and self bailing.  There is a built inseat/ ice chest/fish box aft, and a nice diving platform/swim step. Head room was 6'4", two burner diesel stove and sink as in the traditional C dory with helm seat on the Stb side.  Both dinette seats faced foreward and could seat 4 inside the pilot house. (port side).  The bunk is athwartships and about 7' x 48"--a bit difficult to get into;  get on the floor and crawl in.  The head was under the steering console and difficult to get in and out (for a person 6' 2" and 200 lbs). Head room in the head was about 5 feet--cramped at the best.

Sight lines were fair foreward--but the bottom of the opening window (middle of three windows) cut off sight about 100 feet out, so for me a natural position did not give good visablity--I would adjust the seat height (not easy to do).

The hulls are definately "planing", with a sharp entry, but becoming V almost immediately--the boat had twin 115 Yahama 4 stroke  counter rotation outboards.  Maneuvering was excellent as expected.  The boat came up to speed as a planing boat would--but definately there was a difference at 17 mph, where power could be backed off--indicating this as the planing speed.  The top speed with full fuel and four adults was 35 mph.  Best cruising speed was at 4000 RPM which gave about 24 mph and a fuel consumption giving 2.9 miles a gallon.  (this is about 0.7 mile per gallon better than the Glacier bay--whose best speed seemed to be around 24 mph and 2.2 miles a gallon.)  The sea was very flat--and we ran back across the wake (which was minimal)--even on this I felt that there was some "slap" with the TomCat--and we felt  that the Glacier Bay rode better.  However the motion of the TomCat was not as "quick" as the Glacier Bay.

The TomCat 255 does address the sight lines, and a much bigger, full size head--but still has the crawl in bunk, and narrow side decks--the railings are better.

In comparison the Glacier Bay 2690 had a larger bunk, which was easier to get into.  The head was much easier to access in GB.  The galley was smaller and dinette was smaller, with less storage in the Glacier Bay.  The visability in the Glacier Bay was better, as was the access to the foreward deck--and deck hardware.  There was no opening windshield in the Glacier Bay--but I feel that top opening hatches facing foreward would give adequate ventillation.  The Tom Cat 24 with 116 gallons of fuel would have a range of 290 miles with 10% reserve.  The Glacier Bay with 180 gallons of gas has a range of 350 miles with a 10% reserve.

Also running the TomCat 24 on one engine gave a max of 10miles per hour --anything more the engine was lugging--the boat had to get over a "hump" to get more speed.  The Glacier Bay was able to get to over 15 .mph. (but has 35 more hp/engine)

We also looked at Twin V 27 foot weekender--work boat construction, not well finished--no headroom in the cabin and the demo boat leaked badly!  World cat SC also had a very nice fit and finish.  The bunk in the 28 footer was too small, the head was unusable when the bunk was made up.  It was much more of a fishing boat.  The Sea Cat, was not quite as nice as the World Cat--and had the same short commings--none of these boats had an adequate galley for  full time trailer cruising.

All of these boats require at least a 3/4 ton truck preferably a one ton--since the towing weight gets close to 10,000 lbs, including trailer.  My friend with the TomCat 24, felt that his 1/2 ton was struggling even in Florida, and the Tom Cat 255 is at least 1000 lbs heavier.

At this point our choice of the pilot house trailerable cats is the Glacier Bay 2690. the major shortcomming is storage--and that can be addressed by using the fish boxes in the deck for food and gear storage.

Bob Austin

Thanks very much, Bob, for the detailed report on your TomCAT 24 sea trial.

You've certainly opened my eyes to some possible shortcomings in the
original TomCat. I look forward to hearing your report some time in
the future on the new TomCat 255.

The Glacier Bay was one of the first boats I put on my short list
when I started a similar search for a trailerable cruiser. A decent
photo selection on the Glacier Bay 2690 is available at:

http://www.powerboats.com/gal2690.html

--Georgs