Nautitech 441 Catamaran

There is a big, boxy-looking Lagoon 40 berthed on the next gangway over from us in the marina and it got me thinking about cruising multihulls and how they have evolved since the partnership of Rudy Choy, Warren Seaman and Al Kumalae developed the first offshore racing/cruising cats back in the 1950s. Back then catamarans were exotic, and were shunned by the offshore racing crowd. Today, thanks to those pioneers and countless others, offshore cruising multihulls are totally mainstream.  I did a bit of research on the Internet and came up with some interesting numerical comparisons for medium sized cruising cats and after reviewing three of the more popular models in that size range I decided to take a more thorough look at the Nautitech 441. But first, here are the numbers:

The squarish Lagoon 440 is a beefy boat with lots of accommodations

Lagoon 440 

LOA:  45.83

Beam:  25.75

Draft:  4.25

Displacement:  37,265 LB

Sail area: 1,472 sq. ft. with square top main and roller furling genoa

The Leopard 44, designed by Morelli & Melvin offers more performance in a better looking package

Leopard 44

LOA:  42.56

Beam:  23.75

Draft:  4.18

Displacement: 32,930 LB

Sail area: 1,270 sq. ft.

Nice proportions on the Nautitech 441

Nautitech 441

LOA:  44.18

Beam:  22.33

Draft:  3.92

Displacement: 20,286 LB

Sail area: 1,055 sq. ft.

Each of these boats seems to emphasize a different aspect of cruising performance. At over 37,000 pounds, the Lagoon offers the most amenities. The Nautitech, at a little over half that weight should be the most fun to sail, while the Leopard falls somewhere in between. Of course its never just about the numbers. Hull design, ergonomics, rigging and other facets of the overall design play important roles in determining the overall desirability of each of these yachts. I chose to take a more in-depth look at the Nautitech because of the three boats, its balance of looks, comfort and performance comes closest of the three to what I think a good cruising cat ought to be. However, I should say out front that my ideal cruising cat would be lighter than all of these boats and be fitted with dagger boards instead of keels.

Efficient hulls, long and shallow keels and a short but wide rig. Most new cats incorporate  a square-top mainsail  instead of the one shown in the drawing.

N441 with square-top main sail

With all that said, lets start with the hulls of the Nautitech 441. If you visit the web sites for the Lagoon and Leopard boats youll get a sense of how much bigger they are than the Nautitech. For the way we cruise, just the two of us with occasional guests, this boat has more than enough space. These hulls are relatively narrow compared with the other boats which translates to less drag. The Leopard hulls incorporate substantial chines above the wateline, while the Lagoons hull are just plain beamy. These factors indicate that the 441 should be the better performer. All three boats have shallow fixed keels, so none will be particularly fast upwind, but thats not what these boats are about. They all have fairly large fuel capacity,  over 100 gallons in the 441 and 170 gallons in the Lagoon, so my guess is that the serious upwind work will be done mostly under power. The shoal keels will enable the 441 to venture into lots of places where deeper boats cant go, and also protect the sail drives from harm, but they dont help much in getting the boat upwind.

 The deck plan shows that not only are the hulls significantly narrower than the other boats, but there is less deck area and the deck house is relatively smaller as well. I like the wide open spaces on deck. Also notice that the anchor is stored on the port bow. I would prefer to see it mounted on a bow-plank along the centerline of the boat. The helmsmans perch is on the port side of the deck house and elevated so the driver can see over the top of the cabin. The photos show a hardtop over this area, Id like to have a windscreen as well. It will be a cold helmsman that stands the midnight watch on this boat in anything less than balmy weather. The trade-off is much better visibility compared to helm stations located in the cockpit or at the aft end of each hull. The sail controls are also clustered in this area. This can be a good thing for the shorthanded crew, but it can make for a very busy helmsman at times and I question the ergonomics of this arrangement. Notice the locations of the jib sheet winches on the cabintop. There is a pair of winches at the aft end of the cockpit for spinnaker sheets.  The drawing shows a mainsheet winch also located there, but I think it has been moved to the cabintop along with the other sheet winches.

Unique deck arrangement lines on the N441

The helm station is set up with instruments and sail controls. A dodger would be a welcome addition 

The cockpit is smaller than the other boats but certainly large enough for a cruising couple and guests. I like the rounded contours aft that provides lots of space on deck. This layout doesnt provide as much shade as the more squarish designs, which would be noticeable in the tropics. Another difference between this boat and the others is the lack of a forward cockpit. The Leopard has a passageway from the cabin to that area while on the Lagoon there isnt one. These details account for some of the difference in the weight of the 441 compared to the others. I think the forward cockpit would be delightful on an inshore boat, but would find it less appealing for offshore work. One of the great things about all of these boats is their speed compared to monohulls of similar length. That translates directly to being able to do more of your passagemaking miles in good weather.

Nautitech offers the 441 in three and four cabin versions. I chose to focus on the three cabin version, which incorporates an owners suite in the starboard hull and a pair of double cabins to port. The owners suite is luxurious, with a large head and shower toward the bow, a desk and lots of storage space just forward of the passageway and a double berth arranged longitudinally aft. On the port side, there is a double berth way up in the bow, which will inevitably be converted to storage on most 441s. It is followed by a comfortable looking double cabin with an adjoining head. This head is also accessible from the main cabin. The aft stateroom offers more space and a private head.

Condo-like accommodations in fairly slender hulls

The main cabin works really well. The galley is large and the sinks, with lots of counter space, are located along the centerline of the boat. This makes them accessible from both sides, making the galley seem bigger than it already is. Opposite the galley is a large nav station with a large desk and plenty of room for instruments and all the other items I like to have handy when Im navigating.  The forward part of the cabin is dedicated to a large wrap-around dinette that incorporates a circular coffee table.

Lots of hatches and light colored wood adds to the sense of spaciousness

There has been a significant migration of sailors from monohulls to multis in recent years and its not hard to understand why. Vast amounts of living space, sailing flat instead of heeled, more speed, and shoal draft all add to the appeal of catamarans. I think its worthwhile to give these boats a look if you searching for a family style cruising boat.

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Dehler 41 Review

About a year ago, when we were still searching for a new boat, I came across a beautiful 2005 Dehler 41 on Yachtworld. It had all the right gear and was well priced, but it had a teak deck and a couple of other features that made it unsuitable for us. But that is not to say that it was not a good boat. Quite the contrary, it was a fine cruiser/racer and we came close to making a bid on it in spite of all that teak.

Fast forward to February 2013...Ive been eagerly anticipating the unveiling of Dehlers new 38 here in the States but not surprisingly, its running a bit late. So while were waiting for the new boat I thought it would be fun to take a look at the latest version of Dehlers 41 footer. The Dehler marque is not as well known on this side of the Atlantic as other German names such as Hanse and Bavaria, but the company has a long and admirable history of producing high quality boats for both cruising and racing. Unfortunately, Dehler, like many other sailboat manufacturers in the last decade, had a close encounter with oblivion, but was rescued by the Hanse Group. This German boatbuilding conglomerate owns the Moody line of yachts as well.

Back in the 1980s and 90s Dehler worked closely with the E. G. Van De Stadt design firm and produced such IOR classics as the DB1 and the Sprinta Sport, which some 35 years on is still going strong as a one design class in Europe.

DB1 Circa 1980.  A well balanced IOR design

For the Dehler 41, the builder turned to the firm of Judel/Vrolijk. Americas Cup aficionados may recall that Rolf Vrolijk was the chief designer for the winning 2003 Alinghi team. Friedrich "Fietje" Judel, the other half of the design team recently retired from active involvement in the office, but the J/V firm continues to produce extremely fast and good looking designs. Okay, enough history, lets take a look at the new 41.

Sleek lines and no chines

The D41 fits into that very competitive market segment that includes the Jeanneau 409, the Beneteau First 40, Elan 400 and others. With a Displacement/Length ratio of 152 and a Sail Area/Displacement ratio of 22.85 we can call this boat a medium-light and moderately high powered cruiser/racer. But the numbers dont exactly tell the whole story. Lets take a look at the drawings and photos of the boat to get a fuller understanding of the performance potential of the D41. Notice the plumb bow and longish stern overhang in the drawing above, then take a look at the proportions of the stern in the photo below.

Dehler 41. Notice the very powerful stern sections. 

Those powerful aft sections add about three feet of waterline length and change the D/L ratio to a much more competitive 125. Then notice the mainsheet traveler on the cockpit sole and the removable transom door. Add the deep keel with nearly eight feet of draft and suddenly the Dehler 41 looks like a dangerous competitor on the race course.

D41 Deckplan. Clean lines, spacious cockpit, conventional ergonomics.

Looking more closely at the deck, notice that the chainplates are located nearly at the sheer. This dictates non-overlapping headsails for upwind work. Again, this is something we find mostly on race boats but it also makes good sense on cruising yachts. The aft winches on the cockpit coaming are dedicated to the mainsheet. This boat is equipped with what is referred to as the German or Admirals Cup mainsheet system. It leads from the traveler up through the boom, then down to the deck from the gooseneck fitting and back aft under the deck to the winches. De riguer on grand prix racing yachts for years, this system is becoming increasingly popular among the racer/cruisers as well. In the plan view the cockpit coamings look rather hard-edged but in reality they are artfully shaped and look like a reasonably comfortable place to sit if youre steering or trimming a sheet on race day.

This is a nice racing cockpit, but what about cruising? The wide open transom, which is lightweight and functional, isnt necessarily the best thing for cruising, so Dehler compensated by incorporating a "tailgate". Im not a fan of this arrangement because for cruisers there are ever so many reasons to step out on the transom while at anchor, in a marina or under way, and raising, lowering and generally fiddling with that thing is inconvenient at best. In my opinion a better solution would have been to extend the transom a bit and forego the tailgate. I also question the angle of the cockpit seats. They are angled aft about nine degrees. This is totally acceptable for racing because the crew will be on the rail most of the time and the trimmers will be perched on those comfortable coamings instead of on the seats. But lets say youre cruising and the crew consists of yourself and another person. When you are on watch youre likely to be sitting on those cockpit seats twisting your neck to see forward as your vessel plunges through the night toward your destination. In such conditions I think seats that are parallel to the centerline of the boat would be more comfortable. This is a small point in the overall scheme of things, but its these details that separate a great cruising boat from a good one. On the other hand, notice that the halyard winches are on the cabin top and there is plenty of room between the helm, the mainsheet winches and the jib sheet winches. The D41 will be a more efficient boat to sail than those that have the halyards and control lines led aft, either inside or on top of the coamings to someplace near the helm.

Going below, Dehler offers a wide range of variations in the accommodations. On their web site I scrolled down until I found the one that works best for me. I recommend that you visit www.dehler.com and do the same thing. There is enough variety there to please almost everyone. Anyway, I chose the version pictured below. It offers two cabins, a relatively large galley and a single spacious head.

The Dehler 41 offers excellent accommodations for the cruising couple.

Beginning in the forward cabin, the V-berth is of modest but adequate dimensions, leaving plenty of space for a comfortable seat and a large locker. Aft of the main bulkhead we find a conventional main salon, with a "U"-shaped dinette to starboard and large settee to port that incorporates a nav table. Aft of the navigators seat is the head, which incorporates a spacious shower. This will be much appreciated by those who cruise aboard this boat. The galley is of reasonable proportions and aft of it is a spacious quarter cabin. The boat is blessed with lots of storage capacity aft of the head and in the very large lazarette area. To me, the clean, simple styling of the Dehler 41 is evocative of a modern, or perhaps post-modern version of  the Bauhaus school of design. Straight lines, pure functionality and simplicity of form all work together in the styling of this boat.

I think Gropius or Mies van der Rohe would approve of the D41s styling.

This stylistic approach may not work for everyone, and I have criticized the Hanse 415 for being a bit too squarish for my taste, but I have to respect the quality of design in these accommodations. The same can be said of the deck design, with its softly curving coamings in contrast with the harder edges of the rest of the cockpit, and the sleek yet functional proportions of the cabin trunk.They all strike a nice aesthetic and functional balance that appeals to me.

Simple elegance combined with impressive performance potential in the D41

When I began to study the Dehler 41 I was prepared to find it unappealing, as I did the Hanse 415, but I think the designers and builder got it right on this boat. It is clearly a fast and powerful vessel, no question about that. But more than that, they found the right balance of form, function and performance. As I studied the photos and drawings of this boat, I got the sense that the D41 isnt a wolf in sheeps clothing, its more of a wolf in wolfs clothing. I like this boat!

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Finisterras New Canvas

Before we bought Finisterra it was named "The Cats Meow". The previous owner had proudly applied that name in eight inch tall letters on each side of the hull.  And just to make sure there was no mistaking the name of the boat, he had lots of cats paws applied to the hull in strategic locations on the bow, around the name and across the transom. The boat looked like a big cat had walked up the bow, along the sides of the hull and across the transom before disappearing back into a surrealistic cat dream. It really did look like a cat lovers dream boat.  It only took me a couple of days of sitting in the sun with a heat gun and putty knife to get the name and all those cat prints off.

The dodger and bimini on The Cats Meow were a faded shade of green and were at the end of their useful life when we bought the boat. I like the color green, and I like cats.  But I cant say I like green cats or green dodgers, so the day we bought her we knew wed soon replace the green with new cadet gray canvas. The job is just about complete and we are quite pleased with it.

New Dodger

Its always an interesting experience to design a dodger for a boat. In this case, the stainless steel framework was already installed and was in good condition. The challenge was to use the existing frame to redesign the dodger so it meets our specific needs. I like to be able to see over the dodger from the helm and Lisa doesnt like to have to duck under it. Since Im about seven inches taller than her I was able to adjust the height to accommodate us perfectly. This involved lowering it about three inches by cutting a little off the frames and adjusting the angles of them a bit.

I think most of the dodgers I see around my marina are too tall and clunky looking, which is surprising since virtually all dodgers are custom made. I am also of the opinion that most of the time, the person who designs the dodger gives little consideration to the aesthetic effect of the dodger on the overall look of the boat. I understand that their primary purpose is to provide protection from wind and spray but Im not prepared to sacrifice style for the minimal added protection of a taller dodger. So, perfectionist that I am, I took dimensions and photographs and made CAD drawings of the whole thing superimposed on the profile of the boat and puttered around with it until I was satisfied with it. Then I adjusted the angles of the frames this way and that until I had it all just so. When all that was done, I passed this information on to Dan at Harbor Custom Canvas in Long Beach and he, being a master dodger builder, converted it into reality. We had them build the dodger on our last boat and found their workmanship and service to be excellent in all respects then, and they did another outstanding job on the Finisterra.

Lots of Strataglass for good visibility, a full length grab rail and a zippered roll-up section amidships

I chose Strataglass over vinyl because it doesnt wrinkle, its very clear and its durable. Strataglass is also flexible enough to allow for the roll-up center section, which is very valuable in the tropics. Notice that the corners of the glass are radiused instead of sharp. I like the look of this design better and as an engineer and designer, I have always associated sharp corners with stress risers.

New bimini

Our boat came with a bimini mounted to the stern pulpits. The original was about four inches higher than the new one. My goals in lowering it were threefold.  A lower bimini is structurally more stable, presents less windage and is better looking. It actually provides more shade than the old one because it is about four inches longer and the low height helps put the shade where its needed instead of off to one side or the other when the sun is at an angle instead of directly overhead, which is virtually all the time.

We had snaps fitted to the sides and back, and a zipper on the forward side. These are for side curtains and a filler piece that connects the dodger to the bimini and provides shade over the entire cockpit. The side curtains will be made of polypropylene mesh and will attach to the top rails of the pulpits and lifelines. The mesh is fairly see-through and lets the breeze pass through as well.

This view gives a sense of the proportions of the dodger and bimini

Dodger + filler + bimini = comfortable cockpit

Notice that the bimini extends the full width of Finisterras ample stern. The extra shade this provides becomes more important south of the Tropic of Cancer. It isnt visible in any of the photos but I had Dan weld a grab rail onto the aft side of the bimini similar to the one on the dodger. Its fairly handy as a grab rail, but its the perfect place to put the solar panels. On our last boat I mounted them on the aft end of the bimini and made them adjustable so that I could angle them toward the sun. Thats the next project I have planned for Finisterra.

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