Need info on Twin Vee&Cat boats in general.

[Charles_Loomos]

I'm thinking about getting a used 26' Twin Vee. Heard about a big problem with Kevlacat. What's the word on Twin Vee? How about catamarans in general? Thanks.

[captemp]

I have no idea why anyone who fishes, and has been on a cat and can afford one, would still but a mono hull. I recently visited the Miami boat show and I was able to sea trial 5 diffrent cat models. 1 word, AWESOME! The ride is unbeleivable, no banging on the waves what-so-ever, even in 5-7 foot seas. They are better on fuel do to the fact that less surface area touches the water. The have superior rough water capabilities. Whats not to like? Cats Have been popular in other parts of the world for many years, just like the metric system. And just like the metric system we here in the states are finally comming around.

[nick]

its no doubt that cats are smother in chop and light seas but some with not a high enough bow or enough bow flair ( as much as a cat can have ) they tend to dig in to the larger waves because of the flat front they dont slice through waves ie. 5-7 footers and they tend to cost more becuse u use more fiberglass to construct and they relly dont plane so i tends to take more horsepower to push it the same speed as a momo but on the good side theres a great inprovement in cockpit space because of there with. but the downside to that is that if ur gunna trailer it you have to get a custom cat trailor witch i think but not sure cost a little more but if you want a great riding boat for chop and light seas its a great boat even a cat with high freeboard probley wont dig in to steep waves but please understand im not bashing them but im just stating wut i have read and come to agree with.

[Dennis]

I agree. Cats are much more confortable in a light chop and generally have more space than a monohull. From my experience, that is where the advantage ends. In 5-7+, a "well designed" monohull is the way to go. Less "slamming." If you are basing your decsision only on the amount of fuel a cat may save, dont buy a boat. You are not ready yet. Like the other reply, not to beat up on cats as there are some good ones out there, but this is just my experience through the years.

[Darren_Bennett]

Cats are the future of fishing boats , but you have to be careful ..One of the biggest misconceptions about cats is they're all the same and that they make you eat up any ocean. I have owned cats both here and in Australia for 20 years so I'll give you my take on them. There are 2 types of cat hull made today ..Displacement and Planing. The best riding cats are the displacement cats but they also have the most volumnous hulls so it takes alot of fuel and power to push them through the water. Planing hulls are alot sharper and the manufacturers always advertise the fuel savings buy ing one of these type hull(glacier bay,twinvee etc) The trade off is that you get into larger seas and everyone says that the faster you go the smoother the ride.. The ride will be smoother than a mono but the thinner hulls slicing the water will tunnel slap and jar all the fillings out of your teeth.
The best made american cats are the World cat and the best overall cats are the Kevlacat...You have to get the Kevlacat set up by the factory ...if you go to a dealer that doesn't know howto set a cat up they'll drop the motors too deep in the water and flood the motors..as far as the twinvee Vs kevlacat it's a no contest..twinvee is poorly made and Kevlacat is bullet proof.It has 20 years commercial wear and tear in rough seas off northern Australia...I just sold my 27ft Sharkcat I imported from Australia and I'm getting ready to buy a Kevlacat that I'm going to trailer into Mexico because it's the only Fibreglass kevlar boat that will stand Mexican Roads..
Hope this helps
Regards Darren

[Carl_Swenson]

I purchased a Twin Vee 32 weekender the beginning of the year. I've had nothing but problems since the purchase and Twin Vee has been absolutely no help. I immediately started getting significant gelcoat cracks on the top deck, gunwales, and even a few on the hull. After pushing for several months, they finally returned my call, once. They have done nothing to fix the problem, nor have they even looked at the boat.

The cabin airconditioner has never worked, nearly all the bilge pumps (6 total) quit working. The dealership replaced all the bilge pumps, but beyond that, no one has done a thing.

I now have a hydraulic steering cylinder that is working extremely hard and there is a strong fuel (gas) smell coming from the starboard side.

Although the ride is great, this boat has been problems with no help from Twin Vee and very little help from the dealership. I do NOT recommend every buying a Twin Vee.

[Capt.Gene]

I'm thinking about getting a used 26' Twin Vee. Heard about a big problem with Kevlacat. What's the word on Twin Vee? How about catamarans in general? Thanks.

I bought a 26' Twin Vee Hawaiin Fisherman new in 2001 and find very little not to like about the boat.
I handles the 3'-4' gulf chop very nicely, is easy to trailer load and tow,and has a hugely usable open deck layout, very suitable for scuba diving. It carries a ton of weight without negatively affecting ride or performance.
But, every boat is a compromise, and here are some things that might bug you.
If you troll (I don't) you might get some tunnel slap.
Twin 60 gallon fuel tanks on a true offshore 26' boat that can run 30 in 4' chop are a joke. Even if I get 2 mpg with the DF140 Suzuki's that's not a lot of fuel.
And while this boat would cruise at 35 or 40 without much pounding in 3-4' chop, the 140's only push it about 26-27 knots loaded at cruise.
I'm propped for the weight of divers and gear, so maybe a fishing-rigged boat with a pair of 150's might actually run the speeds that the magazine boat tests claimed the hull would run with 140's.
Someday I'll own an offshore boat that will run 40.

[Capt. Al]

I own a 26' Glacier Bay. Prior to this boat I owned a 32' mono hull. The Glacier Bay eats that boats lunch. The first time I had other folks on the boat we ran out of an inlet where we had a bunch of work boats coming in. The flat calm water in the channel suddenly turned to 3'-4' slop at the inlet. I was at cruising speed, 30 knots, and didn't even touch the throttle. As we cleared the inlet, without pounding or even really bouncing once, one of the guys standing in the cockpit behind me made this statement, "Wow!, in my Contender we would have had to slow way down for that".
I have been out many times in rough water, I fish the Gulf of Mexico out of Venice, Louisiana, and each time we comment, "if we were in the old boat we would be getting beat to death right now at this speed".
The Glacier Bay is a displacement hull. It runs great in rough seas and does NOT pound. It is true that up to a certain wave height the faster you go the better it runs. In three foot slop I crank it up to 30 knots, get it trimmed just right, and don't touch the throttles 'till we get back to the dock. I'd like to see any 26' mono hull do that, heck most 30'-35' mono hulls can't do that.
As for the fuel economy? I'm running twin Mercury 150 Optimax's on the back. I can run out at 30 knots to a place 45 miles from the dock, troll all day, and run back and use about 75-80 gallons of fuel. In my bigger mono hull that was at least a 100 gallon day.
The GB ride is dry, I haven't taken spray in my face yet sitting at the helm.
The other nice thing about the GB is that it doesn't "sneeze" like some of the other cats do.
I have ridden in the 32 Twin Vee and didn't care for it too much. It is a real wet boat and it sneezes a lot.
Sneezing, is when the bow comes up, as it does when going over a wave, and then on the way down you get a blast of air, with water, pushed out the front between the sponsons. I think the reason the GB doesn't sneeze is because it is a displacement hull. The boat cuts through the waves as opposed to riding over them.
I have a buddy who owns a World Cat and the only thing he doesn't like about his boat is the sneeze. Again, my Glacier Bay doesn't do it.
As someone said earlier, as long as I can afford a Cat, specifically Glacier Bay, I'll never go back to a mono hull.

[Fast Cat]

I'm thinking about getting a used 26' Twin Vee. Heard about a big problem with Kevlacat. What's the word on Twin Vee? How about catamarans in general? Thanks.

I own a 30 foot Black Feather Boats ChilKat 30. I have operated this boat in Alaska all winter and the ride is hard to beat. The boat is vacuum infused and has proven to be very strong. I can achieve cruise speeds of 40 mph in 4 and 5 foot seas without any tunnel noise. In seas 5 to 7 feet I cut the speed back to 30 mph (more for my sanity than boat issues). My fuel capacity is 250 gallons and I can range about 600 miles on a full load of fuel. This hull is a planning style hull and it really goes. My boat has twin 250 Suzukis but other owners I have talked to really love their Hondas. I will never own another mono hull.