Just trolling through ads, wasting time here in Hongkong. Came across this, looks like it would be a dry ride, though not much chance of selling it at that price.
http://ontario.kijiji.ca/…maran-W0QQAdIdZ368911887

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Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
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Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
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ACK!! Ugly is what it is.

Looks like someone saw an Aquacat and thought they could improve on it.

With iron plumbing!

What has me scratching my head is the ball for the mast step. Is it on the rear beam the way it looks like it is? I'd love to see the rig on this thing, 'cause I can't envision a way to sheet the sail if the entire thing is hanging off the back over the rudders.

Tom

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Tom Benedict
Island of Hawaii
P-Cat 18 / Sail# 361 / HA 7633 H / "Smilodon"
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benedict

What has me scratching my head is the ball for the mast step. Is it on the rear beam the way it looks like it is? I'd love to see the rig on this thing, 'cause I can't envision a way to sheet the sail if the entire thing is hanging off the back over the rudders.

Obviously it is ketch rigged.
Damon likes to refer to these creations as Catzillas or Frankencats.
Seems appropriate.

Tell me how lousy the weather is on the Big Island...

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Sheet In!
Bob
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Prindle 18-2 #244 "Wakizashi"
Prindle 16 #3690 "Pegasus" Sold (sigh)
AZ Multihull Fleet 42 member
(Way) Past Commodore of Prindle Fleet 14
Arizona, USA
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Hahahaha! Oh man, I'm almost interested enough to ask the seller for photos of it under sail just to see what a ketch-rigged cat looks like! (Almost...)

The weather has been good for sailing, but terrible for working on a boat. I live up around 2400' of altitude, right at the base of Kohala Mountain. For the past three weeks it's been like a cross between a wind tunnel and a shower stall. I've got a bunch of rivet holes I need to fill with epoxy, but it's just too wet outside to pull it off.

Down at the water it's been 10-15kts and sunshiny. Makes me cry. Almost makes me cry hard enough to try that ketch-rigged cat, just to say I got out on the water! (Almost...)

Tom

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Tom Benedict
Island of Hawaii
P-Cat 18 / Sail# 361 / HA 7633 H / "Smilodon"
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I'd love to see that thing in person. A 20 footer in the 70's would be pretty unusual. It appears to have an a-frame mast system. Could be just for raising the mast or like an Aqua-cat, or even a crab-claw type sail.

Can anyone local go talk to the seller?

Just when you think you've seen them all...

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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It looks like the mast mounts on the center of the bow cross beam with a pin. The A frame must be in place of shrouds. I imagine the mast is raked way back. Bizarre.

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John Fricker
Prindle 16
Seabrook, Texas
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OMGosh!!!!!!!!!!!

If you look really closely at the picture, that object on the rear crossbeam is not a mast step!

IT"S A WINCH!

http://ontario.kijiji.ca/…maran-W0QQAdIdZ368911887

Ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!

Can you imagine gybing and having to stay back there amidship wrapping the main sheet around the winch in the correct direction? Or worse, the traveler!

Craziness. What we they thinking?



Edited by klozhald on Apr 20, 2012 - 03:45 PM.

--
Sheet In!
Bob
_/)_____/)_/)____/)____/)_____/)/)__________/)__
Prindle 18-2 #244 "Wakizashi"
Prindle 16 #3690 "Pegasus" Sold (sigh)
AZ Multihull Fleet 42 member
(Way) Past Commodore of Prindle Fleet 14
Arizona, USA
--

I would love to see this thing fully rigged including the sail. What's cooler is the fact that this is surely part of a production run and not a one of a kind project. I say this because of what appear to be eight fairly elegant aluminum castings holding up the tramp platform. Lot of trouble to create a casting for one boat.

klozhald

OMGosh!!!!!!!!!!!

If you look really closely at the picture, that object on the rear crossbeam is not a mast step!

IT"S A WINCH!

Also, just under the rear beam where that winch is it appears there is a wooden block that looks like an outboard motor mount to me. Probably needed it to get upwind!

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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Since the Ontario Kizizi ad might disappear at any time I've added the boat to the "Unknown Beachcats" album here.

http://thebeachcats.com/pictures/?g2_itemId=84487

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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Ok I may have cheated, but I just sent the seller a note asking him about his boat. I'll let you know if he responds.

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David
Memphis, TN
'84 Hobie 18
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OK, I just got back home, & looked at this again, without the sleep deprivation of a Hongkong flite. Look at photo #2, the fitting on the end of the mast, it isn't a ball, but a slot. It fits not onto the main beam, but that fitting in the middle of the bar that ties the bows together. You can just see it beside the blue vertical post the mast is stored on.
The mast would be pinned in place, but left horizontal. Then theV brace would be pivoted upwards, then mast raised & the two connected. Look at photo #3. The V brace is permanently attached, & pivots upwards.
There is a winch drum in the middle of the rear beam, & it appears there are cleats attached at rear corner of the tramp.
The good news is I think I bought a Nacra 5.0. It is near Chicago, this weird Cat is near Detroit, just south of highway 401. I will have to drive past it on the way. It seems worth a detour for posterity & photos. I'll get some intel & post it.



Edited by Edchris177 on Apr 21, 2012 - 08:03 PM.

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Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
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I agree with Damon. It IS possible to roll your own castings (I know a bunch of people who do green sand casting of aluminum). But it's highly unlikely. For a one-off boat, it would be cheaper and easier to machine the parts out of plate.

So please do take pictures when you swing by, Edchris. May not have another chance to get photos of this thing!

Tom

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Tom Benedict
Island of Hawaii
P-Cat 18 / Sail# 361 / HA 7633 H / "Smilodon"
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that is one ugly hunk of shit. I'd rather sail the box my mystere came in.

... and priced to /sell/ at 2200.

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nacra inter-18
CNBP
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OK, after careful consideration, I believe it is a prototype 18 foot Aqua Cat that measures 20 feet when the rudders are extended.

What do I win?

If I Had a dime for every time someone addvertised a Hobie 16 and it was really a Hobie 14 with the ruders included in the length...

Dan I think you are on to something. Compare these two shots, the first is a modern production Aqua 14, the second is the mystery boat. The rudder system and the A-Frame geometry are too close for coincidence.





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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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And this other thread may have found another set of these hulls with slightly different tramp platform connectors.
http://www.thebeachcats.c…ms/viewtopic/topic/13394

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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Ok, I heard back from the seller. They are selling it for a family member so they dont know many specifics about the boat. But it is an Aqua Cat. I asked if the 20' spec was the hulls only or with the rudders included. Their reply was they "thought the hulls were 20' ". So that part remains uncertain and I didnt want to bother them beyond my two emails.

Prize to Mr. DanBerger for the first correct guess.

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David
Memphis, TN
'84 Hobie 18
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David did they say what made them think it was an Aqua Cat? Logos or something printed on the boat?

I ask because I contacted AquaCat and sent them links to the "mystery 20 footer" pictures and they said

"There was an 18 footer made but very very few before American Fiberglass went under. Not sure what you are looking at, definitely not an AquaCat."

So I made sure they actually looked at the pictures, then asked if they had pictures of the AquaCat 18 I could see. Answer was:

"sorry but no, don't have anyting on that one."

So I'm not sure how "Chris from AquaCat" knows for sure that isn't an AquaCat if he hasn't seen the elusive AquaCat 18.

We need to start a reality tv show, "Beachcat Detectives", I'll pitch it to the Discovery Network.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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It is owned by a Gentleman in his 80's.
I'm on a road trip right now, to bring a Nacra 5.0 to my stable...Nacraman can't be the only sailor with a 5.7 & 5.0
I will post photos of this mystery Cat when I return.
Damon, do you know where AquaCat placed their HIN, or any other positive identifiers? Were they on the transoms, or engraved on the frame, ala early Hobie?
If I can get the sail stretched out, & it is the original sail, there should be identifiers on it.
I'll also put a tape to the boat to find out the real size.

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Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
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The sterns would be the standard place, but some of the oldest boats had plates or etched numbers in the metal parts. I'll be looking forward to your report.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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Those are definitely Aqua cat rudder castings, I've welded and replaced a couple of those in the recent past (don't laugh but my first cat was a aqua cat, it was cheap and a good learner) The Rudder castings will say aqua cat on them. I don't remember a hull id on the older heavier hulls that look very similar to these but I’m sure there was something somewhere. And I’m pretty sure that the newer 198x + hulls have a hull id on the transom. I didn’t pay much attention to that stuff back then but I did do quite a bit of glass work and paint on a older style aqua cat though.
I never saw anything about a 20 footer in my research but maybe it was a prototype or something, before they decided to make the hulls smaller and lighter so that it can be carried “car top”.
I put a lot of things on my roof rack, but not a cat….yet.

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Cesar (Cez) S.
Hobie 16 (had a few)
Nacra 5.2 "Hull Yeah"
Vectorworks XJ - A class (not named yet)
West Michigan (Grand Rapids/Holland Area)
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It is in fact an Aqua Cat, kudos to those who voted for that. The boat is basically an 18 footer, mid 70's vintage according to the owner. I could not find any VIN # or markings anywhere on the hull, beams or castings. It is NOT 20', even counting the rudders. The castings had a number in the form of xx-xxa-xx, however the digits could not be interpreted as a year.
I never got to see the sail due to time constraints.
The rudders are solid cast aluminum, very thin. It utilizes daggers that pivot up into the hulls, much like the Hobie 17 system. You can see the rigging in a couple of the photos.
The sheeting system is very simple, the line runs around the winch, then held. If I understood the owner correctly, you ran a couple of turns around the drum, then head up a bit as you pulled in line, then lay off to desired heading.
The elderly gentleman who owns it has had it for 25 years, he knew the owner of the company that built them, & brought it home from Florida. He said it was "a very fast sailboat", & very stable, claimed he never flipped it in over 20 years.
We shouldn't slag them to badly, it would be better than not sailing, & an AquaCat was the first Catamaran that Hobie Alter had contact with.
http://sailboatdata.com/v…uilder.asp?builder_id=26
I don't know if
I can add photos to the album Damon created, if not I'll send them & he can add them.

PS it was a helluva-lotta-driving...but we now have a Nacra 5.0 on the dock, beside the 5.7
My wife thought, "wouldn't it have been easier to just buy that little boat thingy(an beat H14)across the bay, than to drive all the way to Chicago"?
Girls sometimes fail to appreciate two words. Road Trip.

--
Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
--

Edchris177

I don't know if
I can add photos to the album Damon created, if not I'll send them & he can add them.

Thanks Ed! Great that you were able to see it in person and get the scoop. So it's a pretty rare boat since evidently the Aqua Cat 18 didn't actually go into production.

You can add a new album inside the album I made and you will be able to upload photos and descriptions to that. Just upload the photos, then use the "Edit Captions" link to change all the titles and descriptions you want afterwards.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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