How does a TomCat ride in rough seas

jwmurphy · Joined: 19 Sep 2007 Posts: 3 State or Province: AK

I'm considering purchasing a TomCat 25, but since I'm not familiar with cats, I was wondering how it will handle in rough seas. I'm familiar with it's stable and smooth ride in moderate chop, but what happens when things get rougher. Does it pound like a mono when coming down hard off a wave? Where does the spray go from inside the pontoons? How is it when going parallel to large swells, does it rock a lot? Hate to sound like an idiot, but I would appreciate hearing about any experiences.
Thanks, John

Captains Cat · Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 8:43 am Post subject:

I'll let those that have had theirs longer and have experienced that weather. All I can tell you so far is that it rides a LOT better than my 22!

Charlie

Alok · Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 9:19 am Post subject:

John:

Check out this thread, and the threads referenced within the thread...
http://www.c-brats.com/viewtopic.php?t=5912&highlight=tomcat+handling

My two bits:

The Tomcat will plane in the high teens (perhaps even at 15 mph with permatrims) but it really comes into its own at 25 to 30 mph (top speed is in the mid-40s). So, the temptation is to go fast even in rough water...

This is approximately what I do when heading directly into rough seas:

- Less than 2 foot waves, business as usual. I do have Permatrims on, and that seems to help a bit.

- 2-3 foot: slow down for comfort, but still on plane

- 3 foot: consider tacking across the waves

After that, it depends on the period and the shape of the waves. At some point one has to comes off plane. I have been in 5 ft + seas with waves breaking over the top of the cabin. The boat was quite stable at 6-7 mph. After the first few minutes, it as clear that the boat could handle it- it inspired a feeling of confidence.

If you do hit a wave head on at speed, you WILL go airborne and then slam down with a huge thump. Happened to me when I misjudged the wake from a tanker. As I said earlier, the temptation is to go fast...The bad news is that it hurts the back; the good news is that the boat seems to handle the thump without things breaking loose.

Regarding a beam sea, the Tomcat is VERY stable. Side to side rocking is minimal. In fact, we did a couple of rides in a Tomcat before buying one, and my wife was won over by the lateral stability. She hated the rolling of my previous boat, a trawler.

drjohn71a · Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2007 10:42 am Post subject:

JW John -

I have to second Alok's post on the general handling in moderately rough to severely rough seas.

To put it into perespective, while running the 28 miles out from Seabrook to the Galveston opening and the 10-13 miles from there into the Gulf, our TomCat pretty much beat the crowd out and back every day we went out. Many of those other boats were 25-40 foot ocean fishing craft - professional setups - and we used almost half the fuel each day as most of the crowd according to the local gas dock owner.

However, when the seas get 5-6 foot and double that in swells, etc., everyone is slugging it out at hull speed. I think the Raymarine 8002 autopilot took most of the work out of that scenario.

Parallel to large waves/swells - well the thing that makes the TomCat so stable is the firm hold on the water to the planing side hulls. That same firm hold will make the boat MORE responsive to sideways waves/swells than a soft chined, displacement, or deep V hull shape would. I don't think it is EVER good to run parallel to large waves/swells in rough seas, regardless of the boat. I also don't think the TomCat's behavior in those situations is much more dangerous than any other hull, but you have to work the boat you're in for the conditions you're in, whatever the boat. Best to tack your way back and forth at an angle to the waves in those situations.

One very fun thing to do in a TomCat , when there are large swells, is to set up on an angle to the swells - maybe about 30 degrees- and speed up to match the swell's speed - maybe 20-30 Knots - and surf the swells, tacking back and forth to make your determined goal - usually back to the shore. The speed, smoothness and quiet are amazing. Riding a big swell seems to cancel out most of the wave height. Sometimes the swell outruns you, or vice versa, but there's always another one right behind. You need a hard chined craft to surf those waves very efficiently and the TomCat's is great for that!

John

jwmurphy · Joined: 19 Sep 2007 Posts: 3 State or Province: AK

Sounds like a TomCat handles better in moderate seas and at least as good as a mono in rough seas. Does that sound about right?

drjohn71a · Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2007 8:57 am Post subject:

I would say "yes" to that, jw. Another, perhaps different, behavior in huge seas is that the low profile of the TomCat lets the waves go right over the top easily. A few moments of feeling submerged in the cabin, but not really submerged. This is kind of how my sea kayak handles rough seas - it just powers THRU them.

While I never would have ventured far out knowing base 35K winds, gusting to 55K, were to arise, we did handle such conditions quite well. Only problem was water squeaking thru the cracked open windows (to reduce fogging) at the outset. There was a small amount of water in the bilge after that storm, but just a few seconds worth of pumping. Quite amazing to me.

John