Our last trip, we were fortunate enough to have two different groups on two different boats. First trip was on the 58' Cat and the 2nd part on the 48' Cat.
The 48' cat was much more what we have become accustomed to, having chartered the 47, 46 and 38 previously. 4 cabins, 4 heads, hard top bimini at the stern and over the raised helm. The added benefits this boat offered over the older models is that it had all lines run to the helm and had an electric winch as well. It was also positioned in such a way, you could run any line to it which was convenient at times to adjust the main sheet or port side jib (electric winch was starboard side). In addition you had the forward cockpit.
The boat handled well and under power at about 2200rpm we cruised along at 7-8 knots. Really pushing it would get up to 9 knots but I'm sure the fuel consumption drop was not worth the additional knot. Sailing we were able to do about the same. Sails went up nice and easy, but did require some pulling to get them down the last 5' or so and like most stack packs, we had to neaten things up once down.
Space on the boat was great, although there were only 5 of us, so we had more than enough space. Boat has a genset and A/C so we were able to stay nice and cool at night. Forward cockpit was great and this is where we spent a fair amount of time at the end of the day and sometimes while under sail/power. Only exception was sailing in heavier seas as we were getting a lot of splashing up there and my parents were not big fans of getting wet.
We dive so we had tanks on board and the boat is perfect for this. You could easily have two 6 tank racks at each side of the davits although we just had a single 4 tank rack. Fridge/freezer worked great and the galley was decent - only criticism we had was that there was a lot of floor space - seems the galley would have benefited by having another cabinet/counter making it a u-shaped galley. Dining table also could be adjusted as you enter it on the starboard side right next to the companionway down which can be a hazard.
While we loved the forward cockpit, it did create one drawback by comparison to their older models without it. The visibility of the bow was poor. You really couldn't see it, other then just a small part of the starboard bow. Took some getting used to and required a bit more hand signals from my wife on the bow, but was worth the trade-off for the forward cockpit. There's also plenty of storage for all your bags..etc with storage space under each forward berth, in the port v-berth or starboard crew cabin.
Perfect boat for 8, but would be very good with 9 or 10 as well with the v-berth and salon area being used - or if someone likes, they could always use the crew cabin <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Yikes.gif" alt="" /> Also easy enough to handle with 2 as it was just my wife and I the last couple of days - could even manage with one if needed.
