Cat choice

Usually sail a Ben 473 but looking at trying a cat...Voyage 500. Thoughts on cat choice?

How many people and for how long?

Just finished my 22nd charter with Voyage a few weeks ago. Did 1 week on a 500, stayed on land a few days and then did another week on a 480. You can't go wrong with Voyage. Feel free to pm me if you'd like more info.

We've sailed every cat the Moorings has as Moorings owners. Now we're out of moorings (still have our boat in charter though so we will only charter our boat) but if we were to pay for a charter, I'd look to Moorings or anyone with a Leopard cat. The layout of their boats is great, especially the forward cockpit. Even better now on the newest models with the forward galley as well.

Probably 3 couples...but love space. Really wanting to try a big cat to see what they are like. Love one with good sailing potential.

Hmmm. Lots of room. Check.
Generator / AC. Check.
Twin diesel redundancy. Check.
Flatter and better sleeping conditions? Check.
Easier to get around with age-stiffened joints. Check.

But "good sailing potential"? Not so much. 15 years after switching from monos to cats for all the aforementioned reasons, (and others) I still miss those rail down reaches. Some cats are of course faster than others, but the sailing experience is not the same.

Thoughts between the 500 and 480. Know the 480 is newer but we liked the layout/ galley better on the 500. Have been aboard both at their dock..never been out on them. Thanks. Jim

The 500's have an extra big freezer which is nice for storing ice. The aft cabins on the 480 are at ground level, so no climbing up and down. It also has separate shower compartments so you're not spraying water all over the head. It also has a different traveler system that takes some getting used to. Some of the 500's have it, but all of the 480's have a separate dinghy halyard, so you don't have to climb up the mast to unhook the main halyard to drop the dinghy.