TravelTalkOnline Forums Travel and Vacation Forums British Virgin Islands SailCat vs PowerCat

We are planning on BVI vacation for June 2018! We currently have on hold a 2015 480 “Sail” Catamaran. Group of 8 people (5 experienced boaters - we own boats that we use on lakes but zero sailing experience). Since booking part of our group has become very uneasy about boat selection given boat only has twin 45HP diesel engines. Travel agent assures us this is enough power to safely navigate. We are used to boating on boats with 800-1000HP. Since we have no sailing experience could you safely travel around BVI’s in a sail cat not using sails? Any insight is appreciated! Thank you!

You will have no problem traveling around the BVI on that boat. Generally however they won't rent a sailboat to someone not qualified to sail. I would suggest you either take a course on sailing in the US or rent a powercat.
G

Hi Alli! Welcome to the forum. Since you guys are experienced power-boaters I would stick with what you know. Why go on vacation and worry about your lack of sailing skills? Switch to a Power-Cat. Unless your powerboat experience is on a great lake, you will have plenty of new things to learn with boating on the ocean. Keep it simple and fun for your group. Your other option is to hire a captain since you do not have the required experience to safely operate a sailboat.

Thanks so much for the advice. I'm actually pretty surprised the company rented a sailboat to us without any sailing experience....group has decided to cancel as they would feel safer in powercat. Sadly some cancellation fees were incurred even though we just booked on Friday afternoon. Live and learn. Glad to find this group and all the info!!!

Prudent decision going with a powercat versus sailing.


I am SURPRISED you incurred a cancellation fee. I would kindly request a refund as the company should not have chartered a sailing vessel to you without any previous sailing experience. I would say that is an error on their behalf.

If they insist on charging you for this error, it certainly isn't a company I would care to use as a charterer or a boat owner as they are not properly vetting their customers.

If they do not refund you, please share the name of the company!

I wouldn't have worried about safety since there would be little to no difference between them (aside from top speed) if you never used the sails. But given that you aren't using the sails, the power cats do have a better helm and upper deck area that would (for someone not sailing) make that a far better option. As well as the increased speed when desired.

And as powerboaters, you will be pleased with the lack of rigging. Even if you never touch the sails, you will still have to maneuver around the rigging on the bow when mooring. And the lack of a boom means that the upper deck lounge can be higher and larger

I, as a sailcat owner, would be surprised/angry if my charter company chartered you my boat with no sail experience .

I would suggest going with powercat, UNLESS one or more of your crew had a genuine interest in sailing and did sail course prior to then.

The horsepower is sufficient. Mine has 57 hp x 2 and is only 42 ft.

Please let us know who would charge a cancellation fee after juts a few days without vetting the crew experience.

Voyage. We called and emailed less than 24 hours after booking to express safety concerns over lack of sailing experience. Ultimately we were charged a 3.5% processing fee that was not mentioned in any documents...I should have researched more and trusted less. On the flip side if your looking to rent a sailcat with no sailing experience then this may be your place <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/duh.gif" alt="" />

If it wasn't mentioned, you could probably dispute it with your CC company. In fact, since the whole thing occured within 24 hours, you might be able to do that anyway. Worth giving them a call at least.

All in all an odd situation. I though all charter outfits had a free 24 hr hold. I assume that if they don't like my sailing resume they'll tell me I need a captain, or a captain for a day or no go. If no go I wouldn't expect any charge. Maybe the office manager or owner would be worth contacting?

I'm a sailor but when we went to the San Juan Islands I didn't want to mess with funky winds so we chartered our first power cat. If none of you have ever piloted one you'll be amazed at how fuel efficient, maneuverable and stable they are. Since I already know how to sail and the winds are usually very consistent in the Caribbean it really is great for sailing so I'll stick with that at least until we physically can't raise the sails as we age.

Thank goodness for electric winches (and strong children / grandchildren)! <img src="http://www.traveltalkonline.com/forums/images/graemlins/Joy.gif" alt="" />

Voyage is like that. I would dispute the charge with your credit card company.

There is no automatic right to cancel any contract, just because you change your mind, even if it is within 24 hours. There is one for airline reservations. I would certainly dispute the cancellation charge, if it was nowhere in the documents. However, I find that odd, if there was not a cancellation charge in the contract, as otherwise, people could make a booking and cancel the day before sailing with no penalty. 3.5% sounds like a credit card fee to me..

Something everyone should keep in mind. Most charter companies will hold a boat for at least 72 hours to allow you to insure that you can get airline tickets ect.
The hold is free. It's a good option to have.
G

I've chartered both power and sail cats several times. I have plenty of sailing and powerboat experience and I don't own a charter vessel so I'll stay out of the argument about charter companies renting to inexperienced sailor.

If you plan to navigate under power most (or all) of the trip, there's little difference in the platforms. The horsepower difference doesn't really matter. The sail cats will typically go 7-8 knots under power, which is plenty fast enough. You can move a little faster in a power cat (12-15 knots MAX, in my experience) but you will pay dearly in fuel costs. Trust me. I know. Sail cats practically sip fuel. Advantage: Sail cats.

I don't find the rigging to be a big issue on deck. You have to walk around the standing rigging but it doesn't really get in the way. Still, power cats have no rigging so navigating the decks is easier and more familiar to a power boater. Advantage: Power cats.

The big advantage of power cats over (most) sail cats is the extra space gained on the fly bridge. That's actually the thing that draws me to the larger power cats most of all. It's a very nice thing when you have 6-8 people on board looking for their own space to get away. Advantage: Power cats, for sure.

The nice thing about sail cats is it's easy to find good deals with 2nd and 3rd tier charter companies. Foot-for-foot, sail cats are cheaper to charter. Advantage: Sail cats.

For me, it's almost a wash. It depends on who I'm taking on a particular trip, what boats are available, and what kind of deal I can get.

Oh yea, another power boat option to consider is Virgin Trader. They have a small fleet of motoryachts. I've never used them but I hear the boats are well-kept and service is very good.

Voyage will put a hold on the boat for free for 7 days, but will charge a cancellation fee after you officially book the boat.

Conch now has a few ex-Moorings power cats which is new for them in the last year or so, so maybe options for better deals on 2nd/3rd tier charter companies is improving.
http://conchcharters.com/the-fleet/?type=powercats

I am SHOCKED the company is Voyage! I would have expected them to properly vet potential charter guests by reviewing resumes first. Shame on them for charging you a cancellation fee when you weren't adequately qualified to sail.

But then again the last time I sailed in the BVIs I could not believe the "skills" of some people sailing Voyage cats. I don't believe Kimo is the one checking out sailors any longer - I think he has been relegated to the boatyard.