Once the factory rep got the properly rated hydraulic hoses on the steering
rams,
things went a bit better:

Here's a look at a boat with a model name rather appropriate for late October.
:-)

"Black Cat"
Cat Concepts NZ29


Folks who think black cats are bad luck haven't had the pleasure of spending an
afternoon with Lance Miller of Cat Concepts. Lance allowed us to take his NZ 29
Black Cat power catamaran out on Elliott Bay on an early autumn afternoon, and
the boat is very impressive indeed.

Cat Concepts boats are designed by renown New Zealand naval architect Roger
Hill. Hill has twenty-five years experience in yacht design, and served a
sixteen year "apprenticeship" with Bruce Farr and several other highly regarded
yacht designers from the southern hemisphere. Roger Hill has been the lead
designer or co-designer on a number of well known sail and power luxury yachts,
as well as championship race boats.

In an era of gratuitously swoopy and busy designs, the NZ 29 sports a sleek and
functional profile. Although cleanly and simply drawn, a good deal of complex
engineering is incorporated into the NZ29. As we were about to discover, the
NZ29 is most definitely a high performance vessel and a light weight, yet
super-tough hull is a critical component.

Cat Concepts elected to use knitted, rather than woven fiberglass cloth in the
hull and deck laminates. Woven cloth is considerably cheaper and considered the
industry "standard," but knitted fabrics are much stronger. The hull is balsa
cored, while the deck and superstructure are cored with foam. Vinylester resins
are employed in all hull laminations below the waterline to retard osmotic
blistering, and polyester resins used throughout the remainder of the boat.

A pair of full-length stringers help bond the catamaran's deck to hull tunnel,
resulting in a stiff and secure hull-to-deck joint. This is a very solid boat,
with an integrity than can be easily appreciated when running hard into
standing chop or coming in for a soft landing on the far side of a steep swell.
Nothing rattles. At all.

The NZ29 is an ideal boat for families or individuals with priorities that
might initially seem contradictory. He wants a fun, very fast, high performance
boat. She wants a safe, stable, comfortable hull. They want a boat with
accommodations suitable for the entire family on extended weekend or summer
vacation cruises, and equally adaptable for water skiing or salmon fishing.
Most prospective boat owners would have to sacrifice two or more items on such
a diverse "wish list," but might find they can come rather close to enjoying
all of these attributes with a Cat Concepts NZ29.

Roger Hill maximized use of space in the NZ29. A full size double berth is
tucked up into the starboard bow, and a single berth is built into each hull
below the salon to bring the reasonable sleeping accommodations to four. A
compact but workable head with shower is built into the port bow. An L-shaped
settee with removable dinette table to port in the main cabin, while a galley
with a refrigerator, sink, and a Wallas stove lines the starboard cabin wall.
The Wallas stove doubles as an effective cabin heater during chilly NW winter
months. An optional sink and baitwell was installed on the aft deck. The decks
are teak, with a nifty integral teak swim step protruding between the outboard
engine mounts.

The boat seems very well assembled. All doors and windows slide easily and
latch securely. The aft bulkhead isolates the cabin from most exterior noises.

Getting underway:

The NZ29 we tested was rigged with a pair of 225HP four stroke Honda outboards.
There are smaller, more affordable engine packages available, but the Hondas
certainly make a wonderful power option for the hull. Once started, the Honda
outboards hummed rather than rumbled, purred rather than growled.

We backed into the fairway, and discovered the NZ29 is very maneuverable, but
not exceptionally nimble in close quarters. Most monohulls would have struggled
to respond as quickly as the NZ29, but we expected a Black Cat to be just
slightly more agile. We'd have to rate close quarter operation as extremely
good, rather than excellent. Even so, we entered the relatively confined
fairway with ease and tracked arrow straight at idle- surely do in part to the
directional tendencies of two hulls driven by a pair of high HP engines.
Lance's NZ29 is fitted with electronic throttle controls that are a joy to
operate.

We motored out from behind the breakwater and entered a relatively calm Elliott
Bay. We would have to spend some time hunting wakes and swells to get any
sensation of the NZ29's rough water capabilities.

Lance Miller throttled up the Hondas and we charged toward the center of the
bay. The catamaran hull was on plane almost instantly, with no change at all in
the altitude of the bow. Lance put his hand over the Raymarine L760 plotter and
said, "OK now, without looking, how fast do you think we're going?" The ride
was smooth, there was virtually no wake, and most family cars make more engine
noise than we were hearing from the Hondas. A glance out the cabin window
indicated that we were moving along at a pretty brisk clip. (As a trawler
boater, I must admit to feeling that anything over 10 knots is a "brisk clip")
I compared the ride and noise level to other vessels we have tested and made a
good faith guess, "I don't know, maybe 14 or 15 knots?"

Lance grinned. "Everybody always underestimates this boat. It's so well
mannered there isn't a traditional sensation of speed." When he moved his hand
away from the display screen of the Raymarine plotter, the GPS reported our
speed as 21.7 knots.

We accelerated to 25 knots, a very comfortable "slow cruise" speed for the
NZ29. The Flo-Scan fuel meters reported a fuel consumption of 8.6 gallons per
hour, per engine.
Before we realized it, we were all the way across Elliott Bay, just in time to
encounter a fortuitous swell generated by a recently departed Washington State
Ferry. Whizzing along on the twin hulls seemed almost like wearing water
skates. The Black Cat skimmed the surface of the bay. When we hit the ferry
swell, (at 25 knots), there was no crashing, jarring, superstructure-shaking
impact that one would anticipate, just a momentary feeling similar to being
slightly airborne. We didn't have a spotter boat, so there's no way to tell if
the hull actually left the water but it would seem that it did not- there was
no corresponding "splash" when the split second of weightlessness had passed.

Lance suggested that we do a couple of turns. For our turning exercise, we
accelerated to 30-knots and put the wheel hard over. The turn was all but
absolutely flat. While a monohull would have leaned well over on its chine in a
similar maneuver, the Black Cat NZ 29 was eerily flat and level in the turn.
One would say impossibly flat, but seeing and experiencing is believing. At 30
knots, it does take some surface area to bring the boat around. The turn is
flat, but rather wide. Tighter turns are easily accomplished at "slow" speeds
under 20 knots. (We did scrub off about 4-5 knots speed by the time we had
finished the turn.)

We ran toward West Point at 35 knots. "Check out the wake," suggested Lance.
There was virtually none. A pair of roostertails just aft of the Honda
outboards, and a few ambitious ripples to either side. Wakeboarders and
jetskiers will be disappointed with the NZ29 wake, but the boaters a Black Cat
passes (and there will be a lot of passing done) will be grateful for its
minimally disruptive, comparatively civilized wake. With the doors and windows
closed, there was no problem holding a conversation at normal tone and volume.

We dodged a red and white crab float, and were scooting along just marvelously
when Lance asked, "Would you like to see how fast she'll go?" (Good grief!
Faster than this?
There's only so much this old trawler/crawler heart will stand, but we did come
out here to test the boat, right?)

"Sure!" I answered, with affected bravado.

We throttled up to 5800 RPM. We had to be flying. The Raymarine L760 began
recording higher and higher speeds. 35 knots. 38, 40, 41, 42, 43. We settled
in at 43 knots, or something over 50 mph. I was watching for drift. Most people
who own a Black Cat NZ29 won't routinely run it that fast, but it's interesting
to know that the boat can do so, and with relative ease. Shilshole to Port
Townsend in just over half an hour on a calm day? It can take longer than that
to drive a car across Lake Washington on the 520 bridge!

I was too busy steering to check the flow meter at 43 knots, but when we backed
to a far more reasonable 40, the Flo-Scans registered total fuel consumption of
33 gph. Achieving over 1nmpg at that sort of speed is a decent accomplishment.

The speed was impressive. The few moderate wakes and swells we encountered
seemed well handled, both headed and quartered. We needed an opportunity to
test for beam sea stability, but the wind was off for coffee break and Elliott
Bay looked like a mirror. We were in luck! A high-powered, semi-displacement
cruiser left the Duwamish River and headed for West Point, throwing a fat, tall
whitewater wake. Hot dog! But he was a good mile or more away.

We throttled up and overtook the cruiser in just a few minutes' time. We got
into position and throttled back to take a good wash, full abeam. The
experience reminded me of other catamarans I have been aboard in beam sea
conditions. The hulls "step" over the wave, one at a time. I always compare the
sensation to a man climbing stairs- one foot supports the weight while the
other foot is lifting. The Cat Concepts NZ29 rocked, but only a little.
Traditional monohulls are like a man climbing stairs in a sack race: he is
forced to "jump" from step to step.

We could have spent all afternoon enjoying the boat. What a treat! Disinclined
to wear out a welcome, we motored back to Elliott Bay Marina and slowed to ten
knots a few hundred yards from the breakwater. It seemed like we were standing
still.


Conclusion:

The Cat Concepts Black Cat NZ29 is a relatively small boat, and won't likely
appeal to boaters whose primary consideration is the cubic volume of cabin
accommodations. That said, there are a number of things this boat does
incredibly well. It is indeed a boat that can be exciting to run, comfortable
and stable to ride, practical for weekend and vacation family outings, fast
enough for skiing or water toys, and (with the addition of a trolling motor) a
suitable platform for chasing wily pescatores. In addition, even with the
high-end 225HP four stroke Hondas the boat is still within the financial reach
of many new boat shoppers. Lance Miller has posted a price of $175,000 on the
Black Cat NZ29.