August 2008

Cruising catamaran

For me, the name Prout is almost synonymous with cruising catamarans. I think the first cruising cats I saw were Prouts and that was many years ago. Looking at this newest Prout you can see the dominant configuration of today's big cruising cats. This model will replace the Prout 43 and was also designed by the Prout design team.

The symmetrical hulls are listed as displacing 24,200 pounds in heavy mode, and that gives us a D/L of 174. The L/B is 1.96. There is a V-shaped protrusion to the bridgedeck bottom that will help stiffen the bridge deck and also help break the force of waves that can slam up there, and that's why this feature is often referred to as the "slam pan." There is considerable overhang to the stem/stems on this design. I'm not sure why you would want to give away waterline length like this but it does give the Prout a distinctive look compared to the rest of the near-plumb stemmed fleet of cruising cats. I suspect the raked stem is a carryover from the previous model, the P43, and maybe some tooling with that model was shared to produce the new 45. The rudders are on full skegs; I suppose for protection. With very low aspect ratio keels and only 4 feet, 1 inch of draft it will be tempting to bring this cat up to the beach, so it's good that the rudders are protected. Those stubby keels won't do much for upwind performance but they will be durable and they do afford reasonable
shoal draft.

The focal point of this design for me is the deck. For entertaining in sunny weather this design has a huge amount of what the Prout people call "Beach Deck." I like that better than "cockpit." This beach deck is divided into two sections. There is a raised portion to starboard where the steering station is located. Also on this upper level, which Prout calls the "High Bridge," are an entertainment center and a bar. On the lower level is a huge wraparound dinette for al fresco dining. Aft of this and down two steps is a broad area that connects the two hull's swim step areas. The brochure says that there is more than 100 square feet of lounging area "aft of the main cockpit." Now if I could just figure out what the "main cockpit" is. It's my guess that in most harbor gatherings the Prout 45 would be the designated "party boat."

There are two layouts offered and one is designated the "charter layout." Both layouts share the same main cabin on the upper level but the charter version has four staterooms and two heads, while the other layout has three staterooms and three heads. All heads in both versions have separate shower stalls. Given this huge footprint for a layout I'm surprised that the galley is so compact. The main cabin includes two spacious seating areas and an inside steering station but there is very little open counter space in the galley. It is a very comfortable looking main cabin.

I don't have rig dimensions but if I take 85 percent of the listed genoa area and add it to the mainsail area I get 1,115 square feet of total sail area for an SA/D of 20.09. The spreaders are highly swept on the diamond shrouds, and cap and intermediate shrouds take advantage of this cat's beam to support the rig with minimal compressive loads.

This cruising cat carries 80 gallons of fuel for its twin 29-horsepower Yanmar sail drive diesels. There is tankage for 185 gallons of water.