F-26 Tiger cat

[JETI]

My friend has a 1999 World Cat that has a semi displacment hull. How does he F-26 compare and can it be repowered with 200 hp 4 strokes. I am steering towards the 265 express but like the ride of his cat

 

[Tucker]

My friend has a 1999 World Cat that has a semi displacment hull. How does he F-26 compare and can it be repowered with 200 hp 4 strokes. I am steering towards the 265 express but like the ride of his cat

Jet,
I'm in the market for an F26 and will be buying one this Spring (if I can find one). The World Cat guys say the Tiger Cat is flawed and the reason Grady stopped making them. This is certainly not the case. I've been on both, on land only, and I prefer the Grady. Though the spec calls for 400HP max you can't use 4-strokes, they're too heavy. If you find one with 200 OX66's disconnect the oil injection, premix and you'll be good for a long time.
Do your research, there's info out there you just have to find it. There is a huge stigma with cats because they're different so not much out there.

 

[uncljohn]

I like the look of them too, but I swear there were posts on here in past years about them and they suffer from the 'slap' of waves coming up between the hulls, which was common in early cats. Grady, instead of changing the hull design like other catamaran builders have since done, discontinued the model. So you should pprobably do a little more research. I'd love one too, but am happy w/ my 228.

 

[uncljohn]

Jet,
The World Cat guys say the Tiger Cat is flawed and the reason Grady stopped making them. This is certainly not the case. I've been on both, on land only, and I prefer the Grady.

Can you explain what you're basing the statement "This is certainly not the case" on? Looking at each on land?!?

Obviously you'd be suspect of advice given by a competitor, but I bet that a few others would say there is a flaw in the design (see my prior comment). "Hull-slap" from waves shooting up between your hulls IS a flaw (unless you like noise, being jerked-around by a wave, and excessive spray). Some might consider that a bonus.

 

[Tucker]

Jet,
The World Cat guys say the Tiger Cat is flawed and the reason Grady stopped making them. This is certainly not the case. I've been on both, on land only, and I prefer the Grady.

Can you explain what you're basing the statement "This is certainly not the case" on? Looking at each on land?!?

Obviously you'd be suspect of advice given by a competitor, but I bet that a few others would say there is a flaw in the design (see my prior comment). "Hull-slap" from waves shooting up between your hulls IS a flaw (unless you like noise, being jerked-around by a wave, and excessive spray). Some might consider that a bonus.

Grady discontinued the Tiger Cat because it was competing with their monohulls. In addition there is forum talk that Grady sold the mold to World Cat which is not the case. I called Grady and that's what they told me. As far as hull slap I think that is the nature of any catamaran. The World Cat seems to have a problem with the "death roll", Guys on their web site say if the engines aren't trimmed all the way up, a pontoon will dig in causing a violent high speed turn. I've asked Reel Time, a guy on this forum, about the death roll and he has never experience it on his F26. I've swapped a few e-mails with Reel Time in addition to several other F26 owners and have not received a negative comment about the F26. Of course, we all love our boats but I would hope someone would be candid enough to mention problems if they had them.
As far as being jerked around by a wave. The general consensus is a cat will outperform a mono hull hands down, so I don't know about any jerking being done.

 

[Hookup1]

Tigercat

I thought a lot about buying a Tiger Cat. If you really want a cat hull buy the World Cat. Its what they do for a living and GW doesn't. Especially if you think you might sell the boat down the road.

If you do decide to go with the Tiger Cat you have got to talk to some owners and get out on the water. There must be a few watching this thread.

 

[JeffN]

Slightly off topic but what years were the tiger cat produced and anybody have any idea of how many were produced?

Hijack over.

 

[wahoo33417]

Going from memory, I recall that Grady changed the cat hull the same year that they added the center console to their cat line-up. It was 1999, I believe. My recollection is that the hull redesign cured some handling attributes of the earlier hull.

I've always liked the layout of the F-26. I would want to try one if my in-out storage forklift could handle them.

 

[JeffN]

Wahoo - I seem to remember from a previous thread here that the hull had indeed been changed as you said. IIRC posters on the thread said that the hull change cured much of the problems but by then the damage had been done in regard to sales and Grady pulled the plug. I have never seen one but would like to check out one of the post redesign models.

 

[wbgradyman]

Crockers Marine (although they are out of business) has one in Wilmington NC. I think they have that and a couple of trailers left to sale.

 

[teaklejr]

Hello. My wife an I own a 1997 Tigercat an love her. They do have the hull slap and that is the only thing I don't like about her. We boat on the Chesapeake bay where you get a lot of chop and at slow speeds it does slap the bottom hard sometimes but you get used to it. Had it off OC Md this year in 4-6 foot and ran all the way back 55 miles at about 23knots sitting in the seat. Never experienced any kind of death roll. I think any cat would have a slap between the hulls in choppy water to some extent. I think people that bash the Tigercat probably have never even been on one they just hear what other people say and go off that. We have been very happy now for 5 years and until we can afford a 33 express we will keep loving our "Sunny Life" F26 Tigercat

 

[raisinkane]

I have had my 1998 f26 tiger for 7 years. Replaced the two stroke yamaha 200s with 4 stoke yamaha 200s I FIsh the otherside 147miles out with this boat year after year. extra weight helps, run this boat like your on two skies (stay on the back of the skis) HULL Slap Dont take waves head on at slow speed! Quarter them! This boat is not for an inexperienced captain it takes motor trim adjustments not tab adjustment to get the best ride on the ocean. I fish this boat hard and always talk with grady tech before doing something like a repower Yeah I would buy another in a heart beat, but this one still goes strong smooth and quiet

 

[Tucker]

Do the 4-strokes perform that much better than the 200 OX66's?? I thought the 4-strokes were much more efficent, but performance wise, not quite as strong as the 2-strokes; with weight being a factor. You can buy a lot of oil and gas for what those thumpers cost. Unless of course, one of the old motors was blown up.

 

[jdr2]

I HAVE GREAT ONE FOR SALE WITH 200HP 2 STROKE

I have the best priced 26 tigercat on the market with 2- 200hp yamahas, loaded with electronics. Great boat but to big for me, I am looking for a 20' or 22' cc, will trade , see my add on yacht- world.
They are a great boats, very fast and stable

jdr2
jdr@hamptons.com
631-283-2051

 

[tigercat26]

I love my f -26!

I don't know what all the hubub is about these boats, this is my third and favorite Grady! I live in florida on the gulf coast and it's perfect for 2-4+ft chop if your running then anchoring up ( I dive so it's perfect for me) It has a shallow draft for a 26 ft boat,none of my V hull friends can keep up with me without getting pounded in a chop. It's by far the driest boat I've ever owned. I'm repowering it right now with 150 4 stroke Yamahas which weigh the same as the 200 2 strokes I took off. I'm hoping to get a liitle more distance out of the 200 gallons she carries for long keys runs but other than that it's a great boat. The down side of this ad all cats is that they're not good drift boats ,they don't corner like a V hull and the cabin while it has lots of storage it's a little awkward.
It's a lot of boat for 26 ft though!

 

[wahoo33417]

Tigercat: I'm curious, why aren't cats good drift boats?

Tx, Rob

 

[Tucker]

Being a F-26 wanna be, I heard the same thing. I believe it's called hull slap; the waves run through the tunnel and slap around and it's been said to drive you nuts. This needs to be confirmed by a real owner.

 

[jdr2]

I HAVE GREAT ONE FOR SALE WITH 200HP 2 STROKES

I have a 26' tigercat for sale, see yachtworld, 1998 w/2-200 asking $24,900. These boats are great, very fast, stable and will run in ALL weather. It was to big for my use so I went down to a 209 grady.

Regards,
john
jdr@hamptons.com

 

[teaklejr]

Being a F-26 wanna be, I heard the same thing. I believe it's called hull slap; the waves run through the tunnel and slap around and it's been said to drive you nuts. This needs to be confirmed by a real owner.

Hello. Yes the waves do slap the hulls on slow trolling choppy days. It can get annoying at times but you just have to try and not take the waves head on. You do need to learn to trim the boat right. The bigger the waves just keep going faster and she will stay on top and not pound. 2 weeks ago got done fishing in some pretty choppy water on the Chesapeake and blew by some other comparable sized boats still sitting in the seat. Love the boat and would only sell to get either another cat of 33 express but can't afford a newer boat so she is staying.

 

[Crazy Snake]

Hi, I'm new to this board. Just had to post my 2 cents worth.
I owned a 1998 F-26 cat for three years. It rode great. It was too big for me to fish around the Hampton Roads area so I sold it and bought a 20' SeaHunt. I started missing the blue water so I sold the SeaHunt and upgraded to a 2004 G-W 283 Release with twin F225 Yamahas.
My F26 was fully loaded including a Pompanette fighting chair.
I purchased this boat from the retired Grady CEO, Wylie Corbett.
It was given to him as a retirement present(I was told)...
I had twin 200 2 strokes and they pushed this boat up to 50 mph on flat water. There is just as much room in the cabin as the G-W walkarounds.
Lots of storage space.
I was told the reason G-W discontinued the cat was because they would have to build a new plant to mass produce them and G-W didn't think there was going to be much of a market for cats.
I think if you get one, you won't be sorry.
I was sorry for selling mine and sold it to a gentleman who had one and flipped it over on the interstate. This should say something good for them.
He had to have another one.
Dale D. 8)
283 Release T F225 Yamahas
Simply Divine III