Com-Pac Reviews

Review: Com-Pac Picnic Cat

Com-Pac Yachts's new trailerable 14-footer comes from the board of Clark Mills, who has designed the Optimist Pram and the Windmill, plus several other boats in the Com-Pac line. The gaff-rigged Picnic Cat is a clever mingling of traditional styling with contemporary manufacturing techniques.

A clever hinge-and-lock system located above the mast about 2 feet above the deck makes the rig easy to set up. A fixed boom gallows positioned on the transom provides plenty of support for the mast, boom, gaff, and sails when they're lowered for trailering.

Hull and deck construction is fiberglass mat and roving; the finish is first-rate. Pleasing touches include varnished mahogany, a bronze rubrail, and team trim.

We sailed the boat in relatively shallow waters off Clearwater, Florida, and the winds that started at 4 knots and finished with 20-knot gusts. At 500 pounds the Picnic Cat is not your average 14-footer; its response was stately rather than hair-trigger quick, but it reacted accurately and never once wallowed or rounded up. An added plus is its close-windedness; it tacked in about 95 degrees with no tendency to stall out.

Although there is no internal ballast, the 6-foot, 6-inch beam helped make the boat a comfortable and stable platform. We touched bottom a couple of times, but it was easy to sail off into deeper water by raising the stainless board and the kickup rudder a few inches. Under sail the high-aspect-ratio rudder helped to make the helm a lot more forgiving and easier to use than the old "barn door" rudders found on many more conventional catboat designs. Maximum draft is a very workable 32 inches.

The Picnic Cat will appeal to sailors who don't want to spend a lot of time getting the boat ready to sail. There's room aboard to handle six adults. The base price, which includes sail, fixed motor mount, and choice of bootstripe color, is $6,995 (FOB Clearwater, Florida); another $742 gives you a trailer. Other options include sail and boat covers, custom hull color, and cockpit cushions.

-Will White
-Reprinted courtesy of Sail Magazine

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