A Powerful Catamaran

This 26-foot center console is a well-designed
boat for Northeast angling - and tough enough to cross an ocean.

Glacier Bay cats are unique because they have displacement hulls. The sharp hulls on the 260LX Center Console slice through waves instead of trying to ride on the rough surfaces.

The intrepid president of Glacier Bay Catamarans, Larry Graf, has enough faith in his boats to run a 26-foot center console nonstop for 728 miles from Virginia Beach to Bermuda. He followed up that trip with a 1,328-mile "delivery" of two 26s, a center console and a cuddy cabin, from Oahu across the Pacific to Midway Island. Now, a magazine advertisement for Glacier Bay Catamarans asks. "Shouldn't you be riding on our accomplishments?"

The real accomplishments are well designed and tough-built boats from top-grade materials. In addition, their interior accommodations are carefully thought out, since Graf is an avid angler who wants his boats to adapt well to fishing on all three coasts. The 260 LX Center Console that I tested on a spring day clearly showed the superior design, quality workmanship and attention to detail. I'll combine my comments about it with impressions left over from fishing a 2670 Island Runner cuddy cabin model a dozen times last season.

The hulls offer a deep, wide tunnel, creating a cushion of air on which the boat rides.

Design and Construction

The most striking aspect of Glacier Bay cats is their displacement hulls. Most other cats on the U.S. market plane like monohulls. A meticulous engineer, Graf tinkered with the hull for several years in his home waters of the Pacific Northwest before finalizing the design and receiving several patents in 1991. He went to the trouble of creating both scale models and full-scale versions. Tested with both single and twin engines.

The result is a pair of sharp hulls that slice through seas instead of trying to ride their rough surfaces. "As taller waves work along the hulls," says in company literature, "they simply move the mean waterline higher and the boat rises. There are no big, jarring impacts, bouncing or pounding in most sea conditions and speeds."' He is referring to seas up to eight feet. at least. Those thin hulls are also high. (A 26-foot Glacier Bay out of the water will dwarf even an NBA center standing beside the boat.) The hulls provide a deep. wide tunnel to make a thick cushion of air for the boat to ride on, while allowing water to flow through without the "sneeze" blowback of spray that comes over the bow of shallower cats.

Graf has put a lot of thought into those hull shapes. On the bottom of each is a pad for straight tracking. Reverse chines knock down what little spray there is in any but the most extreme seas. There is a tradeoff with displacement hulls. Glacier Bay cats are a step slower than some planing cats - in calm water. They get it all back - with interest - when the going gets sloppy.

Construction is first-rate and sophisticated, starting with a thick. top-quality; UV-stabilized gelcoat. Vinylester resin protects against blisters while it bonds alternating layers of hand-rolled mat and woven roving below the waterline. Hull sides are laminated of mat knitted fabrics and PVC foam core. Stringers, bulkheads and transom are cored with pressure treated XL-10 boat lumber, which has a lifetime guarantee. Hull and deck are bonded together with urethane adhesive and through-bolted with nylon-centered lock nuts on six-inch centers.

All critical systems - electrical, plumbing and mechanical - are readily accessible for rigging, maintenance and repair. If you want to know how meticulous Glacier Bay is about quality control. Look in all the hidden places, especially around the plumbing. Fit and finish are excellent.

Engines

The 260 LX has a T-top that covers the center console.

The center-console test boat ran a pair of fuel-injected Suzuki 150s. These are strong, smooth engines with a good track record for durability. They delivered their best fuel economy over a wide range of speeds, from nine knots to 27 knots with a top speed of 38.2. Not bad for a cat pushing a T-top, a top over the console.

In typical fashion, Graf has carefully evaluated the performance of these boats with half a dozen different engine pairs, including Suzuki 140s, Honda 130s, Yamaha 150s and Mercury 150s, as well as the test Suzuki 150s. He has also written up his comments on each. A Glacier Bay dealer should be able to supply you with the engine bulletins. The bottom line: For fuel economy, choose the Suzuki 140s or the Honda 130s, which deliver top speeds in the mid to upper 30s and cruise speeds in the 20s. For top speeds in the 40s and cruise speeds in the 30s, but higher fuel consumption, choose your favorite 150s. As the new generation of 130- to 150-horsepower engines becomes available, watch for Graf to evaluate them as well.

Sea Trial

The test boat ran twin Suzuki 150s, which are strong, smooth engines.

Our test day was chilly and damp, but the light wind didn't even make the Glacier Bay break a sweat. A flooding tide flowing with a 10- to 12-knot southerly produced a chop of only two feet, which the cat cut through without effort at speeds to 30 knots. The center console version feels light but completely predictable running both into and with the seas. It is sensitive to engine trim, and driving it hard produces a higher running angle, which is a displacement hull characteristic opposite of planing hull behavior.

Last summer, I did have an opportunity to push the cuddy model harder on several occasions. No, we didn't run any eight-foot seas, but I found that I could go anywhere I wanted, in dry comfort, in four- to five-footers at speeds to 30 knots. The heavier cuddy version with the big Hondas was not as nimble as the center console with the Suzuki's, but it inspired great confidence. It did exhibit some moves that took getting used to, especially running down-sea and making sharp turns. If you've never run a cat before, you'll find it pays to spend some time with an experienced dealer or owner to learn its characteristics.

Both boats drift broadside to the wind, an advantage for fishing. The cuddy was great for jigging weakfish on both a dead drift and with the silky-smooth Hondas idling to keep us on sharp-breaking edges. The center console would do just as well.

Interior

As you might expect, Graf and company have put a lot of thought into Glacier Bay interiors. For anything short of weekend cruises, the center-console model offers all the comfort that anglers and families will want. Under the big console, the head has 381/2 inches of sitting headroom. The console has room for strategically placed storage inside and plenty of space for electronics on top, both flush- and bracket-mounted.

On deck, huge wells (76-inch by 20inch by 22-inch) have bilge pumps port and starboard beside the console. Seventy-nine-inch hatches athwartships are in front of the console for gear and rod storage, and the transom cap offers space for tackle and bait. The comfortable helm seat and leaning post incorporate a livewell with storage around it and a knife/lure rack around the edges. The deck is carefully crowned, guttered and scuppered, so any water that might come aboard will drain readily overboard.

Rod storage includes three horizontal racks under each gunwale (maximum length of 78 inches), plus holders for four on the after edge of the T-top and four in the gunwales. Fly-fishers will find space to hang their long rods under the T-top on either side of the console. The top actually offers a lot of other opportunities for ingenious riggers, including plates for mounting radar, GPS and VHF antennas; a cargo net in front of the locking electronics box to hold PFDs; and several options for weather curtains. I'd love to crawl around one of these cats after a serious fishing and exploring family has lived with it for a couple of years to see what other refinements they have figured out.

Conclusions

Is there anything bad to say about a Glacier Bay cat? Well, I did notice three things. The vertical clearance between the edge of the T-top and the foredeck where it steps down to the cockpit is only 67 inches. I cracked my head on the edge, then learned to duck. It would be important to warn guests about it. Also, incredibly, the two drink holders at the helm do not fit a standard soda can. Maybe Glacier Bay, in true Pacific Northwest tradition, offers custom stainless coffee mugs. There's bound to be a way to remedy this issue for warm-weather drinks.

Finally, this cat is expensive, $75,817 as tested, including a trailer. A catamaran, by nature, has a larger hull surface than a comparable monohull, and twin engines are always more expensive than a single big one.

On the other hand, that price brings a lot of boat, one that will endure, perform and hold its value for a long time to come. It's funny how trips to Bermuda and Midway build a brand's reputation.