C-Dory vs Tom Cat?

I'm eager to go cruising in the San Juan Islands and North from there this summer (and next), but no C-Dorys for sale....How does the Tom Cat Compare? Ride? Efficiency? Weight on trailer? Please share your experiences. I've seen Tom Cats, would love your insights!

I would recommend the Tom Cat without hesitation. It will take you anywhere you'd like to go in style and comfort. Took my wife on her first C-Dory ride while a dealer was giving rides one blustery day out of Cap Sante in Anacortes. The Tom Cat was very smooth in the chop. We next went out on a 22 Cruiser, which did fine, but in slower fashion. The rest was history as we now are on our 5th C-Dory, which is a 25 Cruiser.
If you are thinking about the Tom Cat that is listed, it sure looks in nice shape with new power and a good trailer. You'll need at least a 3/4 ton truck to tow it. Efficiency with twin 150 Hondas is good. Fuel will be your lowest cost in owning a C-Dory. Owning a C-Dory is not that expensive because you will enjoy so very much. That's one of the reasons they sell fast.
By the way, we've met you at Friday Harbor as we know Randy and Chris and you and your husband were hanging out and getting acquainted with all of the C-Brats. Our 25s are just numbers apart on their Hull ID number. Much luck to you!

I am sure you will get a response from Dr Bob (Thataway) - he has owned 22 and 25 C-Dorys, as well as a TomCat. We owned a 25 Cruiser and traveled with friends who owned a TomCat. While the cabin on the CD-25 and the TomCat look pretty similar on a walk-through, they are very different boats (a monohull vs a catamaran). The TomCat is designed to cruise at a faster speed (30+ knots), while the 25 can get great fuel mileage at displacement speed, but can cruise in the 20 to 25 knot range as the high cruise. As you'd expect, the ride is different between these two. At speed, the TomCat will get a smoother ride in light chop than the 25. The TomCat will be more stable at the dock as you step aboard since it is a catamaran. The TomCat will be heavier to tow (our CD-25 was 8,700 pounds on the trailer, our friends' TomCat was over 10,000 pounds), so you many want to consider a bigger tow vehicle (we towed with a 3/4 ton diesel GMC pickup, our friends towed with an F-450 diesel Ford) The cockpit on the TomCat is bigger, with the engines mounted behind the hull rather than attached to the transom. The berth on the TomCat is much larger and rectangular vs the V-berth on the CD-25.

One thing that I preferred with our 25 was the quiet at anchor. The TomCat has a relatively low bridge deck, so you will have some "slapping" right under the berth. At slow speeds in chop, you may get some "sneezing" with the TomCat, where it will push water forward and up from that low bridge deck. But, push the throttles forward and the TomCat shines. Another thing was how low our boat sat on the trailer, with the hull sitting between the tires, rather than the TomCat which sits above the tires - it makes the CD-25 easier to launch/retrieve. The TomCat looks, and is, much larger (height and length) on the trailer.

The CD-25 can be had with a single or twin engines; the TomCat will always have twins. I'm sure you'll get a lot more input from other owners. Both are great, but different from each other.

Salmon Fisher said:

I would recommend the Tom Cat without hesitation. It will take you anywhere you'd like to go in style and comfort. Took my wife on her first C-Dory ride while a dealer was giving rides one blustery day out of Cap Sante in Anacortes. The Tom Cat was very smooth in the chop. We next went out on a 22 Cruiser, which did fine, but in slower fashion. The rest was history as we now are on our 5th C-Dory, which is a 25 Cruiser.
If you are thinking about the Tom Cat that is listed, it sure looks in nice shape with new power and a good trailer. You'll need at least a 3/4 ton truck to tow it. Efficiency with twin 150 Hondas is good. Fuel will be your lowest cost in owning a C-Dory. Owning a C-Dory is not that expensive because you will enjoy so very much. That's one of the reasons they sell fast.
By the way, we've met you at Friday Harbor as we know Randy and Chris and you and your husband were hanging out and getting acquainted with all of the C-Brats. Our 25s are just numbers apart on their Hull ID number. Much luck to you!

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Thank you so much Salmon Fisher! We are in Seattle and Guemes Island. The Cat sounds slightly more spacious - but we're hoping we don't have to buy a truck! We own a GMC Sierra 1500 so the CDory 25 is the max weight. You don't happen to have one for sale do you?

C-sister, no ours is not for sale. This is our second 25 as we made a detour to a 27 Ranger Tug back in 2019.
So happy to have returned to the 25 Cruiser.

For a truck, you might consider rental for short term use. If you decide to purchase a Tom Cat, there are boat transport companies to go get it. Here is a link to Enterprise truck rental.

If you only need to move/launch your boat a few times a year, the commercial truck rental thru Enterprise makes a lot of financial sense. The standard truck rental is typically a half ton, in the commercial side they will have 1 ton options that can handle the TomCat much safer.
I have friends with a Ranger Tug 29 that owns an older Toyota Pickup 4 cylinder, obviously no match with their boat. Since they don’t need a truck for anything els and keep the boat in a marina for a few weeks to a couple month at a time, rental is the better options for them.

We towed out TomCat 255 with a 3/4 ton Ford 7.3L Diesel Excursion. The excursion had too much rear sag, so we used a weight distribution hitch--which many trucks require if over a certain weight on the "bumper" hitch. Rear air bags also can help. E/H brakes are best, and essential to be legal in Canada.

The Tom Cat not only has more cockpit room, as well as more fordeck room and a huge bunk forward. We have slept 5 inside. The dinette makes into a decent single. Marie or I would sleep for and aft on the far port side of the forward bunk, with a filler cushion in the navigator seat foot well. Daughter and two grandchildren would sleep athwartships to the right of where I was sleeping fore and aft. The dinette is a little wider and can seat 4 more comfortably than the C Dory 25. The fuel tankage is 150 gallons, and the water can be fairy easily doubled with the addition of a second tank. The primary water tank has been on both sides, forward of the fuel tanks in the amas.

One time I "raced" Marie, in her car, and I was running the Tom Cat from Apalachicola to our home 200 miles away, and I made faster time than she did. There was "Sunday" traffic in San Destin/Destin area for her, and only a couple of "no wake" zones for me, and I ran at 35 mph plus. It would run at 30 to 35 in steep chop, but with some tunnel slap in that condition with up to 50 mph wind. Mileage averaged in the 1.8 to 2 mph at the higher cruising speeds. I felt that the boat needed to be run at 6 knots or over 20 knots to be most comfortable--the 8 to 12 KNOT speed was not ideal. Even with Permatrims, the boat did better at the lower or higher speeds.

I only sold the Tom Cat because I had a second tripple bypass surgery, and it was nip and tuck if I would make it after the surgery--so I didn't want Marie saddled with selling the Tom Cat. We both hated to see it go. I would have kept it, If I knew I woud live another 16 plus years. We missed the C Dory life, so got another 22, and then we were using it enough that we went back to a 25.