The Light-air Performance of the Dazcat 1195

By Adam Cort

September 15, 2015

A coastal cruiser, an offshore racing machine, a performance bluewater cruiser? The sleek, elegantly minimalist Dazcat 1195 is certainly all those things, but it is also a great little light-air daysailer—no small feat, given its size and overall design brief.
For our test sail out of Marion, Massachusetts, we had calm seas and 10 knots of breeze, if that, on the normally boisterous waters of Buzzards Bay. However, after hoisting and unrolling the big square-top Banks Sails main and self-tacking jib, we hardened up onto a close reach and were soon both hitting 6-plus knots and hearing that oh-so-satisfying chuckle of a nice little bow wave. Better still, when it was time to throw in a few tacks, the Dazcat 1195 came about as effortlessly as a lightweight monohull.

Truth be told, in my heart of hearts I remain a monohull sailor, because of what I regard as the monohull’s ability to adapt to a wide variety of conditions. However, light-air performance like that exhibited by the Dazcat couldn’t help but give me pause for thought.

As a kind of finale, we hoisted a big screecher on a continuous-line Karver furler at the end of a magnificently crafted fixed carbon sprit. Next thing we knew we were humming along at 8-plus knots, and the helm couldn’t have felt sweeter. An aluminum mast and stainless wire rigging come standard. A carbon mast is an option. Harken winches and blocks complemented by Spinlock jammers complete the picture. I can’t wait to find out what this boat is capable of in a blow…

Not surprisingly, this kind of performance doesn’t come by accident, and one look at the Dazcat 1195 is all it takes to figure out the boat means business. A product of the veteran UK builder Multimarine, the Dazcat’s hulls are constructed of multi-axial and uni-directional aramid and glass fabrics all vacuumed around a PVC foam core, with carbon added in high-stress areas like the bridgedeck and beam bulkheads.

In addition to minimizing weight overall, designer Darren Newton worked especially hard to get weight out of the ends to reduce pitching. No forward lounging cockpits aboard the 1195! Heck, the structure of the hulls and accommodation space are sufficiently sturdy that there isn’t even a crossbeam.

Then there are the high-aspect daggerboards, crafted in carbon fiber (of course) and controlled by a clever easy-to-use tackle, and the twin helm stations—both indicative of a boat that’s meant to do some serious sailing. Interestingly, the helm stations are not as far outboard as they are aboard some performance cats, again with an eye toward keeping weight as far inboard as possible.

As you would expect, the Dazcat 1195 does not feature the more opulent accommodations seen aboard its more charter-oriented brethren. But what accommodations it does provide are both practical and elegantly configured, with double cabins aft in each of the hulls, a narrow berth forward to starboard and a head/shower to port—more than enough to keep a crew comfortable on passage.

The saloon includes an adequate table facing fore and aft, with the nav station (including a Raymarine nav package on our test boat; B&G is also an option) to port and the galley lower down in the starboard hull. The cockpit is enclosed with bulwarks on all four sides in the interest of security offshore. This is after all a boat that, despite its light-wind ability and easily singlehanded rig, regularly competes in such rugged offshore classics as the two-handed Round Britain and Ireland Race and the Fastnet.
Bottom line: the Dazcat 1195 is a great sailing boat that has this particular monohull sailor seriously reconsidering his prejudices.