St Francis & Safari 50’s, cat crazy Cape Town

I must admit I drooled a bit over this nav station/office on board a St Francis 50 cruising cat. Wouldn’t that be the spot to test electronics and write Panbo? Of course I’d do a few things a little differently. For instance, while using the VGA-out function of the helm’s Raymarine E-80 to repeat its image on the PC monitor (more visible in the bigger picture here ) is helpful, and would be even more so with a remote Raymarine keyboard, I’d prefer RayTech 6.0 with an Ethernet relationship to the E so I could work fairly independently of the helmsman and also check alternative charts. I’d also put the switch panel elsewhere and fit the vertical surfaces of this station with easily replaced black panels. I may be a bit peculiar in terms of changing electronics, but I think every nav station should be built for easy upgrading.
  At any rate, the St Francis 50 was impressive for many well thought out cruising details, but the Crazy Frenchman and I declined a test sail, probably quite tame, in favor of a sunset blast on a red hot Safari 50 (perhaps the one and only) that’s gone into the Cape Town daysailing trade. The picture below isn’t great, but it tells some of the story. Even weighted down with over 25 people—not regular charterers, but guests of boat sponsor Peroni beer—the damn thing still went 19+ knots in the 20+ Southeasterly they love here. And who wouldn’t; the seas were so flat that bottles and even stem ware is staying put. And note that this is another all Raymarine catamaran. Actually what you laddies might be noticing is: fast boat, lots of good beer, and a lightly clad hostess. Indeed, check out GQ Cruises next time you’re in South Africa.