| Catboat Rendezvous, page 5 |
MENGER CAT
This well-finished boat was designed by Andrew Menger, son of Menger Enterprise’s owner-manager Bill Menger. “We took the hull lines from an old catboat designed in 1905 by William Goeller,” says Menger Sr. “it was a daysailer, a 15- or 16-foot boat, and Andrew expanded the lines and made it into a cruising boat. It came out looking good, so I set Andrew up in a loft upstairs, and before he had the plug done we’d sold the first boat. And before we had the first boat in the water we’d sold five more.” The first Menger Cat hit the water in 1980; hull #70 is now a-building.
The Menger cabin arrangement is outstanding, made possible by moving the lower portion of the companionway bulkhead aft. That means a portable ice chest, portable head, even a galley unit can be slid out of the way under the cockpit. The cabin finish of the Menger wins high marks for its neat white fiberglass cabin liner, varnished pine wainscoting on cabin sides, teak and holly sole, and maple drop-leaf table hinged off the centerboard trunk. Not Hinckley or Baltic quality perhaps, but definitely above average.
The cabin arrangement permits extra-long berths: The starboard berth, with the galley unit pushed aft, measures 7 feet 10 inches end to end; the port berth, with no galley in the way, extends 10 feet 6 inches. Berth width is an adequate 26 inches towards the after end, 22 inches minimum near the middle. The under-berth stowage is similar to the Sanderling (only a 6-inch space). And like the Sanderling, there is sparse sitting headroom in the Menger. Sponberg noted he’d need 2 inches added to accommodate his lanky frame.
Little details are taken care of, such as the electrical panel, nicely set up in a starboard locker. Sponberg particularly liked the molded galley unit, which includes a sink, tap, and space for a stove all in one, compact pullout unit.
Sponberg did notice a few problems, however. The fiberglass gaff saddle was unlined and he concluded that it consequently tended to scrape away the mast paint (Menger thinks the paint was defective on the test boat). Also, the outboard motor s gas tank is kept in the port cockpit locker, so that although the open shelf where it sits is vented to the cockpit, gasoline fumes still might find their way into the bilge, a potentially dangerous situation. (An OMC gas tank with one-way breather cap would minimize this possibility.)
As her ratios and other dimensions would indicate, the Menger Cat’s sailing speed was between that of the bigger (in waterline length) Sanderling and the smaller (in sail area) Molly. During our sea trials, she responded to her helm nicely in all but the strongest (25-30 knots) gusts.
The prince of the Menger Cat, equipped with basic cruising gear, is $15,475, not bad for an easily trailerable, readily cruisable boat loaded with character.
Summary
A price of $14,000 to $20,000 for a 17- or 18-foot sailboat may seem like a lot of money. But with a catboat, you get more beam for each foot of length, you get a simple rig free of flogging headsails, and you join a world filled with special folks who love sailing craft that aren’t part of the mainstream.
STEVE HENKEL is a regular contributor to SBJ Among the 11 small boats in his current fleet is a 17-foot cruising catboat designed by Charles Wittholz and built by Ted Hermann ‘s Boatshop in 1969.
