Cheetah Cuisine: Adventure and eat around the south coast

Oct 5th, 2014

....btw we really did have have a lovely run across,cooking bacon and making coffee en route, couldn't do that on the rib!....engines are really quiet...

After owning an eclectic fleet of sailing and power boats over the past 40 years, Keith and Laura are hoping their new Cheetah catamaran will see them through the next few decades.

With a passion for boating and eating fresh seafood, Keith, Laura and family will be cruising in comfort aboard their new 6.9m Cheetah. Besides enjoying restaurants in the Solent and around the Isle of Wight, the family are keen to experiment with a couple of lobster pots and plan to cook the days catch aboard.

Keith and Laura first saw a Cheetah Catamaran on an annual pilgrimage to The Boathouse in Steephill Cove. The Cheetah was dubbed ‘Land Rover of the Sea’ and left a lasting impression which the couple decided to pursue. After visiting the Cheetah workshop earlier this year they embarked on a mission: to create a specification, which would provide a ‘boat for life’.

“We wanted to invest in a boat as customised as we could afford, small enough to fit and sit happily on our drying mooring and not be a huge overhead. As well as cruising locally with friends and family we wanted to make longer passages whilst still being able to visit shallow creeks and rivers. It was also important for us to get home again in almost any weather without getting wet and cold. After a visit to the workshops the specification came together with Sean’s patient help’

In early spring Keith and Laura placed an order for a 6.9m Cheetah. The catamaran would feature along style wheelhouse and outside dining. The Cheetah had to be able to cope with the confused shallow seas experienced off the Chichester bar and would be kept on their drying mooring outside their cottage in Bosham.

THE SPECIFICATION

• 6.9mCheetah with the 2m long wheelhouse
• Stainless steel keel bands to protect the hulls when beaching and drying out
• Twin 60hplong shaft Hondas with 2 x 40l fuel tanks

INSIDE

• Helm and navigator’s suspension seat
• Starboard side sink, water supply, shelving and 12v sockets
• Port side bench seat with storage under

DECK

• Twin bench seats with folding teak table
• Stern platform, ladder and rails all round the cockpit

ELECTRONICS and ENGINES

• CD player and DAB Radio inc iphone input with internal and external speakers
• Shorepower
• Full Simrad electronic package includes the new NSS9 Evo2 Touch screen
• 2 x 60hpHonda with top speeds of 25 knots

Following delivery of Polpo in early September, Keith comments “We’ve enjoyed 5 outings so far in mixed conditions. She is pretty, very quiet and economical on all fronts and copes well with the sea as hoped. We are enjoying ownership and look forward to exploring all the places she is perfect to take us and always get us home again, warm and dry!! Truly a Land Rover of the Sea!"