Com-Pac Yachts Picnic Cat

BoatsCom-Pac Yachts Picnic Cat

See her sail

The Com-Pac Yachts Picnic Cat, on the water

The fleet's own footage — the truest look at how she really moves.

Is it for you?

Character

Where this design lands on the numbers a shopper trusts — read straight from her own ratios.

TrailerableBeam 1.98 m — inside the 2.55 m no-permit tow width across most of Europe, and the 2.59 m US and Canadian limit. About 227 kg of hull, so roughly 850 kg on a trailer: check that against your own towing rating.Ramp-launchableAbout 227 kg of hull, with a keel that raises or a draft shallow enough to float off a trailer — she can go back on the trailer at the ramp, not only into the water.Shoal draftDraws 0.15 m, board up where she has one — creeks, sandbars and thin anchorages most keels have to stay out of.

CoastalBluewater

At 3.28 she sits above the 2.0 line — beamy for her weight, and happiest coastal.

Capsize screening 3.28

EasygoingPowered-up

27.7 — a lot of sail for her weight; powered-up and eager, a real performer.

Sail area / displacement 27.7

Powered-up and quick to accelerate — this one likes to sail.

What the fleet has seen

The Com-Pac Yachts Picnic Cat, as the fleet has seen it

Derived from the videos the fleet has analysed of this model. ▶ marks open the moment aboard.

The Com-Pac Yachts Picnic Cat is a 4.3-meter gaff-head cat-rigged sailboat, designed by Clark Mills and built by Com-Pac Yachts since 1998. It features a centerboard hull with a 1.0-meter draft and displaces 226 kg. The Picnic Cat incorporates a stainless steel centerboard to enhance upwind performance, a design choice seen in newer Com-Pac models like the Sun Cat.8:03 Its "mast tender" quick-rig system, a hinged aluminum extrusion, simplifies mast raising and lowering for trailering or bridge clearance.7:26 Com-Pac Yachts, founded by Les Hutchins in 1970, has produced trailerable, shoal-draft sailboats for over 50 years, using hand-laid fiberglass construction and maintaining in-house metal and wood shops.5:39

The living fleet

Sailed by the fleet

Where the fleet has filmed this boat.

Basemap © Wikimedia Commons · CC BY-SA 4.0

The record

Full specifications

The complete reference set — tap any figure to switch between metric and imperial.

Dimensions

Weights

Rig & sail area

Rig

Gaff head Cat

Ratios

SA / displacement

27.7

Capsize screening

3.28

Hull

Hull type

Centerboard (Trunk)

Construction

Fiberglass

Production

Years built

First built 1998

Designer

Clark Mills

Builder

Com-Pac Yachts, Hutchins Co

Boats like this, on the water

More boats like her, on the water

Comparable boats the fleet has on camera: same type, within a quarter of her length. Open the boat, or watch the video — a timestamp means she only appears in passing.

Drascombe Dabber4.72 mSame hull family0.5 m longerA John Watkinson-designed sprit-rigged daysailer with a centerboard, built since 1970 for shallow-water versatility

Getting Underway - Portland to Boston23:16 from The Mariner

Open 5.005.00 mSame hull family0.7 m longerA high-performance sport boat from Jean Marie Finot featuring a rotating spar and an ultra-light displacement

Miranda Merron ready for Vendée Globe8:58 from SEILmagasinet

RS Quest4.29 mSame hull familyNear-identical lengthA 140kg fractional sloop with a centerboard trunk designed for stable, versatile training and family sailing

Sea Cadet National Sailing and Windsurfing Regatta 20250:48 from City Sailing

Sandpiper 154.72 mSame hull family0.5 m longerA Breck Marshall-designed gaff-rigged catboat with a high sail-area-to-displacement ratio for spirited light-air sailing

Sandpiper 32 Sharpie Schooner Refit0:04 from Atom Voyager

Farr 50005.08 mSame hull family0.8 m longerA Bruce Farr-designed fractional sloop featuring a swing keel and a high sail-area-to-displacement ratio for lively performance

"Hello World" in the ARC10:27 from SEILmagasinet

The family

Related models

The designs closest to hers — usually the rest of the builder's range, sometimes the same hull sold under another name.

Com-Pac Yachts 16A Clark Mills-designed fractional sloop with a shallow draft, built since 1972 as a stable and trailerable pocket cruiser Com Pac Sun Cat 17-2A gaff-rigged catboat featuring a keel-centerboard hull and a cuddy cabin, also available as an open-cockpit daysailer Com-Pac Yachts 19A Robert K. Johnson-designed masthead sloop built for shoal-draft gunkholing with a stable 40% ballast ratio

Keep asking

The fleet has more to say

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