A 2005 Oram Mango in duflex/epoxy with foam cabintop.
Description: Generally speaking, Mangos are 38 ft cruiser-racers ; light, simple, comfortably spartan but quick catamarans. A single large lifting daggerboard port-side, and kick-up rudders in casettes allow for both shallow water sailing and good pointing ability. Bob Oram described the design of this boat as follows: What makes a boat fast and seaworthy is length. What makes it expensive is size. Thus the Mango has the accommodation and sailplan of a 32 footer, but gets sailing benefits from the extra 6 feet.
Performance: She will do windspeed at under 10 knots of breeze, and I am happy to leave the boat cruising to its autopilot up to 13 knots boatspeed. Top speed hasn't been tested by me as I reef when the boat exceeds 16 knots. It has clocked up several 200 nM plus 24-hour runs while cruising and a 183nM upwind at 35 degrees AWA in open ocean too which is actually more impressive.
See below- 13.5 knots in 15 knots of breeze, sailing solo under spinnaker.
Cruising/accommodation:
Tribute has twice sailed from WA to Indonesia and back with three aboard, totalling 6 months of liveaboard cruising. Her delivery run from Brisbane was done with up to 5 aboard.
There are 2 queen mattresses in separate 'cabins' , and a singles bunk in the starboard bow. There is a fourth +/- queen sized bunk, but that has little headspace and would probably only suit kids. I use it for storage. The settee converts to another 'emergency' bunk.
- Two 175 l freshwater tanks
- A +/- 150 l fridge
- 2 burner propane stove
- Microwave
- A second 'drinks' fridge in the cockpit .
- Single electric toilet on the port side
- Saloon seats 4-5 around a removable table.
- Navigator's table in the port hull.
The above is not luxurious by live- aboard standards but it has been sufficient.
Handling:
What originally sold me on the boat were its sail handling ergonomics: the five winches are all at chest level and all lines, including the reefing lines, lead back to the cockpit. It is at night in a blow that this really pays off. From the wheel all corners of the boat are visible. Despite having a central, single engine I can turn the boat around in a channel 15m wide. This took practice, but it is possible. An unusual ( and rarely used) feature is a 400l water ballast tanks aft in each hull. They have been put to good use to stop the boat planing off the waves in a big following sea. Presumably they can be used for speed too, but I usually reef instead.
The boat is extremely easy to single-hand.
Safety:
- Balsa/epoxy is unsinkable
- Lifelines around decks
- 6-man liferaft, repacked May 2019
- The underside of the bridgedeck is painted in orange anti-slip
- EPIRB
- VHF radio with AIS and DSC
- Escape hatches in both hulls in case of capsize
- Parachute anchor ( never used)
- Drogue Chute ( never used)
- 2x400l water ballast, self-filling and draining.
Main wear and tear items: Well maintained, she has been refitted with the big-ticket items in the past few years and has seen minimal use in the past three years because of silting up of its port's access.
- A professional exterior repaint late 2018 in reputedly the hardest-wearing 2-pack
- A new 25 Hp High-thrust Yamaha engine ( 2016) with less than 100 hrs on it.
- New standing rigging ( Tasker's) 2015
- New fully battened triradial main in cruising laminate 2015
- New boom bag, new cockpit cushions 2018
- Furling spinnaker and laminate screecher in good nick
- Storm jib- rarely used- and big spinnaker both 15 years old but serviceable
Electronics/electrics:
- Speed ,depth, bottom on fishfinder
- NASA wireless wind instrument
- Raymarine wheel autopilot- new belt 2019
- B&G multiplexer
- VHF radio with passive AIS and DSC
- Programmable Plasmatronics PL20
- 200AH LiFePO4 batteries
- 100AH starting battery ( doubles as 'spare' house battery)
- Maxwell anchor winch, remote control at helm and remote 'hoist' button on foredeck
I navigate using iNavX on a mini iPad, using navionics charts. The multiplexer's WiFi repeats wind, speed, depth and AIS to iNavX.
It has worked very well for me but requires some familiarity with the systems. I wonder if a new owner would not be better off with a more mainstream setup.
Bits, bobs and pieces: I have owned Tribute since 2007.Only one thing has gone wrong in all those years and 30.000 nM: a broken daggerboard through operator's error.
I replaced many things, especially electronics, but have altered very little over the years. The main ones are the installation of:
- 200AH Lithium batteries
- 2x150W swinging solar panels
- UHMPE main sailtrack
- Furling spinnaker
- B&G WiFi Multiplexer- navigation now through an iPad
- Fabrication of an aft trampoline- considerably adding to stowage space.
On the to-do list:
1. The coppercoat antifoul is not good enough in its current, barely-used condition. Haulout & 'normal' antifouling planned. New owner might want to decide otherwise.
2. One of the side windows leaks, probably best to reseal them all. Minimal finances but at least a weekend of work.
3. New masthead tricolour needs fitting
4. See my thoughts about instruments.
5. The 300W solar runs through a separate relay, controlled by the PL20. A bigger controller would be more user-friendly.
6. I have been discussing re-upholstering the cushions,-but haven't actually done so.
Below some interior pics: