Hobie Getaway vs Topcat K1 Touring

Anyone tried the Topcat K1 Touring?

Both have wings, and engine mounts as accessories. Which is a must for me, and it's rare since most new catamarans are built purely for racing.
Both are skid boats with no dagger boards, which is a big plus for shallow water sailing.

Difference is that Hobie is plastic hulled, the Topcat is Fiberglass but with a sacrificial plastic hull "shoes" under.
Hobie has comptip mast, Topcat is all aluminum mast.

Both weight the same but the Topcat is little larger at 18ft, but the Getaway has a front tramp.

Topcat has a furling spinnaker, Getaway had a spinnaker sock.

I have never sailed a Topcat, but at a glance the Topcat K1 and the Getaway appear to be very different boats. The Getaway is a family day sailing dream. You will be hard pressed to find a better boat in this category. It rigs almost as fast as a laser, but holds the whole family and is decent fun on the water. The Topcat is going to be harder/slower to rig but faster on the water.

Personally if I wanted the best cruising/touring beach cat, but was willing to take a bit more time to set up the boat I would go with a hobie 21SC (discontinued). If I wanted a fast rigging family boat, I would go with the Getaway. If I wanted a fast boat that I could also take the family out on I would take the Topcat or a Hobie 18.

I personally don't like comp tips. It is unpleasant when the top of your boat falls off.

I do like the front tramp. I only use it in lighter air, or on warmer days, or when raising and lowering the gennaker while underway. The front tramp is a great place to lay facedown observing the wildlife or shipwrecks under the boat.

Wings are a must. They add a lot of space to the boat and give you a place to attach a grill for cooking on the water.

I don't see boats without dagger boards as a big advantage. The 21SC has kickup centerboards that work great. In shallow water you can set them halfway down, or fully retracted. All boats have rudders that can't be fully deployed in the shallows, so all boats lose performance in the shallows. I would avoid high aspect ratio (long skinny) dagger boards for cruising. The low aspect boards on the hobie 18 only draw 2.5 ft, while F18's draft over 4 ft. Also high aspect boards break easier.

I suspect most new catamarans don't have engine mounts because engines are heavy, smelly and loud. For most users they are not needed. Some people live on narrow canals with strong currents, or fear being stranded far offshore with no wind. Outside of these scenarios I find paddling suffices when sailing fails.

Sail area on the Topcat significantly bigger as well as mast height. Hopefully it has a more substantial rudder system too, couldn't be worst than the Getaway. No masthead float though but that is in some ways an advantage; better performance, less stress on mast and the boat will turn turtle rather than disappear off downwind, faster than you can swim, if you were to get separated from your boat during a capsize. More expensive than the Getaway.

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Ashus
Mirror, Bosun, Laser, Fireball, Hobie 16, Dart 18, IOR 1 Tonner, 1720, Ozgoose, Hobie Getaway