Any first-hand information on the Iroquois MK IIa?

I'm looking at a 32'6" 1976 Iroquois MKIIa catamaran. It's 13'6" wide (which seems a little narrow to me for it's length) and has a pretty good layout and accomodations. I'm looking at something to do some living aboard and cruise the Caribbean in.

I've found the IOA and have been reading all the newsletters but I haven't been able to find any owners to talk to.

Last year I ran into a guy who owned such a boat. He bought it in the Los Angeles area of sunny California and then sailed it down into Mexico's Sea of Cortez. As I remember, he used it for exploring and living aboard and may have some insights for you.

You may be able to catch up with him through his tour buisness web site: http://www.tourbaja.com

His name is Douglas Knapp

If you catch up with him, tell him hello from Tom and tell him I love the Stiletto 27 he was gratious enough to part with and that I still hope to get the boat back down to the Baja on future sailing adventures of my own.

Regards

The boat is a Rod MacAlpine Downey design (Also designed the Shark) and was the best of the best in its time. They are pretty quick, but not a lot of space except for weekending.
I don't think they are as fast as any modern racer/cruiser, however.
Then in 1980 or thereabouts the MacGregor 36 set new standards of big cat speed and were about as fast as a Hobie 18.
Rick

I owned an Iroquis Mk II in the early 1970's, this was the 30 foot version with transom hung rudders. I bought a shell from the builder Reg White of Sailcraft in Brightlingsea, England and fitted it out, never finished though - got married instead (mistake). I sailed other Iroquis around this time however, best speed was 18 knots, nice boat. E-mail me if you wany any specific info terry@tndavis.co.uk

mmmmmmmmmmmmm! i have just spent the last 3 months researching which catamaran i should buy for the few bucks i have spare at the moment, i came across an ad on the internet after many hours of searching of an iroquios for about $35ooo, so i went on to find a list of every iroquios made and a description of the history since being built quite an interesting read, it seems that lots of these craft were built and most still are still in use,but what put me off was the word capsized !it seems that either the british sail at the limit or maybe they are a little unstable, anyway i aim to sail single handed so i need something a little more forgiving, if i remember where i found the site ill pass it on, if you have the time start with iroquios catamaran on google. good luck Ray.

heres an old one!!

still researching !came across iroquios owners association in the google web search, bit dated but there seems to be more stuff in adjacent sites good luck Ray.

I used to own an Iroquois Mk II (not IIA, I believe). It was sail number 177. It was a great boat - I sailed it very extensively, including an Atlantic crossing in 1980 East to West. I finally sold it in the Virgin Islands. It performed well under nearly all conditions including an Atlantic storm off Portugal, and its 20hp Mercury was a reliable and cheap motor. The boat was built in 1976, so was still pretty new when I had it - obviously they will have aged!
Still, I'd buy it again in an instant if it was in Australia, where I now live.