Felix37' Custom 37ft Catboat Barnegat Bay A-Cat Yacht Adaptation 2012

MAY 2025 Update : NEW BATTERIES AND BOTTOM PAINT, Price Drop to $65K to facilitate quick sale. Marine survey value $300,000. Call for a showing. 

Largest Catboat on East Coast Seeks Forever Home on Jersey Shore

Offered at introductory price to facilitate relocation north

ORIENTAL, N.C.—Felix the Magic Catboat, the largest catboat on the East Coast with ties to Barnegat Bay, is looking for his forever home on the Jersey Shore . 

Felix is a 37-foot, cruising yacht adaptation of the Barnegat Bay A-Cat, an esteemed class of 1920s, 28-foot racing catboats still active a century later. The A-cat revolutionized the standard catboat from a traditional gaff rigged sailing vessel used to transport goods and ferry passengers, to an elite racing yacht.

Managing boat builder Art Halpern, lifelong marine industry veteran, along with his wife Terry Halpern, former U.S. Virgin Islands District Attorney, launched Felix in 2012 at Sail Craft Boatyard in Oriental, NC. A total construction cost of $300K. Serving as their family flagship for over a decade in the Mid-Atlantic. Felix is offered at $65,000 in hopes of relocating the vessel to the waters that inspired construction.

The active catboat community on the Jersey Shore.

While traditional catboat design has become ubiquitous since the advent of fiberglass boat mass production, the A-Cats and B-Cats (the same sleek hull design as the A-Cat but with a traditional rig) remain far more elusive.

Born of traditional wooden boat building at Beatons Boatyard in West Montoloking, NJ, the A-Cat fleet saw a small resurgence through the 90s and early 2000s. The restoration of what remained of the original fleet, as well as a few new builds, took place at Beatons to the tune of $250K per boat

Before Felix, the largest catboat built on the East Coast was Silent Maid. A 33-foot replica of a 1924 Barnegat Bay B-Cat. Commissioned by retired Wall Street executive Peter Kellogg at the Independence Seaport Museum in Philadelphia, and launched in 2009 for an unknown price tag.

Veering from traditional wooden boat building methods and replicas, Felix is a composite yacht adaptation. Utilizing the chemical and physical bonding properties of epoxy to provide light, but superior strength. A 65-foot carbon fiber mast, hydraulic powered disappearing propeller, electric centerboard, wheel steering, air conditioning, full-bath and more are only a few examples of Felix’s modernity. 

When it comes to build integrity and sailing capabilities, “Only perfect was acceptable,” Art Halpern said. He seeks to find a “courageous, adventurous, cautious individual with excellent sailing skills,” to pass Felix’s helm. 

Fresh water cooled 3-cylinder Westerbeke diesel generator-set with power takeoff powers disappearing hydraulic driven propeller/drive-shaft, 110-volt A/C system; electric centerboard lift/lower, fresh water/hot water heater, arid/dry bilge system, refrigeration and deep freezer, force10 stainless steel gimbaled electric stove and oven, Cruisair marine air conditioner, Raritan “electro-scan” biocide macerator, surround sound stereo system. Carbon fiber spar three-point double spreader rig, low friction sail track, carbon sails, Edson radial steering system, emergency tiller drive the boat. New Found Metals cats eyes port lights are one of many finishing touches.

# # #

Step aboard Felix, a catboat yacht adaptation with massive prowess. One of the largest catboat yachts on the East Coast. You will stand out. Whether at the dock, in charter, racing, or cruising. This is a luxury vessel built for sailors. Felix is offered at a significantly reduced price of $65,000 to facilitate quick sale. 

Built in 2012, FELIX the magic catboat is a 37-foot LOA, 14-foot beam, composite, performance cruising/racing yacht. 

An adaption of a 1920’s Barnegat Bay A-Cat. All the classic beauty of an elite, vintage racing yacht with the modern comforts, convenience, cutting edge materials, performance and technology of a racer cruiser today. 

Built for and enjoyed over the last decade as a family's flagship yacht, they must now pass the torch. 

The Barnegat Bay A-Cat is 28-foot, 12-foot beam, racing class catboat circa 1922. Lower slung and increased laminar flow than a traditional catboat (1840s). The A-Cat boat still has a fleet today on Barnegat Bay where fleet owner’s take pride in their vessels. Well-known for their sailing craft and the requisite skill set that comes with stewarding a classic vessel of such nature. A level of “commitment, dedication, motivation” (Barnegat Bay Yacht Racing Associate) are known qualities amongst fleet owners maintaining these vessels. 

Felix An adapted A-cat for cruising and modern racing, increased in size and stability, reduced wetted surface and weather helm. The air draft is 63-foot. To accommodate intercostal waterway bridges, and to aid in the overall balance of the long, beamy, but relatively light yacht. 

At nearly 40-foot aside from providing length, generous accommodations, side deck, foredeck and cockpit space; the unique hull shape also equates to stability, stiffness, and immense strength.This is, for all intents and purposes, weekender vessel. With no ballast. 

However the very carefully calculated design characteristics and construction of the vessel weighing in at 8,000-lbs displacement, make for an extremely stable ride with superior strength. 

The hull is three layers of bi-axial fiberglass bonded on each side (6 total) of thickened epoxy bead and cove cedar planking.The deck three layers biaxial fiberglass each side (six total) core (marine plywood). Mahogany bulkheads, toe rail, centerboard and cabin sides. Carbon fiber mast, boom, skeg and rudder. 1000-square feet of sail area fitted with Technora carbon sail cloth sails.

The results are seamless. Not to mention exquisite and fast. Easily achieve and maintain hull speed (14 knots) under sail. Remember to reef.

A highly skilled team including master yacht carpenters, welder’s, and mechanical engineer’s built Felix at Sail Craft Boatyard in Oriental, North Carolina (Eastern North Carolina). Launching in 2012. A $300,000 project budget overall. This is a Coast Guard documented vessel. 

Felix’s A-cat, catboat lines were adapted by Morgan MacDonald, a naval architect and project manager with strong ties to the northeast and the Caribbean. MacDonald is also the nephew of legendary yacht designer Don Street. Art Halpert (managing builder) as well is a lifelong marine industry veteran. Having worked as a boat builder and mechanical engineer from City Island, NY on classic Americas Cup boats, to the American Virgin Islands in the multihull division.

The boat handles the estuary Pamlico Sound to Ocracoke Island and its tributaries with ease. It would suit perfectly as a 6-pack vessel for a licensed captain on any similar waterways. A day charter business in any port from the mid Atlantic north or south. The vessel can be easily navigated on the intercostal waterway to a new harbor, and has performed well in the Pamlico Sound from ideal to adverse conditions. It would be safe to say the boat would perform similarly with a competent captain anywhere from the Chesapeake Bay, to Long Island Sound, Cape Cod, Buzzard’s Bay, the Gulf of Maine Penobscot Bay, and beyond. 

Felix was designed for racing and cruising on the rivers bays and sounds of the east coast. While not built for the ocean, the Felix does have similar a stability rating as some ocean going multi hulls. 



In order to sail the boat to the Bahamas, or on coastal offshore waters, according to the builder it would take a “courageous, adventurous, cautious individual with excellent sailing skills.” 

Is that you?