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44'cruisingcat · 09-04-2007, 03:33

I guess the lesson here is: if you ever find yourself amongst a bunch of surfers, it's time to get the lifejacket on.

Raven · 09-04-2007, 03:51

Quote:

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

I guess the lesson here is: if you ever find yourself amongst a bunch of surfers, it's time to get the lifejacket on.

Unless, of course, you're playing in it like these sailors:

Hobie Tiger Sailing in the Surf

My "other boat" is a Nacra 6.0na, a 20' beach cat very similar to the one shown in the video. It's heart-racing, adrenaline-pumping, on-the-edge sailing. Great fun.

TaoJones · 09-04-2007, 09:01

. . . it really brought back fond memories for me. I once owned and enjoyed a Nacra 5.5 SL for a few years. I don't think I've ever been wetter than sailing that - even the capsize at the end of the video recalled some interesting adventures.

For me, the hardest part was finding good crew, but two people in sync on a small beach cat is great fun! Windsurfing comes close, but it's not exactly a team sport.

Haven't tried kite-surfing, but at my age - well, let's just say it's unlikely. Still . . .

TaoJones

Raven · 09-04-2007, 13:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by taojones

. . . it really brought back fond memories for me. . .
For me, the hardest part was finding good crew, but two people in sync on a small beach cat is great fun! Windsurfing comes close, but it's not exactly a team sport.

TaoJones

You're right about that. The hardest part is finding the right crew. Sailing the boat requires the utmost synchronicity between skipper and crew. When double trapped out on a screaming reach you are attached at the hip. The best way to sail the boat (and the way that Olympic Tornado crews function) is to hand over the mainsheet to the crew after the tack. The skipper drives. The crew trims the sails. You both work to keep your weight in the necessary fore or aft position. (Most often, my rearmost foot is tucked into a loop about a foot from the end of the hull with my crew tucked up against my side.) It's a dance. With 20 knots of wind the boatspeed will be 20 knots as well. When the dance partners work well together, the windward hull flys just above the surface. (Not too high or you spill the wind.) Even though the leward hull is still in the water, it feels as if you've taken off, truly "flying" a hull. The sensation at that speed is one of both terror and euphoria. I love it.

TaoJones · 09-04-2007, 13:28

. . . It gave me chills of recollection. Man, I loved that boat!

Of course, as a confirmed multihuller now, I realize full-well that the crazy stunts we'd sometimes try . . . try . . . try to pull off on such high aspect ratio, narrow beam craft, and fail . . . fail . . . fail to do, are the reason so many people have the notion that catamarans are prone to capsize.

Oh, well . . .

TaoJones

northerncat · 09-04-2007, 19:22

so if the guy had of been sailing a cat hed of been fine 8-), still its pretty awesome stuff
sean

swagman · 09-04-2007, 22:07

Quote:

Originally Posted by maxingout

I found this series of pictures on the web today that show a classic step by step broaching and rollover in a breaking sea. It's relatively rare to find a series of photos that give a stop action view of the seas rolling a yacht.

Check out this series of photos: http://photos.sfsurvey.com/sail1/imagepages/image1.asp

You will not be disappointed. These photos should forever convince you that breaking seas are your enemy. I am wondering if he had been dragging a Jordan Series Drogue if the outcome would have been different?

Cheers,

I seriously doubt it.

Most would accept this guy going in thro' such shallow waters was asking for trouble - and he certainly got it.

Salutory reminder that the first way to avoid trouble at sea is not to go looking for it!!

Cheers
JOHN

Benny · 10-04-2007, 06:08

Great video Kevin - if I were 20 years younger and 50 pounds lighter - I'd give it a try.

**Alan Wheeler** · 10-04-2007, 12:22

Quote:

so if the guy had of been sailing a cat hed of been fine 8-),

A cat may or maynot roll, but I would say it would be 50/50 in that surf size. And if it did roll, it would have remained upside down. The yacht came back up. But what ever a Cat does in surf like that, one thing would be certain, it would be badly damaged as well and most likely fill of water also.

Raven · 10-04-2007, 12:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benny

Great video Kevin - if I were 20 years younger and 50 pounds lighter - I'd give it a try.

I've been in complete denial about the aging process. I've been refusing to accept the fact that there will come a day when I'll not be able to handle the physical requirements of that boat.

Beach cats evolved out of the counter-culture revolution in the 60's and 70's - the "we don't need your stinkin' yacht club" youth who towed their Hobies onto the beaches with beat-up microbuses. Today, while there are the hotshot youth that can make the boats fly, a very large percentage of the beach cat sailors are aging holdovers from those earlier years, having evolved from the Hobie 14's and 16's to today's 20' rocketships. (My Nacra carries 600 sq ft of sail, including the asymetric spi, yet she weighs only 425 lbs fully rigged.) Someday, I'm gonna get hurt!

Here's another video of some Olympic class Tornados. If you look carefully at the beginning of the clip, you'll see a waterskiier being towed behind one of the boats.

Tornados

Then, of course, if you take it to the ultimate scale, there's this:

Trimaran Wakeboard

44'cruisingcat · 10-04-2007, 15:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Wheeler

A cat may or maynot roll, but I would say it would be 50/50 in that surf size. And if it did roll, it would have remained upside down. The yacht came back up. But what ever a Cat does in surf like that, one thing would be certain, it would be badly damaged as well and most likely fill of water also.

The yacht came back up for a short while. It was clearly sinking.

Benny · 10-04-2007, 15:47

Kewl vids Kevin - your cat has 600 sq ft and weighs 425 lbs - must be a rocket

So you're part of a bunch of holdovers from the hippie/surfer bum generation who don't know their age and frailties - more power to ya!

, Randy

Raven · 10-04-2007, 16:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by Benny

Kewl vids Kevin - your cat has 600 sq ft and weighs 425 lbs - must be a rocket

So you're part of a bunch of holdovers from the hippie/surfer bum generation who don't know their age and frailties - more power to ya!

, Randy

Yep, but there's a lot of gray in the ponytail these days, and I can't read the words on this screen without my glasses

slomotion · 11-04-2007, 13:15

Speaking from a thankful lack of experience:

The boat in the video comes back up, but the companion way is open. If the Captain closes this, does the boat stay afloat?

TaoJones · 11-04-2007, 17:06

Quote:

Originally Posted by swagman

Most would accept this guy going in thro' such shallow waters was asking for trouble - and he certainly got it.

JOHN

I don't think water depth is the determining factor, swagman. Sometimes you can sail through there, sometimes you can't. (Please see roverhi's post #4 above, and the attached Maptech frame below.)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alan Wheeler

The yacht came back up.

Quote:

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

The yacht came back up for a short while. It was clearly sinking.

You are correct, cruisingcat, it was clearly sinking, and did sink within a few minutes of broaching and rolling.

TaoJones