Gunboat 66 – the ultimate fast cruiser?

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by boatman61

In that case we must be Cat people.. two feet work better than one..

Yes, and two hands, two eyes, two ears, two testicles.... and some people even seem to have two dicks.

[beiland]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

A nice marketing concept, but not necessarily true. Look at the loss of the Gunboat 55. The professional crew were delivering the boat with the owner aboard, and they could NOT back off in a frontal passage, leading to the dismasting/abandonment of the boat.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe there was a 'pressing engagement' they were trying to meet down in the islands, and that influenced them pushing the limits??

I might also believe they were trying to get well out beyond the Gulf Stream before the major portion of the frontal passage arrived. I tried to do this one time when leaving the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay on my way to USVI. Got hit by a VERY nasty storm and ran downwind with it for several days.

By the way the G66 and the G55 (involved with that mishap) are two different boats. I consider the G55 to be what I have termed on several forum discussions to be a picnic/weekender style design.

[four winds]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Yes, and two hands, two eyes, two ears, two testicles.... and some people even seem to have two dicks.

yet no one has two mouths.

My grandmother used to say, "There's a reason you have two ears and one mouth."

I try to keep that in mind. Listen more, speak less.

[Mogga]

I have sailed most things that float and some that don't over 60 years.
Anyone that has sailed a fast cat in a breeze will be impressed.
When they reach the limit they tend to nose dive and capsize in a seaway the unstable
point appears at a lower speed. A conventional sailboat with a keel will automatically
depower by heeling and eventually knocking flat and recovering (hopefully).
Where as a Cat will either capsize or lose its rig when it is finally overloaded.
This is an over generalisation, but if you want to sail a fast cat offshore, and many have
very successfully ,but you must be diligent or lucky preferably both.
In my opinion to sail one successfully is probably beyond the average skill set
when the going gets to survival conditions.
I know what I would sooner be caught out in a conventional sailboat than a cat.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by four winds

yet no one has two mouths.

My grandmother used to say, "There's a reason you have two ears and one mouth."

I try to keep that in mind. Listen more, speak less.

Your Grandmother obviously never conversed with the right people...

[tp12]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Yes, and two hands, two eyes, two ears, two testicles.... and some people even seem to have two dicks.

I just laughed so hard I think I may have wee'd myself...nearly spilled my whisky!

I see the usual suspect(s) at it again in this thread..

Sent from my SM-T520 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by tp12

I see the usual suspect(s) at it again in this thread..

Sent from my SM-T520 using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

Is I wun..?? Is I Wun..???

[tp12]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Is I wun..?? Is I Wun..???

You, my friend, are the source of much mirth

It might be my 10 years of living in the UK but I regularly have a good old belly laugh at your posts. As my Scot friends would say, you're fond of taken ze pish ya wee bawbag

It's the people who post their opinions as fact when they demonstrably have no knowledge of that which they speak and, tediously, are 'experts' and won't hear anything contrary to that which they've stated. Ignoring evidence to the contrary. Or post with the intention of winding people up ... I understand why people do that and it's just sad.

We all have our opinions but I'm happy to have mine corrected by someone who knows what they're talking about.

How was my stuffy English grammar?

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by tp12

You, my friend, are the source of much mirth

It might be my 10 years of living in the UK but I regularly have a good old belly laugh at your posts. As my Scot friends would say, you're fond of taken ze pish ya wee bawbag

It's the people who post their opinions as fact when they demonstrably have no knowledge of that which they speak and, tediously, are 'experts' and won't hear anything contrary to that which they've stated. Ignoring evidence to the contrary. Or post with the intention of winding people up ... I understand why people do that and it's just sad.

We all have our opinions but I'm happy to have mine corrected by someone who knows what they're talking about.

How was my stuffy English grammar?

I'll pass if you don't mind..
I'll leave that task to the Gestapo..

Sorry.. that's the nearest Smiley to the salute...

[andreavanduyn]

Trimarans in speed and safety beat any cat ; proven fact with NEEL 45'.

[tp12]

Originally Posted by Mogga

I have sailed most things that float and some that don't over 60 years.
Anyone that has sailed a fast cat in a breeze will be impressed.
When they reach the limit they tend to nose dive and capsize in a seaway the unstable
point appears at a lower speed. A conventional sailboat with a keel will automatically
depower by heeling and eventually knocking flat and recovering (hopefully).
Where as a Cat will either capsize or lose its rig when it is finally overloaded.
This is an over generalisation, but if you want to sail a fast cat offshore, and many have
very successfully ,but you must be diligent or lucky preferably both.
In my opinion to sail one successfully is probably beyond the average skill set
when the going gets to survival conditions.
I know what I would sooner be caught out in a conventional sailboat than a cat.

With respect Mogga there's so many variations of designs in the Cat world that your comment is rendered useless apart from this one bit:

Originally Posted by Mogga

This is an over generalisation

[tp12]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I'll pass if you don't mind..
I'll leave that task to the Gestapo..

Sorry.. that's the nearest Smiley to the salute...

Don't worry, I had my heels together when I read your post

[Factor]

[QUOTE=Mogga;2084818]

I have sailed most things that float and some that don't over 60 years.
Anyone that has sailed a fast cat in a breeze will be impressed.
When they reach the limit they tend to nose dive and capsize in a seaway

Rubbish.

This is an over generalisation,

Sure is

I know what I would sooner be caught out in a conventional sailboat than a cat.

What is a conventional sailboat - seriously - how do you define it?

[cruisersfarm]

Originally Posted by Mogga

I have sailed most things that float and some that don't over 60 years.
Anyone that has sailed a fast cat in a breeze will be impressed.
When they reach the limit they tend to nose dive and capsize in a seaway the unstable
point appears at a lower speed. A conventional sailboat with a keel will automatically
depower by heeling and eventually knocking flat and recovering (hopefully).
Where as a Cat will either capsize or lose its rig when it is finally overloaded.
This is an over generalisation, but if you want to sail a fast cat offshore, and many have
very successfully ,but you must be diligent or lucky preferably both.
In my opinion to sail one successfully is probably beyond the average skill set
when the going gets to survival conditions.
I know what I would sooner be caught out in a conventional sailboat than a cat.

Knowledgeable post, but you know, after all my years I chose the opposite. A cat that can get into "survival mode" in the worst of situations is the best, imo.

With an enormous righting moment, boards and rudders pulled clear of the water, me tucked safely in a small, tight area in the hull to avoid injury being thrown, nothing is more safe.

As that conventional boat rolls around and around, mostly, a cat as I've described slides all over the place with nothing preventing motion in any odd direction. Nothing to trip over.

The perfect wave can certainly flip it, but in that kind of sea, you would already have destroyed the interior of most conventional boats (like a tumble dryer for clothing) and probably have taken on a lot of water from all the rolls.

Consider this. I have a 25' beam. The same wave that flips my cat would be able to flip a 25' conventional boat stern over bow under bare poles. How often does that happen?

With nothing to trip over (no keels, no rudders, no boards down) and enormous righting moment a 25' beam gives, this boat I have now is the ultimate survival plaform in this class.

Also, due to the construction materials chosen, you could cut a 5' x 5' hole in the side of my hull and throw that piece you cut off into the water. .... and that scrap would float well. All that reserve buoyancy too.

I wanted a boat that would serve as the ultimate survival platform. IMO, this is it - and remains the ultimate survival platform without input from the crew. That's another important factor for me. Button up and go below and wait. Not a matter of steering properly, setting sails properly, being the perfect seaman. Any idiot or incapacitated person can survive because the boat survives all on its own.

[boatman61]

Funny enough Mogga.. when one of my boats (a mono) was pressed hard running before a Westerly into La Coruna with full jib, no main.. I was going so fast that the freeboard at the bow went from 1.5 metres down to 6inches.. could not reduce, broken furler.. or turn due to the sea's.. so just ran on before and crossed everything crossable the wind did not increase.. else she'd have pitch poled.. It didn't.. She didn't.. I did...