“STORM TACTICS” Catamarans

[Seabeau]

Originally Posted by arsenelupiga

looks like bunch of jelaous monohullers again lurking cross the fence.

find something better to do than spying on other people

For example, check your keel bolts

did you know more people dies from lost keels than shark attacks.

And if you don't have any keel bolts? Or keel for that matter?

[sv Grateful]

On an eastbound Trans Atlantic delivery on a Lagoon 400 last spring we employed the exact same jog to weather under low power from the weather engine in mid 40kt winds and very confused seas and it worked quite well for us too.

As the wind veered easterly and increased to mid 50 Kts (which it did for four out of the next five days) we secured the main and ran with about 15% of the jib sheeted to both sides. The following seas were large, but a big low pressure system to the north made an even larger cross set.

Once or twice a day we experienced breaking waves that essentially engulfed the boat. All but one of those was from the side or quarter, the exception being a sever poop that resulted in water entering the saloon from under the main sliding door. (Thank goodness for the safety lines rigged under the RIB, or we'd have lost it).

As violent as the breaking seas were, I felt that our biggest risk was excessive speed down wave fronts. The boat was traveling at 10 to 14 kts most of the time, but would occasionally surf to alarming speeds - once up to 19.5 kts SOG & speed in the water. A Lagoon 400 is a heavy boat and that much energy is sobering. I had been reluctant to tow a warp for fear that we'd slow too much and experience another poop. After the 19.5 surf, I did rig the 400' 14mm warp, but by the time I was ready to put it in the water, conditions began to moderate, so I secured the warp. The good news is we had three 200+ mile days in a row!

My conclusion is that with enough sea room, running before the wind with a scrap of jib sheeted flat is the safest for boat and crew. The autopilot kept up the whole time and for the most part I kept the crew hunkered below (where we could still steer the AP and monitor wind and traffic). Damage to the boat was limited to shredded dinghy chaps, two broken dinghy falls, and some minor damage to the canvas cockpit enclosure and stack pack. We saw boats arriving in Horta with much worse.

[Budawang]

Originally Posted by sv Grateful

On an eastbound Trans Atlantic delivery on a Lagoon 400 last spring we employed the exact same jog to weather under low power from the weather engine in mid 40kt winds and very confused seas and it worked quite well for us too.

As the wind veered easterly and increased to mid 50 Kts (which it did for four out of the next five days) we secured the main and ran with about 15% of the jib sheeted to both sides. The following seas were large, but a big low pressure system to the north made an even larger cross set.

Once or twice a day we experienced breaking waves that essentially engulfed the boat. All but one of those was from the side or quarter, the exception being a sever poop that resulted in water entering the saloon from under the main sliding door. (Thank goodness for the safety lines rigged under the RIB, or we'd have lost it).

As violent as the breaking seas were, I felt that our biggest risk was excessive speed down wave fronts. The boat was traveling at 10 to 14 kts most of the time, but would occasionally surf to alarming speeds - once up to 19.5 kts SOG & speed in the water. A Lagoon 400 is a heavy boat and that much energy is sobering. I had been reluctant to tow a warp for fear that we'd slow too much and experience another poop. After the 19.5 surf, I did rig the 400' 14mm warp, but by the time I was ready to put it in the water, conditions began to moderate, so I secured the warp. The good news is we had three 200+ mile days in a row!

My conclusion is that with enough sea room, running before the wind with a scrap of jib sheeted flat is the safest for boat and crew. The autopilot kept up the whole time and for the most part I kept the crew hunkered below (where we could still steer the AP and monitor wind and traffic). Damage to the boat was limited to shredded dinghy chaps, two broken dinghy falls, and some minor damage to the canvas cockpit enclosure and stack pack. We saw boats arriving in Horta with much worse.

Thanks for the excellent account. Our conditions were tame by comparison but it's good to know we could have continued with our strategy in more severe conditions. My overall feeling is that modern cruising catamarans cope very well with heavy weather. If the crew don't make any major mistakes then capsize is very unlikely.