Fast Cruising Catamarans - How Fast ?

[Evan]

15.4 knots, Woods 40' Meander with really foul bottom

Main + genoa, beam reach, 25 knots of wind, flat seas.

We routinely hit 10 knots if the wind is over 15 knots but the 15.4 was really pushing the boat a bit. Easily driven boat but could use more upwind sail in light winds.

[drewke07]

26.6 knots on our Aikane 56 in 20k to 25k true carrying an asymetrical spinnaker running off of the wind to Hawaii. The interesting thing is that under full main and working jib while making mid teens she was much harder to handle. once we set the kite she set into a comfortable groove in the high teens to low twenties with some higher bursts running down swells.

[catty]

Just been looking at the 2008 chic / mac results. The Gunboat 62 finished in about the same time as the front running Beneteau 36.7. So in that particular situation the premier modern performance cruising multi wasn't that fast. Why ?

[fastcat435]

Originally Posted by catty

Just been looking at the 2008 chic / mac results. The Gunboat 62 finished in about the same time as the front running Beneteau 36.7. So in that particular situation the premier modern performance cruising multi wasn't that fast. Why ?

The Gunboat probably was just being nice and did not want all the others to get a inferiority complex.LOL LOL LOL

Or the skipper did not know how to sail

Greetings

Gideon

[henryv]

The great lakes often see little wind in the summer months and cats usually lose their advantage when winds drop below 10 knots. The race web site reported the conditions as being " light shifting breezes" - you won't see cats run away in those conditions.

The skill of the skipper can also be a big factor - note the fastest Beneteau 36.7 beat the slowest 36.7 by 10 hours.

[freetime]

Gunboat:

The skipper can´t see the mainsail from the steeringposition!

[BigCat]

Speed under sail formulas for catamarans take into consideration: waterline length, sail area, and displacement. To this I would add waterline length divided by hull beam (gives you the 'k' factor,) and overall beam. If you know these things for catamarans you are comparing, you can pretty well predict which will be fastest. "Roomarans" are not fast because all of that luxury in lovely furniture and 'walk around' berths weigh a lot and require relatively beamy hulls-and these are traits that slow them down. If your first impression of a cat is, 'My, how roomy and luxurious,' it isn't going to be a fast boat, and if your second thought is, "and what a great price," then the materials aren't going to be the lightest, either, so again more weight. Also, if there are structures under the hull that are low enough to drag sometimes, (berth shelves,) you might as well be towing an anchor.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by catty

Just been looking at the 2008 chic / mac results. The Gunboat 62 finished in about the same time as the front running Beneteau 36.7. So in that particular situation the premier modern performance cruising multi wasn't that fast. Why ?

There is no reference to the relative speed of monohulls in the original post. It simply asks how fast people have sailed in catamarans. Yet you are trying to turn yet another thread into a mono vs multi argument. Why?

[ireaney]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

There is no reference to the relative speed of monohulls in the original post. It simply asks how fast people have sailed in catamarans. Yet you are trying to turn yet another thread into a mono vs multi argument. Why?

Just ignore him, I do!

[Big Macca]

All this is a tad academic, guys. Owners of quick multis seem to wait with fingers poised over the keyboard hoping someone will ask the inevitable “how fast” question so they can make the rest of us feel inferior. Guys like me who sail what one of you lot unkindly calls “roomarans” aren’t game to say a word. Shame really – there’s a lot more of us than there are of you.
So, to encourage fellow comfortable if comparatively slow multihullers: I’ve seen 16.5 knots on my 45 foot Leopard cat, coming down a Pacific swell with a bit too much genoa and 35-odd knots of wind at about 130 degrees. Safe enough, but at moments like that I wish I had more rudder. Otherwise we’ve maintained 14 knots on a reach with wind in the mid-30s and a reef in.
Alex Simonis says he designed the 45 to be easily driven up to around 11 knots, after which resistance would start running up exponentially and clip its top speed to 16/18 knots. The payoff is a “massive increase in weight-carrying ability”. And he’s right – after about 16 knots the wake interaction under the bridgedeck gets a bit messy.
Our recent Queensland coast voyage found us lumbering along behind the asymmetric in the high 9s/low 10s, and that’s good enough for me. I’m not that interested in speed, and everyone I know who has a quick boat like a big Grainger or Schionning has told me speed is only fun when things are smooth or it’s a boys’ day out.
And Richard Woods, there's no reason at all to suspect that all production boats must have crap gear and sails. The stuff
on the Leopard is top of the line.

Big Macca

[bayview]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

There is no reference to the relative speed of monohulls in the original post. It simply asks how fast people have sailed in catamarans. Yet you are trying to turn yet another thread into a mono vs multi argument. Why?

Mr 44c, you seem a little prickly, How fast ? I guess hes saying its as fast as a beneteau 36.7.

To add to this the Darwin ambon race is currently being run with the 20 meter mono Helsal II finishing first in approximately 8o hours (7.5 knot average) with the schionning 15 meter Cruise Missile catamaran second in approximately 96 hours (6.25 knot average).

[Factor]

Something to note in the Darwin Ambon Race is the number of crew - 18 on helsal II 5 on cruise missile. This is one reason why race results are of minimal interest to cruisers, What matter to most of us is what a couple/family cruising on their boat can achieve not what can be achieved of a 66foot race boat with a dedicated team of sailors.

I also note that Cruise missile is entered in the rally as well, I dont know for sure what impact that might have, ie are they carrying extra gear, using less sails?

[bayview]

Originally Posted by Factor

Something to note in the Darwin Ambon Race is the number of crew - 18 on helsal II 5 on cruise missile. This is one reason why race results are of minimal interest to cruisers, What matter to most of us is what a couple/family cruising on their boat can achieve not what can be achieved of a 66foot race boat with a dedicated team of sailors.

I also note that Cruise missile is entered in the rally as well, I dont know for sure what impact that might have, ie are they carrying extra gear, using less sails?

Mr factor, I am new to sailing and want to learn as much as I can . Does this mean that if Cruise Missile had only a couple for crew it would be much slower? How much slower do you think? half the racing speed or maybe 75 %? Do you think maybe 5 knots would be a good guess.?

I understand from a mutual friend that mr Huxley from cruise missile puts all his non essential gear on one of the mono hull competitors for the race up.

I would be interested to know what sort of speeds I could expect from such a cruising boat.

[Joli]

I was curious who would note the results.

Not sure what happened there, the race was mostly a downhill slide sailing angles to the polar. The track looked ok for Lickety Split, may be they just didn't work the boat or maybe the boat is sticky in the lighter stuff?

The race is 333 miles the first boats to finish were the big mono's in 35 hours, the trimaran Earth Voyager a Formula 60 did the race in 37 hours and the Gunboat finished in 53 hours. About the same elapsed time as the Farr 395's or J120's. Go figure.

Originally Posted by catty

Just been looking at the 2008 chic / mac results. The Gunboat 62 finished in about the same time as the front running Beneteau 36.7. So in that particular situation the premier modern performance cruising multi wasn't that fast. Why ?

[Eleven]

So - Come on you Cat guys. Next get together, even on a pleasant sailing day, log the heading and winds and water speeds.
Let us know what your boat does in the conditions at that time.
Cruisers only? A suitable aid to passage planning - definitely.
And a useful way of balancing performance to comfort before I buy.