Newbe

[Breezman]

i everyone I hope it is o.k to post here as well since it is a cat Q

Been here for a wile but just got on also just started sailing school here in MDR, CA

I always knew I would love it but never knew how much, I just went on my first sail and fell in love with it(I am glad i followed my gut feeling about sailing).

Hopefully will reach my goal before too long(40-45 ft cat).

I was however Sl discouraged by my sailing instructor that said that(your opinions please) cats are just no good for our part of the world due to global winds they cant sail the same direction( i think he talked about up wind direction) or as effective as mono`s and therefore really limited .

I told him that i read somewhere that having dagger-boards helps with that

He said that dagger-boards have nothing to do with ability of direction only with depth issues.

Can someone shed some light for me please.?


Also it will be nice to have a southern ca chapter for cats owners and lovers.

[2Hulls]

Originally Posted by boaz67@bomamed.com

I was however Sl discouraged by my sailing instructor that said that(your opinions please) cats are just no good for our part of the world due to global winds they cant sail the same direction( i think he talked about up wind direction) or as effective as mono`s and therefore really limited .

Well, if this "instructor" really said this, he has his head up his ass. Tell him I said so.

That said, I have no idea where you are. Somewhere in California, I assume, based on the CA abbreviation.

I suggest you not be in a hurry and learn to sail on as many different vessels as you can - especially monohulls. I for one believe that multis are not the best to learn on. You need to get on a small mono and capsize a bunch of times to learn the fundamentals, in my humble opinion. In the end, this will make you a better cat sailor.

Dave

[Breezman]

Hi Dave ,Thanks for the reply.

I am in MDR and i am learning at the moment on a 22 mono and work my way up to 40 before i switch to a cat.

I have a wife and two little girls and will not take them out before i am 100%

confident in my ability to handle the task at hand for their safty and my peace of mind.

[jdoe71]

Originally Posted by boaz67@bomamed.com

Hi Dave ,Thanks for the reply.

I am in MDR and i am learning at the moment on a 22 mono and work my way up to 40 before i switch to a cat.

I think the problem is people from outside your area don't know what MDR is. I'm guessing Marina Del Rey? I heard that name once in relation to CA so I'm takin' a shot here.

[Breezman]

Originally Posted by jdoe71

I think the problem is people from outside your area don't know what MDR is. I'm guessing Marina Del Rey? I heard that name once in relation to CA so I'm takin' a shot here.

I am very SORRY, yes Marina del rey ca. it is just a wind south of Los angeles.

[44'cruisingcat]

Tell your instructor to get a video of the Americas cup 1988. Then ask him if he still thinks cats don't sail to windward.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by boaz67@bomamed.com

I am very SORRY, yes Marina del rey ca. it is just a wind south of Los angeles.

Find another sailing instructor.
You don't know what else he does not know, nor what he will teach you that is just plain wrong.

[Breezman]

Thank you for the input but can you also tell me what you do know so i can learn something?

[slomotion]

Nevertheless (and I have no idea why), it is definitely true that cruising catamarans are not very popular on the west coast. You will find many more of them on the east/Gulf coast and in the Caribbean.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by boaz67@bomamed.com

Thank you for the input but can you also tell me what you do know so i can learn something?

I know catamarans "in general" do not go to windward as well as monohulls.

Also "in general" a cat with some sort of "board" will go to windward better than a cat without some sort of "board".

I know a couple of other things too but that is about it.

There are hundreds of thousands of other words here to read. Many of them from people with first hand experience.

[2Hulls]

Originally Posted by boaz67@bomamed.com

I have a wife and two little girls and will not take them out before i am 100% confident in my ability to handle the task at hand for their safty and my peace of mind.

I suggest you teach your precious little girls to swim as soon as you are comfortable doing so. Having them be comfortable in and around the water will be vital to their boating enjoyment and thus further your and your wife's peace of mind. Do not underestimate the importance of this. If you have to delay your progression in learning to sail it's worth it. Do not be in a hurry about this. Plan on years to get to the 40+ foot cat range. This is just my humble opinion.

Dave

[delmarrey]

boaz67......... shall now be known as Breezman and duely sworn

[Mark424]

Originally Posted by Breezman

Hi Dave ,Thanks for the reply.

I am in MDR and i am learning at the moment on a 22 mono and work my way up to 40 before i switch to a cat.

I have a wife and two little girls and will not take them out before i am 100%

confident in my ability to handle the task at hand for their safty and my peace of mind.

Welcome, I live in Marina del Rey (California), you are on the right track, just learn what you can, then move on to a better instructor. Beginning classes are often taught by whoever they can get and often aren't the brightest folks around. But by learning in a smaller boat, you will develop a "feel" for the boat and the wind. This is crucial as people who learn on big 30+ foot cruising boats really struggle with it. The more time in a small boat, the better.

Too often people are in too much in a hurry to get a big heavy cruising boat that they can take all their friends on that they skip past the "sailing" part and go right to the "cruising" part.

Also look into classes at UCLA here in the marina, I'm not sure the model, but I think they have 16-18' coronados, I think they also have Hobie cat classes.

The good thing about these small boat group classes is that you make friends with the other people in your classes and inevitably, a little "race" breaks out. There is nothing that will teach you faster than your buddy go screaming by in the same wind you have.

In the 80's when I first started to get serious, I drove to Newport Beach every weekend and took every class that Orange Coast College had. They have a great boat called the Shields, 3 crew, 30' very long narrow open cockpit, keel boat with spinnaker. Looks like a Soling or Etchells.

Another good part about these classes with small boats, is that you get used to coming to the dock without a motor. It will force you to really pay attention to the wind, current, momentum, etc or you will end up in a bad place with no sails up. It can be nerve racking at first, but builds confidence fast.

To your original question, as the others have said, your instructor doesn't really understand. Even if the particular cat you end up with doesn't sail upwind as well as a mono, most of the time you are not going hard upwind of Marina del Rey! Catalina is a reach from here. A nice day sail to Santa Monica, Malibu , or Paradise Cove is often a reach the other direction, but it's a daysail, so what do you care if you have to tack out and back. If you want to go all the way to the channel islands or Santa Barbara island, you may have to tack, but as long as the breeze is nice, the boat is flat so your wife and kids are comfortable, it's about the journey anyway.

I started the same way, took classes. started chartering doing daysails, then worked my way to Catalina for a weekend a few times, then bigger boats, other islands, started racing, then chartering in the Carribean, Australia, San Juans. It's all good. There is a lot to know about anchoring, navigation, and on and on. But I learned the most about "sailing" back in those small boats.

[Breezman]

Thank mark , that was helpfull but i still dont understand the all dagger board closed hull thing, any idea`s ?

I am learning the small ones first for the reason`s you said.

The classes are held at "Marina sailing club" which will also be the place for me to charter the boats to practice.

Also ,yes i can`t see myself going any north than Santa barbara or san-diego in the south as well as channel islands and catalina, in my wildest dreams in years a head i might try alaska inner passage.

[Breezman]

Originally Posted by 2Hulls

I suggest you teach your precious little girls to swim as soon as you are comfortable doing so. Having them be comfortable in and around the water will be vital to their boating enjoyment and thus further your and your wife's peace of mind. Do not underestimate the importance of this. If you have to delay your progression in learning to sail it's worth it. Do not be in a hurry about this. Plan on years to get to the 40+ foot cat range. This is just my humble opinion.

Dave

Great advice, swimming is NO 1 before going on a boat in MHO