Outremer 51 - so I took a test sail

[ffelker]

I have sailed an Outremer 49 (once) and Catana 47's many times (5 weeks total in charter). The O49 is of course almost identical to the O51.

I loved the Catana 47s. Fast and comfortable in 3+m seas, and winds between 20 and 30 knots. We briefly touched 11 knots a few times on broad reaches in 22-25 kt true wind - even with 3m seas.

But the O49 felt very, very different. The seas were much smaller, but within a few short minutes after hoisting sails in a 16.5 kt breeze we were sailing 10.5 kts -- also on a broad reach. It was a real "Wow!" moment for me. The boat felt like it was loafing at that speed, and that there was much more available if the wind would only pick up into the 20s.

Just my impressions - your mileage may vary!

[Naughty Cat]

Surely sea state makes a massive difference to performance with these lighter catamarans? You can see it on engine - same revs in a flat sea to a steep one and the delta is considerable. In my experience they seem to perform better powered down when the sea builds. perhaps because, as someone speculated earlier, they then spend more time "on" the sea than pitching "into" it.

[ffelker]

Sea state absolutely matters! And we did sail the C47 in more modest seas.

But I stand by the summary that the Outremer was very different. The Outremers are lighter and have significantly longer waterlines. I estimate that with 2 tonnes of load, the C47 has a D/L of 130, while a similarly loaded O51 has a D/L of 93. Physics don't lie, and you can feel the difference immediately on board.

[jdazey]

Originally Posted by ffelker

I have sailed an Outremer 49 (once) and Catana 47's many times (5 weeks total in charter). The O49 is of course almost identical to the O51.

I loved the Catana 47s. Fast and comfortable in 3+m seas, and winds between 20 and 30 knots. We briefly touched 11 knots a few times on broad reaches in 22-25 kt true wind - even with 3m seas.

Briefly touched 11kts a few times in 22-25kts wind? OK, maybe that's performance. I talked to a guy with a Leopard who said 8kts was "white knuckle time". Another guy, this time in Dominica, bragged about sailing a Lagoon at 7kts. I guess it's all about expectations.

Originally Posted by ffelker

But the O49 felt very, very different. The seas were much smaller, but within a few short minutes after hoisting sails in a 16.5 kt breeze we were sailing 10.5 kts -- also on a broad reach. It was a real "Wow!" moment for me. The boat felt like it was loafing at that speed, and that there was much more available if the wind would only pick up into the 20s.

Just my impressions - your mileage may vary!

This is more like it, but you're making me feel quite happy with the performance of my liveaboard, ocean cruiser with keels. We did sail on an O55 Light in SF Bay. We hit 14.5kts in the "slot" with Sue at the helm. This is the fastest the owner had gone on that boat. With Presto, we're expecting, and getting, more You can take a look at my post in the "what I like about my boat" thread.



This isn't to knock Leopard, Lagoons, or Outremers. I'm sure they're capable of better performance than posted here.


Cheers,

[rom]

Originally Posted by jdazey

This isn't to knock Leopard, Lagoons, or Outremers. I'm sure they're capable of better performance than posted here.
Cheers,

Funny to see Outremer in this list. Did you really mean that ?


In case you did not see it yet, a 5X @ 20 kts SOG/bpsd in 27TWS:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u2igKvjW8xM

It seems commonly admitted by Outremer guys & users (from real life discussions I had) that o51 is the fastest of the range.

[jdazey]

Yes, Rom, I really meant to include the Outremer on which we sailed and the Outie whose performance was reported earlier. That is not to imply that the Outremers don't sail much faster than the others, only that they should perform better than reported here in an earlier post.


Cheers,