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Old 03-07-2011, 15:55   #16
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Re: Single Handed Cats

I agree that a 32-foot cat is much easier to handle than a 46-foot cat, and is more suited to single-handing. I have owned a 32-foot cat and I will say that it was perfectly doable singlehanding, but a mono is easier. The bigger the boat the more there is to handle, the farther away things are, and the more windage you have to deal with. You have to be more careful to reef to the wind conditions--no hanging on to sail while you take a nap. My 32-foot cat created a much greater strain on the anchor line, due to windage, than my 38-foot monohull. That is typical of cats. That same windage can make life more difficult when you are trying to dock in high winds or trying to pull up the anchor. We have friends who have a 40-foot cat and they are afraid to anchor it where we do on our 38-foot monohull in New England because we have some very crowded harbors. Once you slow up a cat, whether or not it has twin engines, the wind starts to take over and you blow around more. I agree the shallow draft is great, but still a 46-foot cat takes up the space of a tennis court, so it is sometimes difficult to find a good anchoring spot in close.

In any case, there are always tradeoffs. My bottom line is that smaller boats are easier to handle. If you want a cat for coastal sailing a 32 footer is plenty of space for a singlehander.
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Old 03-07-2011, 16:12   #17
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Re: Single Handed Cats

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In any case, there are always tradeoffs. My bottom line is that smaller boats are easier to handle. If you want a cat for coastal sailing a 32 footer is plenty of space for a singlehander.
Really. 2-footitis has made both houses and boats get rather ridiculous. We have a modest house with several more bedrooms and bathrooms than I grew up with--my folks think it's huge, and it is by 50's standards--and now they are building 20 7,000 square foot cubes across the street from me. I don't use a number of the rooms in our current house... I honestly have no idea how I would feel living in a small office building. Silly, I think. It would feel inefficient and wasteful. But they dutifully put their recyclables out in the morning, oblivious to the irony.

The boat I miss the most is the first one I owned, a beach cat. It was about sailing and the water, not systems and maintenance and cleaning-up after trips. If I cruised with my family with great frequency or lived aboard, I would go up to a 36-foot, but just for me the 32 is more than I need.
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Old 03-07-2011, 16:20   #18
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Re: Single Handed Cats

Nola...a couple of posts here with the theme of "how it's set up". You can single hand ANY boat if it is set up properly. If not setup you will want crew, even on a small boat. A cat, in many respects is even easier. Wide flat decks, simple rigs, stable platform, most have a transom step for easy access to the pier (just tie off the stern short then put the outside motor into forward and you are there.) Sail 221 has good advice and pretty much describes what I do.

Maneuvering a cat is much easier than a mono hull. It only looks like it would be more trouble but the twin engines, separated by 20 feet, allow you to put the boat right where you want without worrying about prop walk or how to swing just the bow around. Go sailing.
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Old 03-07-2011, 16:27   #19
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Re: Single Handed Cats

My wife and I lived aboard our 32-foot cat (A French one nobody has ever heard of) for 12 years straight, everywhere between Maine and the Caribbean, and it was plenty of room for the two of us, and it was a lot smaller inside than a PDQ or a Gemini. I loved that boat--nothing like shallow draft and simple systems. But, if it were just me alone I'd be looking at around a 30-32 foot mono that sailed really well. My wife and I lived aboard a 30-foot mono for several years, again sailing all up and down the East Coast, and it was a blast, and really plenty of boat for the two of us. On the mono I could sit in the cockpit with my leg over the tiller while I ate lunch, or she would sail herself for long periods if I just lashed off the tiller. I could lash off the tiller and take in a reef by myself, or a simple and cheap tiller pilot could steer her forever. Took less than a gallon of bottom paint, dockage was cheap and plentiful, and draft was only about 4.5 feet.
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Old 03-07-2011, 16:39   #20
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Re: Single Handed Cats

The OP wanted to know if a Leopard 46 could be single handed, somehow that turned into - you need to buy a mono.

For the record, I single hand my 35 ft cat regularly and dock it it single handed. The key safety feature for me is that I reverse in can walk off at deck level and drop one line on and then use the motors to hold it. Its easy and safe.
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Old 03-07-2011, 17:32   #21
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Re: Single Handed Cats

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For the record, I single hand my 35 ft cat regularly and dock it it single handed.
Wait a minute, the original question was if a Leopard 46 could be singlehanded and the answer turned into, "I can singlehand my boat."
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Old 04-07-2011, 06:33   #22
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Re: Single Handed Cats

You can single-hand, and dock a 46ft cat. Like everything else it just takes practice. Drop a line from midship to the dock cleat, and then forward, or reverse will bring you in tight to drop a second line. With a bowline, or prespliced line I make a lasso, and simply drop it over the cleat on the dock.

In high wind I have used my windlass to bring me into the dock. It's about preperation, and thinking ahead. I pull up in the fairway, and stop the boat. This way I can see how the boat will react, and then I make a decision on what to do. The boat can be crabbed saideways into a dock also. Pulling into a slip I back her in. This way I don't need to know where the bows are. I can see everything while backing in. Plus it's easier to board the boat. Practice, practice practice, and take a friend with you as mentioned before. You can do this!. Don't be afraid to anchor out, and sit out a condition if it is difficult..........i2f
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Old 04-07-2011, 07:34   #23
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Re: Single Handed Cats

Just a couple thoughts. The first one that popped into my head was, why so big if you're singlehanding? You'll rattle around on a 46'er. Just handling and stowing the main will be a challenge for you.

The second thought is this. Have you been on this route between N. Orleans and Key West? I think that of all the places in the world I've been (commercially, btw) the Gulf of Mexico would be the hardest one to singlehand in. Fishing and commercial traffic are pretty heavy and all the oil platforms and crew boats servicing them would be a far bigger concern. Those suckers extend out for hundreds of miles. Not the place I'd encourage singlehanding.

Often many things can be done, technically speaking. Not always should they be done.
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Old 05-07-2011, 09:01   #24
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Re: Single Handed Cats

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Nola...a couple of posts here with the theme of "how it's set up". You can single hand ANY boat if it is set up properly. If not setup you will want crew, even on a small boat.
There is some real interesting discussions over on this subject thread:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...dea-10373.html

I have ONE MAIN CONCERN with any vessel to be single-handed....can I leave the helm unattended for some good amount of time. Is the boat inherently balanced enough that a lashed-over helm, a windvane, or an auto-pilot can steer the boat while I attend to other matters. Can I readjust the sails, or put a reef in while the boat sails itself. The tall, full-battened mainsail is the one I'm most concerned with on a multihull vessel. Can I reef it by myself, perhaps in somewhat of a hurry, and without upsetting the trim of the vessel or causing a severe course change. I've chosen to make my mainsail a roller furling sail, centered between a headsail and a mizzen.

One can not stay at the helm full time for extended periods without some sort of sleep, even a series of cat-naps while the boat steers itself.....again, can I leave the helm unattended.

All the rest of the things involving maneuvering, anchoring, maintanence, etc are secondary to this one requirement for single-handing.
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Old 06-07-2011, 10:39   #25
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Re: Single Handed Cats

No, not with a multi.

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I have ONE MAIN CONCERN with any vessel to be single-handed....can I leave the helm unattended for some good amount of time.

One can not stay at the helm full time for extended periods without some sort of sleep, even a series of cat-naps while the boat steers itself.....again, can I leave the helm unattended.

All the rest of the things involving maneuvering, anchoring, maintanence, etc are secondary to this one requirement for single-handing.
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Old 06-07-2011, 12:55   #26
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Re: Single Handed Cats

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No, not with a multi.
A bold and broad statement and, like most such pronouncements, mostly untrue. I think the implication is that multi's will flip like pancakes as soon as we turn our backs on them, but if I were singlehanding on a passage with sensible sail up in settled weather then I would certainly feel as comfortable taking a quick nap on my cat as I would on my mono. In the vicinity of squalls or in the lee of headlands? Nope. Not with either boat.

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Old 06-07-2011, 13:41   #27
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Re: Single Handed Cats

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No, not with a multi.
I suppose if i was told i could not do it , i may not have tried, seems ive been doing it for years with no troble-on a multi-
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Old 06-07-2011, 14:29   #28
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Re: Single Handed Cats

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....The second thought is this. Have you been on this route between N. Orleans and Key West? I think that of all the places in the world I've been (commercially, btw) the Gulf of Mexico would be the hardest one to singlehand in. Fishing and commercial traffic are pretty heavy and all the oil platforms and crew boats servicing them would be a far bigger concern. Those suckers extend out for hundreds of miles. Not the place I'd encourage singlehanding.

Often many things can be done, technically speaking. Not always should they be done.
I was wondering when this would come up. On ocean passages no one should single hand. There is no way to be awake 24 hours, day in and day out. If a ship doesn't get ya.... a whale just might.

Sure folks do it, and those folks probably like playing craps in Vegas too. Neither are advisable. Cats are kind of expensive to be playing bumper boats.... with what could be much larger 'players'.

As for around the docks. With twin engines you dock unassisted going into the wind. I selected a slip where I reverse and back in with 6 inches on either side of the boat, but I back into the prevailing wind. In a cross wind, you'd have to be wide awake but you develop a technique and it's doable, abet with a few scrapes and bruises.
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Old 06-07-2011, 18:21   #29
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Re: Single Handed Cats

I would not hesitate to single hand a 46 ft Leopard between New Orleans and the Keys. I would however, plan to stop in suitable anchorages as needed to sleep along the way. In my opinion, yes you can do it. I single hand our 40 foot cat all the time. Quite often there are other people onboard but they are not actively involved in getting us where we're going. Starting this winter we'll likely be in a 46 ft Lagoon, which I anticipate will be even easier.

Practice and planning should both be applied liberally.

Cheers,
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Old 06-07-2011, 19:50   #30
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Re: Single Handed Cats

Check out this blog of a 75 year old who sails solo on a 33ft cat

SV Dejavu Home Page

I think I read somewhere that Lloyd is 75 years old. This is extracted from his blog: "I've been sailing solo for six (6) years around the East coast of AustraliaIndonesiaSingaporeMalaysiaThailand … Borneo … Brunei. And have just finished sailing from Langkawi, Malaysia, to the Mediterranean … via Sri Lanka … IndiaMaldives … Oman … Yemen … Eritrea … Sudan … EgyptTurkey and at this time, (October, 2010) I’m in Greece."
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