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MikeMak · 09-11-2007, 08:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Why is that? I know some cities are kind of famous for being weird, like LA, and others like San Francisco are well known for, er, other things, but surely there is some common sense somewhere on the west coast?

Answer is simple.....IMO....very, very difficult to find a place to keep a multihull.

There are very few side ties available in S. Cal., and I would imagine most other places up the coast. Better chance (but not much) of finding one from SF and northward, but weather and sea conditions may be a considerable factor.

I would have one now if I had a place to keep it.

**David M** · 09-11-2007, 10:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Why is that? I know some cities are kind of famous for being weird, like LA, and others like San Francisco are well known for, er, other things, but surely there is some common sense somewhere on the west coast?

It's damn cold here in the summer on the SF Bay. The racing scene here is big. The general trend here is towards class racing like J-105's, J-24's, Moore 24's, Express 27's etc etc. Catamarans here are perceived here as slow, cumbersome and hard to find a slip for. Also, there is relatively nobody for a catamaran to race against....except for a handful of Corsair's and other relatively small multihull day sailor type racing cats.

If the Bay were warmer and California north of Point Conception had lots of tropical beaches and protected harbors then it would be a different scene for catamarans. Those on the East Coast are much luckier that you have the Gulfstream to keep things warm. What do we have here in the summer?...cold upwelling that comes directly from Alaska that causes a hellacious fog when the moisture laden pacific north westerlies hit the cold water. And then there is a central valley that heats up generating tremendous winds on the Bay by sucking in the cold air.

BTW, I love watching the tourists from the East who walk out of their hotels in August in shorts and a T-shirt thinking that they are going to be warm all day.

I plan on having my cat here on the SF Bay, whenever I purchase it, for a year or so but eventually I will be turning left at the light bucket and heading south for who knows how long....because it is warmer. My catamaran will not be here for very long because of those reasons.

I can't make any excuses for Southern California since it is warmer there and I don't live there....they are a different state anyway...lol

I hope that summarizes why there are relatively few cats on the northern west coast.

ireaney · 09-11-2007, 13:53

This must be pure ignorance, maybe based onthe fact that I live about 8-9000 miles away, but I always thought California was the place to live in the States, ie warm all year round , great beaches, good surfing etc etc, how wrong by the sounds of it.

Tropic Cat · 09-11-2007, 19:35

Nah.... Ireaney you just described Florida. In the last 20 years many of the world surfing champs have come from east central Florida. I took me years to figure out why they do so well internationally.

**David M** · 09-11-2007, 20:23

Quote:

Originally Posted by ireaney

This must be pure ignorance, maybe based onthe fact that I live about 8-9000 miles away, but I always thought California was the place to live in the States, ie warm all year round , great beaches, good surfing etc etc, how wrong by the sounds of it.

Most peoples image of California is that of Southern California. California is a big state and the weather is frequently very different in opposite ends of the state. California is very close to the same distance as the distance from the top of Maine to Raleigh, North Carolina.

Tnflakbait · 09-11-2007, 21:23

I have my cat in Southern California. There is great sailing here. Usually light winds though. The sailing season really never ends. Catalina island has lots of coves and nice turquoise water. The Channel islands are also pretty good cruising but a good deal colder. The multihull scene here consists primarily of Beach cats and folding tris I.E. F-boats. There are also many classic multihulls, like pivers, cross tris, etc. There are only a handfull of new big cats here and they are mainly slow charter style boats like Lagoons. There are also a handful of Seawinds as well. Randy Reynolds builds the Reynolds 33, and Multimarine has the L-7 trimarans. These are two recent Socal boats.
Slips are hard to come by, but if you want a multihull you just get one. Thats what I did. Then you find the slip.

ireaney · 11-11-2007, 12:20

Hi rickm505 and David M, thanks for your information which has cleared up my query, I know where and which side of the States that California and Florida are on, but as you say the films, when they show and mention California always show it as hot - never been to the States myself.
Also I did not know that you got good surf in Florida, that's a new one to me - thanks.