The Results are In...

[ssullivan]

I wanted to make a little post to say that the new boat is working well.

We got to test out the cat issues in smaller (5ft?) seas and 30 knot winds during our trip down the Keys and back up to Maimi. The boat did 6 knots or so (loaded with cruising gear now... much slower than the sea trial!!)

We had absolutlely no bridge deck slamming. In fact, it seems even though the deck is carried well forward on this boat, it has a lot of bouyancy in the bow, due to a sharp V and some hard chines. As the bow goes into the water, it is met with tremendous resistance, which splashes up some spray, but hasn't (so far) sunk the bows enough to make the bridge deck contact.

All in all, the boat has preformed very well.

[2Hulls]

Good for ya - another happy boat owner.

Dave

[slomotion]

Hmmm,

I think you can still make Regatta in Georgetown, Great Exuma, Bahamas. If you like, I can e-mail your wife and explain what she's missing and how it's all your fault:

BoatUS Cruising Logs

BoatUS Cruising Logs

BoatUS Cruising Logs

[imagine2frolic]

Isn't it just fantastic when you do something, and it turns out to be good!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ssullivan]

I guess it was kind of a lame post, but it's a sort of follow up to you guys and a thanks for helping me sort through the "should I get a cat?" type of issues.

Cats are far better than I had even hoped!!

[Rick]

Sean,
Have you determined if you can go to weather in a sea with light winds without making terrible leeway without having to turn on the engines?

Have you determined if you can tack within even 110 or 120 degrees to seaward with a stiff breeze?

Can you stand the fast action from ama-to-ama at anchor or underway with a cross chop?

[imagine2frolic]

I have heard that more than once. I have converted people over the years that snubbed their noses at cats. A couple of them are some real salts too. Got some years on them, and seen most everything, but had never been on a good sailing cat.

I asked them to go day sailing on Biscayne Bay there in Miami. I think they went out of curiosity. They came back to the anchorage with the WOW factor on their lips. It's always fun when you get more than you asked for.......

[Rick]

I also enjoyed sailing on a good cat....in relatively protected waters. But out at sea anything other than downwind or a broad reach was not good.

[imagine2frolic]

Is this already turning into a cat vs. mono thread?

[sneuman]

Good on 'ya, Sully!

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by Rick

Sean,
Have you determined if you can go to weather in a sea with light winds without making terrible leeway without having to turn on the engines?

Have you determined if you can tack within even 110 or 120 degrees to seaward with a stiff breeze?

Can you stand the fast action from ama-to-ama at anchor or underway with a cross chop?

Hi Rick,

I definitely don't want to do the "mono vs cat" thing, but I'll answer the questions:

I sure *can't* go to weather under light winds with rough seas. But then again... neither could my last boat or any of my boats. This is a cruising boat. Only racers make good progress in those conditions. It's not a light-wind boat. It's a heavy (for a cat) slog of a thing. It putts along and does not have a great deal of performance (of course, I'm comparing a 34' cat to a 45' mono when I say that - both boats perform in a similar fashion, but of course there are some differences)

I have had no trouble at all tacking this boat. None... zip. Tacks just like any other cruising mono (a la Vagabond, etc...). Remember, I am on a cruising cat that has a lot of hull below the water and isn't very fast. It's quite similar to slower, full keel sailboats. It behaves a lot like one, to my surprise. However, I was lucky. Both passages (down the Keys and then back up to Miami) were downwind and great. One thing I have learned over the years is "why fight it?" I leave when the weather is in my favor.

The fast action sure is strange. It's annoying too. When you have a powerboat wake at anchor, you are hit with the motion much harder at first, but then it stops once the wake passes. My monos worked like a pendulum it seems sometimes. The wake would get them started and even after it passed, they would rock and rock and rock...

I don't like the way the cat is more quickly affected by the beam seas or the beam wakes or swells, but I do like that once the issue is over, it's over. Also, when they do rock, the action is fast, but not extreme.

I have all kinds of junk on shelves and right out on a salon table without any fiddles. The boat never rocks to a point where any of this stuff falls off, even with the biggest of wakes (which are usually worse than seas!).

So while the quick action does take some getting used to, the fact that it's not so extreme and the fact that it ends very quickly do make up for it.

But... sure there are limitations to cats as compared to monos. However, if you sail one around and live on one for a while, the pros tend to be so numerous that you forget all about the monos (of under 60' size).

[44'cruisingcat]

Congratulations Sean, good to see you're enjoying your new boat.

[Rick]

I'm glad to hear that you are realistic and not antagonistic about such advantages/disadvantages and enjoying the boat. Wow, no fiddles?

I'll be that you have room to grow tomatoes, right? Maybe even a washer/dryer with watermaker aboard. Just take on diesel and make everything else. Waterworld, here we are!

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by Rick

I'm glad to hear that you are realistic and not antagonistic about such advantages/disadvantages and enjoying the boat. Wow, no fiddles?

I'll be that you have room to grow tomatoes, right? Maybe even a washer/dryer with watermaker aboard. Just take on diesel and make everything else. Waterworld, here we are!

You know me, Rick. Call it like I see it.... gets me in trouble sometimes, other times makes for moderate answers to some hard questions. ha ha

There is a lot of room. Silly amounts for a tiny 34' boat. Only problem is weight. You can't do any of those super luxurious things without seriously compromising the "top end" of the speed curve. As it is, I'm already eyeing ways to reduce weight. I had sailed like lightning (exact speeds of the old Hirsh 45 on most points of sail) during the sea trial. Now that all my junk is in here... well... it's slogging through the water a bit.

I think my favorite feature might just be the fact that there is no mold! ha ha

[Islandmike]

Sean,

Im happy it is all working out, hope to see you out there sometimes...Fair Winds.