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Tropic Cat · 17-06-2007, 15:48

Dana,

Well, obviously jibing worked for you. As for the twin headsails, a mainsail is not used at all in this configuration for the obvious reason, mainsail chafing. The boat is strictly on the twin headsails in a "butterfly configuration".

On a Cat, the ride DDW with this sail plan is very smooth.

You bring up a good point about the Dolphin 460. I can't speak for Keegan's boat (my cat has 2 backstays), but when using twin headsails, why wouldn't the mainsheet / topping lift act as a backstay? It would be locked amidships on the traveler anyway.

Rick in Florida

dana-tenacity · 17-06-2007, 16:10

If you really want to do it, why not a symmetric kite, fly it off each bow no poles and drop the main?

Keegan · 17-06-2007, 16:19

I attached a photo of a Dolphin flying a chute at the Annapollis boat show.

Keegan

Tropic Cat · 17-06-2007, 16:20

Keegan

Very nice boat

Rick in Florida

Tropic Cat · 17-06-2007, 16:21

Dana

Same problem ... if you're sailing shorthanded

Rick in Florida

dana-tenacity · 17-06-2007, 16:38

Nice looking boat, I'd say he's at about 135 true in that picture, boom hasn't cleared the leeward transom.

jaydh · 20-06-2007, 19:02

downwind sailing option.....regular old military like parachute! We recently met a couple on a mono that are avid downwind parachuters. They showed a video of both themselves and a cat going downwind with the chute dancing around out front. Damn beautiful.

First thing I wondered was how do they keep it from dipping into the sea, but they rigged up a simple bridle to control it. One line comes off the mast head, another off their bow roller and the two go to another line maybe half the diameter of the chute. I'm wringing the memory cells here, but then I think it half of the chutes lines went to the masthead line connection point and the other half to the roller line connection point.

They said it was useful in a pretty broad range of winds. Maybe up to 30 knots downwind?? Maybe 5 knots would keep it up and them going??

Peter, the husband, thought a cat could use two easily enough having two bows.

I recall the figure of 400eruos, or was that usd, for the chute??

If anyone is interested I'll dig through my crap and see if I can find their email. They were video camera crazy and I wouldn't be surprised if they had stuff online. Names were Peter and Nicole and the boat is Petima.

Another friend just bought a parachute and hopefully she'll let us know how it works for her.

Peter mentioned it's easy as hell to launch and retrieve.

Also, for what it's worth, I had a fair sized screecher on each cat with a free-luff furler mounted on the bowsprit. The sails performed well overall, but I'll skip them next time. Single-handling it can be a huge pain to furl the sail back in. If the wind catches you off-guard somehow and pipes up a bit it's a handful. Too many times I had to roll it back out/in/out a little to get the sail to roll nicely. When your not using it it flops around if it's choppy and then you have to throw it on the deck. If you had it furled and hoisted up it'd kill your airflow sailing tight.

The material of these sails was a taffeta backed mylar (I believe that's what you call it).

Bottomline, wish I would of kept the spinny I traded away. Next round going with a spinny and trying a sock.

Regarding dead downwind sailing, quite often we opted for dead/near dead downwind if the wind and waves/swell were at a certain point. Sailing at more of an angle to the ass-winds would cause us to go surfing down a wave and that in turn would power up the sails a bit....then the autopilot would try to catch up and before you knew it the whole thing was getting annoying. Dead downwind, when it's blowing over 20 knots, still kept us moving good and we still surfed, but much much less crazy back and forth stuff. Twin headsails out worked great (either the genny and screecher or the genny and an old genny raised like a spinny).

regards - J

Keegan · 20-06-2007, 19:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by jaydh

downwind sailing option.....regular old military like parachute! We recently met a couple on a mono that are avid downwind parachuters. They showed a video of both themselves and a cat going downwind with the chute dancing around out front. Damn beautiful.

regards - J

That sounds cool. would love to see some photos on that set up though.

Keegan

jaydh · 26-06-2007, 19:17

Just got 'em from Petima. If anyone is truly serious and interested in flying a parachute drop me a note. I'll ask our friends if we can give out their email or send yours to them....they seemd to like talking about it. PM only for private emails please.

- J

cat man do · 26-06-2007, 21:03

Like some said, get a sock.

I've done many thousand's of single handed miles, not as many as some using JUST the kite with a squeezer sock, run from a fixed prodder in the gut's, ocassionaly pulling one cnr to a bow on a seperate block.

Left the expensive main in it's on boom bag, left a tarp up under the boom for shade, autopilot on, sheet in one hand, beer in other and sailing we went.

Even cracked 19 knot's coming into Cairn's like this.

This was a very good condition second hand 1.5 0z symetrical off of a 40 ft tri and a new squeezer sock.

Cost under $2000 AUD and saved the expesive main lot's of wear.

Dave

Evan · 26-06-2007, 22:38

I have a 1.5 oz used symmetric tri radial for just this type of sailing. It will be in a sock. Guys tacked to each bow, sheets to stern. To gybe, just ease the guy on one bow and haul in on the other, with the sheets also becoming lazy. No need for a pole.

But if you don't have the mainsail up to blanket the spin, then dousing with a sock can be more interesting. Be prepared to (a) spike the snap shackle at the tack and take in the now flogging sail or (b) do a big ease to get it to flog and douse it with the sock.

cat man do · 26-06-2007, 22:42

(b) do a big ease to get it to flog and douse it with the sock.

Exactly how I did it, never an issue with strong cloth.

Dave

dana-tenacity · 26-06-2007, 23:49

The sock also makes gybing easy, just pull it down to about 60%.

schoonerdog · 27-06-2007, 05:55

Not to hijack the thread, but if one were looking for the best option for downwind sailing and had to choose between a symmetrical, assymetrical, or gennaker which would you choose for your catamaran?