Catamaran surfs into rocks

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Seaslug Caravan

Could one assume then that an engineless or even single engined catamaran
is a dangerous beast then?

Single engine .. no.. been there done that..
Engineless.. if no wind not dangerous but the skipper would qualify for Darwin of the Year..
Hope your enjoying the popcorn

[Franziska]

I wonder if the propellers would have had enough "grip" in the foamed up surf.

Very interesting to see the video, one needs to be vigilant even in seemingly relaxed conditions.

Sorry about the boat.Do we know the name and type?

www.ladyrover.jimdo.com

[donradcliffe]

Originally Posted by Palarran

I didn't see that posting. Do you have a reference to the tread it was in? It would seem that any person who has sailed, or even studied catamarans, or monos, would know that it is possible to broach one.

Not all cat sailors agree with you. The thread is Following Seas and Cockpit Height

Post #5 Cats typically perform much better than monohulls in following seas, not only due to increased buoyancy aft, but also due to their resistance to broaching.

Post #29 Apart from Open 60's and the like (which can and do surf), most cats are able to surf in large following seas with minimal risk of broaching.

BTW, that thread has now evolved to "Monos get pooped by following seas, cats normally not."

The real world is "Blue Water Cruisers" as approved in CF get pooped, as well as cats using CF approved Jordan Drogues.

[tp12]

Don, to be fair, none of your quotes say that Cats don't broach. They say they're resistant to and have minimal risk of broaching - compared to a mono. Which is true.

They don't say they will never broach.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

The real world is "Blue Water Cruisers" as approved in CF get pooped, as well as cats using CF approved Jordan Drogues.

So that's the standard? "CF approved"? LMAO!

The rest of your post seems very defensive. Why so defensive?

And you must have watched a different video, I didn't see any boat broaching in this one.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

So that's the standard? "CF approved"? LMAO!

The rest of your post seems very defensive. Why so defensive?

And you must have watched a different video, I didn't see any boat broaching in this one.

True.. just a basic mistake.. never ride a wave so close to the break point..

[jmschmidt]

The Mechanic has it right. As soon as the wave starts to lift the stern turn down the wave away from the curl. If that doesn't immediately fix things its because you have already lost steerage way. If so in a beamy cat you might go full reverse on the starboard engine and maybe partial or full forward power on the port engine to bring the bow around.

[StuM]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

There was some rumor that one of the engines was not working on the cat, which would have made maneuvering more difficult. The pictures showed that the boat was in little pieces by the next morning.

There was a recent posting on CF extolling the virtues of cats which claimed they don't broach...

And that video doesn't show a cat broaching, so what is your point this time?

[Dogfish]

This guy got it right in much bigger surf.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ETir8OEdDrc

I remember this from my beach cat sailing days: Ride it straight!

[Nikki S]

Originally Posted by senormechanico

Less than one second into the video I was hollering, "TURN TO STARBOARD !!"

Originally Posted by 44'cruisingcat

Bummer. Must have been caught at such an angle the rudders couldn't turn the boat down the wave.


Friends of ours experienced something similar, and were heading for a rock wall. Out of desperation he turned the wheel the other way, steered INTO the wave (which would go against every instinct.).


Amazingly, the boat turned up and over the wave, and apart from some broken crockery, was fine. When he was telling me, I wondered if I would have that presence of mind in that situation. I don't know.

So should they have turned to Port or Starboard? To me "into the wave" means "into the white water", which was to port. And the boat was being carried to port, and I assumed they were trying to steer to starboard in vain. Please enlighten me.

[Polux]

Originally Posted by tp12

Digging your paddle into the water and throwing your weight over will bring you around if you dig it in hard enough and hold it there. Which takes a bit of strength and confidence but it's possible. I grew up on Australia's Gold Coast messing around on rescue boards, kayaks, anything I could get my hands on, to let you know I'm speaking from experience.
...

Yes I had big waves on "my beach" that is where the world tour championship leg in Portugal happens. It was long before that but the waves were the same.

After almost breaking my head I was quite good at it, being sometimes all afternoon on the water without never capsizing the Kayak and as you say the way to do it was digging the paddle dip on the water an pivoting out of the wave at the right time. On the big ones going out of the wave the kayak was airborne for some time But the force that is needed to do that cannot be applied to a sailboat on a wave.

I lived for 20 years on that beach, 50m from the water. Here, long before surfing the tradition was to make surf with the body on big waves. Surfing spoiled my game since it become dangerous to do that on the middle of surfing boards.

[Nikki S]

Originally Posted by Dogfish

This guy got it right in much bigger surf.
I remember this from my beach cat sailing days: Ride it straight!

Yep I agree with the skipper: good boat.
My friends did exactly the same in smaller conditions and nose dived and broke their mast off when it hit on the bottom... (no, they didnt have any water tanks or heavy stuff in the bow)

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Polux

Yes I had big waves on "my beach" that is where the world tour championship leg in Portugal happens. It was long before that but the waves were the same.

After almost breaking my head I was quite good at it, being sometimes all afternoon on the water without never capsizing the Kayak and as you say the way to do it was digging the paddle dip on the water an pivoting out of the wave at the right time. On the big ones going out of the wave the kayak was airborne for some time But the force that is needed to do that cannot be applied to a sailboat on a wave.

I lived for 20 years on that beach, 50m from the water. Here, long before surfing the tradition was to make surf with the body on big waves. Surfing spoiled my game since it become dangerous to do that on the middle of surfing boards.

Sounds like Peniche... friend of mine was a semi-pro Jogodor for Peniche then blew a knee and switched to surfing.. he's got a cottage on the beach.. he's currently laid up with a broken ankle.. I keep telling him to stick to his Wauquiez..

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Nikki S

So should they have turned to Port or Starboard? To me "into the wave" means "into the white water", which was to port. And the boat was being carried to port, and I assumed they were trying to steer to starboard in vain. Please enlighten me.

In the video they were obviously trying to turn to starboard. They were caught in such a position that the effect of the rudders was being negated by push of the wave on the port quarter.

Our friends were in a similar situation, heading for a rock wall. Instead of continuing trying to turn away from the wave, which wasn't working, (ie turning to starboard in the video) he turned INTO it. (in the video that would be to port.)

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by sergiofil

I doubt that the rudder could be effective being probably out of water with midship on the top of the surf. I wonder if keeping the daggerboard down would have been helpful in staying the course

I don't think so. Surfboards don't have daggerboard or keels.