Catamarans in Heavy Weather

[John Oz]

I have a Prout 46 and it does not pound anymore than the average cruising catamaran and enjoys heavy weather, has rounded Cape Horn and been round the top end of Australia. My Prout has a wave splitter and the hull is designed to ride on a cushion of air, I can not speak of other Prouts but suspect they are all safe boats to go anywhere.

[tp12]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Yes, definitions would be good in order to have a productive conversation (as opposed to where this appears to be headed).

In addition to weather, the question was about cruising cats not performance cats like Chris White.

So OP...whats your definition of "heavy weather"?

Chris White designs cruising boats. They might be at the performance end of the spectrum but that does not mean they're not cruising boats. He wrote a book - The Cruising Multihull

Originally Posted by buzzstar

Hey posters, seems like a legit question, why so few responses, particularly from the catamaran people?

Lrfiori- the lack of numerous responses could be that we recently have had a big go around on this site between cat' people and mono people, and there is the possibility that there is a reluctance to possibly start again. I hope not, because there are active participants who are quite knowledgeable about catamarans and should have some useful comments. Good luck.

Between a certain member here trolling, a lot of other bias and opinion against Cats in general and certainly their heavy weather performance, I'd wager that the people with the knowledge and experience are getting tired of spending a lot of time countering wrong and misleading statements. Often being generated from the same people

[BambooSailor]

And sometimes boat survives OK but crew breaks (I do not pass any judgment, I may do the same thing with my wife onboard):

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

Interesting aerial footage of cat in heavy weather.

Crew abandoned their cat on the way to Fiji, cat was later found just 80 miles from their original destination.

[Seaslug Caravan]

Pheeew, thank goodness we appear to have all settled down a little

Here is a stack of stories from owners of Wharram catamarans ( another very safe design, certainly safer than some of the more contemporary offerings ) that have survived storm events at sea. I'm sure the OP and a few others may find some gems within.

SEE...... https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...scRzLrYNcQ/pub

[ozsailer]

Hello Lrfiori,
thanks for posting, its a very interesting question. I guess the first question I have is what do you consider "Heavy Weather" . From my experience talking to different boat owners there is a marked difference in what people consider "heavey weather" and "Extreme weather". Some less experienced boaters may consider winds over 25 knots and a combined sea and swell of 4 metres heavy weather while other may just see this as brisk conditions. Short sharp confused seas in high winds can be quite challenging and energy sapping.
We own 2004 Lagoon 12 metre catamaran with twin 40 HP deisel motors. On a recent trip down the East Coast of Australia departing Surfers Paradise we left with a forecast of possible showers and winds to 20 knots. We experienced winds to 35 knots gusting 40 that night with severe unforecast thunder storms and mass lightening. The seas turned very confused with cross swells to 3 metres. Due to the conditions which I would terms as testing we dropped sail and motored due to the conditions and lightening. I wanted the motors running in case of lightening strike which was quite a possibility.
We have a high freeboard and high bridge deck and enough engine power which enabled us to have a perfectly safe and reasonably comfortable journey despite the conditions. I have no doubt some other boater may consider this heavy weather
Later on the the same trip we encountered 35 knot headwinds with short sharp seas on the nose. This sea state was far more uncomfortable and challenging to the point we made a decision to enter the closet port. There was no danger to us or the boat but I felt it prudent due to the conditions to pull into port. The weather pattern at this time was incredibly unstable and was changing daily so trying to work out a safe weather window to sail was quite challenging in itself. In the same trip we experienced large coastal swells to 6 metres but they were quite a distance apart. A smaller craft with less power may have had a harder time negotiating the weather and sea.
During the whole trip we never felt in danger or that the boat was not capable of undertaking the trip. Lots of good information has been given already about having the boat properly set up for the conditions such as reefing etc as well as very good books to read regarding this topic.
We have a heavy weather sailing strategy that we have made up for the cat but basiclaly its the same as a mono. We are prepared to deploy a drogue or similar to slow us down or allow us to rest.
Be it a mono or catamaran it is my opinion that is not only the boat that needs to be considered suitable for the job but the crew as well. What I highly recomend is that if you do have a plan for such events and practice putting them into place on calmer waters and then having all your gear ready to go prior to the event occurring. Nothing worse then trying something out in the worst possible conditions. IE having a bridle already made up to take a drogue and how to deploy it.
In regards to extreme weather conditions such as severe tropical lows, cyclones or typhoons, with todays access to weather gribs and forecasts one would hope that one takes notice early on and move well out of the way of such events.
There are far more experiences catamaran owner then me out there and I hope they chime in with more information.


Greg H
SV Sunshine

[arsenelupiga]

Originally Posted by Seaslug Caravan

Pheeew, thank goodness we appear to have all settled down a little

Here is a stack of stories from owners of Wharram catamarans ( another very safe design, certainly safer than some of the more contemporary offerings ) that have survived storm events at sea. I'm sure the OP and a few others may find some gems within.

SEE...... https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...scRzLrYNcQ/pub

excellent stuff - bookmarked!

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Seaslug Caravan

Pheeew, thank goodness we appear to have all settled down a little

Here is a stack of stories from owners of Wharram catamarans ( another very safe design, certainly safer than some of the more contemporary offerings ) that have survived storm events at sea. I'm sure the OP and a few others may find some gems within.

SEE...... https://docs.google.com/document/d/1...scRzLrYNcQ/pub

Gee, you think any of those Wharrams have outboard motors?

Again, since your boat seems to be so disappointing to you, and since the idea of this forum is the sharing of information, what boat do you have?

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by buzzstar

Hey posters, seems like a legit question, why so few responses, particularly from the catamaran people?

Lrfiori- the lack of numerous responses could be that we recently have had a big go around on this site between cat' people and mono people, and there is the possibility that there is a reluctance to possibly start again. I hope not, because there are active participants who are quite knowledgeable about catamarans and should have some useful comments. Good luck.

Agreed, good question, but almost immediately turned into a pissing contest...so I bowed out.

[akprb]

Gave our two cents ��

[DotDun]

Lack of comment by the OP smells a lot like TROLL......then some troll pile-on by others.

Time to shut it down...

[buzzstar]

Originally Posted by DotDun

Lack of comment by the OP smells a lot like TROLL......then some troll pile-on by others.

Time to shut it down...

??????? Huh? Anyone one remember the Buffalo Springfield and their hit that had the line, "paranoia strikes deep?"

[buzzstar]

Originally Posted by akprb

Gave our two cents ��

Full value of contribution acknowledged. Now do you feel better?

[Toys_with_time]

Originally Posted by jduve

I agree with DotDun. We have put sea with a forecast of over 30kts in an FP Lavezzi. The boat handled it easily when reefed appropriately and we made a fast passage. The second night we completely dropped the main and just had a reefed headsail.

We have had a few wild days with winds to 45 then got caught twice 2 years ago in winds gusting to 55 & 60. On the nose it was hard work with both engines and trying to stop the nose being blown off (no sails) but on the 2nd occasion when we could bear away we had a comfortable sail with a pocket handkerchief of jib up and sailing with the wind just forward and aft of the beam - agree that beam on not good. Being the Med the waves on all occasions have been at relatively short intervals and less than 4m so more uncomfortable than threatening. On none of these occasions did I feel that being on a cat constituted an additional risk and having a crew who were dry and comfortable (yet close at hand if required) in the shelter provided by a cat was a definite plus.
TwT

[Seaslug Caravan]

Here is a survivors account, from the Queequeg. It clearly shows the importance of prior preparation before a storm event. Preparations that include dry survival cells within the hulls , and fuel tank and battery storage that precludes leakage into the boat in case a capsize occurs. Installation of a couple of escape hatches is simply not enough. As multihull owners we all need to take the possibility of capsize during a storm event seriously. Speaking of storms, a cyclone is brewing in the top end of oz currently.

See... Shipwreck survivor recounts drama on high seas - CNN.com

[django37]

http://www.yachtingworld.com/skip-no...wins-out-70549