Cutter rig on Catamaran

[Bluebeard]

I starting on a journey from day dreaming to buying a cat and going blue water. The day dream is the South Pacific but there is lots to do before we get here.
I'm not is a position where I can commission a new boat so I very much have to live with what I can find second hand.

One of my questions / concerns is that very few cats have a cutter rig. Boats typically 45/50ft have a simple sloop rig with a big genoa. What happens if when you are over canvassed in some serious weather?

Or is the answer that most cats are just the same as most production monohulls and are not intended to be used to far from shelter. If you are over canvassed, do you roll it all away and motor home?

[44'cruisingcat]

Most cat's don't have a big genoa. It's usual to have a fractional rig with a relatively small headsail. Self tacking jibs are quite common.

Not many of the mass produced boats have inner forestays, but quite a few homebuilt and custom boats do.

[Thalas]

Most all headsails these days are on furling rigs and can be reefed very quickly making a storm jib mostly superfluous. The main answer is that YES, cats are designed to be true bluewater vessels, but you are definitely sailing "by the numbers" more than by feel as you would in a monohull. When the weather hits hard, you take the main to a second (or possibly third) reef and roll the jib 50% and you have a balanced cat in a storm. I've actually never sailed in winds above 30kts or so, but there are a lot of educational youtube videos that cover these conditions.

As a side note, while not technically the staysail of a cutter, most modern cats have their headsail on a fractional rig with an optional bowsprit for larger sail options so it's not that different from a rigging perspective.

[Teleman]

About 200 Easy catamarans afloat (mainly in Australia) and I've yet to hear or read of a single owner who doesn't like the cutter rig.

They aren't as quick as the equivalent size Schionning or Oram cats, but they're not slow. They're also cost a lot less.

[mikedefieslife]

If you want old and slow, but very stable and solid, then Prouts are cutter rigged.

[belizesailor]

Some older lagoons, like the Lagoon 47, have a removable baby stay for a storm sail.

[Sand crab]

I removed the non-structural baby stay on my old tri because it was just in the way. I would prefer a rig without one.

[catsketcher]

As 44 C said there are quite a few owner built boats that have a staysail. The Easys are a good example. I have an inner forestay that I really love - (I really like my spreaderless rig). I put the storm jib on it when the going gets tough and I feel much happier than with the genoa up.

Reefing a genoa can be problematic in big winds. As you reef main and genoa the centre of effort of the rig goes forward. Also the furled genoa gets fuller too. This can give you lee helm. If your genoa is small this is not much of an issue but if it is large it can be a problem.

A friend with a Schionning and another with a Pescott (both performance cats) decided to install inner forestays to put their staysails onto for working into heavy tradewinds. The Schionning has a permanent set up but the Pescott has a clever alternative use for the removable screecher furler. The staysail gets hauled up on a 2 to 1 halyard and unfurled when required. You can then use the screecher furler later when the wind is behind you for the screecher. (You will probably have to install some runners for this).

Sailing to windward with a nice blade jib is really good - it can make a big difference to sailing comfort, speed and height.

cheers

Phil

[Bean Counter]

The majority of cats have a sloop rig and just furl the genoa for stronger winds. You can get a furling genoa with a foam luff insert to take out some of the belly when furling. An alternative is to use a sleeve type storm Jib, but not nearly as easy as a storm jib furled on an inner stay. The downside is tacking a big genoa over the furled inner sail - a pain at times.