DON'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ...

[GRIT]

Originally Posted by Jenta

We had only been on the boat for about a month and I didn't pay as much attention to things like that then compared to now, but from memory and a couple pictures I would say the true wind was around 120 on the port and a fairly consistent 20-23 knot range as we made the final turn around 25 degrees to port into the main channel heading straight out.

That brought the true wind forward but still slightly aft and we shut down the engines and then were like - woah.
We jump up to 13.x knots and maintained that for almost 4 miles. The water was so calm because there was such little fetch given that we were in an inlet which no doubt was a huge reason we could keep the speed at that level. 3 miles out from the inlet in the open the full wind was more like 25 knots, but we were headed North to Wassaw Inlet so we headed up higher into the wind and slowed down under 10 knots for a while but that was plenty fast for us!

For the record our tables say to single reef the main for 25 knots and having a square top makes that even more true I imagine. If we were doing that today, we would have raised the main with a single reef to start. That would have allowed us to properly trim quickly for up to 35 but it was fortunately not gusty that day anyway. But I don't think that would have affected our speed that day. Other than the fact that I still haven't figured out how to keep the foot of the mainsail from being a baggy sloppy mess when reefed.

That was a bit of a unicorn for us, but as long as we're not fighting against the wind or dealing with square waves - 7-9 knots is not unusual.
We feel like we're succeeding if we're getting half of TWS up to 10 knots boat speed. At that point we aren't likely to want to go faster even if we could unless it is relatively calm seas and consistent wind or current that is giving the boost on a downwind sail.

It's taken a couple years, but I keep working on passage planning and understanding not only what we want for a passage, but also what the boat wants, even for a day hop. I used to dampen our polars in Predict Wind by 20-30 percent but what I found was that I was handicapping myself out of an accurate forecast because I would end up ahead of the prediction or arrive early and mess up my tide timing for an inlet. Some of that gets eaten up by the fact that if we're head to wind and a bit bashy, we need to occasionally turn and run downwind so the dogs can/will go forward to the trampoline so their business doesn't end up in the saloon.

Bopping around in the Bahamas with good wind direction, I would guess we're usually 6-7 knots in 12-15 knots of wind. Oh, and we love our flybridge in Bahamas! Less so when it's raining and waves are crashing over the saloon in the Atlantic - but we still prefer it.

Okay - that was WAY long winded but it's a trait of mine I can't turn off. That, plus we're in Oregon visiting family right now while the boat is on the hard in Virginia waiting for us to come back and finish up projects to head North to Maine this coming summer. And I'm jonesing to be back on the boat!

Apologies for the novel.

That's a good story. Sometimes everything just lines up.

It must feel good to match your polars, trip planning must be much easier now, assuming you no longer plan on 20% less than polar predicted speed.

I should also say that if you're matching your polars, you're doing a great job sailing your boat!

Thanks for sharing, it's always interesting to read how other boats sail.

If you find it crowded in Maine, come up a little further to Canada, we'd love to have you.

Cheers.
Paul.

[GRIT]

Originally Posted by PippaB

I think I’ve got them all beat, I have a couple of OpenCPN tracks that show my SOG > 2000 knots. And not just once. Not bad for a 20-year-old, 48’ cat.

It was exhilarating dropping down to the Equator and back to 48N in the space of two sampling intervals. Surfing doesn’t even begin to describe it. And I have the evidence on a computer, so we know it really happened. After the first time I had to install the WIG lights so I was sure I could comply with COLREGS.

That must have been harrowing. Thank goodness you didn't arrive somewhere hard, on land somewhere.

You should possibly consider installing air bags. And maybe send a note to that guys website, so he can update his numbers.

Cheers.
Paul.

[GRIT]

Originally Posted by StuM

https://xkcd.com/2577/

Thanks for the link.

Cheers.
Pail.

[django37]

I think we have all been asked by nonsailors: How fast can your cat sail? And if we tell the top speed we have seen, they believe, that this is close to the average speed. I find, that on long passages the top speed is between 2.5 and 3 times the average speed: Ie, over the Atlantic (2500 nm): 18 vs 7.8 knots, the Pacific (8000Nm) : 18.8 vs 6.3 knots

[Jenta]

Originally Posted by GRIT

It must feel good to match your polars, trip planning must be much easier now, assuming you no longer plan on 20% less than polar predicted speed.

I should also say that if you're matching your polars, you're doing a great job sailing your boat!

Cheers.
Paul.

To be fair, I started with the basic polars I could find for the 440 but tweaked them and added my own polars with 2 knot, 20 degree resolution and then occasionally I'll jot down what we're actually doing and try to take current into account and add that in as a data point if it is much different than the estimated value in the chart. So it's a work in progress but it more closely matches reality for our boat now.

Thanks for the invite!

[GRIT]

It would be nice to see more foreign flagged boats visit our area. You really don't know what your missing. I'd be happy to help anyone who would be interested in visiting the maritimes.

I don't have Polars, but I will have to start making one. On predict wind, we use the outremer 45 polars, and they work well so far. I should use that as my base, and tweak them to suit.
If we don't push the boat, their polars line up fairly well, aft of the beam. Ahead of the beam needs quite a lot of tweaking.

Cheers.
Paul.

[GRIT]

I enjoyed this thread. Nice light banter, for the most part. Has anyone got any more examples of optimistic advertising?

Cheers.
Paul.

[ejlindahl]

Nothing to add but I noticed the guy mentioned the Fastcat 435. Didn't that boat and builder fall off the radar under odd circumstances some 10 years ago? They aren't still being made are they?

[hpeer]

Originally Posted by GRIT

I enjoyed this thread. Nice light banter, for the most part. Has anyone got any more examples of optimistic advertising?

Cheers.
Paul.

Well, start comparing actual LOD measurements to the boat name/model. Some builders include the tacked on swim platform and tiny bow sprit and call it a “SuperSumo 46.” Then you find the LOD is 42’ and LWL is 37. Not uncommon to find a 44’er is the new swim platform version of the old 42”er.

Not all do that, but some do.

And with older boats with sprits, some include them and jack up the LOA 4’ to 6’. You see this on YachtWorld listings once in a while.

Displacement is a far better gage of boat size, along with LWL. But not what people use.

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by GRIT

I enjoyed this thread. Nice light banter, for the most part. Has anyone got any more examples of optimistic advertising?

Cheers.
Paul.

It’s not a new thing (or maybe just a French thing?): our 53’-11” (as per survey) long boat is called a 55. Our bow pole is longer than standard and we’re still short of 55’.

[RaymondR]

Originally Posted by Fore and Aft

Grit you got me thinking about multihull speed. I have to honestly say I cannot remember being passed at speed by any cruising cat. You think we would as there are now so many around Queensland.
Cheers

I have an Island Packet 40 and am happy to sail along at 5 knots (I often slow down to that because I'm really enjoying the day and don't want to overwork the autopilot) and quiet a few of them go past me and in the twenty years of cruising have never seen one doing more than about ten knots. There's no shortage of them on this coast, the deeper water in just about every anchorage is infested with them.

[AKA-None]

Ford Fusion
Pretty certain there’s no nuclear reactor in that car :-)

[tamicatana]

It is interesting how the leaner owners constantly feel compelled to comment in multihull fora and threads, yet the multihull owners seem to refrain from commenting in leaner fora and threads.

[SV Tom Crean]

Originally Posted by tamicatana

It is interesting how the leaner owners constantly feel compelled to comment in multihull fora and threads, yet the multihull owners seem to refrain from commenting in leaner fora and threads.

I’m a mono man but I was really really tempted to get a cat. I go by the old saying that’s it’s 90% at anchor and 10% passage making - and the cat wins hands down for that 90% bit.

The cat makes a superb living space or for sitting out catching the sun or whatever. Add in the space to load up with lots of solar and it ticks a lot of boxes.

They make a lot of sense

[caradow]

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Sorry for the sideways presentation seems to be a computer glitch or maybe just a senior moment.
However recorded this a few years ago while heading to the Exumas aboard my Voyage 440 sailing downwind in 30 kts with a double reefed main and surfing. For a short period of time our speed was 19 kts.
A condo cat is not suppose to go that fast and I can tell you it was way too much. Every part of the boat was either vibrating or humming. I did not feel safe and I have done a lot of racing (monohulls) but never really want to experience that again.
So just saying that the clown who is writing on the speed of cats needs to be canceled or maybe he needs to go back on his meds.