Performance of charter cats?

[arsenelupiga]

i am right now is sailing mecca, but really should be called motoring mecca. Regardless of boat type every charterer is motoring. And only owners seem to sail, again regardless of boat type.

When people talk about fast boats, they forget that sailor skills can make up to 40% difference in speed. Skilled sailor on lagoon will outdo beginner on catana or similar on any point of sail.

We tested back in time Catana 43 and could not touch 10kn in 25 kp beam reaching with full sail. It had full water and fuel. I can do this with my Lagoon 400 but i prefer to reef way before. However, it takes time/miles for one to learn how to sail boat optimally in various conditions.

[Boatfreak]

If you dont mind older boats you can still charter an FP Athena 38 or Lavezzi, they sail OK. Try to get any charter cat with folding props, that will help.

My Athena with Folders will do half windspeed at 90 degs in light winds, it falls off a bit when we reach the resistance hump in stronger winds, e.g. 11 knots in 30 Knots true. You have to be competent enough and brave enough to make an informed decision about not reefing at the recommended wind speeds.

I test sailed a Nautitech Open 40 in 20 Knots and we made 9 knots. It was very responsive on the helm too, much better than the Athena.

[Kinkircating]

Here is what a catamaran that can actually sail is able to do with ease. Sorry for the grainy photo but we were bouncing around at night pretty good, hit 14.8 knots at one point in 18 true. Full main, blade self tacking jib.

Sailing at sustained 12 knots for hours on end can become addictive…and a little tiring especially at night.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Kinkircating

Here is what a catamaran that can actually sail is able to do with ease. Sorry for the grainy photo but we were bouncing around at night pretty good, hit 14.8 knots at one point in 18 true. Full main, blade self tacking jib.

Sailing at sustained 12 knots for hours on end can become addictive…and a little tiring especially at night.

What boat is this?

[Kinkircating]

Originally Posted by Chotu

What boat is this?

It’s a Balance 482, definitely not a charter boat! It’s even more impressive performing in light air.

[Chotu]

Originally Posted by Kinkircating

It’s a Balance 482, definitely not a charter boat! It’s even more impressive performing in light air.

I was curious. Thank you for letting me know.

Fairly similar numbers to mine. I’m always looking for comparisons to see what the potential might be. Getting the rig on in a couple weeks so I will finally be able to try it out.

My mast height is a bit taller than yours, and my boat displaces less. However, I have bagged out used sails with an awful triangle top main currently.

Thinking I’ll see probably almost exactly the same numbers you do based on my poor sails.

[Kinkircating]

Originally Posted by Chotu

I was curious. Thank you for letting me know.

Fairly similar numbers to mine. I’m always looking for comparisons to see what the potential might be. Getting the rig on in a couple weeks so I will finally be able to try it out.

My mast height is a bit taller than yours, and my boat displaces less. However, I have bagged out used sails with an awful triangle top main currently.

Thinking I’ll see probably almost exactly the same numbers you do based on my poor sails.

It’s always good to get a frame of reference with other boats. This was actually my friends cat that I helped out with moving the boat from Annapolis to FL. We are actually in the process of building its big sister the 526 which will perform a tad better. But honestly I was super impressed with the 482 all around.

[Bullshooter]

"95% of these boats when on charter never even attempt to tack, hell 70% don’t bother putting up the sails"

"every charterer is motoring"

"We call them fatermarans . They are not sailing boats. Motor boats with a handkerchief on a mast to fuel one's ego that your sailing."

Speaking of egos, I would rate this thread as one of the top ten for egotistical posts. Nice going, guys

[SV Confianza]

I stepped foot on a Bali for the first time at the Annapolis boat show, and I couldn’t believe how poorly it was set up for actual sailing. The weight was insane, and I can’t imagine you could sail in anything but ideal conditions with the trampolines replaced by a solid deck.

Our 2004 Privilege 435 does 75% wind speed on a reach generally and a bit less than half wind speed up wind at up to 43 apparent. She’s not a speed demon by any means, but we still manage to spend maybe half of our cruising time without a motor on. If we weren’t trying to average 8 knots on passages lately it would probably be 80% no motor.

[Factor]

Originally Posted by Bullshooter

"95% of these boats when on charter never even attempt to tack, hell 70% don’t bother putting up the sails"

"every charterer is motoring"

"We call them fatermarans . They are not sailing boats. Motor boats with a handkerchief on a mast to fuel one's ego that your sailing."

Speaking of egos, I would rate this thread as one of the top ten for egotistical posts. Nice going, guys

where as I just see people who have sailed well designed boats expressing their experience

[MVDarlin]

Moorings yacht charter has anumber of different hulls to try. They seem to be popular in the Sea of Cortez / La Paz area a well as BVI, Give them a look. Powercats are nice.

[sck5]

I sailed a Lagoon 50 from the factory in Bordeaux to Tenerife. All experienced sailors aboard and the consensus was that the boat is a true party barge - Made to party at anchor rather than sail across the ocean.

And my experience mirrors that of commenters above - A disproportionate number of cats are motoring when I see them around charter bases. In fact, during a week or two sailing around Belize we didnt see a single catamaran with the sails up. It was so obvious we started a game to see if anyone could spot a catamaran actually sailing. We did see one eventually.

[gsuescum]

Originally Posted by Snore

Finally, what point of sail were you on? Any AWA under 90 in a catamaran is a challenge, under 75 requires the engine.

75 degs and you’re turning on a engine? I am sure you did deliver a few cats but that comment made me doubt it for a second.

It is tiring to hear sailors making claims about boats they are not very familiar with.

I’m always easily going up to 45 degs and making ~ 1/2 true wind speed. You can push it higher but you start to lose way. We’ve owned a Privilege, a Mainecat and now a Nautitech. It’s been our experience on all of them. On our Catalina monohull (which we loved) we were able to get to 30 deg but were slow.

I’d posts pics of my instruments at these heading but there are endless examples already out there of cats pointing well.

[argonauta1]

I am a mono hull person and have circumnavigated in a Beneteau 440 and experienced only the normal maintenance issues. If you are intending going offshore, I would return to a mono hull after exploring the multi hull world. One sees few of these when off shore although there are some. Among those are the dismasted as sailor feedback on a multi hull is not as immediate as on a mono hull thuis one can more easily over stress the rig. One comment about the multi hull they do not point very well so one covers more distance going to a point upwind. Try going from the Baths in the BVI to the Bitter End on a typical Trade Wind day. I recall once leaving in our 440 about the same time as a charter cat. We got to the Bitter End reef entrance first. That was because when we tacked starboard to enter the pass, we were about 2 NM off as opposed to the cat which was maybe 5 NM off or further. . Similarly in the Indian Ocean heading for the Gulf of Aden, we ended up two full days ahead of vessels with a poorer pointing capability albeit they were all monohulls. Oh well, those were the days!

[smj]

Originally Posted by argonauta1

I am a mono hull person and have circumnavigated in a Beneteau 440 and experienced only the normal maintenance issues. If you are intending going offshore, I would return to a mono hull after exploring the multi hull world. One sees few of these when off shore although there are some. Among those are the dismasted as sailor feedback on a multi hull is not as immediate as on a mono hull thuis one can more easily over stress the rig. One comment about the multi hull they do not point very well so one covers more distance going to a point upwind. Try going from the Baths in the BVI to the Bitter End on a typical Trade Wind day. I recall once leaving in our 440 about the same time as a charter cat. We got to the Bitter End reef entrance first. That was because when we tacked starboard to enter the pass, we were about 2 NM off as opposed to the cat which was maybe 5 NM off or further. . Similarly in the Indian Ocean heading for the Gulf of Aden, we ended up two full days ahead of vessels with a poorer pointing capability albeit they were all monohulls. Oh well, those were the days!

So you would rather circumnavigate in a monohull that has known problems with their keels falling of?