Any early retirees turned cruisers with big careers have regrets?

[boatpoker]

I guess they don't have Beach Cat Inexperienced Cruiser Forum.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

I guess they don't have Beach Cat Inexperienced Cruiser Forum.

Not that I've heard of, but if they did the boat to start with would be the Hobie 16.

Those were my first two beach cats.

Sailboat data has the number of boats built/sold at 135,000 and a SA/Disp of about 75 which is why that little boat can hit speeds of 26 knots.

https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/hobie-16

Plus unlike sailing on a slow monohull, beach cats are a great way to get younger folks involved.

My 10 year old son was my crew for about 7 years but girlfriends did interrupt in the later years because for some strange reason he was more interested in girls than sailing if you can believe that!!?

Nice Hobie 16 promo video.

Btw we did win the 1997 Broken Mast regatta at Sardis Lake, MS. And my son being an artist with the wider view called two tacks on headers which allowed us to win those two races. We had 17 Hobie 16's on the line for the 5 races

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QO0LkUDALNk

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIZhNviIar4

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Group9

Don't worry about it. He's been that way through the whole thread.

I guess he thinks every cruising forum needs at least one anti-cruising person for balance.

I still plan to cruise, but it is an adjustment from beach cats to cruisers don't you think?

I'm still adjusting after 10 years with my good old Bristol 27 Bluewater Cruising Boat, but as you can see in this video there is a big change to sailing a slow cruising monohull that usually can't even get to a steady speed of 10 knots as compared to a slow cruising speed of a beach cat which is usually above 10 knots

This video really gives you a sense of sailing a Hobie 16..........and btw when they crash that is part of the fun righting the boat

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIZhNviIar4

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

I guess they don't have Beach Cat Inexperienced Cruiser Forum.

Another good thing about the experience sailing beach cats first is that you have experience as to what a knockdown might be like.

We know that the further over the boat goes the slower it is so you have time when the boat is say 65 degrees over because there is less wind in the sails.

I have never had ballast before so now with 2600 lbs on my 6600 lb disp Bristol 27, I sometimes let it roll way over and don't ease the sheets.

I may turn up a bit sometimes but usually at 45-55 degree the boat will hold where it is and when the wind decreases come back up.

In the mean time I just enjoy how well the boat can deal with it.

[goboatingnow]

If you want to cruise learn on a cruiser , learn to race on a racer

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

If you want to cruise learn on a cruiser , learn to race on a racer

That's pretty much it.

That's the way I have gone about it.

After racing two Hobie 16's for 5 years in Tennessee, I was transferred to Pensacola, FL and the decision was Hi-Tech Beach Cat for racing or Monohull cruiser.

After being there 9 months I went with a Nacra 6.0 brand new in 1996 since I wouldn't have enough time to do much cruising because I was running a tech site/project.

The good thing about racing or sailing small boats is that you can start at any time and do not have to wait to buy that cruising boat. Plus save on slip fees and insurance not to mention purchase price. The 6.0 back then was $8,000 out of the box new.

Plus you learn sailing so much faster on a small boat and even more from racing so when it's time to get a cruising boat you will already know a lot and can concentrate on the other aspects of cruising.

Also, if you are still working, some small boats are 3-4 times faster than cruising monohulls so you can cover a lot of miles fast.

Our first 100 mile race we completed in 12 hours with a sloop rigged Nacra 6.0 with no spinnaker. Spinnaker boats finished in 9 hours that year (1997).

[mako]

I thought this 2+ year old thread was about walking away from lucrative careers early, to go cruising.

How did it morph into racing beach cats?

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by mako

I thought this 2+ year old thread was about walking away from lucrative careers early, to go cruising.

How did it morph into racing beach cats?

Well when I first joined the forum in 2011, I was ridiculed for "only" being a beach cat sailor.

They had no idea of my experiences.

This dates back to 2011.

So due to that instead of folding, I attacked the sad sailing skills of the cruisers and it has gone from there. And these guys like to stick together to support each other's opinions when under pressure.

On top of that after being repeatedly attacked because I wasn't yet cruising, I again attacked the so called "cruisers" that had retired early but were basically liveaboards at a marina in Florida or someplace with a warm Winter climate or not even cruisng any more but retired and sitting around the house and now "cruising" the internet.

I by this time had already lived in Florida and raced/sailed while still working so again there was a disagreement

Btw to continue my above posts rants, some of us have kids and don't want to bore them when they are young with slow boat sailing so after I did buy my hi-tech Nacra 6.0 in the mid 90's in Florida, my son and his friends would go on the Hobie 16's and jump the 4'-7' waves at Pensacola pass then sail to Pensacola beach to meet girls. We are talking ages 12-15 with sailing transportation my son being Skipper as he had been racing as my crew since age 10.

They were very rough on those boats but had lots of fun. They sailed one several days with one hull half full of water due to running aground on rocks

It was something like this video except the waves were larger

Most times though for the kids it was more like the second video and they would have there cassette player onboard playing their favorite songs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gmta24SnmnM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIZhNviIar4

[Saleen411]

Originally Posted by mako

I thought this 2+ year old thread was about walking away from lucrative careers early, to go cruising.

How did it morph into racing beach cats?

I put this beach cat guy on ignore a long time ago. He's the ONLY guy I have on my ignore list.

Trust me....block this guy and get rid of the noise.

Cheers!

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Saleen411

I put this beach cat guy on ignore a long time ago. He's the ONLY guy I have on my ignore list.

Trust me....block this guy and get rid of the noise.

Cheers!

Beach Cat guy?

I stopped sailing beach cats in 2006. After 4 of them and 15 years racing and sailing for fun, that was enough.

Since 2011, it's just been sailing my Good Old Bristol 27 Blue Water Cruising Boat.

This Off Season I'm ripping out the PO's little cabinet so I'll again have access to the Starboard Settee.

This is pretty exciting as it has really open up the interior of my boat.

I will now be able to take one of my 10 speed bikes when I do head out for a long distance cruise.

The gained space is simply unbelievable as compared to how it was.

That change plus the new 6 Volt Golf Cart Batteries should make things much better this year for cruising locally.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by Saleen411

I put this beach cat guy on ignore a long time ago. He's the ONLY guy I have on my ignore list.

!

He had to do that because he couldn't understand sailing a boat with a SA/Disp of over 74 that could hit speeds in excess of 25 knots.

Much less hold one still with sails only on the start line for over a minute or two in traffic

What could you possibly learn from a boat that would put you in the water with one small sailing mistake?

That's what it's like sailing a Beach Cat in a breeze especially one with a spinnaker sailing/racing singlehanded.

Funny thing is my Nacra 17 with a weight of 300 lbs had the same Sail Area as my 6600 lb Bristol 27 when I had the spinnaker up.....

Picture is mid Pensacola Bay with winds just under 21 knots during the Bationals race early 2000's. They call the race off with steady winds above 21 or 22 if they are constant for 5 minutes.

The spinnaker runs were all that on this day. Mine got jammed bringing it in so I just went ahead with it still out a bit.

https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/hobie-16

https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/nacra-60

https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/nacra-17

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by boatpoker

I guess they don't have Beach Cat Inexperienced Cruiser Forum.

For sure.

What could you possibly learn about sailing a cruising boat racing a beach cat?

Video includes rounding Cape Hatteras

Many local beach cat sailors here from the Gulf Coast

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TyFMTh1K7E8

[fxykty]

Originally Posted by thomm225

...

What could you possibly learn about sailing a cruising boat racing a beach cat?

…

Pretty much nothing, so time for you to stop posting your Nacra claptrap. I raced a Hobie 16 for years and can attest that other than basic sailing skills, nothing from that boat transfers to my full sized cruising cat. Just as well, the Hobie 16 loves to pitch pole.

Regarding early retirement regrets, you’re not retired either, so you have no experience to usefully contribute to this conversation.

Just stop. Please.

After 9 months of retirement, I’m going back to work on a 6 month contract to earn some more money to rebuild the cruising kitty thanks to boat jobs and Putin’s war. I regret the loss of time and freedom, but at least it’s only temporary. No regrets at all leaving work behind.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by fxykty

Pretty much nothing,

That is what most folks learn that race against other beginners on their local lake or creek on Hobie 16's.

My first 5 years were like that and I even was one of the best in that time then I moved to the Gulf Coast and started racing there.

From Panama City, FL to Biloxi, MS back then were some of the best Beach Cat racers in the US.

We had at least one 100 mile race a year, multiple 30 mile races that took us 15 miles offshore, plus buoy racing.

When you line up on the starting line against 30 or so other Beach Cats from 16' - 27' in 15-20 knot winds, you learn.

Also when you add a spinnaker to your 300 pound beach cat and race it single handed, you learn.

After 450 or so races. I feel it was well worth the time.

So you missed a lot and it's too bad you weren't able to see the many benefits of small boat racing.

As far as early retirement, luckily for me I live on one of the best bay's for cruising in the USA.

I may retire early before age 70, but for now I'm still learning after sailing my Bristol 27 here for the past 10 years.

Today, I almost completed restoring the settee the PO removed from my boat.

Btw, of my 4 beach cats the last one with the square top main and spinnaker was the most fun and toughest to race as back then (early 2000's) it was designed for a singlehander, but I bought the optional jib for distances races and hoped the wind didn't get to high because I was way over powered since that 300 beach cat (Nacra I17R) with the spinnaker up had as much sail area as my 6600 lb displacement Bristol 27

Quite different than racing a Hobie 16 with other beginners.

Btw, our 100 mile races always started at 0700 off Leeside Park Ft Walton Beach, FL. You had to be at the starting line then and the first leg was sailing out Destin pass under the Destin Bridge. Then to the sea buoy then take a right and sail the 55 or so miles to Pensacola then back on the inside.

I thinf I/we completed 6 of them. My son raced with me a few times on our Nacra 6.0 which is simply a beast as compared to a Hobie 16.

We did the 100 miles in about 12 hours in 1997 on a beautiful day and finished just after 7:00 pm on our Nacra 6.0.

Btw, unlike a Hobie 16, the Nacra's I owned/raced had daggerboards, spinnakers, flat top mains, mast spreaders for prebend setup, 8:1 main blocks, and rotating masts. The last one had a Carbon Fiber mast.

Quite a bit more hi-tech than a Hobie 16 but against the right competition you could still learn a lot racing an H16.

And the newer boats could sail damn near 30 degrees off the wind.

I just wish we had the lifting daggerboards back then. We could hit speeds in the high 20's but faster would have been better

Picture was from 2004 Nationals. We race all week. Boat is pretty much in control even though winds were right at 20 knots.

Spinnaker runs were ....interesting in that much breeze

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L92TfvlA3tY

[sailorboy1]

I wonder who reads those posts