13m catamaran sinks in Med

Ric said:
An interesting observation is that a contributing factor was that the owner had considerably strengthened the standing rigging, and that this had lead to the boat capsizing rather than just losing the mast in a gust! Certainly an interesting take on Catamaran seaworthiness...
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No yacht should lose its rig through weight of wind. One might use heavier wire etc to reduce the risk of fatigue failures but no professional designer would use standing rigging so light it would snap before lifting a hull any more than a knockdown in a monohull would result in snapping shrouds.
 
There is a big difference between the sail reduction methodology for a catamaran, than for a monomaran.

For the Mono, you typically reef for the average breeze, and allow the mast and lead to absorb the peaks of the gusts.

On a cat, you reef for the expected peak gusts (unless you are an idiot, and/or racing :rolleyes:)
 
Talbot, that seems to imply that a multihull is at risk from gusts - is that the case? Must make life difficult if gusty conditions are expected, or is it usually not of too much concern?
 
Simple really. If the conditions are 5 gusting 7 you reef a cat for F7 but a mono can set sail suitable for F5 and accept the lee rail will go under in the gusts.
 
snowleopard said:
Simple really. If the conditions are 5 gusting 7 you reef a cat for F7 but a mono can set sail suitable for F5 and accept the lee rail will go under in the gusts.
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beat me to it!

It is also a question of the type of multihull - a racing boat is by nature as light as possible, and more likely to use marginal rules for reducing sail, thus a racing catamaran is more vulnerable
 
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