Catamaran sail trim and kickers

[whipper_snapper]

Speccing-up a new rig for a cat, I have been told that cats do not normally have kickers because you have so much travel on the traveller that you don't need a kicker to maintain leech tension.


But doesn't that mean you have to shift the traveller down wind, to keep the mainsheet under the boom, which is oposite of what you would do in a monohull to keep the power in the main?


I admit, that is what we actually do with our somewhat chaotic gaff main, but with a super-duper new conventional main such as we are now looking at, it feels wrong.


Any comments ?

Thanks

 

[Bosun Higgs]

which is oposite of what you would do in a monohull to keep the power in the main?

Really?

 

[whipper_snapper]

Really?

err, yes, isn't it?! You slide it downwind to de-power a little, errr.....innit ?

 

[dt4134]

But doesn't that mean you have to shift the traveller down wind, to keep the mainsheet under the boom, which is oposite of what you would do in a monohull to keep the power in the main?

I'm not a multi-hull sailor, but I assume the idea with having the kicker slack is that when you ease the main the boom lifts, the mainsail twists and you dump power, especially that you dump power high up and reduce the heeling force.

On some monohulls that I race which are susceptible to rapid broaching upwind I'd leave the kicker looser so I can de-power rapidly in a heavy gust. I was taught the technique by a multi-hull racer. The more common approach generally is to have the kicker tighter and to use the traveller to depower in gusts.

Of course, downwind you almost always let the traveller right down the track. The main argument against it is on boats with poor arrangements where it would cause the mainsheet to snag structure or a winch etc.

 

[dt4134]

err, yes, isn't it?! You slide it downwind to de-power a little, errr.....innit ?

But you can pull it up the traveller a bit and ease the mainsheet a little to twist off power. Quite a common technique in round the cans racing in heavy weather where there isn't the time to reef and shake it out each leg. Not that good for the upper leech though, especially with laminates.

 

[westernman]

Many racing catamarans (e.g. Hobie Cat Tiger etc) have no kicker.

 

[simonfraser]

And hopefuly more speed, so wind often on beam or forward, so why need a kika ?
Dont have/need one on my tri.
Spend the money on beta sails.

 

[AngusMcDoon]

No kicker on Dragonflies either. Everywhere seems to be upwind.

 

[ex-Gladys]

Many racing catamarans (e.g. Hobie Cat Tiger etc) have no kicker.

I was a multihull sailor until 2003 and none of the racing cats have a kicker, you use the main to adjust twist, and palce the traveller in the correct position. The critical contols with a fully battened loose foot main are downhaul (halyard tension) - you can get a fully battened main to flog dangerously just by tensioning the main luff with no boom attached - and mast rotation. "Downwind" the technique is to head up until the wind indicator is abeam and the boat accelerates, and then bear off gradually keeping the wind indicator abeam, and tack downwind.

In large cats that are similarly rigged, because of the weight, it isn't quite as clear cut.