Vid
Well-Known Member
I'm shorlty off to Greece (Sporades) for a week's charter and for the first time we've booked a catamaran. I've not sailed one, nor crewed one, before - what advice/tips do you have for someone coming from monohulls?
New to catamarans - advice/tips please
- Thread starter Vid
- Start date
Pinnacle
Well-Known Member
Reef early.
activesail
Well-Known Member
Boathook
Well-Known Member
Treat it like a mono but reef in good time. Depending on make it possibly won't point as high as a mono but you will soon learn !
Porthandbuoy
Well-Known Member
Cats in gusts
Bear away in a gust instead of rounding up. No kidding, that's what to do.
Bear away in a gust instead of rounding up. No kidding, that's what to do.
TradewindSailor
Well-Known Member
NO ... NO .... NO If you the wind is in the forward quarter you should luff up in big gusts, bearing off would accelerate the boat and could force the bows to bury.
Read the supplied manual. It should state the relevant amount of sail for the full range of conditions. Some cats have much more sail up than a similar sized monohull for the same wind conditions.
I suggest you practice steering the boat under engine with the engines alone .... rudder locked amidships. It doesn't take long to master, and you'll find slow speed maneuvring easy when coming up to the dock. It rather depends on the cat, but you'll probably find that they a more effected by wind than the regular monohull.
When at anchor, make sure you have more space around you than if you were on a monohull as monohulls and multis move differently at anchor. Putting the helm over to one side will avoid excessive fore-reaching too.
Enjoy the freedom of not having to find a glass holder for the G and T's, and keeping stuff out on the saloon table.
If you have to go upwind, most charter type cats will motorsail quite well. Motorsailing tends to be more comfortable than simply motoring dead into the wind and waves. Beating most charter cats tends to be a waste of time, unless you are happy with a VMG of 2kts or less. It is quite usual to just run the leeward engine whilst motorsailing.
Lakesailor
Well-Known Member
Bloody Hell! How does Mojo ever get across the pond?
Koeketiene
Well-Known Member
Don't.
One more hull than strictly necessary and twice the worry for half the enjoyment.
And yeah, yeah, yeah... I've heard all the soo much room and staying upright arguments.
If cats were really that great, there would be a lot more of them.
oldsaltoz
Well-Known Member
Charter cats tend to have undersized rigs to the point that performance is poor but safety is high.
sail it further off the wind than you would a mono because of the small rig, a gust will accelerate the boat rather heel it.
Always anchor with a bridle, keep in mind you have a very shallow draft so can get in and out of places others can only reach in small craft.
The motion of a cat can be a bit odd to start with but you will get used o tripping when the deck pots up and stumbling when in moves down.
Manoeuvring is a doddle and you only need to take the effect of wind into account most of the time, but twin engines so far apart it not a hassle.
Your going to love the huge cockpit and all round view from the saloon and the lack of steps and narrow companionway.
Just make sure you have your fishing gear on board and enjoy.
Good luck.
sail it further off the wind than you would a mono because of the small rig, a gust will accelerate the boat rather heel it.
Always anchor with a bridle, keep in mind you have a very shallow draft so can get in and out of places others can only reach in small craft.
The motion of a cat can be a bit odd to start with but you will get used o tripping when the deck pots up and stumbling when in moves down.
Manoeuvring is a doddle and you only need to take the effect of wind into account most of the time, but twin engines so far apart it not a hassle.
Your going to love the huge cockpit and all round view from the saloon and the lack of steps and narrow companionway.
Just make sure you have your fishing gear on board and enjoy.
Good luck.
RichardS
N/A
Unless you've got a good forward speed cats are easier to stall when tacking - a bit of chop a you soon lose momentum. What works for me is to hold onto the jib a bit longer than you would do in a monohull. The backed jib then helps to push the boat round.
I found the same issue arose even with Hobie cats compared to GP14s.
Or maybe I'm just too slow!
Handing a twin engine cat under motor is a doddle - I can spin around in my own length in either direction.
Richard
I found the same issue arose even with Hobie cats compared to GP14s.
Or maybe I'm just too slow!
Handing a twin engine cat under motor is a doddle - I can spin around in my own length in either direction.
Richard
dmmbruce
Well-Known Member
Have a good look on the www.multihulls4us.com forum. You will get lots of sensible advice there.
Good luck and enjoy the cat. But beware, you will probably never go back to a mono!
Mike
Good luck and enjoy the cat. But beware, you will probably never go back to a mono!
Mike
