Orana 44: Indian Ocean Passage-Making Speed Report

[atoll]

it's called the learning curve......generally mono's will look after themselves once reeffed down in stronger weather and plug on safely self steering,where as cats need to be driven to keep up good speeds with the optimum sail area up and surfing a lot of the time,not somthing that one would do with out a constant watch,hence the tendancy to under sail if short handed......

[S/V Alchemy]

...therefore it is a slower passage maker than a cat sailed full out, maybe. There's a number of reasons to throttle back a cat; one of the main ones, I am informed, is that waves slapping under the hull can be very loud!

Most cats are faster overall than most monos, I would think, just because they can make more of light air. I chose a mono for reasons of durability, stowage and, by extension, self-sufficiency regarding the shore. I didn't pick it because I wanted to passage make at 10 knots. Five will do.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by yeloya

Hi Jon,

I
It's amasing to see how easily small weights add up huge numbers And my team here, are suggesting something new to be added.. Just 10 m of moe anchor chain adds roughly 100 kg.


Cheers

Yeloya

Wow, you must use REALLY big chain... that's 10 kg (22 lbs) per metre!!

You might just want to check your math here.

Cheers,

Jim

[donradcliffe]

Thanks for sharing the journey with us, especially your blog. It brings a refreshing sense of reality to passagemaking in a cat, and should be required reading to all who are considering it. Don't worry about choosing seamanship over boatspeed--the real goal in passage sailing is to get to your destination in one piece and without assistance. I'm sure that the monos who sailed with you agree that it was a 'rugged' passage for them too. Good luck on your next passages.

[barnakiel]

Re Parasailor I would not use one on a mono while an asymmetric can be used - fewer control lines, less fuss setting up and dropping (furling!).

I would not use one on a cat either since some sail area is lost and on a cat you have so much beam that you can fly a regular spinnaker pole-less. Same stability, less fuss, way cheaper sail.

b.

[capn_billl]

How long was the total passage? +1 for a successful trip.

[yeloya]

Originally Posted by alan_za

It's interesting because basically what you are saying is that while a cat is theoretically faster then a mono, it has to be sailed more conservatively then a mono, therefore is in practice a slower passage maker.

I've been sailing many monos and cats as a part of my job (with a few exceptions all were cruisers both for monos and cats) and I can tell you that this statement is not true. I can assure you that if you push the mono to the extend you push the cat to be flip her down (or damage the rigging) you will equally be in trouble with the mono. And you will be way less comfortable when pushing the mono..

The monos have many other merits vis a vis the cats but these are clearly not in the area of comfort or speed.

Yeloya

[capn_billl]

How long was the trip? How were the ports? Any exciting weather?

[jglauds]

Trip took 7 days from Bali to Cocos Keeling ... lovely little atoll ... then 18 days to Mauritius, a great polyglot island where Southeast Asia meets Africa ... next leg is 1800 miles to Richards Bay, South Africa ...