Catamarans in Heavy Weather

[Lrfiori]

Originally Posted by Mike_Thor

Lrfiori, further to my last. We experienced three major blows (+50kts) and had two sets of crew (I was on both for the entire trip). The first crew comprised three on two hour shifts and the 2nd leg from Thursday Is (Far North Queensland - Australia) to Mooloollaba had 2 people on three hour shifts. Broke a halyard on day 1 due poor equipment configuration at mast head. Corrected. No pooping; max speed 21 kts in a storm (running oblique to wave front) and good helm control (performance); used autopilot for most of the trip even in 3+m waves. All good control. Have since reconfigured for 'at helm' reefing and have both drogues and anchors on board for emergency use only (i.e. when I have run out of other 'sensible options'. As mentioned in other responses: to pitch-pole our cat I would have to do something incredibly silly; like too much speed at the wrong angle with autopilot and me asleep downstairs but that said the rig will still come down before we capsize and so long as i have the windward dagger-board down (not leeward) we will slide more readily than roll and simple maths says we need a significantly sized wave (beam is 8.5 m) to roll us even if directly beam on. All this is 'maths' and easily researched. Try to do the research as deeply and as thoroughly from as broad a resource base as you can and you will soon get a better understanding. I am of the opinion that someone who strongly advises me to use a particular solution or that only a 'particular' type of boat is best is because they own one. I am particularly avid at the moment about poor anchoring because it appears that three are far too many people out there who simply don't know or don't care so ..... become an expert of 'what you want' then we can be more specific to your now 'specific' needs.

Thank you Mike, this was a thorough answer and much like what I was hoping for. You say too much speed at the wrong angle to the wave is a big problem, and that you use your dagger board as a tool to keep(I'm assuming) friction on the hull. What if you haven't got dagger boards? You say it's simple math so I'm assuming as I study more I'll find information about these calculations that I will be able to use given my own boat's particular characteristics?

We have ideas about sailing from the west coast of U.S. to the South Pacific and then decide whether to continue on or circle back depending on how much fun were having, but not until we get a lot of hours on our clock around home. We've been doing a lot of sailing around home in our little mono. Are there sources you would recommend for someone who has all the time she needs to read at the moment before we really get started with on the job lessons?

[Gone2long]

Originally Posted by Cavalier MK2

The Tiki 21.

Hi Cav,

On the Tiki 21 - Yeah, especially if you don't mind getting wet : )


Gotta read the rest of this very long thread. Started from the bottom : )


Would be interesting to hear some debate about how Tris perform v. the Cats.


Take care,

G2L

[Cavalier MK2]

It might confuse the issue as the OP wanted to hear about cats. It is really hard to generalize about any multihull as there are big differences within the categories. I think most of this stuff has been touched on in the thread.

Probably the big difference is a tri has less windage so can often make better headway to windward than a cat as the wind builds. And keep going when the wind drops but it depends on the boat For running off both can use drogues to control speed or para anchors to stop. Laying a hull both have more beam than a mono so can handle larger waves before being rolled. I think the bigger platforms are easier to handle the sails on than a mono. Another difference would be that a tri is easier to tell when it is overpressed and time to reef because of the wider heel range. Cruising tris with a wing deck can slap a bit in the right conditions but it is less of a impact as heeling presents an angled surface to the wavetops compared to the flat of a cat bridgedeck.

So more similarities than differences, Catsketcher used to have a Crowther Twiggy tri so would have some perspective. My cat time has been limited to a smaller Wharram and Hobies. On both cats and tris I'd remind people to not have more sail up running off in a blow than the boat can handle upwind. It can be easy to get lulled here, if your speed is into the double digits you will be taking that out of the wind force. So in a 35 knot wind with 15+ knots of speed there is only 20 knots of wind across the deck, keep the chute up! Then of course if you stuff into the back of a wave you have 35 knots across the deck. Plenty of racers have pitchpoled doing this. Or the rare thing happens and you ride a wave wrong and broach and suddenly have too much sail up for the new upwind course. It takes discipline and knowing when to draw the line as sailing fast is fun.In coastal cruising be aware of how the land will affect the wind. Coming out of the lee of a island, hitting the downdraft off a mountain, getting into the venturi of a narrowing channel etc.... Looking ahead lets you plan ahead for sail sizing. Reefing can be easier ducking into the lee of a island and so on.

Another caution on both is to keep enough speed up to weather so you don't stall or run backwards on a wave top going to weather. Knowing how to wear ship can be the difference in getting onto a new tack in extreme conditions. I don't like storm suggestions that involve running the motor(s) as they may not be working. A tool if they are but not your whole bag of tricks.

I think a tri is probably a bit easier for a mono sailor to transition in because of the central hull and increased sensations compared to a cat. On both I'd suggest using caution in big cabin spaces as that means you can get thrown farther than on a mono. Everybody goes to sea for different reasons, I go sailing to sail so a wide performance envelope lets me avoid powering if I want to.