Why Can't a Cat Sail High Lattitudes??

[colemj]

Originally Posted by colemj

Thanks, I was looking for that picture but couldn't find it. That is an old original Manta 38 when they were built in Canada that had its stern lengthened a bit. I remember reading several articles about the owners sailing at high latitudes and spending several years with it in Greenland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden (If my memory is correct).

DOH! I just saw and read the link you posted and it explains all about where they have gone (much further than Greenland and Iceland). Guess I should have done that part first...

Mark

[Italian Taitano]

there is no place that a well designed, well constructed boat can't go, no weather it can't handle, and no port it can't find under a worthy captain and a proper crew. Regardless of how many hulls she has.

That is what the poet John Masefield's "Sea Fever" was inferring - all you really need is a good ship and the skill to handle her and take her where you want to go. If a ship is seaworthy and her captain and crew know what they're doing, then they could take any kind of boat anywhere.

Anyone who singles out a category of. . . well, anything, really, and says "it can" or "it can't", should not be trusted. It comes down to the Captain, the Crew and the boat; in that order. With the right Captain and crew, you could take a bath tub around the Horn.

Trust me. . . A cat will do just fine in "high lats" if her Captain and crew are well prepared, have prepared her well and know what they're doing.

Yes, I know I repeated myself. It was for emphasis. . . Now, a fifth and final time: It all comes down to the Captain and crew and their familiarity with the sea, the ship and the equipment; knowing how to keep out of and get out of trouble. It has almost nothing to do with the number or configuration of the hull(s).

[Nordic cat]

A friend of mine brought this new innovative insulation material to my attention. It seems that a 10 mm thickness insulates better than 200 mm of traditional mineral/glaswool.

The product is here: KDB-Isolation - 4 assets

A test is here: http://www.airflexdanmark.dk/Airflex_test_sheffield.pdf


With this kind of performance, insulating a boat might be more viable from a space point of view.

I am seriously considering this as insulation for my fridge/freezer!

Anyone have experience with this stuff?

Regards

Alan

[rtbates]

The higher possibility of severe weather? If so, it shouldn't be a problem just be sure your in hull escape hatches can be opened from the outside while inverted. You also want to make sure you're dressed in a Mustang survival suit as well...

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by rtbates

The higher possibility of severe weather? If so, it shouldn't be a problem just be sure your in hull escape hatches can be opened from the outside while inverted. You also want to make sure you're dressed in a Mustang survival suit as well...

ha ha ha!! I had a good laugh at that post...

My "in hull escape hatches"... my "Mustang survival suit"...

I think the best I have going is to try and flag down a lobsterboat as I slip beneath the waves... lol

[David_Old_Jersey]

Not having any intention of either owning a Cat or sailing in High Latitudes I have not given a great deal of thought to this........albeit I have kinda accepted it as "The perceived wisdom" - and given I have no intention of Cat or cold sailing no reason or motivation to question it.

I guess I just assumed that it applied to Cats because they seemed to me mostly designed and built for fair weather living / coastal sailing (and IMO nothing wrong with that).......plus they fundamentally require more attention on the helm during bad weather to avoid being flipped by the wind.......when a Mono could be battened down and left to her own devises lying ahull.......whether any of this is true is a different thing - but maybe an answer to the perception?

[Lodesman]

DavidOJ,

A surprising number of cats seem to do quite well on their own. Google Richard Woods and Eclipse. The boat did fine on its own.

Kevin

[David_Old_Jersey]

Originally Posted by Lodesman

DavidOJ,

A surprising number of cats seem to do quite well on their own. Google Richard Woods and Eclipse. The boat did fine on its own.

Kevin

No doubt, but it is maybe not the perceived "wisdom"

[ssullivan]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

No doubt, but it is maybe not the perceived "wisdom"

How my cat works in a gust:

First, see the pictures way back in the thread. Notice those big, bulbous, rounded bilges. Notice a complete lack of anything you would even imagine would cause any tracking ability at all under water (except the rudders).

Now, picture pushing this thing sideways - real fast - while it's in the water.

What happens?

It just goes sideways. This is great for "flipping a cat" safety, but the tradeoff is windward performance. My particular cat (from Christchurch, Dorset, England) is designed not to flip from wind action and would (in my estimation) need to get close to 90 deg before being able to flip from wave action.

Don't know if this helps to picture the dynamic of this cat, but hopefully it does.

[Tropic Cat]

Originally Posted by David_Old_Jersey

No doubt, but it is maybe not the perceived "wisdom"

I think there's been enough written right here in this forum to do away with the old wives tales about catamarans. I also think there may be at least as may guys who circumnavigated on cats as monohulls posting on this forum these days, aren't there?

Times do change