In a little more than a month we are headed down to the BVI again. This time we are renting a catamaran (444) from Sunsail. I have to get a checkout since I have not ever driven one. Not to worried about the sailing part, just the motoring. Have any of you made the transition? What was the checkout like if you went through Sunsail? Any words of wisdow for this 15 year monohuller?
Driving a Cat?
- Thread starter Pat T
- Start date
- Status
I have chartered many cats from Sunsail, Mooring and others. They are real easy to control since they have two engines. You can easily steer using just the throttles. In fact you can actually move the boat sideways away from a slip. You can spin the boat like a top. Picking up moorings was a breeze in a cat. The check out when something like: "Here are the throttles. Push them forward to go forward, back to go back. Start in Neutral."
Now raising that huge sail or tacking in light wind will take some relearning but you will have no problem.
Now raising that huge sail or tacking in light wind will take some relearning but you will have no problem.
I have not sailed a large cat, but on the hobies and prindles, we would wait to release the jib, and let it backwind, in order to push the bow around. (a very late release). if you stall, try that.
With the props so far apart, if you can drive any twin screw motor boat (not outboard unless they are counter rotating) the cats are even easier. As mentioned above do not use the rudder when maneuvering for docking, leave the helm amidships. Of course there's much more windage and less draft so you'll get pushed around quite a bit more, but most likely your "check out" will be in a sheltered harbor.
You will probably have to run the leeward engine if you are hoping to go to windward under sail and the way all the roomarans have moved the upper shrouds so far aft will make running w/ the main up nearly impossible. There ARE sailing cats out there, but to the best of my knowledge, they are few and far between in the bareboat fleets.
I'd love to hear your thoughts re; cat versus mono after your trip.
You will probably have to run the leeward engine if you are hoping to go to windward under sail and the way all the roomarans have moved the upper shrouds so far aft will make running w/ the main up nearly impossible. There ARE sailing cats out there, but to the best of my knowledge, they are few and far between in the bareboat fleets.
I'd love to hear your thoughts re; cat versus mono after your trip.
I did say there were cats that sail well, but not usually available as bareboats, didn't I? Don't be so touchy.
I thnik Cats are the best for a charter. we have chartered Mantas, St Francis, Moorings 3800, Wildcats etc. There is a learning curve. We learned to tack from a broad reach backwinding the jib. On a weeks charter you really don't have enough time to learn all the quirks of the boat. For me the worst boat to raise the sail was a Manta 40 in the Abaco's. The sail had an extra block on the halyard to make raising the sail easier but it would constantly get a batten snagged on the lazy jacks, which were not adjustable. You had to be dead into the wind and crank like hell to get past the jacks. The problem was we could not crank fast enough due to the block system to ease raising the sail. We eventually devised a multi man system to get the sail up involving a boat hook, a man grinding, two guys pulling on the halyard and guy on the hard bimini roof to steady the boom.
Just a little morning sarcasm on my part. No worries
.If I had a point it is that they require different handling and that aft shrouds require different sail handling. If you can't go to windward and can't rig for down wind, it may simply require some rethinking and recognition that the feed back from the boat is less obvious. It really can take time to get used to the differences. Folks expect cats to be simpler, when they are actually more demanding in many ways, at least if you want their best.
And yes, they certainly do detune charters.
concerning docking a big cat....
i recently chartered a 44 foot Lagoon in Italy, and received some excellent docking instruction from the owner of the company. As stated above, in tight areas while motoring, lock the helm down on center and steer by gear selection and throttle only.
AN ADDITIONAL STEP he taught me, when trying to get lined up on a slip, was to use the windward engine soley to propel the boat forward or in reverse, leaving the leeward engine to steer by using forward or reverse. Over all,the boat pivots better this way, rather than mixing a combination of the two. Doing this, and doing it the SAME way everytime really cuts down on confusion when things get busy.
Big cats are a great way to entertain friends! I hope you have a really great time.
p.s. I had 19 hours of flying and then a completely sleepless night before my charter because I was nervous about my check out - don't let this happen to you. The learning on these is VERY quick, and I was surprised how responsive and how well the boat handled under power - I was expecting the opposite.
when we do it again, we will anchor out more and use marinas a little less - these boats are truly a comfortable self contained portable cabin.
i recently chartered a 44 foot Lagoon in Italy, and received some excellent docking instruction from the owner of the company. As stated above, in tight areas while motoring, lock the helm down on center and steer by gear selection and throttle only.
AN ADDITIONAL STEP he taught me, when trying to get lined up on a slip, was to use the windward engine soley to propel the boat forward or in reverse, leaving the leeward engine to steer by using forward or reverse. Over all,the boat pivots better this way, rather than mixing a combination of the two. Doing this, and doing it the SAME way everytime really cuts down on confusion when things get busy.
Big cats are a great way to entertain friends! I hope you have a really great time.
p.s. I had 19 hours of flying and then a completely sleepless night before my charter because I was nervous about my check out - don't let this happen to you. The learning on these is VERY quick, and I was surprised how responsive and how well the boat handled under power - I was expecting the opposite.
when we do it again, we will anchor out more and use marinas a little less - these boats are truly a comfortable self contained portable cabin.
Our last charter was in the Abacos on a Dream Yacht Charter Lagoon 420. First time in the Bahamas, and first time on a big cat, but I have a good amount of experience on 38-50 ft monohull charterboats in other locations. We were delayed arriving a day due to Sandy's aftermath down there, and we delayed leaving the dock another day due to strong NW winds (very unusual).
Checkout was no different from my Sunsail monohull charters, other than some focus on the two engines and generator, and the chart briefing post Sandy.
When we did leave the dock, we motored into 25-30 kt winds leaving Marsh Harbor before falling off to a beam reach headed for Man-o-War Cay. We raised the main to a double reef size and after a while, let out about half the jib.
As a monohull sailor, my surprise was in how seemingly ineffective the steering seemed to be, especially before unrolling the jib. We used the engines to help steer at first, but after deploying some jib, shut them down. Things got better, I learned to be more patient with steering inputs, and we made good time
The fun part was the entrance to the harbor at Man-o-War, which is very narrow and the wind was howling at 90 deg across the entrance. The engines proved their worth as we crabbed at about a 45 deg angle to the COG through the opening. See picture, the starboard hull bow is pointing in.
So lessons learned were to spend some time the first day learning to appreciate the engines, approach the docks carefully considering what the wind is doing (due to the enormous slab sided hulls) and as a beginner, don't be afraid to start one or both engines to help you through a maneuver. You'll get used to it and have a great time.
Checkout was no different from my Sunsail monohull charters, other than some focus on the two engines and generator, and the chart briefing post Sandy.
When we did leave the dock, we motored into 25-30 kt winds leaving Marsh Harbor before falling off to a beam reach headed for Man-o-War Cay. We raised the main to a double reef size and after a while, let out about half the jib.
As a monohull sailor, my surprise was in how seemingly ineffective the steering seemed to be, especially before unrolling the jib. We used the engines to help steer at first, but after deploying some jib, shut them down. Things got better, I learned to be more patient with steering inputs, and we made good time
The fun part was the entrance to the harbor at Man-o-War, which is very narrow and the wind was howling at 90 deg across the entrance. The engines proved their worth as we crabbed at about a 45 deg angle to the COG through the opening. See picture, the starboard hull bow is pointing in.
So lessons learned were to spend some time the first day learning to appreciate the engines, approach the docks carefully considering what the wind is doing (due to the enormous slab sided hulls) and as a beginner, don't be afraid to start one or both engines to help you through a maneuver. You'll get used to it and have a great time.
Attachments
- Status