All,
This site is the best cat site I know of and thought you may be able to help in this area.
I recently acquired a 17' windrider trimaran. Bought it sight unseen, but was pleasantly surprised by the overall condition of hulls, running and standing rigging.
I am an experienced sailor (am 53 and been sailing monohulls for about 33 of those years). About 10 years ago I started sailing cats and have enjoyed sailing more than ever. I have sailed a ton of different boats, but right now am most familiar with my supercat 15 and hobies.
My question is this:
Have any of you sailed the windrider 17 trimaran, and can you give me some general tips on sailing it? Bay starting to get cold now, but I can still get out on it in a wetsuit for a few more weeks and would like to test out the windrider before winter sets in. It would give me a chance to see what it might need and winter project
Thanks for your advice
Needs a taller mast & more sail area. Pete
Welcome to Beachcats!
I've spent a fair amount of time sailing the windrider, both with the reacher and without. Did yours include a reacher? The addition of the windrider to your fleet of cats will provide you with a different experience. Its rather boring compared to flying the hull and the wet ride of you catamarans, but it provides a much more relaxed casual experience. A guest on board doesn't have to do anything, you can take grandma or young kids, etc. You can carry a boombox and listen to Jimmy Buffet and there is no effort at all to sail it, unlike trappezing on the cat. The learning curve to sail it is quick. You will get the hang of it in no time. Heavy air will also provide you with a quick learning curve. You will first notice that the boat doesn't point to weather like your cats, but again, it's a quick adjustment. The windrider is a popular choice for a bay rental platform that works well with inexperienced tourist, so it has to be easy to sail. What's your name? Enjoy.
Thanks for the quick responses.
Sorry - Name is Harry
No reacher, but I thought I would try out with the small jib and main first, before I spend the money on a reacher
I run a small sailing club here on the DE bay and thought this might be a fun "club boat". Grab this boat when we want to take an adult beverage cruise and pile on 4 or 5 adults. Our beach is such that we all have relatively small boats (very shallow water here, so tide watching is critical). None of our cats have daggerboards.
The price was right and shouldn't be too much for two adults to haul up and down the beach with a decent cart. I will likely make something out of the myriad of parts we have, as we are all cheap sailors here
I thought that it likely wouldn't point too well, and also knew they were big in the rental market.
Hoping for a fun sail with the wifes of a few members who do not like the idea of flying a hull and getting too wet
Harry
I've sailed the WR17 pretty extensively and it's a blast but not what I would consider a performance trimaran. Aside from slow tacking which was already mentioned, it's other major downfall is the rudder, or lack thereof. Once the center hull starts to lift the boat will head up immediately and stall.
Understood
It surprised me that it was single ruddered, but like I said, I had never sailed a trimaran, so had little in the way of expectations
Sounds like it will be what it was intended to be - a cruiser for the portion of the club that wants to engage their significant others without all the fear
Thanks
Harry