I will be purchasing a pre-owned F18 C2 this coming Friday (hopefully). The closest body of water to me is Belews Lake (N of Winston-Salem and Greensboro, NC). Lake Norman (N of Charlotte) is roughly two hrs away.
Are there any other cat sailors around this area?
My wife and I were gung ho H18 racers in OCRA (Ohio Cat Racing Association) in the 90's and always placed high in the H18 class. Getting back into the cat scene if there is one remaining.
Thanks
-doug
@cat-scratch Welcome to TheBeachcats! I think you may be the first to post an actual catamaran related topic on the new forums!
Good luck with the new boat, hopefully the sailors in your area will soon find there way here.
A nearby Hobie Fleet contact might be able to help you find other catsailors in the area: Hobie Fleets – Hobie Class Association of North America
This weekend at Lake Waccamaw NC
I’m a member of Oak Hollow Sailing Club in High Point. While Oak Hollow Lake is small for an F18, we do have cat sailors. Hobie 14, 16s, 17s, 18s, Getaway, Nacra 5.0, A-Cat, Isotope and Topaz. You should come and check us out. We do have a website and Facebook page. We also travel to regattas such as Lake Waccamaw this weekend and Hilton Head the end of October. Vista Point at Jordan Lake is also good for catamarans and Jordan has a lot less power boat traffic than Norman. Belews is a nice size lake but only concrete boat ramps and no beach areas.
@wavestarter Thanks for the info! That makes my decision to purchase the C2 a bit easier knowing there's some action close by.
I've been paddling Belews on my surfski most every week, for the past five years or so, putting in roughly 5-12 miles each outing. Went to Belews yesterday to verify launching and room to bend on the sails, since as a paddler I really didn't account for any of that before. Pine Hall launch has some sandy areas beside the launch, enough room for one boat. Carolina marina is lined in rip-rap, but in a SW breeze, it's relatively protected. I've launched in worse areas with the H18 with no problems and kept the hull from getting scratched.
Of course, I'm accustomed to the characteristics of an H18 from years ago up in Ohio racing with OCRA and CRAM, so this F18 is going to be a different animal for sure. It'd be nice to get my bearings on a smaller lake with an easy access beach. I'm going to have to check out your club.
-doug
@damon-linkous Thanks for the welcome!
I'm kinda flip-flopping about purchasing this F18. Haven't seen it in person yet.... Tomorrow (Friday) is the day. Hopefully I'm not biting off more than I can chew with this boat. Though, our old H18 was the heaviest in our fleet and our crew was second heaviest, but I had done a bunch of little mods to 'turbo-ize' it and make all the sail adjustments easier to adjust on the fly, and flew an oversized asymmetric with a tacking pole that I made from an old sailboard mast and added diamond stays to it. Had to be super-careful about keeping the main tight to keep the mast in one piece. Spaghetti warehouse!
Those were the days.
The seller told me he typically would singlehand this F18 C2 on the Chesapeake. I talked to Hardy Peters (East Coast Sailing) this morning.... he indicated that the C2 is most definitely a two-person cat and not right-able singlehanded. Sure, when racing and in winds over 7 knots I'd guess. Correct me if I'm a bit too enthusiastic. Though, he's on the Albemarle Sound, where I used to sail (others' boats) and paddle surfski a lot since about 12 yrs ago. Yeah, it's windy there with about a 55 mile fetch from the west if sailing out of Colington Harbour.
-doug
@wavestarter We're located in Ararat NC, West of Pilot Mountain. So, Oak Hollow Lake is roughly 45 minutes away. Sounds like a good place to feel the cat out. Probably need a bunch of tacking and jibing practice, anyway! Hopefully the lake is not too shallow for those high-aspect ratio, deep boards.
-doug
@humbug Yeah! Looks like at least two F18's and an F16 are registered for that race.
@wavestarter Thank you for your heads-up about this past weekend's regatta at Oak Hollow. I had a wonderful time crewing for Warren on the club's H16, and afterwards very much enjoyed late lunch and conversation with the guys.
A wonderful group of multihull sailors! The comradery of the club helps make it much easier for me to commit to getting another cat.
Thanks wavestarter!
Well, I gotta let y'all know....
We're the new owners of a Goodall F18 C2 Cat!
We brought her home today.
She needs some TLC. But she's structurally solid.
Cant' wait to get her in the water.
This evening, Lisa and I were looking through all the old photos and log book entries from our cat racing days with OCRA (1995-1999). Hopefully more fun and adventurous memories being created and stories logged are just around the corner.
-doug
Well, I gotta let y'all know....
We're the new owners of a Goodall F18 C2 Cat!
We brought her home today.
She needs some TLC. But she's structurally solid.
Congratulations! Here's to making new memories!
This evening, Lisa and I were looking through all the old photos and log book entries from our cat racing days with OCRA (1995-1999). Hopefully more fun and adventurous memories being created and stories logged are just around the corner.
Last weekend, I did a regatta together with the same old friend/boatmate and at the same venue as my very first regatta in ~1996. Thought that was pretty cool to be doing so after almost thirty years...talk about some fond memories and stories! (Maybe I'll get up to Oak Hollow and make some there one of these days.)
@rattlenhum memories...
Just yesterday I happened across photos from a regatta Holloween party at Birmingham.