Has anybody seen one of these (RS CAT16 catamaran) actually sailing? Any opinions?
It looks similar to the Dart16, is there any connection?
Hi Flyhull - I took one for a test sail when I was over in the UK in March, met the RS guys behind the design - a great team. I'm new to CATs (and coming at it as a windsurfer who wants to introduce his children to some Pacific Ocean time) but the RS Cat 16 felt ridged and with some pace, and given the roto-moulded construction it felt light and nimble. The RS team are confident the CAT 16 is night & day compared to other roto moulded designs currently on the market, such as from Laser, Topper, Hobie. It's also a very nice looking boat - striking design.
This is a very good video to show the boat at work:
It doesn't look as a dart 16 at all in the bow-section. it does in the
rear-section.
Roto-moulded hulls are great for sailing schools and kids, in France
there's a great amount of Dart 16"s at the training centers, and, they
get abused!!
flyhull wrote: Has anybody seen one of these (RS CAT16 catamaran) actually sailing? Any opinions?
It looks similar to the Dart16, is there any connection?
The RS team are confident the CAT 16 is night & day compared to other roto moulded designs currently on the market, such as from Laser, Topper, Hobie.
Only a marketing major could make such a statement. I had a hands on look at the Topper Topaz 16. I'm not sure what could be done to make any roto molded boat better than the Topper. It is stiff, lighter than a Hobie 16 or Nacra 5.0, comes with squaretop & spin setup, & sells brand new for 12K CDN.
Night & day compared to a Hobie Wave yes, but not the others mentioned.
Edited by Edchris177 on Sep 24, 2014 - 02:49 PM.