Hey everyone,
I'm a beginner to catamaran sailing. I've done about 50 hours on an RS Zest, and about 5 hours on a hobie wave. Comfortable on both. I'm looking to buy my first beach catamaran maybe in about 1 to 1.5 years.
I belong to a local boat club (joined this past year), and I currently sail in the Hudson river area about an hour north of NYC.
I'd love advice from experienced beach cat sailors on what model would be a good fit for someone like me.
Here's a breakdown of my key criteria and what I'm hoping to find:
- Beginner-friendly & Scalable — Something forgiving for a sailor that is more of a beginner. Scalability is important to me because I would love to have something I can grow into (as opposed to outgrow).
- Solo or 1-2 crew — I will be sailing alone most of the time, but occasionally bring a friend or family member (total weight probably up to ~350-400 lbs when loaded). Having something that can be righted by one person is also a huge plus.
- Durable & low maintenance — Ease of maintenance is important to me simply because as a beginner I can focus my time on other areas
- Portability — Moderately important. It’d be great to bring it to different areas, but most of the time it will be at the boat club.
- Budget — No specific budget. Getting something used is probably the best bet. But if it meant spending a little more to get a ton more value out of it for the long term, I would strongly consider it.
- Fun factor — I want it to be exciting once I get the hang of it, would love to be able to leverage the use of a trapeze once I am able.
From what I've read online, I have narrowed it down to Hobie 16, HXCat Catamaran, or Nacra 500 (Mk1 or Mk 2).
What would you recommend for someone in my position? Any specific models to hunt for (or avoid)? Pros/cons of the popular ones? Where's the best place to look for good used ones these days?
Thanks so much for any tips — super excited to get out there and start flipping boats (intentionally... at first 😅)!
Welcome to The Beachcats forum, Tas!
What I would suggest is to crew as much as possible on others' boats to gain more sailing experience, and also to get some idea of the kind of boat that you'd like. You'll learn a lot faster while crewing for an experienced skipper than you would sailing by yourself -- I can't stress this enough, and you'll have far less frustration while gaining skill very quickly.
Also, I would do a lot of reading about sailing theory. The sailing basics don't really matter if they're from the mono or multi hull perspectives, though obviously focus on the multihull handling aspects.
If you've already had some crewing experience and you believe that you MUST own a boat in short order, here are some suggestions:
Prindle 16: Excellent handling cat, light weight for easy one-person handling on the hard (beach, trailer, ground) and on the water. But also a good sailing boat with two (light-ish-weight) people.
Prindle 18: A big step up from a P16, though still light-weight compared to other 18 footers. Also an excellent sailing boat, but won't point to weather as close as a boat with daggerboards/centerboards, but will be just as fast, or faster, on a reach and broad-reach. Awesome boat for two people, and with skill and lower winds can be handled by a single skipper, though maybe not right-able without a water bag. I couldn't right my P18 without help and I was around 200 lbs back then.
Hobie 16: You can't go wrong with a nice H16. There are literally tons of H16's to play around with on the water. Though, they're the cat that is most prone to pitchpoling in a good breeze, but they're good solid boats, too, if not neglected for years.
Hobie Getaway: This is a very simple and rugged boat that can carry a load of passengers, and many have a tramp forward of the main cross beam. A real party boat that still can kick up it's heels and move reasonably respectively. You could single-hand this boat, but righting it might be a big problem. Specs indicate it's 390 lbs. -- right up there with the F18-class weights.
Hobie Wave: E-gad! Other people here know how I think of this 'boat.' It's NOT a gateway catamaran, meaning that because very few bigger, faster cat regattas allow Waves to compete because they're so slow, Wave sailors don't always get to experience the sheer awesomeness of a fast cat passing them by like they're standing still, so Wave sailors seem to stay in the Wave class without upgrading to a 'real' catamaran. Yes, those boats have a large following, but in my mind that shouldn't be a big factor in what YOU want to sail and experience (fun, fast, excitement and a bit more complexity). However, I have to concede that it's a very good beginner's boat in that it's very rugged and super-simple to rig and sail, though not very exciting in my opinion. I could be wrong, but someone who goes by the moniker of 'Tas' would likely want a fast boat that he can really chomp his teeth into and grow his skills with.
There's a bunch of older boats as well, such as the G-cat, Nacra's (older and new), etc. that are out there, but may need some TLC to become seaworthy again. For a beginning sailor, it's always far more forgiving to find a cat that is truly ready to sail. Having a trailer is a BIG bonus as well, since you can go sailing at different venues.
Nacra has quite a few good relatively-recent models of boats that you might find on the used market ( and new) that would be a good pick for a beginner wanting to advance quickly.
Hope this helps a little.
It helps very much thank you. I have had the chance to crew a few times this past season, and plan on doing so again this year. I am also an avid reader, so I've been catching up on that angle as well.
That being said the boat club I belong to doesn't have any catamarans unfortunately. Mostly monohulls (zests, laser, thistle, and member owned boats). I think we have one member owned Corsair and one member owned hobie wave. That being said I think your point still stands. The general experience is more important.
As far as timing is concerned, no particular rush on my end. I wouldn't mind waiting longer if it meant getting the basics right.
Thanks again!
If you're looking at used boats, and don't have much experience in repair or maintenance of boats, it would be a good call to have someone who is experienced to accompany you to examine a prospective boat.
First thing to look at on a used boat would be
the Trampoline: Depending on where and how the boat was stored and kept, tramps can degrade pretty quickly ( a few years), or if kept indoors, can last for decades or longer. If you see any small tears, the tramp likely needs replacing. Most production cats can have a tramp made by non-OEM sail-makers, etc. if they have a good pattern.
Hulls: check for soft spots in the decks, sides of hulls, and especially the bottoms where the boat may be sitting on a trailer pad/roller. I would stay away from boats that have been kept directly on a beach or out in the open for their lives. Speaking from recent experience! Dang it!
Sails: Check for wear and holes. The bolt ropes on the main sail that slide into the mast should be reasonably free of fraying. Any sail material rips should be fixed by a sail maker... trying to repair with sail-tape won't cut it for long. New sails can be had from a sail-maker, but they're not going to be inexpensive.
Standing Rigging: If the boat has been primarily sailed in fresh water, standing rigging might last a good long time (10 yrs or more?) if the mast has not stored in a rigged condition and the boat not abused. If sailed in salt water (western/southern Chesapeake, ocean), then you should likely replace rigging every few years, also depending on storage of the boat, and whether the boat was washed after use (most are not washed).
Running rigging: It's always a good idea and piece of mind to replace the trapeze lines. It's not that fun (though sometimes funny to others) watching your boat and crew sail away after you clipped in and took a dunk after the adjustment line parted way. Mainsheets take a good amount of abuse, as do jib sheets, so those may need to be replaced, or sometimes merely soaked in Simple-Green solution if grungy.
Main halyard: Always ensure this line is in good condition! On the older Hobie 16's that I've known, they've have a wire-rope/synthetic halyard that might need replacing due to the wire-to-rope splice degrading.
Same goes for the Jib halyard, if it has one.
The added costs of new items (tramp, sail suit, rigging, etc) should be compared to the value and condition of the rest of the boat.
Also, for a relative beginner sailor, I would steer away from boats with daggerboards and possibly centerboards, just due to the added complexity and maintenance and sailing logistics. Especially if you're going to be landing on a beach, and/or sailing in relatively shallow waters frequently. It sucks to run aground at speed after forgetting to raise the daggers and ending up with a damaged daggerboard and/or hull (I've never done that with my H18, but I've seen the resulting carnage). If you're a technically-minded, then you may avoid getting into that scenario if you're careful and weather conditions aren't beyond your skill levels.
If I were in your shoes, and wanting to sail immediately after purchase and money was available, I would seriously consider one of the boardless Nacra's.... the 500 or possibly the bigger 570. If you're really randy and technically-minded, then maybe the F16 Nacra... but that's getting into a far more complex craft... BUT.... you don't have to put all the bells and whistles (spinnaker, etc) on it right away..... it's a great boat that would allow you to grow into being a brilliant cat sailor/racer... if that's what you think you'd like to do eventually.
I wish that there were other boats like the prindles still in production. They were reasonably simple and light-weight and robust enough, but still very fast and exciting, and perfect for low-time sailors.
@cat-scratch Thanks for the additional feedback. I wasn't planning on looking at any boats with daggerboards, so we're on the same page. I'll look to see if there are any used prindles, though I think a nacra might be in my future (though a little farther out than initially planned).
My local boat club just informed me that they might have an older laser 2 (fully rigged - main, jib, Spinnaker, trapeze) that I potentially could get my hands on. Could be a good intermediate step.
Appreciate all the feedback!
@jack108136 Checked them out. About 4 hours away. Definitely possible, but unlikely as far as a visit is concerned. Could be some great resources over there to ask though.
Thank you for that, I'll reach out to them!
@cat-scratch Thanks for the additional feedback. I wasn't planning on looking at any boats with daggerboards, so we're on the same page. I'll look to see if there are any used prindles, though I think a nacra might be in my future (though a little farther out than initially planned).
My local boat club just informed me that they might have an older laser 2 (fully rigged - main, jib, Spinnaker, trapeze) that I potentially could get my hands on. Could be a good intermediate step.
Appreciate all the feedback!
That Laser-II is a fun boat. Plenty of strings to pull, trim and experiment with. Excellent skill-building boat. I'd get that boat before thinking about a Wave that has merely one string (not counting the near-useless down-haul) and is terribly under-powered. I've seen some guys using a trapeze on a Lazer II while single-handing with good effect. I've read that a trap is nearly impossible on a Wave because of the mast location geometry.
There's got to be some cat sailors around your area... maybe not in your club; If you're here searching for advice on cats, I'd also look on Fakebook for anyone sailing cats in your local region. But, it's always more fun if you're sailing with/against the same type of boats, rather than being the sole fast-cat at the weekly regattas (if your club has those).
Keep us posted on what you do.
Hey All - wanted to run this by you. I came across this listing: https://jerseyshore.craigslist.org/boa/d/ocean-gate-nacra-50-with-trailer/7919726511.html
Spoke to the owner for about a half hour. Great guy. He is an architect and a builder (pretty handy), and bought this boat during COVID as a project. Just ended up moving too far away to get good use out of it.
The information in the listing is pretty accurate. All new rigging and the like. He did some custom work as well to get it up to speed (including building the trailer). I can also get the harnesses from him for trapezing.
As I mentioned in the initial post, I have racked up 70+ hours on a Zest at my local boat club. Figured I'd outgrown it a little and looking for the next step up. I figure eventually a nacra 570 mk2, but I figure this will keep me busy for the next couple of years.
For you experienced cat sailors out there...thoughts?
@tas05005 I have never sailed/maintained a N5.0 but have seen plenty of 'em in action...it's a good boat. Referring to your first post above with regard to just about any cat in this size range.....They can carry 400 lb. crew weight no problem but won't be real fast (can still be a ton of fun with enough wind, though). It's doubtful you'd be able to consistently right them solo without a righting aid (e.g., bag). Otherwise, I think this boat checks all your boxes pretty well.
Does it come with those beach wheels in Pic. 5? They will make your life a lot easier, especially with those skegs.
Regarding the cost...At first glance, I thought it was on the high side, but the boat does appear to be in really good shape. If it has solid hulls it looks like a pretty good deal to me (moreso if it comes with those beach wheels). It's usually better (especially for those less experienced) to spend a little more for a boat that's ready to go rather than deal with the frustrations of a "bargain" boat requiring a lot of work. And how a boat is maintained is generally more important than its age. If kept up reasonably well, you can probaly get most of your money out of it when/if you decide to sell it later. That said, all that really matters is what it's worth to you.
(If you do buy it, I'd recommend it be tied down fore-aft over the beams for trailering, rather than over the hulls.)
Let us know how it goes!
@rattlenhum Thanks for the feedback. I don't think it comes with the cat Trax, but I can double check. Worst case I can get those. I'll need it for ease of maneuvering at the boat club.
He built a custom righting line and he has a water bag has well to help when it capsizes.
The only thing that had me a little iffy is that he mentioned there was some minor issue with the right rudder (when comparing to the left) that I will get some more info on, along with the fact that the owner hasn't been able to fly the hull on this boat. In fairness he only took the boat a few times, and has a background mainly sailing hobies. He readily admitted he may just not have fine tuned it or gotten used it. I just hope its not a design issue with the way it was restored. A large part of the fun for me here is doing dumb things at fast speeds while flying the hull.
I thought this boat might be a good trade-off between value (cheap price), ready to go (fully restored with new rigging), and learning (it's old enough that if I want to fix it or upgrade with items like a furling job then I would learn the boat top to bottom). Whether or not that last item is really worth it is still something I am deciding.
That would seem doubtful. Assuming he was previously a H16 sailor, there are some design differences (pros and cons for both) that would affect hull flying, not to mention age, condition, etc. Also, you can get plenty of good help here with diagnosing the rudder issue and setting up the Nacra steering system.I just hope its not a design issue with the way it was restored.