Hi all (well anyone who takes the time to read this)
I've been doing research on this site for a while, usually if I have a question the answer is already here and you get opinions from every angle, different types of boat owners, sailing styles, and regions, it is sweet, great job with this site admins!

I've been sailing for a couple years, I'm slightly embarrassed to say but I learned on a Aqua Cat 12.5, say what you want about those boats but everyone starts somewhere, for me it was a $250 cat (with trailer) on a 200 acre lake in Northern Indiana, definitely not a performance cat but a good starter especially for the money. I've played on a couple of "more serious" cats and have seen a couple of races, I also have a small mono that I've sailed and am currently fully restoring. I can say that I am in love with the sport of sailing, especially cats.

I'm looking to upgrade my fleet currently, I've got my eyes on a few cats in the 16-18' foot range (preferring the bigger side of that, I've gotten a lot of info and opinions from this site, I've got my eyes on the Nacra 5.2, 5.5, Hobie 16, 18, Prindle 16, 18, and even a couple of g-cats and super cats have popped up in the area, I'm leaning heavily towards the Nacra boats.

Any opinions on the Boston whaler super cat 17? I haven't seen much of that on here... (might start a new thread)

My sailing plans for my next cat are:

Sail with friends on board 30%
Sail solo to gain experience 50%
Casual regattas some racing (probably more often solo than crew until I meet some more sailors)20%

My range currently is 1-3k depending on the deal, what I currently have saved in the cat fund and can get by the boss (wife) is on the low end of that so I'm not really in a hurry. I'm crewing for friends and playing on the small lake having fun in the meantime. Someday I'll be a rich experienced skipper buying a 20k A-cat, haha.

If anyone in West Michigan needs crew let me know, at 220+ I'm a little dense but I can move around and I'm a easy going fun guy. On top of sailing I'm into just everything outside. I'm pretty new to west michigan so I would love to find some people to crew with.


Wow that was a lot, thanks for reading if you made it this far, and thanks for all of the info that I've collected from here in the past couple years.

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Cesar (Cez) S.
Hobie 16 (had a few)
Nacra 5.2 "Hull Yeah"
Vectorworks XJ - A class (not named yet)
West Michigan (Grand Rapids/Holland Area)
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cezo823

Wow that was a lot, thanks for reading if you made it this far, and thanks for all of the info that I've collected from here in the past couple years.

Cez, great to meet you it sounds like you have a handle on getting started, be sure and keep us updated on your progress, especially when you enter your first regatta.

Signed,
All the admins on this site.

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Damon Linkous
1992 Hobie 18
Memphis, TN

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Quote

opinions on the Boston whaler super cat 17? I haven't seen much of that on here... (might start a new thread)

same cat as the supercat 17 now made by aqurius-sails - http://www.aquarius-sail.com/

great cat.
VERY VERY WET (lots of splash, and spray)
great for 1 or 2 people
can be a bit tippy when sailed very hard (capsize)
has shroud extenders to help right the boat after a capsize (again a bit tippy if driven hard)

Thanks Damon, I will keep you guys posted for sure, I'm sure that there will be some entertaining stories that I will be sharing, hopefully I won't be the only one getting a laugh out of them.

Thanks for the info MN3, there is a Super Cat 17 north of here that has been on the market for quite a while, it was 1k on craigslist but the link is dead now, I wrote down the guys info though. Came with trailer, no pic of sails and no real mention of accessories (trap, etc) lines were good.
I just haven't seen enough opinions on them to know what to think. They look nice but so does a box of chocolates and "you never know what cha gonna get"

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Cesar (Cez) S.
Hobie 16 (had a few)
Nacra 5.2 "Hull Yeah"
Vectorworks XJ - A class (not named yet)
West Michigan (Grand Rapids/Holland Area)
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Cesar-

For what it's worth, there is a group of guys sailing cats on Austin Lake (just south of Kalamazoo). They have a mix of boats ranging from F-18 to single-handed H14s. A number of the guys are CRAM members and I'm sure they would be more than happy to lend a hand or offer advice. There are also several guys (some of which are on this board) who keep there boats at Muskegon. Again, a range of boats, mostly H16 and H18.

Speaking of Muskegon, we just had a CRAM regatta there last weekend. If 15-18kn and 4-6ft waves are your idea of fun, we had it in spades. First time I've ever had my H18 completely out of the water... The fact that nothing broke and we never went swimming was a minor miracle.

Let us know if you need anything

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Jeff R
'88 H18 "Jolly Mon"
'10 C2 USA1193
NE IN / SE MI
cramsailing.com
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I'm slightly embarrassed to say but I learned on a Aqua Cat 12.5, say what you want about those boats but everyone starts somewhere,

There ia an Aqua Cat 14' for sale here, they only want $195 for it, & seems to be in good shape. My buddy & I are trying to buy it for $100, then take it out in a 50 click blow, just to see how quickly it would self destruct!
There is nothing wrong with sailing whatever you have, or can afford. I sailed a Bravo (12') for 4 days, the AquaCat has to be at least as much fun as that.

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Hobie 18 Magnum
Dart 15
Mystere 6.0XL Sold Was a handful solo
Nacra 5.7
Nacra 5.0
Bombardier Invitation (Now officially DEAD)
Various other Dock cluttering WaterCrap
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Hahahaha, that would be a experience worth $100! Good luck. Please put up some pics if that happens.
We had some good times on that little boat, I would never downgrade to one but when you don't know any better it's all good. For as cheap as you can find them these days they are great for getting kids started in the sport.

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Cesar (Cez) S.
Hobie 16 (had a few)
Nacra 5.2 "Hull Yeah"
Vectorworks XJ - A class (not named yet)
West Michigan (Grand Rapids/Holland Area)
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Jeff, thanks for the info,
I'm actually from N. Indiana(South Bend Area) and just moved up to Grand Rapids area.
I've actually read about the austin lake club, I'm gonna head down there as soon as I get my bigger cat (unfortunately it probably won't be until vary late this year or spring 2012, I'm gonna buy when people are ditching their boats to avoid storage fees) , if you ever need a crew and are open to have a new guy on board please send me a pm.
Muskegon!!! I went up for that last weekend actually, If you saw the guy with the 2 year old running around while you guys were setting up go out after the storm at the beach launch that was us. that was me and little cez' (Kingston), he is a fan of the sport too.
We got there there right when you guys came in from the storm I heard about a couple capsies from a guy i was talking to, that storm blew in quick and the winds stayed up after that, it looked like a sketchy fun time out there, you guys were a little far from us to see clearly from the beach but we got some decent pictures with the canon rebel, I was wishing i was out there.

Between CRAM, Austin Lake, Muskegon, Weko Beach, and whatever else, there are a lot of opportunities around I'm excited to get around and sail.

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Cesar (Cez) S.
Hobie 16 (had a few)
Nacra 5.2 "Hull Yeah"
Vectorworks XJ - A class (not named yet)
West Michigan (Grand Rapids/Holland Area)
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Cesar

Just north of you in Port Sheldon area. Purchased an '84 P-16 this summer and am a total newb. Have boat on the beach so hopefully will get another shot out on the lake before pulling it out. Good luck in your search.

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Dave R.
Grand Haven, MI
'84 Prindle 16
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Dave,
Hope you’ve been having fun this summer, You aren’t far from me at all, I’m in Hudsonville and can be to Port Sheldon in like 20 minutes and GH in not much longer than that. I’ll send you a pm with my email, if you end up going back out maybe I’ll come out and meet you, I would just need to know where I can put my boat in at.

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Cesar (Cez) S.
Hobie 16 (had a few)
Nacra 5.2 "Hull Yeah"
Vectorworks XJ - A class (not named yet)
West Michigan (Grand Rapids/Holland Area)
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