Hi all,
I just joined up as I've been having a few issues with my Prindle 16. I had a quick search on the forum but couldnt find anything specific to this.

I sail on the South Coast of the UK in a place called Mudeford which has 'interesting' tidal and current patterns...
I spent years on monohulls and had a few tryouts with cats some years ago and liked it so much that I wanted to get back into it.
I got a Prindle 16 very cheaply a few months back. As I don't live near the coast I don't get out too much, so the first time I got out the wasn't a whisper of wind but I still managed to crawl across the bay and back very slowly with no issues.
On the second occasion storm Frank was on its way so it was pretty lively.
I found turning about very tricky. The tiller was very heavy (so much so that one of the joining pins popped out at one point..) and the boat kept going into irons and failing to come about. I managed it eventually but considering the speed it seemed super clumsy.

I've read into it and it seems that the sheeting has to be bang on to get a good result but even then I cant believe it's that twitchy!

I was sailing with just the mainsail up.
I checked the hulls afterwards and one did have about a litre of water in but both are patent with no visible holes or cracks.

Any tips would be gratefully received!



Edited by matandthecat on Jan 05, 2016 - 08:37 AM.

Drill a second hole in bottom of rudder pintle if it's popping out. Mast could be raked back a little, but for sure use the jib to solve tacking problem. If you're going to sail single handed, put or use the reef points in main and practice reefing in a calm period. Buy some silicone sealant, squeeze some on your finger, and rub on the underside of hull/deck seam all around boat as well as rudder gudgeons to stop leak. If hull plugs are missing, use duck tape to cover these blind holes. Pete

mat,

1) Get your rudders dialed in, will make a huge difference

http://www.thebeachcats.com/pictures?g2_itemId=89541

2) Sail with jib and learn to use jib to swing bows around, known as back-wind(ing) the jib

3) When tacking, speed is your friend, and do a sweeping turn to keep your speed up, cranking a hard turn will slow you real quick as the rudders will "plow" you to a dead stop.

4) TOW = Time On Water

R

mat,
all great points from the-renovator, especially 'backing the jib'. keep it sheeted on the leeward side until you're around, then release and let it cross.

one other tip i have observed when sailing with only the main, is to release the main (a lot) as you tack. the temptation is to sheet it in hard to 'get going' again as soon as possible when you're mostly thru the tack, but you need to let the back of the cat get swung all the way around before sheeting in again.

imagine the wind is pushing 'sideways' on the main which will work against you to straighten the boat out and keep you in irons. let the cat 'over-tack' before resheeting the main.
j



Edited by arch on Jan 06, 2016 - 01:23 AM.

--
Aquacat 12 (sold)...'87 Nacra 5.8 (sold)...'03 Nacra Inter18 (sold)
Venture 15 (sold)....'89 Nacra 5.8 (sold)...'91 Nacra 5.8NA (sold)
'99 Nacra Inter20 (sold)
--

Brilliant! - thanks for the pointers.
I'll put them all in action in a few weeks and see where I get to.

I'm not planning to sail solo but the wind was so hectic last time I was attempting to be cautious.
I'll get the jib up for our next outing!

If you are experiencing a lot of weather helm (a strong pull on the tiller) then most likely it is because the rudders are not locked all the way down which causes excessive weather helm. I'm not particularly familiar with the rudder locking mechanism on Prindles, but on Hobies this is a very common problem for new sailors since the rudder system is not totally intuitive. In any case, the first step should be to ensure that you are locking the rudders down fully and that they are staying down.

Also, as others have mentioned, using the jib will help to reduce weather helm since the force generated by the jib tends to help pull the bows off of the wind. Backwinding the jib is also an effective technique to help get the boat to turn through a tack. If you're sailing without a jib, then tacking successfully requires that you build up speed and enter the tack with the mainsail sheeted very hard. When the boat reaches head to wind, release several feet of mainsheet and keep the rudders held over to allow the boat to pivot onto the new tack. Then slowly straighten the rudders and sheet in. It takes a fair amount of practice and technique to master this in high wind.

sm



Edited by Dogboy on Jan 06, 2016 - 06:31 AM.

mat,
one other trick is to keep your weight where it is and don't cross over til the tack has been completed... or at least stay in the middle of the boat til fully tacked. this can be disastrous in high winds but may help in light air.

in high winds, i'll often find myself in irons during a tack and starting to slip backwards. i don't panic but turn/steer the rudders to swing the cat in the right direction, then sheet in and i'm off on the right tack. works well.
good luck!
j



Edited by arch on Jan 06, 2016 - 01:34 AM.

--
Aquacat 12 (sold)...'87 Nacra 5.8 (sold)...'03 Nacra Inter18 (sold)
Venture 15 (sold)....'89 Nacra 5.8 (sold)...'91 Nacra 5.8NA (sold)
'99 Nacra Inter20 (sold)
--

If you do get stuck head to wind, remember push, push and pull, pull.

Push the tiller and push the boom will back you up and put you back on the same tack.

Pull the tiller and pull on the boom will back you up and put you on the other tack.

--
Ron
Nacra F18
Reservoir Sailing Assn.
Brandon, Mississippi
--

Great pointers!
Dogboy - very pertinent as it was a lowish tide in the bay and rudders were only about 75% deployed. I'd never sailed a cat with anything other than full rudder depth so this coupled with the weather makes a lot of sense.

All of these points combined show that I had a fairly perfect storm of errors all in one go.

Hopefully lesson learned (the hard way )

Nacra55 - that's exactly what I did (resetting the tack and trying again after gaining some speed) but was running out of water quick and it took about 3 goes (and some fairly choice swearing) to turn about

My technique can only improve from this moment



Edited by matandthecat on Jan 06, 2016 - 06:03 AM.