hello i am looking to buy a catamaran but i am worried that i wil not be abe to rite it if tossed so does anybody have any advice on how hard it is to rite a 20 foot cat

Well if you are Little John then you need Big Ben as a crew.

Hi..If you are a novice, please, please please consider a smaller cat. A hobie 16, Prindle 16 or Nacra 5.0. Even one of the recreational models like the Hobie Waves.

A 20' cat is a lot of boat and not reccomended for novice sailors. They have enormous sail area that normally cannot be significantly detuned, are very fast, heavy and quite complex. You need at least 300LBs+ of crew weight and even then they are a lot to muscle around.

For the experienced and right sized crew, righting a big cat is not a problem. Righting bags, mast floats, righting poles etc ate helpeful. If you are alone or with an experienced underweight crew, you will have a very difficult if not impossible time righting an 18-21' cat. Other bad things might happen.

I know of what I speak. I had a H14 Turbo for 20+ years, sailed H16's and H18's owned by friends and still had a very tough two years with my 19' Nacra5.8na. We'd never part with her now but she gave the wife and me some grey hairs early on and we are careful about when and in what conditions we sail.

Why ruin your fun by having a large cat scare the hell out of you, your family and friends?

Larry has a point, except for the 300 lbs of crew (fine for some 18s, too much for Unis). It should be closer to 400 for performance 20 foot cats. There is a lot of technique involved in getting a bigger boat upright and a small or inexperienced crew will go over more often than not once the wind speed starts to increase.

Which 20 footer are you considering? I assume Nacra 20
How wide is it?
Does the boat have boards?
How tall is the mast?
What is the mast made of?
How much does it weigh?
How much do you weigh?
What is your sailing experience?

The amount of effort required and possibility of successfully of righting the boat will depend on the answers to the questions.

I (5'10" - 180 lbs) solo an 18 foot Nacra most of the time and have no problem righting it without a bag or pole as long as there is enough wind to explain being capsized in the first place. The boat has the advantage of having a carbon spar, which I understand makes it significantly easier to right.

You realize that the Nacra 20 is a complicated boat and will provide performance on a par with the Tornado(previous Olympic class).




edited by: rpiper138, Apr 19, 2009 - 11:14 PM

Well...I did say 300LB +. Good adds.

DON'T LISTEN TO THEM! GO FOR IT!


Please contact me for my personal info so you can add me as a beneficiary to your policy!

I saw the LBS+ Larry, but wanted to make it clear that bigger is better in this particular case.

Andrew: I didn't say don't buy a 20, I just said be aware that it is a lot of boat. Remember that if they can't find a body, the policy paypout will take years.

I am in no rush!

What a humanitarian you are!

so which type of boat would you sugest

i mean i dont feel like dying yet lol

what is your weight and experience level? With or without crew?

That being said... Hobie, prindle 16's are a great way to start...

If you have lots of $$$ the f16's look amazing... but its a hight tec... race boat... probably overkill

There is a large club in Ft Walton... perhaps you can find them and go see different boats.. talk to the guys, ask for rides...

There is a good overview of many of the most popular boats here:

http://www.sailingproshop.com/catamaran_guide.aspx

It was written in 2000, so boat technology at the high end has come a long way.

ya

Are you planning to sail with crew John?

yes i am

Just noticed that looks like a Hobie Wave in your pic. Is that what you sail now?

If so, I feel pretty safe in suggesting you move to the 16' higher performance cats.

Going to a 20' cat would be like going from a Honda Fit to a Lamborghini.