Sarasota Florida has Sarasota Bay, a body of water 12 miles long and 2.5 miles wide. Beach cat sailing year round. No place to put in, the entire place is private property except for one place about 25 yards wide. Rock and shell, so you have to anchor if you like your boat. There's a sailing club next door to this location. They have a launch ramp between two long docks and the docks are too close together to jibe and get to open water. Most cat sailors simply mast up trailer to the spot next door. The City could stop us launching at this spot anytime. The Gulf is great sailing but no place to park a vehicle with a trailer. There are public launch ramps but they are powerboat oriented and would be a nerve wracking experience to sail in and out of. There are a few good places if you could get your trailer over a curb and launch without the cops seeing you. The reason I've brought this up is because over the years I've watched a steady decline in beach cat sailing in this area. I've sailed all over this Bay and out of all these multi-million dollar residences I've only seen one beach cat behind a house on their own private beach. When I started sailing many years ago in Southern CA., I had several friends I did informal races with, "out to the seal buoy and back, last one in buys Margaritas at El Toritos." Those were those days. I also can't help but notice all the great boats for sale and much cheaper than you would expect. I'll never be able to sell my old G-cat for close to what I've put into it. This brings me to what I intended to write about. It's getting harder and harder to step the mast on my G-cat so I am looking at a Weta with great interest. It checks a lot of boxes. Light weight, easy to launch and rig, I read the mast only weighs 16 lbs! Built in dolly as part of the trailer. They really thought of everything. I only weigh 150 so I could really make it go! But best of all I would be able to physically get the boat to some of these places that are inaccessible to me now. What I want to know is, are there any of you older sailors out there like me that have made this transition? If so I'd sure like to hear all about it. Used ones seem to be few and far between. Perhaps this site should be changed to "Beach Multi-Hulls".
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Bill Townsend
G-Cat 5.0
Sarasota
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No place to launch
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Posted: Jun 03, 2020 - 07:42 PM
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- Rank: Master Chief
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Posted: Jun 04, 2020 - 08:35 AM
Bill - there is a weta thread on the sailing anarchy forums
they talk in great detail all about the weta and modifications to it
I have sailed a weta in 20 -25
it was fun but they don't call it WETa for. nothing - it was a wet ride -
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Posted: Jun 04, 2020 - 11:01 PM
I have FX One cat, Weta trimaran, and Hobie Tandem Island. What you've been seeing over the years is the demand for private waterfront property is always increasing, to the detriment of day sailing and beach cat sailing in particular. Here in NC, with the sixth longest coastline in the US, even small fishing towns on the sounds are disappearing to private development. Marinas in coastal towns are shutting down and being replaced with condos. Old family campgrounds are being sold that can't pay ever increasing taxes. Everyone wants a view of the water, but no one wants to sail on it. Thank god for state wildlife boat ramps or we'd have no where to launch anything. I think the Weta is a good choice for you, but it has a delicate fiberglass on foam core that is easily damaged if the amas hit the dock, or you don't have soft sand to beach it. The Hobie Island is the best bet for you (roto-molded polyurethane hull, retractable sideboard, and pull-up rudder) Plenty of storage, reef-able main, 180 mirage pedal drive, stability in high winds and waves, low draft in shallow water, etc. You can also add a spinnaker and set it up wing on wing downwind. Not as fast as the Weta, but you'll be doing a LOT more sailing in it!
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High Point, NC
Exploder A15 A-Class Catamaran
Hobie FX One Catamaran
Hobie Tandem Island Trimaran
Weta Trimaran
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Posted: Jun 05, 2020 - 07:33 AM
Have you been to the Sarasota Sailing Squadron? Been there for the Labor Day Regatta and the Buzzelli Rendevous. Excellent facilities and friendly folks. Fairly reasonable rates.
http://sarasotasailingsqu…uploads/Member-Fees.pdf
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Posted: Jun 05, 2020 - 08:09 AM
Your link has a few extra characters in it
http://sarasotasailingsqu…/uploads/Member-Fees.pdf -
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Posted: Jun 05, 2020 - 01:41 PM
Yes. I've been a member off and on several times for the last 20 years. Now that I live much closer I'd just as soon trailer to the launch site. Since they use the same place to launch beach cats as the public uses the only thing I would really gain is the mast up storage. Stepping the mast is still not too big a deal for me especially since it really does not add that much time to the overall set up. I was never what you would call an active member. I was only interested in boat storage. But now I'd rather save over a thousand dollars per year and keep my boat safe in the shade at home. The squadron is a nice club but I've been worried about it lately. Not that long ago you had to be on a waiting list to get a storage spot. Now there are lots of vacancies, in fact the spot that I vacated last Jan. is still empty and it's a primo spot. I've been watching an ARC SC 17 not move for years, weeds around it knee high and tramp deteriorating. Also a new looking Weta I've never seen go out. And that's only a small sample. I don't understand why people pay to store a boat and never use it. I still would like to hear from more (if any) sailors out there who have gone from a beach cat to a Weta, why and what they think the pros and cons are.
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Bill Townsend
G-Cat 5.0
Sarasota
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Posted: Jun 05, 2020 - 02:21 PM
again - sailinganarchy multihull forum has a weta thread that has 600+ responses
http://forums.sailinganar…comments#comment-4505946
Edited by MN3 on Jun 05, 2020 - 02:22 PM.
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