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The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ.
The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.
This handsome catboat was parked in my marina at one of the temporary slips. For such a small boat (20-22 ft ?), it has a big cockpit. Unusual running rigging that's out of the way, too.
Thought one of you might know something about this kind of sailboat. The skipper has not been around much.
It looks like a fun boat to cruise around the bay on a warm fall day.
JohnP 1978 C25 SR/FK "Gypsy" Mill Creek off the Magothy River, Chesapeake Bay Port Captain, northern Chesapeake Bay
Nice layout. I like the drawers under the seats in the cockpit. The wheel is so cool...
We have a similar looking boat in my marina. The fellow bought it this spring and worked on it all summer. He didn't exactly know how to rig it, so he worked with several other catboat owners nearby and they got out sailing several times. It has a small diesel for power.
Very compact, very cool, but how seaworthy? Are they really intended for protected tidal waters like bays and estuaries?
<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Voyager</i> <br />...but how seaworthy? Are they really intended for protected tidal waters like bays and estuaries?<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></font id="quote"></blockquote id="quote">Pretty much. The broad beam and relatively flat bottom made them good work-boats for hauling cargo between ships and docks, and for handling fishing gear. The long, low gaff rig combined with the broad beam gave them both power and stability, while making them simple to handle around a crowded harbor. The centerboards and barn-door rudders let them operate in skinny water. I sail Beetle Cats, virtual scale models of the big originals, around Mystic Seaport.
The 12' Beetle carries 100 sq. ft. of sail (compared to 75' on a 14' Sunfish). The Seaports's <i>Breck Marshall</i> is a 20' wooden reproduction that carries passengers around the Seaport under almost 400' of sail. It's amazing to watch her move in very light as well as heavy air, zig-zagging through the boats.
You can see a number of local catboats out on Fisher's Island Sound in its famous "slop" (2' seas from all directions, usually with and against a 2 knot current), which they seem to handle comfortably. (Note the high freeboard forward and the high coamings aft.) But it's no coincidence that modern sailboats built for coastal cruising and racing have very different hull forms and rigs. The traditional catboat is a purpose-built vessel.
They look so nice and builders like Marshall have been around building quality for decades. Cat boats clearly have tons of space too . A good friend went from an Alberg 30 to a Marshall Cat -- 22 ft I believe -- and after one season sold it and bought an Oday 272. He had a lifetime of sailing experience but claimed that the large main was actually more difficult to reef/trim in blustery conditions -- he never felt as secure sailing it. Another friend who has an 18 Marshall loves his but only sails on light wind days. All that said, in today's boat "new" market Cat boats are about all that is left of the truly "classic" look -- above and below the waterline.
By the way, in a sudden blow in a gaff-rigged catboat, you can quickly "scandalize" the main, reducing its effective size by almost half... You ease the halyard to the peak of the gaff while keeping the forward halyard tight, allowing the top of the gaff to drop on the leeward side of the sail, folding the sail into a long, low triangle. That's the easy part... If you tack, you must raise the gaff enough to let it drop to the new leeward side. It's not an ideal reef, which is why gaffers often have conventional reef-points in the sails, but it was a solution for the 19th-century sailor with no "iron genny" to turn to in a squall.
Geez, ya learn great new stuff on this forum. I was reading a book over the weekend and the author made reference to "scandalize the main" and I didn't have a clue what that meant. Now I know. Thanks, Dave.
Hinterhoeller (Nonsuch) made some interesting cat-rigged boats--very large for their length, with the wishbone (loose-footed) boom, and a hull and deck that has a traditional catboat look. It's more contemporary below the waterline. There are several 30s around here, and they're <i>huge!</i> The 30, 33, and 36 definitely fit into the "blue water" category. The 22 is probably the biggest 22' sailboat on the water.
Then there are the Freedom cats... "Point-and-shoot" sailing.
Notice: The advice given on this site is based upon individual or quoted experience, yours may differ. The Officers, Staff and members of this site only provide information based upon the concept that anyone utilizing this information does so at their own risk and holds harmless all contributors to this site.