B-WOT Posted November 30, 2006 Report Share Posted November 30, 2006 I have recently bought a 5.0 and have not sailed a cat for many years... It seems my biggest problem is getting the thing around without stopping dead in the water.. I back the jib which obviously helps me get around but I think my weight of 105kg is not helping having the arse end of the hulls burried in the wet stuff during a tack.. Is trying to get the nose around as quick as possible best, or trying a slower turning, flowing tack to keep up speed a better option..?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HooD Posted December 1, 2006 Report Share Posted December 1, 2006 Many catamaran sailors who move up to sailing catamaran sailboats after sailing dinghies will find they need to develop new techniques for tacking. Catamaran sailboats are not difficult to tack, but if you attempt to tack by just throwing the tiller over, you probably won't do well. Dinghy sailors have refined a sailing technique called the "roll tack" which vastly improves speed coming out of the tack. A lot of catamaran sailors are not aware that you can roll tack your beachcat as well. Read more to find out how. 1. Have some speed so the boat will respond to the rudders. 2. Warn your crew to get ready, cause he/she has a role in the tack maneuver. 3. Announce the tack and move your weight and the crew's weight to the windward rear corner casting as you begin to slowly but firmly push the rudder to 45 degrees. (Notice there were three things going on simultaneously in step 3.) 4. Tighten the main sheet as the hulls head to weather. Continue to hold the tiller in 45 degree position. 5. Don't move your weight until the boat goes through the wind. As soon as the main "pops" to the other side, and it should make some noise, the crew scrambles to the opposite front corner casting and you release about 6-8 inches of mainsheet as you scramble in and under the sail. At this point you have tacked and need only to recover. As you move under the boom, hand yourself the tiller extension on the new side. The forces on the rudders are nearly zero, so be careful not to wiggle or move from 45 degrees yet. 6. As you hand yourself the tiller extension, grab the mainsheet with your other hand and move forward next to the crew on the front corner casting. As you move, bring in tension to the mainsheet. Notice I ignored what the crew does with the jib. I'm convinced it doesn't make any difference what the crew does or when with the jib. The extremes are (a) no jib at all, in which case the crew cannot do any harm whatsoever; and (b) the crew forgets to do anything and the jib backwinds, which is the "standard" for tacking. My crew is instructed to release the jib at step 3 and to take up the slack for the new side during step 4. Then she tensions the jib during step 5. We usually overtack by about 30 degrees and I have to do some serious correcting to get point the right direction. Maybe we should practice more?? The reason you move your weight to the rear corner casting is the form a pivot point for the boat to turn on. Moving two parallel hulls around a circle is very difficult (hence the differential on cars). The reason for moving the crew weight forward is to prevent flipping over backward. The reason for moving the skipper weight forward after the tack is to get the transoms out of the water so the boat will accelerate. David Hall Note: This tacking advice applies to boardless catamarans like the Hobie 14 16 and Prindle 15 16 18, more modern catamarans with daggerboards tack more like dinghies. Another classic from the "On The Wire" archives, roll tack instructions by David Hall. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
xmatelot Posted December 1, 2006 Report Share Posted December 1, 2006 when i first started in cats(GEE!, that seems a long time back,)it took me forever,to"change direction", and then i was told "allways backwind the jib," that saved me jumping over the side ,and swimming the boat round. AAHH,happy days. pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossco Posted December 2, 2006 Report Share Posted December 2, 2006 From my experience in sailing a 5.0 getting the main and battens to catch the wind is essential. You need to hold the air in the main for as long as possible. Leave the jib till the last possible moment. Also watch the waves... if it is blowing tacking on one hull. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warbird Posted December 2, 2006 Report Share Posted December 2, 2006 YOur weight is no problem. the bows out of the water make it easier to turn not harder. Stay on wrong side longer than feels natural. When going into the turn see it as you would a car. YOu do not flip through the wind as on a mono you drive through it. Also, Some boats will never get all the way through a big chop before starting to sail backwards. REMEMBER that if the boat stops or starts to go backwards you need to bring the tiller over to steer the stern around and bring the bow through. If sailing with a jib by yourself this is easy. Just let go of the main as you come across and start to steer bacwards. When sure you are through the eye you grab the jib through setting it hard and the boat takes of. Leave the tiller to itself and hand over hand the main in and you are away. Learning to back the boat well is a must for many reasons so at some point don't try to tack. Just sail backwards and practice until you are excellent. Boats you back into are deemed to be overtaking and must get out of your way. Cheers Originally posted by B-WOT: I have recently bought a 5.0 and have not sailed a cat for many years... It seems my biggest problem is getting the thing around without stopping dead in the water.. I back the jib which obviously helps me get around but I think my weight of 105kg is not helping having the arse end of the hulls burried in the wet stuff during a tack.. Is trying to get the nose around as quick as possible best, or trying a slower turning, flowing tack to keep up speed a better option..?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
B-WOT Posted December 2, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 2, 2006 Cheers guys... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.