Nose goes under? Any suggestions

[Ralf]

Any suggestions for a new cat sailer on how to level the boat out? My boats a Calypso 16 (same as the Caper Cat) I figure it is in leaning of the mast to the front or back of the boat. I leant it to the back of the boat last time and it seemed a little sluggish and when I got 1 side up the nose seemed to catch on wake and nearly go under? Conditions were admittable terrible. We were in a sort of valley with wind funnelling in from all directions. Absolute Nightmare with about 5 speed boats towing kids in tubes as well.

[aladavric]

Mast raked back will help nose diving, but make it harder to go about (tack)

[gloryhound]

Mast raked back will help nose diving, but make it harder to go about (tack)

see also-- most Hobie 16s have a habbit of pitch poling until they are set up as above by the guys who know what they are doing.

[BarryK1200LT]

Hi Tim,

When your sailing in difficult conditions like you describe, it's a bit of a guessing game how to rig your boat. Having the mast raked back will help reduce the boats tendancy to pitchpole (bury the bows and tip over forwards), but it will also make the boat a little sluggish and harder to tack. It's really only a matter of practicing until you find the right balance that works for your boat.

Trying different mast rake and rig settings will eventually teach you how to best tune your own boat, and give you the confidence needed to sail it safely whatever the conditions are.

But even once you've worked it all out, it only takes one wave that's a bit bigger than all the others, or a gust at the wrong moment and your going swimming. But that's what makes cat sailing so much fun.

Cheers

Barry

[This message has been edited by BarryK1200LT (edited 01 October 2007).]