Advice please!!

[Rowena]

Hi everyone, I'm Rowena, I've been living in Cairns now for almost 3 years and finally want to get back into sailing again!

I've never actually sailed a catamaran before, though I have plenty of experience on mono-hulls from 12ft to 40ft boats. Used to sail pacers when I was in school then joined a couple of the yacht clubs in Darwin and started sailing the big boats. Did several seasons of races on various boats (all mono-hulls) until I moved to Cairns.

I have done a bit of research on which cat I think would be best to start with and I've narrowed it down to either a Nacra 4.5 or Hobie 16. Most of the time I will be sailing with my partner but I do want a cat that is easy enough to sail single-handedly. My partner has had some experience on hobies in the past so he will teach me some of the finer points of cat sailing. At this point we are not looking at racing, though I do plan to be sailing it every week or two.

But anyway, I would love to hear other peoples' opinions and advice on what cat I should be looking at getting and any general advice or hints for sailing cats as opposed to mono-hulls.

[tonyquoll]

they're all good. The best one is the one your local club has most of.

Will you sail at Lake Tinaroo, or risk the reefs and jellyfish?

Cats v monohulls; fast cats are thrilling, and flying the hull is just an awesome experience. Watch out for nosediving cartwheels! Monohulls are fun when they get on the plane, and the perception is they offer more tactical racing. Whoever said that hasn't raced in a fleet of Paper Tigers!

[darcy1945]

single handed cats, Mari, Windy, Paper Tiger or Hobie. As Tony said check the local fleet. P/Tiger is cat rig only, best for sailing solo with lightweight , the others all can be sailed with jib (sloop rig 2 up) or super/sloop, turbo, (jib, trapeze, 1 up) all have problems and faults to beware of when buying 2nd hand. The choices in FNQld will be limited, so find a boat then get back to this site for advice on what particular problems to look out for. You need to recover from capsize alone, so that will govern your choice. Good luck, hope to hear more on this site.

[Loose Change]

Hi Rowena, welcome to the forum

If you are going to be sailing on your own a times then may I suggest that you don't want a Hobie 16. They are definately a two people boat to sail and even to rig, because of it's apparent simplicity everything on a Hobie is grossly over engineered and therefore heavy. In a capsize situation I don't believe that you would be able to right it on your own, believe me it takes no skill at all to capsize one, they are a very powerful boat. On the other hand the Nacra4.5 is a very sweet boat that you can handle on your own and maybe even recover from a capsize on your own. As Darcy has said, go and find something then get back on here and seek more guidance regarding your possible purchase.

Harry

[Rowena]

Thanks for the advice so far! In Cairns the main cats you see around here are either Nacras or Hobies. But after what Harry says I guess I'll try and get a Nacra. I only weigh around 60kg so the lighter the boat, the easier to recover, especially sailing solo. That being said, it all depends on what is available at the time. I'll be checking out both the Ellis Beach Yacht Club and the Cairns Yacht Club tomorrow and see if there's anything for sale. Ellis Beach has fortnightly off the beach racing and the most common cats in the fleet are Nacra 4.5s, Nacra F18s and Hobie 16s.

I plan to be sailing it out on the ocean mostly, though I definitely intend to sail Lake Tinaroo! Another odd question though, how easy would it be to anchor either of these boats around a reef? If possible I'd like to be able to take it out and go snorkeling around the smaller reefs in the Northern Beaches.

I won't be rushing into buying any specific boat. I know some of what to look out for but chances are you will all see some very detailed photos of every angle of whatever one I'm looking at over the next week or so! I have a fairly flexible budget too. I'd rather spend an extra grand or two straight away and know I've got a good boat than buy something cheap and end up spending the same amount of money just getting it sea-worthy again!

[cruiser]

Hi Rowena,

We sail at Tinaroo and there are heaps of nice people up there to sail with and it is really relaxed.

I have a 4.5 nacra for sale, and it has to go, give me a call if your interested 0438 088 910

Stevo has a Nacra 14SQ for sale which is my old boat, and it is nice too, but not really a 2 up boat.

Mal Gray (sunstate hobie) has his finger on the pulse around SEQ for H16's, give him a call if you like, but they are not really a single hander.

Alex has an Inter 17 which he may sell, as he has an A class, PM me if you want his details

There are heaps around, contrary to popular belief, and alot of us go back & forth to Brisbane, so you can broaden your search if needed.

PM me if you want to discuss further.

Best of luck, and welcome back to sailing!!!! :-)

Darryl

[Rowena]

Darryl, I sent you a PM, and thanks for the info!

Also, I probably should have asked earlier, what is the average going price for either a Nacra 4.5 and a Hobie 16? I am going part in buying one with someone else and their budget (and sailing ideas) differs to mine. They aren't looking to buy before Feb/March next year but I tend to be a bit impatient so I can get something worked out earlier if I find something good.

They are after a Hobie mostly as they tend to be cheaper and "less" of a racing boat, but I'm after a boat that is both good for recreational sailing as well as racing should I get back into the competitive side of things.

[madboutcats]

Theres an Alpha Omega on E-bay for $5000 buy it now and thats a lot of boat for the money heres a link

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Formula-14-F14-Catamaran-/140633368958?pt=AU_Boats&hash=item20be66e97e

[darcy1945]

Other boats worth a look are Taipan 4.9 and Mosquito, both can be sailed cat or sloop rig and if you enjoy swimming both can be fitted with spinnaker, at 60 kg even a 14 may be a struggle to right you will have to carry some sort of extra weight in case of capsize and a mast float would probably be a good idea (though the extra weight at the masthead increases the effort/weight required to recover) As for anchoring, forget anything bigger than 4.3m

[radwill]

Hi there,

I know there is a H16 for sale out at Ellis Beach. I can get you the guys contact name out there if you like. We're having our christmas party/break up next weekend if you want to come out, i'll be rigging my boat up and a few other guys probably will too if you wanna come for a burn with us.

Alternatively we have an F18 and a F20 for sale .. the F20 is AMAZING!!!

[Rowena]

I'd love to come out! Which day on the weekend though? I work 6:00am-3:00pm on Saturday but have all of Sunday off.

I'm not sure if the F18 or F20 will be in my budget but it'd still be good to have a look and see the difference between cats though.

[radwill]

most of us will be camping out there, i'll be there from 2pm saturday until late sunday.

there is a hobie 16 for sale out there for $500.00, but it's missing a rudder, and the guy that owns it will be out there too so you can have a look and a chat with him.

as your heading into ellis beach, where it changes to a 60 zone, is where the driveway is (on the right hand side). There is a sign up that says Cairns Yacht Club, so you should be able to find it!

if you have trouble, just call me on 0407 320 008.

will.

[darcy1945]

I can post a 2nd hand Hobie rudder up for $60 total 0243591729

[Rowena]

Darcy, I'll definitely keep you in mind if I end up getting it.

Will, I just remembered I have to pick someone up from the airport on Sunday, so I may not be there until midday, but I'll try and pop around straight after work on Saturday instead. I will finish around 4pm, maybe earlier, maybe a bit later depending on how busy things are at work. Fingers crossed it's an early finish. I work in Palm Cove so it's less than a 5min drive to get to Ellis.