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CATBOAT GUIDE and SAILING MANUAL

1. E 15 TWISE iet pot ERROR eio eee eto ate it aane voi ein Eis 16 Trimming to conditions needed Re ERG s ee ete e EET ee ud 16 POINTS OF Salil EEN 16 HEAVING TO IN A CAT BOAD 2 cccicicccccs neve cec ccvcncvencveccvacewencveccveccvaceveucveccveccveccveucvencveccueceuss 18 Family Cae ee 18 Marshall Sand ering ME 18 hdjrenECIeeE C 18 Lgs 19 RIGGING AND LAZY JACKS 2 ccr ioc ione ecu eene eau eun o recu aen a epa a eun a ep aa ep na neca n 20 Rigging Length of Line Chart Sanderling euesueessieiseesseeeeee ene enne nnne nnn n nnn ntnnntnn nnns sins sins atn ss nn nnns ann 20 Single Line ROOFING E 23 Description of Lazyjacks on Cat Nap sccscccsccssceseeeseeeeeeeseeseeeneeeeeeeeeeeseeeeenseeeseenseenaeeseeeeeeeeeeeeenseeneeseeeseeeseeeseeeneeseaeeees 23 Another Sun Cat Lazy Jacks Installation ieieeeieesseseeeseeesneetn nennen nnnn atn natns atn n sna nss nns n nsns s sns sns 25 Still Another 26 And Another Sun Cat Lazy Jack Installation ccccsccesseeeseeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeeeeeeeeeseeeseesseesaesnaeseaeeeeeseeseeenaeeseessnesseeeees 27 Homemade Lazy Jacks eee eet EE SEENEN 27 MAST AND
2. Running downwind the large main is stalled and functions as a very flat and inefficient spinnaker Deepen the draft by easing the boom outhaul and both halyards to improve potential circulation around the sail Speed test with another boat of your class in various wind and wave conditions to see which is fastest sailing by the lee broad reaching or heading dead downwind Move crew weight to windward and forward to balance the helm in light to moderate air As the breeze freshens and the rig loads up move the crew back into the cockpit and keep the boat flat The principles of sail trim for a four sided gaff rigged sail are no different than those for the more familiar three sided marconi sail angle of attack draft and twist The biggest difference is the amazing function of the peak halyard to position the draft far forward for power The greatest drawbacks of the four sided sail are the lack of an effective vang and the inability to de power the rig as the wind gets above 15 knots except by reefing The four sided sail is very sensitive to sail controls so constant fine adjustments are required to get the most from your rig If your goal is maximum performance then I recommend the following 1 Use low stretch Dacron or Dacron Spectra braid in the appropriate size for all running rigging Make sure all of your blocks run smoothly and all controls function easily Increase the purchase on your halyards to improve fine control Use cam cleats
3. effect it feels like someone grabbed a stern line and gently pulled you around to point back upwind even if the sail is almost all the way down It is such a pronounced effect that I will sight past the forestay while I pull the boom in lest I bring it back to the wind too quickly and fall off on the other side Pretty cool stand in the pointy end leave the tiller free and unlashed and still have control over the helm I like that Singlehanding is a snap but with ten foot cockpit seats you can carry a crew too I ve had three adults counting me on board and there was plenty of room I was at the tiller most of the time and my friends were able to stretch out and be comfortable Your mileage may vary of course I ve sought out boats to serve a more serious purpose than mere racing I want to explore My boats need to be quick to set up and easy to singlehand and they need to safely carry me and my gear where I ve never been before Both our boats are great for that but it s the Picnic Cat that takes me where few sailboats are ever seen 52 There are many ways to have fun on the water of course but I am completely satisfied with our Picnic Cat Melonseed Marshall Arey s Pond there are plenty of boats that outclass the Picnic Cat in terms of traditional credentials but I have not found that to bother me very much Picnic Cat Mods Posted By George Haycraft Picnic Cat 29 pss let me agree with Carl s fine comments and D
4. Bearing Buddies They say they are the cause of most of their bearing business The spring loaded disc inside the BB is supposed to exert about 3 Ib pressure on the grease The rear seals blow at about 5 lbs Not much room for over filling If some dirt or grit gets to the edges of the spring loaded disc it can cause the disc to angle or jam Then trouble The shop recommends the regular steel dust covers and repack the bearings every two thousand miles or so My local trailer parts retailer recommends the clear lexan type BB s He does this because you can see the color of the grease inside the hub If it turns gray there s water 35 contamination If it remains the original color there s no water problem He also recommends a repack every two thousand miles and doesn t recommend adding any grease through the clear BB s because you may blow the rear seal The clear type BB s seem to protect the spring and disc from dirt however my disc s never set straight They always are at some angle So I have the clear type Lexan BB s I observe the grease color I don t add any I repack every couple of thousand miles I also carry a complete prepacked hub and bearing set with me With that a complete hub bearing change is little more than changing a flat I feel my hubs whenever we have a rest stop They may run cool at night in the fall to quite warm midafternoon in the summer For me quite warm means I want to let go after about five seconds You can ge
5. I can t usually sail with hands off depending on the point of sail but I have no problem trimming it to take pressure off enough that the Canadian tiller tamer lever thingy can handle it hands off I am posting this in response to Vicki s first sail thread I couldn t understand why some folks are not able to motor hands off with the Sun Cat I think may take care of that problem Let s call it a bit of boater education that will hopefully make sail raising easier Menger Tips Posted by John Henderson CBA To lower the sail osition the boat on port tack the topping lift is on the port side at approximately the angle to the wind that the boat would lie when hove to It s usually best to lower the centerboard Raise the boom a bit with the topping lift Lower the sail as fast as you can You have to experiment to learn the best time to lower the peak halyard vis a vis the throat halyard When the gaff is most of the way down get the boom into the crotch I think it helps to keep the gaff raised a little so it doesn t hit your head When the boom is secure with the mainsheet tight lower the gaff and tie the gaff and sail and boom together If you are single handing neatness doesn t count at this point make it pretty back at the dock As to reefing I assume that your boat is rigged with a jiffy reef on the first reef only The jiffy reef is easy to use Follow Bill Menger s instruction book The boat sails well with a single ree
6. SAIL RAISING TIPS 29 Raising the Sail ComvcePac 5 eeu iedeis tre ter aaa par EES AER Eege EE ees EEN 29 Holding Course while Raising the Sail s ccsccesseeseseeseeeeeseeeeeneeeeeeeeeeseesaeenaeeneeseaeeseseeeenaeenaesneeseeesseeeeeeseesseeeeeeees 30 EPI lie Bn e TEE 31 elt D n TE 31 TO JOWER ENE ellene aste ER REIR E EN RR V NL DS eat Melee a 31 AS tovreefllig e iie tSt RU t suite isis EE otis 31 REEFING HOW AND RU NEEN 32 TRAILERING AADWIGCE eeccceco entr xe exteras p araoa Suus 6E Ex M EVE XV Ox I ce YE xU E vex Ii axo etia 34 QUESTIONS ABOUT TRAILERING PICNIC CAT eeeeeeeennnnnnne 35 Here are my thoughts niece AS 35 AUTOPILOT TILLERPILOT WEEN 37 ST1000 installed 5 5 1 ono Irae tian iniecit A dee ee 37 Raymarine ST1000 amp ST2000 Tillerpilots eeeesseesseeiseesieeseeeeeee enne nnn nnne nnn nnnn nina nnna snm s atn s snm s atn asta inns nnn 38 SUN CAT MAIN SHEET TRAVELER RELOCATION cernens 40 SWIM LADDER STEPS eege Eege iivtbivobSoSbsusbdvsbfsEuivibduu iius 42 SEHR ER 44 Water Coming In Through the SCUpPPel cseccscceeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeneeeneeeeeeseeeeaeesseeeeeenseenaesnaeseaeeseeseeeeaeenesseesseeeeeeeees 44 Drain Tubes and SCUp Pers Eege EE EE EE 44 AN Lee el 45 SUN CAT STABILITY E 46 OUTBOARD VS INBOBRD euer 48 MUST HAVES FOR A CAT BOA EN 49 Comments fro
7. and my family many thousands of deep sea miles both north and south of the equator and we enjoyed good luck all the way I used the same ceremony recently to change the name of my newly acquired Santana 22 from Zephyr to Tagati a Zulu word that means magic or bewitched We re hoping she ll sail like a witch when I finally get her in the water this summer after an extensive refit I ll give you the exact wording of Vigor s denaming ceremony but first you must remove all physical traces of the boat s old name Take the old log book ashore along with any other papers that bear the old name Check for offending books and charts with the name inscribed Be ruthless Sand away the old name from the lifebuoys transom top side dinghy and oars Yes sand it away Painting over is not good enough You re dealing with gods here you understand not mere dumb mortals If the old name is carved or etched try to remove it or at the very minimum fill it with putty and then paint over And don t place the new name anywhere on the boat before the denaming ceremony is carried out That s just tempting fate How you conduct the ceremony depends entirely on you If you re the theatrical type and enjoy appearing in public in your yacht club blazer and skipper s cap you can read it with flair on the foredeck before a gathering of distinguished guests But if you find this whole business faintly silly and embarrassing and only go along with it because yo
8. and the draft should be around 35 to 40 percent aft of the luff This is referred to as flat throat The wind does not have to bend very much to stay next to the sail The mainsheet is eased keeping the boom well off the transom corner allowing a smooth exit of air off the trailing edge of the leech This is your drifting light air shape sometimes requiring a slight leeward heel to let gravity assist to shape the sail In moderate breeze a deep throat can be very fast First tighten your throat halyard to create a smooth entry in the luff Then tighten the peak halyard to move the draft into deep throat You will find that there is extra sailcloth forward along the luff that allows the luff to slide to leeward of the mast creating a smooth flow of air along the backside of the sail as it passes the mast The sheet does not have to be eased as much to keep the leech open in moderate breeze The best indicator of the match of twist with the apparent wind is your leech telltales Upwind the high leech telltale should stream aft more than half of the time and the lower leech tell tale will only appear 20 percent of the time As the wind strength increases the rig becomes overpowered and deep throat and the extra power it creates is no longer needed Therefore in heavy air depower by easing the peak halyard which will move the draft aft to 35 to 40 percent Keep the throat halyard tight enough to allow a smooth entry along the luff Ease the mainshe
9. calculated using the following formula Hull speed in knots 1 33 times the square root of the waterline length in feet In practical terms what this means is that the boat will go just so fast and no faster so carrying more sail than necessary to maintain this speed is at best a waste of power and at worst a source of handing difficulties and possible breakage Still Skeptical Consider these two cases 1 Atthe 1993 NEBCBA Women s Championship held at the New Bedford Yacht Club Andrea and John York of Cataumet decide to race their boat reefed due to the heavy weather conditions In the first race they were the only boat in the race sailing reefed they also won the race By the start of the second race they weren t the only boat reefed and they didn t win 2 In the middle of the 2000 Telesmanick Championship Carlo Zezza tucked in a reef and won the next race beating out the hot shot sailors that were not reefed Think about it 32 One notable exception to the reefing allergy occured at Mitey Mite under 13 years regattas where for some inexplicable reason it almost always blows like crazy When this happens the race committee very sensibly requires all boats to reef and then makes a rather disturbing discovery Most of the kids don t know how to reef There has been some speculation from a few individuals who shall remain nameless that the reason adults don t reef more often is that they too suffer fro
10. cockpit I still use halyard turning blocks at the mast base I just secure them to the cleats above I ditched the plastic goal posts on the trailer and replaced them with side bunk guides which make getting the boat centered easy even in a cross wind I changed the 2x4 trailer bunks for 2x6 s which are a foot longer in the front One of the original 2x4 s bowed forcing its front end into the hull I rewired the trailer with all LED lights Most often I launch hubs dry with water only covering the lower part of the tires Be sure to slowly ease the boat back into the water using the winch to control the descent For recovery it helps to pretilt the trailer I wedge a plastic wheel chock into the gap which opens above the trailer tongue when the frame tilts 53 HA 18 Versus Sanderling Posted By Beau Schless Ds anyone know of a comparison of the America versus the Sanderling I m in the market for a use done and the prices seem to be relatively the same maybe the Marshall is a little more but not extravagantly Posted By Howard Toft t all depends who you ask Since I own a Sanderling I can tell you all the good things about it but I don t know a great deal about the HA 18 In comparison the Sanderling is 6 wider than the HA 18 and does not have an outboard motor well as the HA 18 does This is some of the reason that the Sanderling is much faster We have owned the Sanderling since it was new in 72 and have been totally satisf
11. crossed I saw what happened and yelled at him quick enough that he stopped before any damage was done Make sure the boat is properly balanced on the trailer You should have about 110 pounds of weight on the trailer tongue You can measure this on a standard bathroom scale Too little is as bad as too much This should be checked after you have all the stuff you are going to carry stowed in the boat An easy way to back up is to look out your back window and put your hand on the bottom of the steering wheel and then turn the wheel in the direction you want the boat to go Take your time even at a crowded ramp When I begin to back up I lower the tailgate of my truck it gives me a much better view of what s happening Make sure all is clear behind you before you back up Last summer I backed into a car at the boat ramp who had pulled into the lane behind me while I was getting the boat ready I had seen him in the lane to my left and thought that he had backed straight back into the water when instead he backed into my lane I put my rudder through his front license plate No damage to my boat and only his plate damaged He never asked for any damages so I think he knows he screwed up but I still could have checked better if I had looked at his lane I would have noticed he was not where I thought he was and should have stopped until I knew for sure where he was Once I start backing up I cannot see directly behind the boat and neither will you wi
12. is probably in the January 2007 issue of Sailing magazine See page 15 called l echnique Gaff Rigged Sail Trim An excellent article I would add their deep throat technique is verging on overtensioning the peak halyard but it looks like it works You can see in the pictures it s close to putting peak to tack wrinkles in the sail I haven t experimented with deep throat mode yet but will on my next sail The tradeoff I bet is the detrimental effect of vertical wrinkles starting to appear versus the deeper foil shape he recommends for heavy air When my peak halyard is too loose it feels like stomping on the gas pedal when I trim it in the peak trim is critical and getting it right can accelerate the boat much like sheeting in There is also a nice side effect in the way the sail behaves best with a precise angle of attack In the article it talks about the gaff rig being forgiving with a wide groove in terms of angle of attack The angle of attack they are talking about is the angle of the apparent wind to the sail Luffing up or falling off sheeting in or out those are the ways you control the angle of attack The author says to get best performance when close hauled you need to sail on the edge of the groove closest to the wind I ve found that to be helpful In other words bring your boat close to the weather and sheet in Head up enough to put a flutter in the luff and then fall off just a bit That s the best part of the groo
13. key point about the Sun Cat s stability is that it not only has ballast but that the ballast is in the keel down low So ballast ballast position beam and sail area combine to make the Sun Cat pretty safe So my answer is that a capsize in a Sun Cat is very unlikely but not impossible Sun Catters What do you all think HAS anyone ever heard of a capsize in a Sun Cat Posted By George Haycraft Picnic Cat 29 AS a former Mud Hen owner let me comment The boat by design is a capsize waiting to happen It is a mismatch of one traditional hull form with a different traditional rig form Traditional hulls and rigs evolved together for a reason They complement each other When you go mixing and matching the two haphazardly you get an abomination The narrow sharpie hull needs its original rig a pair of low let o mutton sails like the Sea Pearls The gaff cat rig on the other hand needs the tremendous beam stability of the cat boat hull The Mud Hen also has that huge flag pole mast resulting in a lot of weight aloft Another stability problem Her cockpit isn t self bailing either so green water over the side is going to stay on board and make matters worse until you or crew can get rid of it Mud Hen s original sail was 10 to 15 sq ft under spec and stretchy and flat as a gym floor No shape at all under 8 kts That heavy flag pole mast also flopped about in a puff wasting most of its energy The good thing about those bad things
14. lower mast as possible to hold them in position and one last one goes from the forestay to bow where the the forestay is connected while sailing This last one stops the forestay from banging around and scratching things Ican raise the mast in about 5 minutes or less and lower it in about 10 or less I should mention that because I am forgetful I have a mantra I go through when I m launcing or recovering the boat To launch just before backing down the ramp I go Centerboard up rudder up motor up Irepeat it again as a last thing just before putting her into her trailer Of course checking each item as I say it The last thing I do before driving off is to make sure the centerboard is lowered and resting on the trailer This prevents chafing of the centerboard lanyard This step explains why I have the centerboard up statement in the mantra because if you don t have it raised the boat will not come off the trailer when launching Posted By George Haycraft Picnic Cat 29 hen raising the sail it is helpful to pull both halyards at once The throat is a 1 1 and the peak is a 2 1 Therefore to raise them both the same amount you will need two pulls of the peak for every pull of the throat I find the gaff goes up smoothly if it is kept parallel to the boom or just slightly above horizontal until the throat has reached it s sailing height Once the throat is secured then continue raising the peak until it is where you want it A word abo
15. made flag that carries symbols standing for the owner so it can basically be anything The signal may be flown day or night but is not displayed when another sailor is in command The rule is the private signal and burgee follow the sailor not the boat On a multi masted boat the private signal is flown at the head of the aftermost mast On a sloop the private signal may be flown from the starboard rigging either below the burgee or alone Brent Putnam s Private Signal Marshall 22 Cranberry Courtesy Flags As a matter of courtesy it is appropriate to fly the flag of a foreign nation on your boat when you enter and operate on its waters There are only a limited number of positions from which flags may be displayed Therefore when a flag of another nation is flown it usually must displace one of the flags displayed in home waters However it is hoisted only after the appropriate authorities have granted clearance Until clearance is obtained a boat must fly the yellow Q flag All charter boats should carry the national flags of neighboring islands as well as the yellow flag in case charterers want to visit those islands The courtesy flag is flown at the boat s starboard spreader whether the United States ensign is at the stern staff or flown from the leech If there is more than one mast the courtesy flag is flown from the starboard spreader of the forward mast As a side note some authorities are not amused at all if yo
16. make it easy when you have to heave to while reefing in rough conditions Racing The things that make one catboat faster than another are numerous To mention a few the skill of the skipper the condition of the sail and hull local knowledge the start having the right amount of sail up for the wind conditions the design and others In most of the above only you can help yourself It s a good idea to follow the most successful skipper prior to the start to see how he aligns his catboat in relationship to the starting line A sailboat goes through the water with laminar flow in about the forward third of the hull It is therefore a wise idea to clean this area prior to racing Rough bottom paint and marine growth disturb this smooth flow and should be cleaned up That is the reason we do not like to put through hulls in this area The Cat will sail through a chop a lot better with an 80 pound lead ingot sitting on the forward bunk just aft of the mast Try shifting crew weight up forward Some of the things that work in light air don t in heavy air Experiment don t just sit there Scandalizing According to the misinformation put out by the boating press the advantage of the gaff rig is in being able to scandalize the gaff Scandalizing is achieved by dropping the peak halyard and allowing the gaff to hang down This provides a smaller triangular sail The disadvantages of scandalizing are numerous and it is not recommended 1 T
17. my stern cleat I formed a bight which I passed halfway around my port boom gallows stanchion which I secured by passing a second bight made from the doubled standing end around the opposite side of the stanchion Nothing wrapped all the way around in other words but still held to the stanchion Then I just chained a few more slipped half hitches single braid sennit style to take up line Horse people have a name for that kind of arrangement The idea is that the horse can t pull his reins off a hitching rail but a light tug on the bitter end of the reins makes them fall away cleanly You can see a little of how I secured my docklines here check out my port boom gallows stanchion The really big powerboat in the background is the aircraft carrier Lexington moored in Corpus as a musuem That horse knot whatever it s called kept my dockline snug and out of trouble on the side deck yet a gentle pull on the end would cause 50 feet of dockline to fall free without fouling Ideas that come in dreams are usually the best ones but I tested my theories a time or two as well One easy pull freed the dockline Parking the free end loops of my chain of half hitches on top of a horn cleat kept it from falling free while I was still on the water Coming back to the dock after a morning under sail reefed and in enough wind to make docking a potential nightmare I motored past my slip and rolled the wheel full starboard I throttled back to neutral
18. n type of sail the fore and aft sail on the mast nearest the stern of a square rigged ship spar n a mast boom or gaff spinnaker n the large balloon sail used in front of a jib sprit n spar across sail a pole that crosses a fore and aft sail diagonally square knot n a knot of limited value used on a boat only for reefing See reef knot standing rigging n the fixed wires supporting the mast on a sailboat Catboats normally use only a forestay starboard adj when facing forward the side of the boat to your right See port stern n rear of the boat stopper knot n a knot in the end of a rope to stop it from running through a block up the mast etc stuffing box n a device to admit a shaft through a hull while excluding water surge brakes n brakes on a trailer actuated by pressure on the tongue caused by the braking of the towing vehicle throat n the forward upper corner of the sail where the gaff meets the mast tack n forward end of sail at the foot tacking v changing direction while sailing into the wind throat halyard n the line that hoists the inner end of the gaff See peak halyard topping lift n the line from the masthead to the end of the boom supporting the boom during reefing furling etc traveler n the bar across the stern on which the sheet block travels turnbuckle n a device to powerfully shorten or lengthen rigging vang n mainsail shape control line VHF adj Very High Frequency a frequenc
19. of running feet just as the first of a very friendly crew came to rescue me A little out of breath he said I ll get your bow line Thanks I said and handed him the line That s about when he seemed to realize I was already docked I asked him Did I do OK on this leeward slip As I dockside comedian I never expected I would hear that kind of comment Awesome Chapman s suggests motoring into a slip at a 20 degree angle in these conditions stopping your boat with a spring line led back from your bow That s a good plan but hard to pull off alone Another accepted plan is to approach from upwind traveling at right angles to the open end of the slip and assist your turn and stop your boat with a spring line That s basically what I did I just hopped off my boat to handle the lines Good lessons learned and lessons I would have missed if I had gotten a slip pointing politely windward A little adversity is not a bad thing Prop walk is something to consider and is really noticeable when the wind and the walk are both heading the same way On my boat for the tightest turns turn to port under power turn to starboard while idled in neutral Remember that turning towards the wind will take more momentum to coast through One long dockline is really convenient Once led aft from the bow and tied off it won t wander inboard of shrouds or fenders If you drop the stern line in one hand you ve still got lines to both ends of your bo
20. the sail controls are simple but the essentials of sail shape remain the same as in contemporary three sided racing sails A properly managed four sided gaff mainsail is very responsive to sail shape efforts and the resulting increase in performance is astounding It is important to approach the problem of sail shape by focusing on the end result The shape of the sail All of the controls effect changes in the three components of shape angle of attack draft and twist With a four sided gaff rig there are limited controls so compromises have to be made First we will discuss the three components of sail shape then speak to specific trim suggestions for various points of sail and wind condition Angle of attack The mainsheet is the only sail control for bringing the mainsail to the proper angle of attack with the apparent wind This is the familiar easing out or bringing in of the boom to attach airflow to the sail s surface With time in the boat you will develop a feel for when the boat is performing well however you will need telltales to actually see the wind on the sail Telltales should be mounted on both sides of the main well back from the mast as well as on the leech Usually four sets of telltales are sufficient two above the throat and two below the throat while only two are needed on the leech Be sure A look at the parts of a four sided gaff rig sail reveal similarities to the more to offset the starboard a
21. to be taken to lower the mast of a tabernacle Cat Put on the sail cover on in the normal way and replace the boom crutch with the mast boom carrier Unclip the forward flap on the sail cover Remove the parrel line from one side of the gaff saddle Pull the gaff and saddle aft toward starboard Loosen the forestay Remove the fore and aft bolt from mast and tabernacle cU Gs St geo 9 fe E Remove the lower bolt Giggle the mast to ease removal The Menger Cat boats are now called Thom Cat boats Jerry Thompson former manager of Menger Boatworks has purchased the molds for the famous Menger catboats Thompson Boatworks is currently producing in Amityville New York the Thom Cat 15 and Thom Cat 19 based on the original Menger Cat 15 and Menger Cat 19 models 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Put a long screwdriver through the bottom hole Disconnect the forestay turnbuckle from the boat Close the main hatch Standing on the cabin top remove the screwdriver while holding the back of the mast Pull mast toward you and lower slowly standing on port side Remove the forestay coil up and stow Gather all lines starting from mast top and pull forward Unclip the sail cover and tuck the lines inside Tie the mast down to the aft cleats and tighten the main sheet Using the line in the sail cover tie the gaff to the boom and mast That s it Trailer Procedure On the Road 1 Your tow vehicle must have enough
22. 18 Sanderling with correct details of the rigging Please note that the rigging for the 15 Sandpiper and Marshall 22 are essentially the same In addition we would like to remind you of the following things that should be done mid season to keep your Marshall Catboat whatever the size in ship shape Wax the mast as high as you can reach Spray lubricant on the tackpins Try to clean the bottom occasionally to keep the barnacles and algae growth off Check the water intake strainer on all inboards and clean if necessary Since so may Marshall Catboat owners have found our Rigging Length of Line Chart that was included in the Spring 1993 CATSPAW Newsletter to be so useful we have re printed it on our web site for easy reference We have found that over the years when people make temporary rigging repairs purchase a used boat or for one reason or another do not launch their catboat for a year or two the rigging may need to be replaced Throat Main Toppin Laz Peak Halyard Pping y Halyard Sheet Lift Jacks 15 Ft Sandpiper 5 16 x 60 5 16 x 50 3 8 x 70 1 4 x 44 In had 2 1 4 x ER 18 Ft Sanderling 3 8 x 100 3 8 x 63 3 8 x 75 1 4 x 57 1 1 4 x 36 e 5 5 A A a 2 1 4 x 13 Marshall 22 Cat Rig 7 16 x 120 7 16 x 75 7 16 x 108 3 8 x 71 1 1 4 x 40 Pe ela e f i 5 i 2 1 4 x 13 Marshall 22 Mainsail
23. 7 16 x 122 7 16 x 75 7 16 x 104 3 8 x 70 1 1 4 x 40 Sloop Rig lib Halyard Jib Sheet Down Haul 1 1 4 x 38 i 3 8 x 65 3 8 x 90 1 4 x 50 1 1 4 x 27 With eye splices on both ends Note We use 3 strand polyester dacron as standard equipment For the main sheet braided line such as Stay Set is just fine On the Sandpiper add 5 to the main sheet if you have a Harken system 20 Marshall Marine s Sanderling Rigging Layout 8 x 6 GALV EYE BOLT THROAT HALYARO REEFING INE TIED TO EYESTRAF ON PORT SIOE OF BOOM RUN THROUGH GROMMET iN SAIL THEN DOWN TO CHEEK BLOCK ON STBD SIDE OF BOOM OPPOSITE EYESTRAP THEN RUN FWD TO CLEAT REEFING LINE 32 04 CHEEK BLOCK J 30D 03 MAIN SHEET TIED Wi BOWLINE NOT TO SCALE SCHAEFER 360 03 BLOCKS 21 22 NOT TO SCALE 30 04 CHEEK BLOCK PORT USE 1055 PAN HEADS SCHAEFER 78 81 EYESTRAP P S LAZY JACKS W EYESP ICE AT EAGH END TNOPCSP S LAZY ACKS EACH END TIED TOAT YE STRAPS CN BOOM Wi BOWLINE TOPPING LIFT TIED TO FORWARD MA N SHEET BAIL SCHAEFEH 78 31 EVESTAAPP S Single Line Reefing Posted By Jim B Sun Cat Cl Sun Cat has a jam cleat and a horn cleat on the boom The set up is approximately line attached at the front tack of the boom up and through the grommet on the luff back down to a turning block on the other side of the boom line lead back to the aft en
24. CATBOAT GUIDE and SAILING MANUAL Collected from Web sites articles manuals and forum postings Compiled and edited by Edward Steinfeld edward go embedded com A New Breed of Cat Boat d What I dream about Suna A New Breed of Cat Boat What fits my need best Picnic cat by Com Pac Fisher Cat by Howard Boats Contents CAT BORD Eet 1 MOORING AND DOCKING WE 3 DOCKING E 3 Docking ad M OOF eL 4 DOCKING LOSSONS i505 T n 5 MENGER CAT 19 OWNER S MANUAL cc cccceeeessseesseceeeeeeeeeesneneeseneeeeeeeeeennneeesanees 8 Stepping and Lowering the Tabernacle Mast ccsccsscceeeceeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeenenseenseeeaeeeneeeeeeeeesaeeeaeenaesenesseeseeeeeeeneeeneeseaeeens 8 Trailer Proce cure ii iscc etic ergeet s 9 SANA E 10 le EE EE 11 Second Reef cau EA RP GRE EE EE E E edicti due 12 KA Then TT A EE 13 How to get rid of Weather Helin ccceccsccssecsseeeeeeeneeeeeeeeeeeeenseenaeseeeseeeeeeesseesseenseenaeeeaseseeeeeesaeeeaeseaeseeeseeesseeseeeseeeeaeeees 13 QUICK study guide dees Seege deeg ees ee ee Seegen 13 What Ido to trim the sail iS tereti ree chet aa aan aaraa a Eaa he anaana aea pa aeaaeai eaaa naeia aiaiai 14 SAND d e LEE 14 Catboat Sail Tear EE 15 How deep throat can give better performance in a single sail gaff rigged boat 15 Angle OF attack see eere bn onte tee o aee t qe oe n reu E 15 PI
25. Cat s mainsheet is like the sloop s jib sheet For optimum adjustment while going to windward watch the aft end of the boom While pulling it in note its travel Keep pulling while it moves toward the center of the Cat stop pulling when it moves in a downward direction The downward movement is flattening your sail and taking out the draft You are in effect pushing the Cat sideways Off the wind you can increase your speed by slacking off peak and throat halyards Raising the centerboard all the way will decrease your skin friction reduce weather helm and thus increase your speed Reefing Reefing is the most important part of learning to sail your Cat Since the catboat has only one sail it has to be a light weather sail The mainsail of your cat is equivalent in area to that of a sloop with a large genoa or spinnaker and a small mainsail However the catboat s beamy hull fools the novice into thinking that since the Cat doesn t heel like his old sloop did he can carry all that sail in any kind of wind WRONG The end result is she rounds up in the puffs has heavy weather helm and becomes uncontrollable In rail down wind conditions reefing your catboat will make it sail faster and more comfortably than under full sail You wouldn t carry a number one Genoa or a spinnaker on a sloop in those wind conditions would you The problem really comes down to making reefing easy to do in the conditions of high winds and rough seas We at Menger Boatwo
26. MUST as the tongue is too heavy to lift without it makes for WONDERFULLY STRAIGHT trailering Spare tire assembly and UV covers for wheels a waste of money 8 Cockpit Cushions 9 Two teak racks one essential one not Russ Browne gave me this wonderful idea install the binocular drink rack on the inside of your bottom hatchboard That way you can turn the board around when sailing and have access to your binoculars VHF GPS wind indicator etc etc Magazine rack inside waste of money 10 Electrical System for Depth Sounder and running lights 11 A lot of the standard equipment I never needed as the boat is so maneuverable boat hook oar etc 12 I added things that you might decide you need later quick release fitting for gas tank bar buoy drink holders Perko fender locks small battery charger for battery matching sunbrella covers for everything Windex ss teak flagstaff on transom 13 BIGGEST WASTE of MONEY TOTALLY USELESS Forespar Tiller Extension and Lock Box This was the ONLY thing that I regretted buying soon after installing it The cockpit is so narrow that you have to get the short extension and it is not long enough to reach to the front of the cockpit And the basic design of the boat tiller rudder combo is so loose that the boat will NOT hold a course with the tiller extension locked in a specific position Comments from others A re you sailing alone or with crew Spouse Girl Friend Kids or Gran
27. Sun Cat e Remove all tie downs from the Cat to trailer e Unplug the trailer lights e Attach dock lines to the bow and stern long enough to reach from the Cat to dock with enough length to allow for the surge of launching 3 Backup to the launching ramp until your trailer wheels start to touch water Get out and determine how far you are going to go in Remember try not to submerge the trailer bearing as this is the weakest link in the trailer Steep ramps are the most desirable in this respect If you do submerge the bearings be sure to give them a squirt of grease when you get home Do not back up so far that the wheels of your car touch the water or slippery area Put wood blocks on the ramp to prevent going in too far 4 When you are in position slowly release the pressure on the trailer winch be careful the handle can spin fast enough to seriously hurt you so that the hook becomes loose on the bow eye Remove it The Cat will not go flying off as the curve of the hull holds it on the trailer 5 At this point give the hull a push and it might start to slide off the trailer into the water depending on the steepness of the ramp 6 If you cannot push the hull free pull forward slightly with your vehicle and then back up and slam on your brakes Do not allow the rear wheels of your vehicle to enter the water 7 At this point the boat will roll back and into the water If this doesn t work the first time try again Doing this
28. and the only way for me is to use tell tales So many boats don t even have any Another thing about the Sun Cat sail is the gaff goes really high almost makes it a Marconi rig as compared to other tradition gaff rigs So I think and I m no expert you would trim it more toward a Marconi rig I know that playing with the gaff and not much at that made a significant difference in air flow and shape going to windward and off the wind I found myself adjusting it for both conditions several times during the race to get good air flow There is a point going to windward that you can over trim the sail but you ll know it because 1st the leach telltales start to go forward and the boat slows down Jim s idea about traveling to windward and using less mainsheet does bring the boom more toward the center but in light air it is still over the edge of the boom gallows but a fuller sail and does help to point a little higher with same boat speed Pull it in 2 in to much and you stall I know the Sun Cat is under canvassed so I didn t expect it to do to good against other boats in those conditions Heck it s like other boats sailing with a reef in light air But the real test will be when its blowing 12 to 15 just enough not to reef that ll be the day I ll be telling those sloops C MON YOU WANT A PIECE OF ME NOW YEA WHOSE YOUR DADDY NOW Sail Trim Posted By Carl Haddick Horizon Cat Picnic Cat Central Texas he article you re referring to
29. as it is of the relocated mainsheet 41 Swim ladder steps Posted By Carl Haddick Horizon Cat Central Texas y swim ladder is made of 7 8 steel tubing and was surprisingly rough on the unshod foot If anyone else has a similar problem this is what I found to be an adequate cure I took 1 by 2 inch planking and used a router to make a semicircular channel on the bottom of the plank This channel fits over the ladder rungs providing a distribution of force and helping the steps feel sturdy I drilled one inch holes at just the right distance apart to match the spacing of the vertical rails and then cut the plank across those holes This gave me the right profile for the steps to grip the side rails and to keep them from turning on the rungs Finally I rounded all the edges with the router and cut a few tracks on the top sides of the steps to provide traction To avoid drilling holes in the tubing which I though would probably promote corrosion I also used the router to cut channels around each end of the steps so I could use a short piece of line to hold the steps in place They don t look too ratty and I think the bindings are fine for a sailboat ladder Best of all I can use the ladder barefoot without so much trauma 42 Posted By George Haycraft Picnic Cat 29 Melonseed 253 I did something similar with my Picnic Cat I made the treads from 1 1 2 x 1 1 4 fence ballisters made from the recycled plastic d
30. at in your other hand When the wind s a blowing spring lines are nice to have in place before you dock And think while I sleep perchance to dream of sailing perchance to witness while I dream a perfect balance between earth the dock I tie to water the ocean I ride air the wind that both confounds and delights me and fire the noisy motive force in my auxiliary And through it all music the sound of one line docking Menger Cat 19 Owner s Manual Stepping and Lowering the Tabernacle Mast Stepping the Mast on Tabernacle Boats lace the mast aft side down into tabernacle Put the top bolt in Close the main hatch and walk the mast up the center of the boat until it is vertical Put a long thin screwdriver in the bottom hole Attach the forestay Put the bottom bolt in Tighten both bolts but do not over tighten Check to make sure the electrical wires and antenna coming out of the mast base are clear as the mast is raised It also helps to have someone make sure the lines on the mast don t get snagged on cleats tiller etc Put 6 S S bolt in fore and aft hole through mast and tabernacle This bolt is used to secure the mast further but is not really necessary for boats that are not left on a mooring When your Menger Cat is in the water the mast is 23 6 high from the waterline so be well aware of overhead obstructions to avoid serious injury or harm to yourself or others Lowering Tabernacle Mast Following are the steps
31. below the boom 6 Release topping lift and resume course Note Wind strong enough to require a second reef may also raise a considerable sea in open waters The ability of any small boat to make progress to the windward under such conditions is limited so keep well off a lee shore under conditions of rising wind Heaving To Cat boats are work boats in origin and a typical 19th century crew consisted of one man and a boy They had to handle the catboat while making a hard and dangerous living Lines traps and nets had to be pulled in all kinds of conditions while the cat took care of herself Different wind and wave conditions will vary the way the Cat heaves to so try practicing in various conditions beforehand Simply let go of the tiller and mainsheet while going to windward Take care that the mainsheet doesn t tangle on a cleat or the tiller The Cat will stop and lie sideways to the wind Raise the centerboard and slowly haul in the mainsheet until the sail partly fills and she begins to point up She is now in park moving very slowly forward and to the leeward constantly adjusting herself to maintain this attitude You can catch a fish oil some teak or go below to fix your lunch In stronger wind conditions you may want to try lashing the tiller to leeward and trimming the mainsheet in a little further She should then scallop up to windward fall off and do it again and again Trying out these tricks beforehand will help
32. boat in a race which signals to other boats that you are racing 56 To prevent wear and tear the flag may not be flown when out of sight of other vessels or when nobody is aboard The flag is flown while entering or leaving a port even at night For purists In the morning the ensign is hoisted rapidly before other flags In the evening it is lowered slowly and with ceremony after other flags come down 57 Renaming a Boat Vigor s Interdenominational Boat Denaming Ceremony by John Vigor I once knew a man in Florida who told me he d owned 24 different yachts and renamed every single one of them Did it bring you bad luck I asked Not that I m aware of he said You don t believe in those old superstitions do you Well yes Matter of fact I do And I m not alone Actually it s not so much being superstitious as being v e r y careful It s an essential part of good seamanship Some years ago when I wanted to change the name of my newly purchased 31 foot sloop from Our Way to Freelance I searched for a formal denaming ceremony to wipe the slate clean in preparation for the renaming I read all the books but I couldn t find one What I did learn though was that such a ceremony should consist of five parts e invocation e expression of gratitude e supplication e re dedication e libation So I wrote my own short ceremony Vigor s inter denominational denaming ceremony It worked perfectly Freelance carried me
33. capacity to tow 3500 to 4000 lbs There is a lot of information in the boat press as to towing capacity of common vehicles Check with your auto dealer If you add a lot of gear weight will go up 2 Ifyou are doing long distance trailering check the regulations in the states you are traveling through You may be required to have surge brakes depending on the weight of your total load 3 Carry enough spare parts You should have a least a spare wheel bearing light bulbs waterproof bearing grease and gun extra wheel studs and a spare tire and rim 4 Make sure all lines are tied down and nothing is loose Tie a line around the outside of the sail cover to prevent it rubbing on the non skid on top of the main hatch Pad all metal to metal contacts Remember that vibration will cause wear and tear very quickly Launching 1 Ifyou so desire the mast can be raised before launching This is much easier to do on the trailer than in the water Be very careful of low overhead wires near the launching ramp or in the staging area If you touch an overhead line do not make contact with the ground by stepping out of your vehicle or touching the boat or trailer One Menger Cat owner bent his mast in two but continued on due to his four wheel drive If he had stopped and got out 2 Check over your Cat to make sure you are ready to go into the water e Raise the centerboard fully e Close all sea cocks e Raise the outboard fully e Raise the rudder
34. d and tied the forward line to the line already in place I dropped the line straight down and looped it under the boom and used another snap hook to secure the line to an eyepad that I installed at that spot on the bottom side of the boom That s all there was to it Materials 60 feet of quarter inch line two eyepads two snap hooks eight hog rings for attaching the lines at the top eyepad and attaching the forward Lazy Jack line to the long Lazy Jack line running to the aft and some black Atomic tape that I already had 27 28 ER Mast and Sail Raising Tips Raising the Sail Com Pac Posted By Dick Herman Sun Cat Muddy Duck fter a long and disastrous learning curve I finally developed a routine for raising sail Before I leave the dock I pin the boom gooseneck into position so the slide in the mast track is just below the split in the hinge The photo might give you an idea as to the exact position Then I pull the downhaul tight Once clear of the dock I head into the wind and use just enough power on the outboard to maintain way Then I lock the tiller and go forward to raise the sail I pull on both halyards together to raise the gaff so it stays even with the throat and parallel with the boom When the luff of the sail is fully raised the gaff should be pointed straight back Then I pull the throat halyard with both hands feet against the bulkhead if need be Once the luff is tight I raise the gaff peak the
35. d good friends I began that process 30 years ago drifted away from the water and have now seen that love rekindled I ll not stray from sailing again I think that sea kindly cruiser will be something I rent I sure don t want to be stuck without our lovely trailerable catboats My trip to Corpus was done with little in the way of planning The nice thing about spontaneous trips is you have this wonderful feeling of flexibility The less nice thing is that you really better be flexible not knowing exactly what you ll encounter Docking was the first challenge I faced I rather botched an approach into my assigned leeward slip and would have been a most unhappy camper had it not been for JimB s ready hand on the docklines Sobering Winds weren t that strong but I let myself be thrown off like that As it was about four in the afternoon when Jim and Joan bid farewell I decided to think a bit before I counted on myself to dock singlehanded _ Te a LI Sea LE d I started to cast off around 4 30 but without any really outstanding plan other than don t scratch the boat I held off I just didn t want to dock singlehanded wind at my port quarter and in the dark That evening a gentleman docked opposite me commented that when the wind swung and put his slip on the lee he just didn t go out Too easy to really goof up Just rosy I thought so I asked at the marina about changing slips an option that might be available
36. d of the boom another turning block up through the grommet on the leach back down to one more turning block lead forward on the boom to the jam cleat and then secured with the horn cleat Not sure of the exact diameter of the line but less than 1 4 The reefing can be done from the cockpit Our reefing technique on the Sun Cat is if it looks like we ll need a reef I d rather put it in at the dock or on the trailer Just pull the line cleat it If we need to reef on the water heave to or come into the wind ease the halyards pull the reefing line and cleat it pull the halyard to raise and set the sail The lazy jacks keep the bottom of the sail under control so no need for sail ties I can t think of anything I d change on this set up and thanks again Russ I don t singlehand a lot this takes just a few seconds with the two of us a bit longer if I am by myself Since that reefed sail doesn t have far to go up and down the mast I have also dropped the sail completely when singlehanding then pulled the reefing line secured it and raised the sail The reefed main is comfortable from about 12 25 knots Much above that and it is more work than fun Description of Lazyjacks on Cat Nap Posted By George Boley ex Sun Cat E the photo my jacks are loosened all the way So it doesn t look like there is much angle for the lines to catch the sail when it is lowered However before you lower the sail you tighten up the jacks all the
37. day Howard I Chapelle once said that modern yachtsmen have developed an allergy against reefing The Catboat Book Many exceptions to this statement can certainly be found but as a whole Beetle Cat sailors are unquestionably one of the most allergic groups around The prevailing attitude among Beetle Catters is that reefing is for sissies while the prevailing practice except for scheduled races is not to go sailing if it gets too windy This is a rather unfortunate situation for a couple of reasons Properly reefed and beautiful First of all Beetle Cats like their big sister the Cape Cod Cats handle very nicely in rough weather when reefed While this is not an economic necessity for today s recreational sailors it is still a nice plus as it can really extend the range of conditions considered enjoyable for pleasure sailing As Stan Grayson puts it in his book Catboats The difference between an un reefed and reefed catboat will be a choice between a helm that is barely if at all controllable with two strong arms and a docile helm that can be attended by one untrained hand or even two fingers Secondly Beetles sail beautifully in heavy weather when reefed Any boat with a well designed sail properly reefed not only handles better it also goes just as fast as an un reefed boat In technical terms The reason for this is that Beetles like all non planing boats have an upper speed limit known as hull speed which can be
38. dkids If with crew you must make the crew omfortable Good Gloves to protect her hands Good dry and warm foul weather gear for her The skipper can freeze his butt off but keep the crew comfortable Get very comfortable life jackets One of the inflatable kind I have always had cockpit cushions They are a pain I trip over them and they are hard to store However guests and crew find them comfortable Keeps their butts warm and soft DON T ever scare the crew NEVER When the wind picks up drop the main and head home The crew will eventually gain confidence and you can sail on with one two or three reefs Reef early and often Take a reef in the first few times you sail Learn how to do it Teak Cockpit Grates The teak cockpit grates are expensive but really look cool Because there is water splash coming from the centerboard trunk these grates will keep your feet and anything that falls to the deck dry 49 Tiller Tamer A tiller tamer is useful when hove to and when setting a reef For 35 it is an inexpensive and useful option The canSail Marine Supplies Tillerlock is very popular Another tiller tamer that really looks good but is expensive is the UK based Tillermate And maybe the most common is the Tiller Tamer from Davis http www tillermate com http www cansail com http www davisnet com marine products 50 Marshall vs Menger vs Com Pac Patrick Maguire have owned two Marshall Sanderling s a Menge
39. e boat backward that doesn t depend as much on tongue weight as it does on how the weight is distributed between the bunks and the rollers If almost all your hull weight is on the bunks you might not be able to push it at all You want quite a bit of hull weight on the rollers The bunks are there to support some but mostly to keep the boat from tipping sideways You want to make sure you have the right rollers You don t want the shoulders on the rollers pushing into the hull You may need to change them for very shallow V rollers or flat rollers I like to just barely loosen the roller brackets and tap them upward with a hammer some and retighten If I can just barely rotate the roller with both hands I call it about right You may also consider adding a roller or two if you have any vacant trailer cross members available in the midline With enough rollers and this weight balance between the rollers and the bunks I can with some effort push my hull backward I leave the bow strap attached to control the descent of the boat I first loosen the strap about two feet and relock the winch Push the boat back until the strap is tight Then loosen another foot or so then relock and push the boat back Continue in this fashion until the boat is headed back on its own and the trailer is beginning to tilt Control the process with the winch handle Nice and smooth is the ticket here To reload the boat you need to pretilt the trailer I lift th
40. e shall be subject as always to the immutable laws of the gods of the wind and the sea In consequence whereof and in good faith we seal this pact with a libation offered according to the hallowed ritual of the sea Christening Ceremony After a boat is denamed you simply need to rename it using the traditional christening ceremony preferably with Queen Elizabeth breaking a bottle of champagne on the bow and saying the words I name this ship and may she bring fair winds and good fortune to all who sail on her John Vigor a resident of Bellingham Wash is a boating writer and editor The denaming ceremony above is contained in his book How to Rename Your Boat and 19 Other Useful Ceremonies Superstitions Prayers Rituals and Curses Paradise Cay and is available from www paracay com 59 GLOSSARY Many of the definitions in this glossary were taken from the Menger 19 User s Manual and may be specific to the Menger Cat angle of heel a hull reference point used while sailing anchor rode n the line attaching the anchor to the boat apparent wind n the wind perceived on a moving boat It is the resultant of the actual wind and the wind generated by the boat s motion athwartship adj crossways to the boat backing plate n a reinforcing plate for a fitting attached to the deck or hull bale n a u shaped fitting on the boom or gaff to which a block or bridle is attached batten n fiberglass or wooden strips us
41. e tilt joint and wedge a plastic wheel chock 6 wide into the gap This pretilt needs to be enough to get the rear most roller contacting the bow below the brake of the bow curve That way as you start to crank the boat back on the bow will continue to push the rear of the trailer down As soon as you see this happening time to remove the chock For lawn launching have the wheels chocked or have the trailer attached to your tow vehicle For lawn recovery I do neither The winch sort of pulls the trailer under the boat This also works well at a public ramp when your boat has slid off the side of the trailer in the driving lane Wet round bottom boat without side guide bunks or a tie down strap DON T ASK At least it was a Boston Whaler PC wouldn t have survived Do I put larger wheels on I tow trips of a thousand miles one way in addition to forty to sixty mile trips one way to local lakes I changed to 12 wheels Fewer RPM s on the hubs and bearings Do I add bearing buddies Maybe yes maybe no Bearing Buddies provide a way to add grease to the bearings and space inside the hub Craig has a special type of axle which provides an escape for the old grease so adding new won t get him in trouble Without this type of axle you run the risk of blowing out the rear bearing seal by over pressuring the hub Blown rear seals sling grease all over your trailer and boat and allow water into the hub and bearings My local trailer shop loves
42. e where wind speed and direction change constantly I adjusted the main sheet much less often after the modification And finally sailing speed seems to be unaffected I typically sail in 10 to 25 mph winds and the Sun Cat moves along as before with no ill handling effects Any thoughts on my findings would be greatly appreciated Here is the photo of the relocated mainsheet hardware as discussed in my previous post The arrangement frees the area of the bridge deck and hatch for seating and easy passage The hardware is high quality anodized aluminum components from 8020 The mounting brackets clamps are a custom part fabricated from a standard part The rest of the parts are off the shelf The new boom bail came from West Marine as did the 50 feet of new mainsheet line I reused the OEM blocks but did have to add a small strap on the new traveler car My testing of the new setup continues and all seems to be positive The wind this past weekend was very lively and I was unable to confirm my previous post of better pointing abilities The Sun Cat definitely sails differently I continue to be happy with the new setup and of course the nice thing about it is if I decide to return to the original mainsheet traveler setup I can do so by repositioning the blocks 40 Here is the close up of the traveler mounting hardware The hardware clamps to the boom cradle upright just below the strut for added strength Here is the overview photo small
43. ead up so you re sailing close to the wind Ease the sail out to depower and slow down 2 Tighten up the topping lift so the boom doesn t come crashing down on your head 3 Lower the peak of the gaff two or three feet might take more or less on your boat 4 Raise the centerboard 5 Trim in the main and head up into the wind as if to do a slow tack 6 Tie off the tiller or wheel with it hard over When you do this the boat will try to tack but without the centerboard and peaked gaff won t make it She then falls off a bit until the rudder tells her to head up again The boat will basically sit still maybe making a knot or so calm as can be even in the stiffest of winds I ve gotten so I can do all these steps without really thinking 15 seconds or so Once in park as the late Bill Menger used to describe this maneuver the boat is as docile as can be Go forward to tie in a reef straighten up things on the boom make a sandwich whatever You ll swear the wind dropped in half as soon as you do this but don t be fooled To get going again follow the steps in reverse order It s really simple and easy If you get the hang of it in lighter air you ll feel more comfortable employing it when you find yourself in the heavy stuff Marshall Sanderling Posted By Howard Toft I my Sanderling I heave to with a little bit simpler method While on a reach I let the sail out all the way pull up the centerboard and as the boat lo
44. ecking from Lowe s I passed the steps at an angle over the table saw to create a half parabolic channel which I then gouged to half round with a piece of rigid copper pipe filed flat across the ends I drilled the end holes similar to yours I fastened mine with flathead SS bolts and nylon insert lock nuts and washers The treads practically snap into place without the screws 43 Scuppers Water Coming In Through the Scuppers Posted By Fitz Suncat Daysailer while back I noted that I occasionally saw small amounts of water coming into the cockpit from the self bailing drains when heeled over Not wanting to mess with drain plugs someone I forget who sorry suggested these transom mounted scuppers with self sealing float balls They may look a little funny but since installing them we haven t seen any water in the cockpit at all West Marine 1930353 Flow Max Ball Scupper gt a Ss eg Q i m li Ee Drain Tubes and Scuppers Posted By David Green he pvc tubes as drains don t seem to be water tight with the plugs Picnic Cat So on George Hayward s suggestion I bought two brass 1 x 3 drain tubes West Marine part 355511 and epoxied them into place from the cockpit into the pvc tubes They work perfect with the existing plugs and don t leak Next George suggested the Flow Max Ball Scupper West Marine part 1930353 Instead of removing the existing scupper Ijust cut out the black flapper which didn
45. ed electric start power tilt Hondas and still have money left over If one breaks I go boating anyway with the other and fix it later The diesel s weight is down in the bottom of the center of the boat Why drag a prop around when sailing The downsides for an outboard 48 While a 20 shaft will work fine most of the time you really need a 25 shaft to keep the engine from cavitating when powering into a chop Even with the XL shaft I would think that it can cavitate if conditions get bad enough which is the time you need it most It would be really hard to get that diesel s prop out of the water The remote controls are nicer on a diesel Resale value on the outboard version is going to be terrible You have to find me and I have to have the money to add to the fleet Finding any other buyer for the thing is going to be difficult You re more likely to wait around for a while and finally find someone who is willing to settle for the outboard version because you re willing to sell it really cheap just to make it go away An outboard especially an XL shaft when tilted sticks way back off the transom You can hit things with it in tight areas The outboard s weight is hanging off the back on the port side You can balance the outboard s weight with stuff like tools anchors etc that are heavy but you might not want to be able to store those things forward and on the starboard side This I think is the big one for most peop
46. ed to stiffen the leech of a sail beam n the sides of a boat beam reach n sailing between close hauled and a broad reach becket n an attachment point on the bottom of a block for connecting a line block n roughly the device known to landlubbers as a pulley bobstay n a short stay from the end of the bowsprit to the stem boom n the spar at the foot of the sail boom crutch n a device to support the boom when the sail is not in use bowline n bo lin one of the most useful knots it makes an eye in the end of a rope bridle n a short wire cable with both ends attached to the gaff to which a halyard block is attached bronze n a strong corrosion resistant alloy of tin and copper brow n the strip of teak that runs along the top edge of the cabin bulkhead n a term applied to any athwartship partition camber n extra cloth in a sail designed to form an air foil casting n a cast metal object spec the parts fitted to the ends of the spars catboat n a shallow draft broad beamed craft with the mast stepped far forward centerboard n a broad fiberglass plate lowered through the hull to resist leeway centerboard trunk n the housing into which the centerboard can be withdrawn Cetol n brand name of a varnish like finish chock n the bronze castings through which the bow lines are passed chock a block adj drawn so close as to have the blocks touching Used of a ship s hoisting tackle cleat n a bronze fitting with arm
47. ere is no vang Twist is necessary for proper sail shape because the apparent wind direction actually changes at different levels of the sail The difference in the direction of apparent wind from the deck to the peak is greatest in lighter winds and is minimal in strong winds Therefore twist should be greater in light air and less in a breeze In a marconi three sided sail with a vang the amount of twist can be confidently matched to the wind above the deck In a gaff rig catboat four sided sail the only controls effecting twist are the mainsheet and the peak halyard When sailing close hauled or on a close reach the mainsheet actually pulls down on the boom more than it pulls the boom toward the center of the boat This is the only time that you have good control of the twist by mainsheet tension The peak halyard also tightens the leech and as a result controls twist However the proper tension on the peak halyard to position the draft in the sail is so important to performance that its function to control twist is usually ignored Trimming to conditions Depending on the strength of the wind you ll want to adjust the sail shape to most efficiently take advantage of the conditions In light air first raise the throat halyard to tension the luff loosely so that the sailcloth seems to sag slightly between the mast hoops Then raise the peak halyard to remove the long wrinkle from the throat down to the clew The body of the sail is now smooth
48. es We occasionally do canal tours in the Sun Cat and many of the canals dead end I can rotate the Sun Cat as tight as our dinghy Then center the motor and trim as necessary to hold course again Trimming the motor With all the discussion of Sun Cats not holding course while motoring I think this could use some discussion I am a non current commercial rated pilot with over 4000 hours I ve flown a lot of different planes One thing most airplanes have is some method to trim out pitch and level Hours of holding the yoke while you burn off fuel in one wing or the other would be very tiresome Your outboard motor equipped boat has something very similar and most powerboats with larger motors have trim tabs For every throttle setting there is an angle of the motor that will allow your boat to go straight with no tiller messing Just move the motor a bit one direction or the other until your boat maintains the course you want without any pull on the tiller you are now in trim If you change the throttle setting you will have to move the motor re trim again to get that hands off status This is especially easy with the Sun Cat cause the motor is right there no big reach to get at the motor tiller handle If you find that your Sun Cat doesn t hold course while you are raising the sail try trimming the motor When under sail you can adjust the centerboard to ease weather helm yes you will make a bit of leeway On our Sun Cat
49. essary the Cat will sail to windward with board up but will make considerable leeway To see this action have one person sail and the other raise the board all the way while going hard on the wind Observe that the wake has an oily appearance Slowly lower the board until the wake becomes normal This position is the right amount of board for sailing to windward with this amount of wind It will measure about 20 25 of pennant If this is your local area s normal wind mark the pennant with a permanent marker The helmsman will note that the amount of weather helm decreased significantly when the board was raised Lowering the board all the way will considerably increase weather helm Perhaps the reason catboats were saddled with a reputation for heavy weather helm was not the design s fault but the lack of sailing skill of the sailor Try reducing the weather helm in a keel boat this way You can sail your Cat to windward in up to about 7 knots of wind and calm seas by only adjusting the centerboard pennant Start out by setting a course to windward with your board set as you normally do Let the tiller go and take the centerboard pennant in hand Lowering it causes the Cat to go higher raising it causes you to fall off Somewhere in between your Cat will sail herself to windward Fasten the pennant and sit back and relax DO NOT FALL OVERBOARD AT THIS TIME Sail Trim Very few of us have had experience in adjusting a fo
50. et to increase twist spilling power from the top of the sail to decrease heel and helm Sailing deep and keeping the boat flat seems to be fastest upwind in heavier air particularly since there usually is a chop to sail against in these conditions If you are sailing light or solo in a breeze 12 or more knots and do not wish to reef then sailing with a bubble in the luff and pinching in the puffs is your only option Points of sail Now let s look at what we need to do to when sailing on different points When reaching ease the peak halyard and the throat halyard as you bear off to maintain the same relative position of the luff curve to leeward of the mast and a powerful deep throat shape On a close reach deep throat draft forward is max power It doesn t get any better than this 16 Whoever is trimming your halyards needs to pay attention since you usually have your hands full with the tiller and the sheet As the reach broadens difficulties with twist control rapidly take over and the game changes The twist in the sail almost never matches the apparent wind in the sail The bottom third of the sail is constantly stalled and the top of the sail is near luffing The trick is to keep as much of the sail properly trimmed and powered up as possible The high leech telltale should be streaming and easily visible most of the time The low leech telltale will be constantly hidden behind the leech stalled like the lowest luff telltale pair
51. f The second reef is trickier because you have to go forward to tie off the tack Frankly especially if you are alone I would not go forward in conditions that require a 2nd reef Take the sail down and go home with the motor as God intended If it is windy when you leave the dock tie in the 2nd reef before you go In my experience it is difficult to tack the boat in open water with the 2nd reef the waves under such wind conditions are too big for the limited speed you generate with the 2nd reef and it is hard to get the bow through the wind If you are in sheltered water so that the wind is high but the waves are small then tacking is possible with 2 reefs 31 Reefing How and Why his article first appeared in the 1985 Yearbook of the New England Beetle Cat Boat Association and has been slightly edited and updated as it appears here Copyright O 2001 Jennifer Kano As we all know from experience Beetle Cats sail best in light and moderate winds On the surface of it this fact seems somewhat ironic since the Beetle is a design adaptation of the 16 30 foot Cape Cod Catboat a popular commercial fishing craft of the 1800s and early 1900s designed primarily for heavy weather use However history further reveals that the commercial cats also sailed reefed most of the time reserving their full sail area for the gentle breezes more common during the summer months For these year round fishermen reefing was the norm not the exception it is to
52. f the wind was at all cooperative Every little puff would round the boat up and I would end up dragging the rudder sideways The magic thing is that as you pull up on the centerboard you are rotating it back moving the boat s pivot aft The weather helm you are getting is because the boat s sail effort is aft of where the boat pivots in the water Moving the pivot back cures the problem Don t worry about slippage and losing draft your boat will balance out nicely if you adjust the centerboard and any leeway you gain will be difficult to detect Single handing our Horizon Cat I ll balance the helm with the centerboard go below to grab a nicely chilled Deja Blue and return to the helm on basically the same point of sail In fact the helm balances almost too nicely Coming about if you don t start the maneuver with a little weather helm it s easy to end up with the boat falling off too far on the new tack If the wind is blowing and I ve got all the weather helm trimmed out I ll drop the centerboard as I use about half rudder to windward On the new tack as soon as the sail develops power it checks the swing off the wind As that happens coming back up on the centerboard and returning the helm amidships puts the boat on the desired heading Good luck my bet is that your weather helm will trim right out Posted By Carl Picnic Cat Central Texas Ch our Picnic Cat the centerboard effect is really cool When it s time to drop the sai
53. ff peak to the boom and one sail tie bundling the sail the peak halyard in the upper position works as a topping lift Ida rudder All 3 8 Harken Big bullet blocks All 5 16 New England fuzzy 3 strand dacron hallyards and mainsheet Used old cheek blocks for 2 1 outhauls on boom and gaff Positive locking seat latches with snap hooks to lock them Weather seal under the hatch lids 8 Optimist dinghy 48 liter airbags below decks almost 800 Ib of floatation by my calculation I m thinking of adding a belt pack manually inflatable PFD to the masthead with its rip cord extending down the mast face for antiturtling protection 3 4 plywood floor between the mast and the centerboard trunk below Group 27 gell battery just aft of the mast Wiring run aft to a 12 V trolling motor socket mounted in the center of the transom inspection port Additional 25 Ib of trim ballast forward The boat really slows down if she s allowed to bury her stern Sail her level fore and aft I used my old mainsheet tackle for a boom vang Great for sail draft control especially with the sail reefed Also a great help broad reaching and running Vang not useable with the forward bimini up It s easily removed with fast pins I removed those wire bails from the sides of the mast stub what good purpose were they anyway and added 5 inch cleats port and starboard where the bails were I cleat the halyards off there now and can store the coiled halyards hanging from the cleats out of the
54. for the first time is rather traumatic but it works on all types of ramps Loading 1 Moor your boat as close to the ramp as possible 2 Run lines from the bow and stern cleats long enough so that you are able to reach the launching ramp 3 Raise the centerboard Raise the motor Raise the rudder Sun Cat 4 Back the trailer into the water until the wheels are submerged to the axle Place wood blocks under the rear wheels of your tow vehicle to prevent the trailer from pulling it into the water E Slowly position the bow so that it lines up with the center of the trailer 6 Let the wire out until you can reach the bow eye and attach the hook to it 7 Reverse the direction of the winch so that it is pulling in Slowly crank the winch in If excessive force is needed stop winching and determine what is hanging up The boat should roll slowly onto the trailer until the bow reaches the V block on the winch stand 8 You can now pull away from the ramp Use low gear and slow speed Again watch for overhead wires 9 Lower the centerboard and plug in the trailer lights 10 See section on lowering the mast Sailing Tips Centerboard he centerboard on your Cat can be adjusted from time to time or left down about 24 all the time you are sailing It should be pulled up while the boat is moored or under power The purpose of the centerboard is to resist the boat s tendency to slide to the leeward while going into the wind If nec
55. g was much calmer aboard but almost the same speeds You keep on your course with input from the centerboard the sheet and the helm They all cooperate On a long tack the centerboard and the sheet balance the boat and the helm corrects for wave action Anyway the trick is that as the centerboard pivots up it s swinging aft Moving the anti leeway effort from the centerboard decreases weather helm as the centerboard pivots back Weather helm is of course the result of the keel s center of effort ahead of the sail s center of effort With the centerboard all the way up you get back some weather helm because the centerboard has disappeared However running downwind and jibing you get your lightest helm with the centerboard fully retracted Interestingly it s hard to make 90 degree tacks without a little weather helm If I ve got it all balanced out I drop the centerboard a bit before coming about Otherwise as soon as the sail starts to fill on the new tack I have to fight lee helm the centerboard develops its lift from forward motion but as soon as the wind hits the sail on the new tack you ve got the sail forces at play That means you get lee helm until you accelerate on the new tack At first I thought I was just having to meet the boat like on a battleship After a few sails I figured out what was going on I need to practice heaving to so I can learn how best to manage that Offhand I think beam to the wind centerboard almos
56. he cabin than the Sanderling The availability of parts is the biggest difference between the two I have just about made everything I have needed to restore my HA 18 where with the Sanderling all that is needed is a phone number and a checkbook It really comes down to personal preference You should get on both boats to see how you fit Good luck with your hunt 54 Flag Etiquette lag etiquette has been transmitted to us by generations of mariners Although not often appropriately respected these days especially not by charterers we might add observing flag etiquette can provide some pride of perpetuating a very old tradition as well as some fun We will not get into deep details and purist fanaticism However we will try to show charterers the minimum that is expected for basic respect of rules Therefore we will only talk here about 4 main flags potentially used by charterers and charter boat owners the Ensign or the National flag the club burgee the Private Signal and the Courtesy Flags The Flags Ensign Boats should fly the National Flag Most pleasure boats in US waters have a choice of two e The yacht ensign with its fouled anchor over a circle of 13 stars the Betsy Ross flag Originally restricted to documented vessels only it is now commonly flown on recreational boats of all types and sizes instead of the National Flag e The 50 star flag Old Glory you are familiar with The appropriate time to fly the e
57. he gaff is swinging wildly and uncontrollably and is aiming for the top of your head 2 The sail is being stretched on the bias and will lose its shape if this is done frequently 3 The sail that results from scandalizing is inefficient for anything but running down wind It is reported that professional catboat sailors i e fisherman were never seen to do this and rightly sol 12 Trimming the Sail How to get rid of Weather Helm Posted By Bruce Sun Cat Ne if I could just get rid of a wicked weather helm that I seem unable to tune out of the boat she rounds up in every puff when any more close hauled than a beam reach tiller hard over Having sailed all my life taught sailing and raced successfully in Marconi rigged cats and sloops I seem unable to tune this out of an otherwise delightful boat It makes the boat ever more unpleasant to sail Any suggestions Quick study guide Posted By Jim B Sun Cat Ke out the mainsheet and pull up some centerboard Check that your rudder is ALL the way down Literally if it is back even a few centimeters there will be more weather helm The IdaSailor rudder will also make a difference if you do not have that There is no reason that these boats should have too much weather helm Posted By Carl Haddick Horizon Cat Central Texas would stress the trim the centerboard myself When I sailed with the centerboard all the way down I just sailed s turns any closer than a beam reach i
58. here was blood on it I was sailing one day and a Sanderling put her sail up about 1 2 mile away She rolled me in about 1 2 hour Sold the Menger Now that Bill Menger has passed I predict the 19s will hold their prices well The Com Pac is growing on me I always wanted a blue hulled boat and in spite of conventional wisdom I got one and am glad I did Very well constructed The rig is still a gaff but some modern features like a traveler The mast is slightly further back and the stays limit how far you can let the sail out when running But that may force you to reach more than run and therefore avoid an accidental gybe I still think she is under rigged for a light air area Someone on this site Jim B if not sorry don t want to put word in anyone s mouth told me to consider it as having main and working jib as opposed to genoa and that seems to be spot on That s perfect for me as I don t like getting up and reefing The first reef may already be in The worst trade off here is in light air in chop thrown up by powerboats But she tracks well and has a very neutral for a catboat helm I keep mine at a mooring but the advantages the Com Pac has for trailering are obvious As for Sanderling s passing me by well now I just put up the Bimini and wave If I had to choose from these three I would buy the one in best condition in the same price range For day sailing and catboat racing the Marshall 18 is hard to beat You can heel it over and bury the
59. ick s as well I ve added both fore and aft biminis My forward bimini was custom made at the same time my travel storage cover was However the standard factory bimini works fine The only modification is to shorten the two legs an inch or two trial and error To position the sliding tracks place the folded bimini in its boot gently against the shrouds Center the tracks on the ends of the legs and mount to the coaming You can adjust the opening between the biminis to allow the main sheet to tack It also allows dockside entry into the cockpit between the biminis I m not a camper but the two biminis would make an excellent frame for a cockpit tent simple three sides and a top for forward and another for aft Zip them together in the middle Windows screens optional I m planning a four sides and top simple drop over for the front bimini area to provide a privacy room to use the plastic bucket kitchen garbage liner with a Depends in the bottom or change a wet swim suit I ll use a light beige rip stop nylon Light and easy to store in a stuff sack I ve changed some things to the boat The lazy jacks are gone Too much trouble The throat halyard is now 2 1 The gaff block has two positions the original one for full sail and a new upper one for reefed Each bail has a shackle seized in place with SS wire It s quick to move the block with a fast pin which is secured to the block with light line With the sail down and a sail tie fixing the ga
60. ied I remember sailing near an HA 18 and literally going around in a circle around it The Sanderling is still being built the same way it was in the 60s and parts and help from Marshall Marine are always available I haven t needed much but I never have a problem getting what I do need I would expect a bigger price difference in the used boats What I have seen is that the Sanderling holds its value very well I don t think you would be unhappy with either boat but I obviously would lean towards the Sanderling I did do a search for information once and found a review of 3 catboats one of which was a Sanderling the other two I don t remember Try a Google search with the word reviews included If you have any specific questions let me know Posted By Don Southwick I agree with Howard about who you ask I have an older HA 18 1973 and we work on a few different catboats here at our marina I like the motor well in the HA 18 mainly for the look With the classic lines of the cat the hidden motor in the well takes nothing away from the look of the hull It does slow the boat down a bit but if you aren t racing then why the need for speed Also the outboard brackets on the transom have been known to snag the mainsheet once in awhile As far as cockpits go the Sanderling has more walkaround space with smaller seats and the Ha 18 has larger seats and smaller walkaround room The cabin on the HA 18 is slightly higher giving more sitting headroom in t
61. il the skipper must understand the need to reef earlier before the winds and the sail become unmanageable Many skippers don t care to reef and this can turn into a dangerous situation Catboats are frequently known to have heavy weather helm Most catboats have low freeboard with a curvaceous sheer line Catboats are admittedly not the best design for bluewater cruising The Nonsuch design has ventured across the Atlantic a number of times and a few books published on the experience Saci IV by Brian Shelley Dangerous Waters by David Philpott and personal accounts logs of Dr Alain Cracco unpublished The general consensus was that the vessel was surprisingly well built and could handle quite a beating in heavy weather but that the unstayed rig and mast tracks were the weak links Hinterhoeller Inc the company building the Nonsuch line responded with improvements to the design as much as economically feasible Catboats are not as popular on the Western and Gulf coasts and may not sell as quickly or for as high values Mooring and Docking Docking Posted By Dick Herman Muddy Duck DES takes practice I learned the hard way never to leave or approach a dock under sail There is one marina on the Delta where I was asked to leave and not come back Always motor away or into a dock with the sail furled The secret is to be going slow enough to maintain way and control I approach the dock dead slow and aim for the spot where I want
62. int distance data Waypoint number and bearing Cross track error Automatic trim Automatic seastate compensation 9 rudder gain and damping levels 15 40 adjustable off course alarm Automatic tack function Northerly southerly turning error compensation Course memory Full range of mounting accessories available Optional Remote Control 39 Sun Cat Main Sheet Traveler Relocation Posted By Tom Black ello All A few weeks ago I posed the question of relocating the traveler and main sheet to the rear deck area of the Sun Cat between the boom cradle uprights The responses were positive so I went ahead with the project I thought I might share what I have discovered I designed a track and car unit to mount to the base of the boom cradle uprights so that no drilling of the deck was required I reused the OEM blocks adding a new longer main sheet and purchased a new boom bail for mounting at the end of the boom The installation was very easy and looks factory installed The results are amazing The cockpit has grown much larger in size and access below no longer requires gymnastics moves This of course was the point of making the changes the surprise was the improvement to the sailing characteristics the Sun Cat The first thing I noticed was improved pointing I think it is as much as an additional 5 degrees The second thing I noticed was the sail required much less tending as wind conditions changed I sail on a large mountain lak
63. izontally at least that s what works for me I take a pull on both halyards then take a couple of pulls on the peak halyard to accommodate its 3 1 purchase repeat until sail is set When the throat is all the way up then haul the peak halyard the rest of the way You ll have to tune the peak halyard for wind conditions too tight and you get vertical wrinkles too loose and you get diagonal wrinkles Both halyards should be pretty close to effortless until the throat halyard starts raising the boom Make sure your downhaul is loose enough to let the gooseneck up and make sure the mainsheet is eased so you re not fighting it either Holding Course while Raising the Sail Posted By Jim B Sun Cat steer with just the tiller I keep the motor pivot just tight enough to hold it in position but loose enough to turn it by hand In tight situations I use both the tiller and motor to turn I can rotate the Sun Cat in not much more than its own length with this technique If you do not trim the motor when you change speed you can feel a pull on the tiller Try it next time out as you are motoring along turn the motor just a teensy bit until the boat stays on that course with your hand off the tiller Then give it a bit more throttle the motor will need a bit more turn I don t even think about it it s just second nature I ve done something like this with all our boats 30 Our home here is on a 55 wide canal with boats on both sid
64. l I move forward to the mast giving the boat enough weather helm to point itself into the wind I initially couldn t understand why things didn t get ugly once she started making sternway but I think I ve got it figured out and it s because of the centerboard When the boat begins to move backwards the rudder will flop to one side or the other However without any on axis water flow over the centerboard it doesn t make any hydrodynamic lift it s just a poor excuse for a drogue The rudder to one side moves the stern off the wind and the drag from the centerboard farther towards the bow tends to weathervane hydrovane the bow to the wind The boat stays calm in a sort of hove to condition Interestingly centerboard full down helps produce weather helm as long as the boat still has forward motion Then when we re drifting backwards it helps keep the boat approximately beam to the wind 13 What do to trim the sail is Posted By Mark Milam Nonsuch 33 Sun Cat cabinless LA lace several tell tales on leach and draft of sail Then I play with the gaff position and mainsheet outhaul and downhaul to get then all flying back for that wind and enough draft for power like as in light air or waves a flatter sail for smooth water and more wind Just for the record I ve been racing since I was 14 We did win Nationals in the F 27 class 3 times I just approach the cat boat sail like any sail you have to get all the air flowing over it
65. le It looks better and seems more like a little yacht without that silly outboard hanging off the stern Must Haves for a Cat Boat Posted By George Boley original owner of Cat Nap Sun Cat 2003 OU WILL NOT GET YOUR MONEY BACK ON A N Y OF THESE ITEMS WHEN YOU RE SELL Allowing for 5000 depreciation I am probably going to lose another 5000 on items that I put on my Sun Cat and trailer OK here is my option list in order The first two are so important that I can t separate them 1 Anchor roller There is no place forward for the anchor Without the roller the anchor goes in a stern lazarette I would not own a boat that had to carry its anchor in the stern 2 Lazy jacks Besides the obvious intended use of the lazy jacks they also come in handy for raising the boom to keep it from hitting the crutch when reefing or lowering the gaff slightly in light air situations I couldn t sail my boat without the lazy jacks 3 Bimini I live in Texas I was AMAZED at how effective the bimini is Besides providing shade the slightest breeze blows thru it to the extent that you can feel in on your face The rest of these I would not have enjoyed sailing my boat without but they are money losers 4 Idasailor foil rudder Ingenious 10 degrees closer point on each tack Nuff said 5 Trailer guides on trailer Paid for themselves the first time I had to put the boat onto the trailer 6 Compass and Depth Sounder 7 Trailer Tongue jack is a
66. lone or play with the shape The sail shape to go to windward should be set by increasing the tension in the peak halyard While hoisting the sail bring the throat halyard as taut as possible Continue raising the peak halyard until a crease extends from the peak to the tack This crease will disappear when you haul in the mainsheet Do not raise the peak too high as you will double block the peak blocks This will prevent the saddle from rotating An inch or two adjustment in peak halyard will drastically change the shape of the sail When the halyards are new they will stretch shortly after being tensioned Therefore tighten them again 15 minutes after hoisting sail The outhauls on the boom and gaff should be stretched very taut for heavy airs but loosened for light airs A leech line runs up the leech of the sail This line stops the fluttering of the leech while going to windward Do not adjust it in advance as you will end up with a curled leech ruining the shape of the sail After you ve had a chance to sail the Cat a while adjust it only if there is excessive flutter in your leech otherwise leave it alone Only pull in a very small amount at any one time There is a small clam cleat on the side of the sail to secure it The mainsheet is your primary sail adjustment The sail should never be hauled in closer than the corners of the transom quarters no matter how high you re trying to point unlike the mainsheet on a sloop Your
67. m othets 1 edie del ated ade i delatae uideri i edo poii ea eee recta 49 Teak CockplE GEates dioe etre eege ege TE De THE Ure Yd 49 MANGE TA IMO aca ease eto tee Hetero dedit ed aderat E POR Nr reto de A EN 50 MARSHALL VS MENGER VS COMG PAC sssssssssssssessessessessessesessessessessesaessesaesseeseeseess 51 PICNIC CAT REVIEW 2 Eee EE 52 PHCTIG Cat D ree 53 HA 18 VERSUS SANDERLING cor rit rri Eee eu ntn Rae xu ee Sono rona Ep one crea ean erac ue 54 FLAG EDT QUET WE PET 55 THE EI EE 55 ciem 55 gem 55 Private SIgnal 1 ia emen qe eiie to TH ei utet gie e dts 56 Courtesy Flags doe mee tenant stu HR ED 56 Flags Diniensions druide edis ed nne dieere e EE 56 Raising and Lowering Flags ertt docente Po Lie entra a renes tea eco on Lon a scu nane xe Ese fuor naar ka aora pede eran enanef 56 RENAMING A BOAT rtr xvcercu eni CES ux eae pav e RC cV vex Seve wax vi vev ceu Wa aa V aaa aaa au EAE UE 58 E e FE 58 Vigor s Denaming Rer upll 59 Christening Ceremony GLOSSARY vi Catboat Thesis Posted By Kristen Posey 18 Sanderling TX LA C atboats vs Seaworthiness a wave on the stern quarter will shove her around a bit but she is generally a heavier boat than a sloop of her same length and her beamy nature does a lot in the way of added mass and damping to counteract most wave forces Catboats vs Ease of Launching you can t ge
68. m the Mitey Mite syndrome Assuming that this is the case we now offer the following for closet non reefers of all ages Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Reefing But Were Afraid to Ask On boats without topping lifts most Beetles fall into this category reefing is done with the sail down Before starting to tie in a reef make sure the sail is bent onto the spars ready for normal un reefed sailing everything attached outhauls tight Then follow these three steps 1 Inhaul Tie the reefing grommet in the luff down to the tack grommet or gooseneck fitting with a short piece of line using a reef knot 2 Outhaul Tie the reefing grommet in the leech to the boom in two directions first out to the end of the boom Be sure to pull it out tightly Second down to the boom directly under the reefing grommet 3 Reef Points Roll up the fold of sail between the boom and the reef points and tie Reef Knot the reefing lines by passing them between the foot of the sail and the boom do NOT pass the reef lines around the boom Be sure to use reef knots Keys to Success Be sure to do the three steps in order Make sure the leech reefing grommet is pulled out tight If you wind up with strain wrinkles coming from the reef pints when the sail is up the leech grommet wasn t hauled out tight enough There isn t one right way to do this but here is one method that does the job well and still unties easily afterwards Thread one end
69. nap before she would capsize I got her to heel 30 degrees my other clinometer showed 35 and with both feet against the leeward seat and BOTH ARMS pulling with every bit of strength on the tiller I could not keep her from heading up A GREAT safety feature in my opinion The 300 lbs of ballast you mention is actually the stainless steel centerboard assembly You did not hear this from me a reliable source has it straight from a Hutchins reliable source that there is an extra 110 lbs of ballast in the keel that no one will talk about However for intents and purposes let s call it 300 Ibs Posted By Dick Herman Sun Cat CA have been out in some very sporting conditions on San Francisco Bay We re talking small craft warnings winds of 30 plus knots a confused sea with two to three foot swells with two to three foot waves blowing across at an angle It looked like the inside of a washing machine I was out to howdy the tall ships when they sailed under the Golden Gate Most of them motored in under bare spars while I sailed along beside them under a single reef The Sun Cat could take it but I couldn t 47 Outboard vs Inboard Posted By Tom Ray ine out of ten Horizon Cats sold are the diesel version Make that tenth one for me Obviously I m in the minority on this one but this seems a good place to share my reasons for preferring the outboard powered version and asking others why they like the diesel In no
70. nd port telltales from familiar three sided sail with a few additional points The reef points divide the each other so you can tell them apart when the sail lengthwise and can be used to measure the position of the draft sun is behind the sail Color coding is also helpful The gaff rigged catboat sail is very forgiving and generally has a wide groove upwind and down making it very easy to sail However to get the best performance close hauled you need to sail on the edge of the groove closest to the wind This is a very narrow part of the groove where the windward telltales should be lifting 50 to 80 percent of the time It takes a lot of concentration and practice to stay in this narrow slot of performance through the constant changes in wind direction and strength Draft Draft is the curvature of the sail described as both the position of maximal depth along the length of the sail and how deep the curve is relative to the length of the sail 15 The depth of the draft on a gaff rigged catboat is only controlled by the outhauls and there are two of them Since the gaff is in a remote location while sailing set your gaff outhaul tension before you raise the sail to match the expected winds If needed between races drop your sail and re adjust the gaff outhaul The boom outhaul adjustment is very effective to change the depth of draft in the lower half of the sail while sailing In light air upwind the boom outhaul should be tight eno
71. nd to Bruce types 2 The new XYZ anchor is incredible It only weighs 10 5 lbs but sets instantly requires no chain will fit perfectly on the roller spit you did get this I hope and will dig in instantly never drag reset itself constantly even if you range at anchor because of bad wind and current combos Andy Peabody sells this too but it is astoundingly expensive 395 00 Made of stainless steel www creativemarine com 45 Sun Cat Stability Posted By Gerald Donaldson have a Mud Hen sharpie that is essentially a dinghy design Although with gear motor and a couple of people on board it presses 1 000 lbs I never lose sight of the fact that it can be capsized especially if one runs dead downwind which can lead quickly to a broach and overturn I see that the Sun Cat has 300 lbs of ballast and a foot more beam in its 17 feet than my Mud Hen The ballast and form stability would seem along with apparent undercanvasing to provide for a very stable vessel But can Sun Cats be capsized Has anyone on the forum ever heard of a Sun Cat being capsized Posted By Steve Haines catboats KY Lake panhandle ve never heard of it happening Gerald and I think it would take an unlikely series of events to capsize a Sun Cat But I m sure the boat can be capsized given lousy conditions and say being pretty much blindsided by a large wave Under less extreme conditions the boat wants to round up when really pressed A
72. ng I think the boat points well with the standard plate metal rudder but I ve heard an Idasail rudder is a nice upgrade For the shallow water I sail even if I got an Idasail I d often still use the stock rudder because of the environment I sail in There is a realitively narrow angle where everything is on the numbers at least when pointing high but that s pretty much true with any boat With the leech telltales flying nicely fall off just a little and they will start to curl to windward or head up just a little and the luff will start fluttering I don t find that narrow sweet spot objectionable it s just that the boat keeps you informed about how she wants to sail My least favorite aspects of the boat are the seat latches If I were ordering a Picnic Cat I think I would order it without seat latches and install them myself Mine came with brass hooks for seat latches and I just don t trust them One is way too tight but holds well and the others don t have a very secure grip Since air under the cockpit seats is a Good Thing in these boats I worry about those latches It s also a little bit of a reach to get to the outboard tiller but each time I sail that gets a little easier Mostly I just look for ways to minimize steering with the outboard I ve singlehanded in waves deep enough and close enough together to press the bow pretty far into the waves and I ve found the boat to be responsive and fun in light air In winds reported t
73. nsign is from sunrise to sunset except when racing However whenever a boat is taken into international or foreign waters the 50 star U S ensign is the proper flag to fly and the yacht ensign not to be displayed In other words if you own a US boat in the British Virgin Islands you should not fly the Ensign but the National Flag U S Yacht Ensign U S Flag Boats today fly the ensign from the stern which provides the best visibility but it can also be flown from the leech of the most aftersail When flown from the stern it should be on a staff pole that is sufficiently long and angled and that is offset to one side traditionally the starboard side so the flag flies clear of engine exhaust and rigging Burgee It is a small flag displaying the symbol of the skipper s yacht club or other sailing organization It may be flown day and night The Catboat Association Burgee Most people opt to fly the burgee lower in the rig hoisted to the end of the lowest starboard spreader on a thin flag halyard While purists rail this practice it is an accepted adaptation of another tradition which is that the starboard rigging is a position of honor when you visit a foreign port that s where we fly the host country s flag Besides being 55 reasonable flying the burgee in the starboard rigging is such a widespread custom that to try to end it would be close to impossible Private Signal It is a small custom designed and custom
74. o be 20 23 I was able to manage the boat without difficulty singlehanding That wasn t white knuckle sailing and it would take more wind than that to hit my panic button In fact I ve jibed under full sail with whitecaps appearing just make sure your centerboard is all the way up and closehaul the sail enough to flatten it before the jibe Don t try it at all in fact until you learn a little about the boat I jibed under moderate wind on my first sail and scooped up a cockpit full of water the centerboard really does need to be _all_ the way up The centerboard balances the helm just like it does on our Horizon Cat but higher than a dead run I only need to trim it up a few inches Raising lowering or reefing the sail is no trouble at all but I rigged adjustable lazy jacks that also work as a topping lift The trick there is some kind of automatic cleat for the lazy jack line so it s a just a quick tug to set or release the lazy jacks I used a lance cleat When it s time to drop the sail I round up into the wind and take the weight of the boom with the lazy jacks I also drop the centerboard all the way which will help it stabilize about 45 degrees to the wind I drop the sail while standing in the front of the cockpit and my weight forward helps add weather helm That s a cool thing because if the boat falls off the wind I just pull the boom in a little bit Grabbing a little wind with the boat balanced for weather helm has an amazing
75. o that line and as far aft as possible If necessary to level the pilot the rigger could have used an optional longer tiller pin and adjusted the depth of the mounting hole in the tiller The only extra tiller pilot pieces I bought were the extensions I recommend mounting everything before buying the extensions so you get the exact length you need for your boat I have only used it twice so far and only once with any wind I m pleased with how it works I ve calibrated compensated the fluxgate compass but haven t fooled with the rudder gain I d like more time sailing with it before I start turning too many knobs Got in a nice sail after work today Here are a few pictures of my third sail with the ST1000 tiller pilot The wind was roughly 10 mph occasionally up to about 12 or 13 based on the few white caps I saw I m still tickled by the SunCat s EASY performance This picture shows the tiller pilot only a few inches away from the end of its travel The centerboard was all the way down I was able to make the tiller pilot bottom out at the end of its travel with the centerboar all the way down 37 It was a nice evening sail my GPS said I maxed out at 5 4 knots Although we got a break from the heat this last weekend it is still relatively warm so I mostly just reached back and forth across Lake Ray Hubbard to take advantage of the breeze no need to run until it really cools off I m happy with the tiller pilot If I raise
76. oats out there if you re looking at monohulls Their beam is about half their length It adds stability and damps down the rolling motion compared to what you ll see in a sloop to something much smaller and slower and much more agreeable to a frightened wife or kids For example my boat is 18 long and 8 5 wide Half of my boat s length is cockpit the other half is cabin So the cockpit is 9 by 8 5 That s about the size of Rhode Island you know Catboats vs Dry Cabin that whole beam thing comes back in to play here and adds room to the cabin space There s room in the cockpit to sit down have a nap with the wife take a store some food make a cup of tea whatever There s a lot of storage outside for your gear but if you have lots and lots of gear there s a lot of storage inside too No mast in the way it s way up forward in the chain locker You might have a centerboard trunk to deal with in some of them in others it s out of the way By the way the large beam means she has a large waterplane area so you can add more gear to the boat than you would a sloop before she starts sitting a lot lower Catboats vs Stability yeah Lots of it They won t react as much to you jumping on board as the sloops do the added beam acts as a damper to what rolling motion there is in comparison to a sloop The only bad little thing about catboat stability is that should you manage to actually get pooped in a really bad storm bad things could hap
77. oblick PHD Fluid Dynamics Caltech Posted By Carl Haddick got a ride in a Sun Cat before we got our Horizon Cat and it was impressively stable The dealer s representative sat on the leeward cockpit bench and leaned back like he was in an easy chair We had enough wind to make the major portion of hull speed and everything was very much under control On my Horizon Cat if I m curious about water coming over the rail I ll just lean out to leeward and look As far as weather helm you will have a lot of it but you can also trim it right out Just pull the centerboard pendant up about 6 inches and that moves the centerboard s effort aft balancing the helm nicely When I m leaning over the lee watching the 46 water approach the rub rail I have abandoned the helm and the boat keeps tracking That means it will sail away if I fall off but the choice is yours if you don t want weather helm just balance it out Posted By George Boley Capri 14 2 ex Sun Cat Get after I had sailed my Sun Cat for a month or two and was comfortable with my sailing of her I TRIED to capsize her gradually heeling her over further and further to see if she would bury the rail or further or if her incredibly strong weather helm would head her up into the wind I am happy to say that it is the latter The only way you could capsize her would be a rogue wave or a horrendous gust of wind while the sheet was cleated in which case I suspect the mast would s
78. of piece of 6 8 foot line though the leech reefing grommet so that half the line is sticking out on each side of the sail e Thread the ends of the line through the hole in the end of the boom or the outhaul fitting or clew grommet in opposite directions e Tighten out the leech reefing grommet by pulling on both ends of the line at the same time e Pass the ends of the line back through the leech grommet in opposite directions and then down around the boom Secure with a reef knot When furling the bottom of the sail pull all of the excess sailcloth to one side of the boom and roll it up firmly Tie the middle reef points first and work out in both directions tying the next adjacent point This isn t vital but it does produce a smoother job 33 Trailering Advice Posted By Tom Galyen 34 1 Remember that you will have a much larger turning radius so be careful especially in gas stations It is easy to catch the corners of the fueling islands wth the trailer wheels When hooking up make sure that your trailer hitch matches the ball on your tow vehicle One fellow I met this summer did not do this Fortunately nothing serious happened Again when hooking up make sure you cross the tow chains This makes a cradle for the trailer tongue to be caught in if the unseen should happen and the trailer comes unhitched The fellow mentioned above had this happen when he backed up to park the boat and trailer and he didn t have the chains
79. om a friend last month that the Florida yachtsman I mentioned earlier had lost his latest boat a 22 foot trailer sailer Sailed her into an overhead power line Fried her She burned to the waterline Bad luck Not exactly He and his crew escaped unhurt He was just very careless He renamed her as usual without bothering to perform Vigor s famous interdenominational denaming ceremony And this time at long last he got what he deserved 58 Vigor s Denaming Ceremony In the name of all who have sailed aboard this ship in the past and in the name of all who may sail aboard her in the future we invoke the ancient gods of the wind and the sea to favor us with their blessing today Mighty Neptune king of all that moves in or on the waves and mighty Aeolus pronounced EE oh lus guardian of the winds and all that blows before them We offer you our thanks for the protection you have afforded this vessel in the past We voice our gratitude that she has always found shelter from tempest and storm and enjoyed safe passage to port Now wherefore we submit this supplication that the name whereby this vessel has hitherto been known be struck and removed from your records Further we ask that when she is again presented for blessing with another name she shall be recognized and shall be accorded once again the selfsame privileges she previously enjoyed In return for which we rededicate this vessel to your domain in full knowledge that sh
80. on the East Coast Can be faster than other boats on certain points of sail due to their large sail area There are some famous racing associations for certain classes of catboats e g WoodPussies Sanderlings Sandpipers Beetle Cats Some of the popular smaller catboats have hinged masts that make trailering going under bridges and obstructions and storage in covered slips very easy The shorter masts used for gaff rigs have more ability to get under bridges and obstructions as well The catboat s mast position leaves the cabin uncluttered as does the Horizon Cat s centerboard which retracts into a shoal draft keel No compression post in any of these boats and no centerboard trunk in some of them Load carrying ability The large waterplane area allows the vessel to carry more cargo Catboats vs Sloops The Disadvantages These boats can be slower than other less beamy boats on certain points of sail Can t be raced against sloops fairly without some attention to the handicap ratings The vessel will be very hard to right if capsized although capsizing is somewhat more difficult to achieve Less sail redundancy Most catboats only have one mainsail and generally no extras Whereas sloops ketches schooners yawls etc carry at least a main and a headsail or two providing redundancy should one sail fail In smaller catboats the cockpit is so large that getting pooped could be disastrous Due to the one single large sa
81. on your halyards and outhaul adjustment Have telltales on your leech and near the luff and know how to read them Add marks on your control lines and adjacent deck for reference to a standard trim condition Practice with your crew to improve sail trim in all conditions ont on fr wo DS Speed test with another boat of your class 9 Spend time in the boat In this article the Sandpiper Marshall 15 www marshallcat com catboat is used as an example It is representative of small gaff rigged racing catboats The trim techniques for four sided sails shown here should translate to other similar classes However each class may have individual variations in trim techniques that may be more successful consult your sailmaker and national champions in your class then experiment 17 Heaving To in a Catboat Family Cat Posted By Bob Breen Qis line reefing is probably the way to go though it adds more lines and complexity And one thing single line reefing doesn t accomplish is tying up the excess sail around the boom which on my boat catches on my stove pipe during tacks if left unattended So I m a huge fan of heaving to on a catboat for reefing or serving lunch or making sure my little three year old makes it in time to the potty If you haven t ever tried to heave to your cat you should I m sure it s been described before on this board so forgive me if I m repeating things but here s what I do to heave to my Family Cat 1 H
82. oss in this way 2 change direction in sailing boat to make a fore and aft rigged boat change direction by turning the stern across a following wind or change direction by turning in this way 3 n sail shift or direction change a sudden shift of a sail back and forth or change in the direction a ship is sailing keel n orig the main longitudinal member of a hull now a similar shape molded in fiberglass knot n 1 a combination of loops and tucks that join a rope to other ropes or to objects 2 a rate of speed of one nautical mile 6 076 feet per hour 61 knotmeter n an instrument for indicating speed through the water lazyjacks n light lines run between mast and boom to control the gaff and sail while being lowered leach See leech lee helm n the tendency of a sailboat to fall off the wind requiring the helm tiller to be pushed to leeward to maintain course See weather helm lee shore n the shore on the lee side of a boat The wind blows onto a lee shore leech n the after edge of a sail leeward adj in the direction of the lee side of a boat lift n 1 the forward acting force generated by the airfoil shape of a sail 2 a similar force acting on the keel or centerboard 3 an advantageous shift in wind direction luff n the forward edge of the sail v to allow the wind to strike the leeward side of the sail mainsail n the sal located behind the main mast mainsheet n see sheet make fast v to secure as wi
83. p as far as I m concerned 36 Autopilot Tillerpilot ST1000 installed Posted By Darren Sun Cat 255 in Dallas ere s a picture of the installation I think the rigger installer did a very good job Mounting the pin I had the tiller pin mounted further from the rudder pivot point than the instructions recommend in order to completely clear the back edge of the cockpit coaming while hand steering with the rudder hard over This mounting location required extending the tiller pilot arm with five inches worth of extensions a one and a four inch put together which were still on order when the photo was taken Mounting the socket The rigger said fiberglass on the top edge of the coaming was pretty thick and it was filled with foam below that As I understand it he drilled the socket mounting hole dug out some foam through the hole he drilled to create a hollowed out area immediately under the fiberglass tested the foam to make sure it would not be melted by the epoxy he was using and filled in the hole he dug out with epoxy to provide a solid mount for the socket I had the power socket mounted centered under the tiller so it would not take up any backrest space or interfere with use of the seat fuel lockers Note that it is mounted high enough to clear cockpit cushions I used the front edge of the seat over the gas locker as a visual reference when marking the drilling locations with the rigger tried to keep the tiller pilot parallel t
84. particular order The outboard can be independently steered It makes it easy to put the rudder one way while approaching a dock at an angle and put the outboard the other way and in reverse resulting in a power sliding stop alongside the dock The outboard is quiet Wind noise will drown out an idling Honda but that diesel at idle sounds like the African Queen If I wrap something around the prop of an outboard I might free it without getting wet I m a real sissy when it comes to water below 80 degrees and I don t like to swim in the ocean at night I boat in the tropics Sometimes I m in the cabin and I don t want a 180 degree diesel down in there with me making heat and noise The space filled by the diesel is a nice large storage area in the outboard version Holes in hulls ultimately cause trouble The diesel needs a water intake hole a shaft log stuffing box and an exhaust The only hole needed for the outboard version is above the waterline for the fuel line I would put an additional hole for remote controls which are going to be messier even with the cleanest installation That hole is still above the waterline I hate bleeding diesels and changing the oil I make a mess I don t care much for working on engines in tiny spaces either An outboard gets worked on in a shop next to a full tool set under a fan while standing or sitting comfortably For the price of the diesel option I can buy two really nice remote controll
85. pen very rare occurrence usually she Rises to the occasion But you d have pulled a big stupid being out in that bad of storm in the first place Catboats vs Sloops The Advantages of a Catboat e Easy to handle less sails less lines so there is instant gratification for new sailors However there is a learning curve as the vessel is hard to learn to sail well so there is still a challenge for more advanced sailors e It s easy to have all the lines come back to the cockpit so it s rare anyone actually has to leave the cockpit to fuss with anything thereby making it a safe boat e Beaminess adds to initial stability e Very shallow draft boats especially the centerboard boats The Wylie Cat and some of the Nonsuches being the exception with fixed keels This allows exploration of shallow waters that similar sized non catboat vessels would be unable to visit e Easy to single hand for people just getting into sailing people with kids and people whose knees don t care to go scampering about deck frequently In some cases the boats has been set up for people who are confined to wheelchairs e Have a traditional salty looking aesthetic appeal in most cases e The beaminess affords a lot of room in the interior creating a sense that the boat may be 5 longer than she truly is Meanwhile the cockpits are generally enormous e These vessels on average hold their value better than other vessels if decently maintained and located
86. pendant b nd place that over the next cleat forward Workang from the cockpit place the mooring pendant over the nearest Geat a I you do not have a double mooring pendant line could be added for this purpose Release the aft line a and with the center cleat still secure move the aft line to the bow With the bow secure the line on the center cleat b can be moved to the bow as well DONE Cynthia Grundler Myra Lee Docking Lessons Posted By Carl Haddick Horizon Cat Picnic Cat Central Texas Leones in the sternsheets of our dependable catboat watching freighters struggle uphill into Corpus Christi it was enticing to think how much grander life might be sliding down a meridian over that horizon s edge Just a dream but a nice dream nonetheless With eighteen feet of waterline no matter how nicely making way I m not likely to see the edge of ancient charts from our lovely Horizon Cat Quiet coves and coastal getaways not a problem in the right conditions On lakes and protected water I have the boat I want and she will take good care of me The ocean won t mind if I try conditions beyond my capabilities or my boat s design limits but I think DU be better off with a correct sense of perspective Maybe someday on a more suitable ocean kindly craft though I ll bury the land behind me in a watery grave In the meantime I m having a great time learning how to sail taught by well found vessels an
87. r 19 and now a Com Pac Sun Cat which might surprisingly be the right one for me First you can t go very wrong with any of the above Here are my impressions please keep in mind that these impressions are based upon the boats with me at the helm I may detract from the net value of a boat just by stepping aboard The Marshall s were the best sailing boats Faster and slightly quicker to tack More weather helm than the others and they heeled more I did not like the Marshall construction The bulkhead and cockpit are made cored is that right guys with plywood Water can get in the wood and delaminate Sailing without a reef in winds over 15 can encourage this I never reefed and as Bill Menger told me I was sailing the boat apart See what feedback you get on this site but I expect many boats 10 20 yrs old have had or will need a rebuild of the cockpit or bulkheads Please Marshall folks I am not implying Marshalls are not well made On the contrary compared to production boats they are battleships But I had two and had the same problem in both It s a weakness you should watch for The Menger was a well made beautiful boat The max beam is further forward than in a Marshall so the cockpit is slightly smaller but the cabin is larger The Menger is more of a seaboat The cockpit design is more suited to open water and is solid fiberglass I had a diesel in mine Mistake for me I am mechanically disadvantaged When I hooked up my DVD t
88. r quick release reef points n small lines attached to cringles in the sail for gathering up excess sail when reefed resin n a material derived from petroleum which when mixed with a catalyst hardens into a rigid material A composite of resin and fiberglass yields a material of unequaled value strength and versatility roach n unsupported sail cloth aft sail edge run n sailing downwind sail n everybody knows what a sail is sea cock n a valve to close off an opening in the hull for cooling water etc 62 shackle n a U shaped metal piece with a threaded pin across the ends for attaching two objects such as anchor to chain block to bail etc shaft log n fiberglass tube with stuffing box on one end and cutlass bearing on the other which allows the propeller shaft to pass through the hull sheave n a wheel or disk with a grooved rim the moving part of a block sheet n the multi part line from the end of the boom to the stern for controlling the angle of the sail shroud n a wire cable from the mast to the side of a boat not used on small catboats sintered adj particles of metal partially melted together resulting in a porous mass of great surface area skeg n the extension of the keel in the after part of a boat serving to protect the propeller support the rudder and provide directional stability skeg bar n the bronze bar across the bottom of the propeller opening on diesel Cats to support the rudder spanker
89. rail and from the high side see green water going by the porthole But that will mean you should have reefed already and are fighting the helm for your life If you re going to overnight a lot or venture offshore for a few hours Menger is your boat For trailer sailing the Com Pac can t be beat Having said that any of these boats will be a great choice Since it s still a niche market the construction of these boats is above normal production boats 51 Picnic Cat Review Posted By Carl Haddick Horizon Cat Picnic Cat Central Texas Hee none of this is boring or repetitive but I d like to do my part to spread the good word Picnic Cats are delightful boats We got ours to serve as a scouting vessel for our Horizon Cat so I could launch and explore and get depth soundings in advance of launching our bigger catboat It also opens up sailing where our Horizon Cat won t go my favorite ramp on Lake Limestone is separated from the lake by 2 4 miles of stump filled creek some of which is barely a foot deep and I have to get under a low narrow bridge I thought about a Sea Pearl but I wasn t sure about setting the boat up on the water Two masts plus a bit of initial tenderness in the Pearl from what I hear made the Picnic Cat sound like a better choice I ve sailed our delightful little Picnic Cat at least a dozen times and have visited four lakes in her Only once have I sailed from a ramp that allowed me to set up the mast before launchi
90. rest of the way but not before I ve gotten the routine down and get the sail up in less than a minute Sometimes I have to reach back and give the tiller a nudge to keep the bow into the wind Posted By Tom Galyen Sun Cat Merry Joy Champaign IL Im a newbie myself sailing my Sun Cat since May of this year However I do have some ideas that work for me I have raised my mast in the water at a dock in fact I do this most of the time I also lower my mast at the dock before recovering the boat onto the trailer I actually recommend this practice as you lessen the chance of hitting power lines trees etc at strange ramps Things you may want to think about 1 Ileave my sail cover on until I have the mast up This all but eliminates the chances of the halyards catching on the boom cleats or anything else This I think will help you the most 2 Make sure you remove the pin in the mast and check that the wires in the mast are clear and will not get pinched when the mast is raised 3 Make sure the forestay is clear and not tangled around the mast 4 Make sure you are standing inside the shrouds so they will come up outboard of you and your feet are clear of them 5 Ihave one foot near the mast and am standing on the port side of the mast facing starboard as I am right handed I take a large step aft with my right foot and grab the mast at a comfortable distance bracing my elbow of that arm against my knee to get e
91. rks have been striving toward that end and have developed a new single line reef system for the first reef in which a combined downhaul and outhaul leads to the aft end of the cabin One of the most important things to remember when reefing is that the sail must be FLAT when reefed with little draft It is not enough to just shorten sail it must also have less draft First Reef Let go of mainsheet and raise topping lift to take weight of boom 1 2 Lower peak and throat halyards so lower cringle on the luff is at the level of the boom 3 Haul in on the first reef line aft end of cabin port side inboard cleat to set the reef downhaul and outhaul tight 4 Raise peak and throat halyards 5 Release topping lift haul in mainsheet and resume course Reef is complete Sail can hang below boom along foot The modern Dacron sail is strong enough not to require the mid sail reef points to be tied in However the sail will have a cleaner appearance and will set better if the loose sail is gathered up and the reef points tied 11 Second Reef Let go of mainsheet and raise topping lift to take weight of boom and let cat heave to Lower peak and throat halyards so upper reef cringle is at the level of the boom Go forward to secure 2nd reef downhaul to tack 1 2 3 4 Secure reef outhaul on leech to cleat on the port side of the boom 5 With this reef it is necessary to tie in some of the reef points to keep the sail from hanging
92. s and resin widely used in boatbuilding Fiberglas n tradename for a brand of fiberglass figure eight knot n a stopper knot tied in the end of a line flag halyard n a light line used to hoist a flag foot n the lower edge of a sail forestay n a wire rope from the mast to the tang on the stem or bowsprit gaff n the spar supporting the head of a sail gaff saddle n a curved plate at the bottom of the gaff bearing against the mast allowing hoisting and rotation of the gaff gelcoat n a smooth opaque outer layer acting as finish and protection on fiberglass genoa or genoa jib n a large headsail used on sloops and other non catboats gooseneck n the universal joint on the forward end of the boom gudgeon n the female half of a rudder pivot see pintle gunter rig n an essentially triangular sail with a high peaked gaff almost parallel to the mast gybe see jybe halyard n a line used to hoist a sail A gaff rigged sail requires two halyards a throat halyard and a peak halyard head n 1 the top of a sail 2 a ship s toilet This term has many other uses with the general meaning of front or top heel n a boat leaning over at some angle isophthalic adj a particular formulation of gelcoat jib n headsail jib sheet n jib sail shape and trim control line jybe v 1 swing across boat to make a fore and aft sail swing across from one side of the boat to the other when sailing with the wind behind or to swing acr
93. s or horns upon which to secure lines clew n aft end of sail at the foot close hauled adj with the sail hauled in for sailing as close to the wind as possible CLR n center of lateral resistance coaming n the low elevated rail around the cockpit cockpit n an open area from which the boat is handled cockpit drain n the drain leading into the centerboard trunk to drain water from the cockpit 60 cringle n a circular brass eye let into a sail for attaching a line for outhaul reefing etc Dacron n tradename of a synthetic fiber used for making strong stretch resistant rope or sailcloth diesel engine n after Rudolph Diesel a German inventor An internal combustion engine in which ignition is achieved by the heat of compression diesel vent n on the Menger Cat an engine compartment ventilator set in the cockpit coaming dock master n the person in charge of a dock s downhaul n a line used to pull down the luff or forward edge of a sail draft n 1 depth of a boat below the waterline 2 the particular shape of a sail that enables a sailboat to go to the windward dropboard n the board that closes off the entrance to the cabin eyebolt n a bolt with an eye on the end used on the mast for attaching the halyard blocks also on the stem for attachment to a trailer fairlead n a guide through which a line passes fiberglass n a fabric made from fine strands of glass also a very strong composite of fiberglas
94. say so the line for the lazy jack goes straight from the tang on the mast to the pad eye toward the end of the boom It doesn t look like much angle but is plenty enough In fact I have NEVER had a problem with the gaff catching the jacks horror stories on some boats This is saying something too because the day I was overpowered trying to reef I was all over the place and everything on the boat did exactly as it was designed to do EYE was the weak link in THAT chain e First you already know to hang the lazy jacks from the shroud tangs e Next starting from the mast the first dark spot you see is the cheek block turning block e Next where the extra line has been coiled and is hanging down is where the clam cleat goes e Lastly furthest aft is where the pad eye goes on the bottom of the boom Again here is the sequence of events the line starts at a pad eye on the port side of the boom opposite the turning block Then it goes up thru the port block at the end of the lazy jack line from the mast Then aft thru the pad eye Then up thru the starboard turning block and down thru the cheek block on the boom then aft along the boom thru the clam cleat Mark the CONTROLLING factor on this is the GAFF LENGTH Looking at the photos you would innately want to move the lines further aft to catch more sail In actuality the sail is caught perfectly as is You don t want that line far enough aft that the gaff e
95. ses speed or tries to turn downwind I tie the tiller over to the lee side I don t touch the gaff or the topping lift I then can go below and make coffee or have lunch I set a table up in the cockpit and sit and relax Nice thing about it is that the boom is away from the cockpit giving a lot of room Horizon Cat Posted By Carl Haddick Horizon Cat Central Texas he centerboard has great influence on the boat s balance This is my favorite evangelical topic so pardon me if I run on a bit With the centerboard all the way down the boat quickly develops a quite pronounced weather helm When I first got the boat I couldn t sail a straight and true course it was always s bends as I pushed away from the wind eventually slowing the boat to a crawl by dragging the rudder sideways Then I discovered that pulling up the centerboard pendant just a few inches took the weather helm right off With the centerboard properly adjusted I can leave the helm go below and grab a nicely chilled soft drink from the ice chest and when I return to the helm at my leisure the boat is still on approximately the same point of sail This past weekend I carried full sail into winds starting to kick up whitecaps sailing at well over 5 knots closehauled and pointing high With the centerboard retracted about a foot s worth of line I had moderate weather helm When a heavy 18 gust hit I just sheeted out a little to keep it from rounding up Reefed everythin
96. t an inexpensive infrared thermometer at the hobby shop if you wish The point is if a hub is suddenly getting HOT you should go ahead and change it out Do I continue to float the boat rather than tilting the trailer I never do the float off on anymore unless there s some reason I have to I back in only until the water is up on the lower part of the tire at or near the wheel rim I always keep my bearings dry The problem comes when you launch with bearings that are still warm that is warmer than the water temperature The sudden cooling causes the remaining air inside the hub there is always some to contract and cause a vacuum You may suck some grease out of the BB if the disc is free to move or you may suck water in through the rear seal Using the tilt mechanism is so easy for me I simply choose not to take the risk had an interesting discussion with my trailer parts dealer this spring He no longer carries Timken bearings just the Made in China ones His point is trailer wheels and tires are not finely balanced like car wheels and tires They are also a lot smaller therefore turn a lot faster and run hotter It s a horrible environment for any bearings and will destroy the expensive ones just as quickly as the cheap ones He recommends using the cheap bearings and races and replacing them every time you repack That extra hub should be less than 30 as well Cheap insurance against late night or weekend bearing failure on a tri
97. t all the way up sheet free and helm into the wind a bit is probably best The cool thing about these boats is they don t sail like everybody else s boat If you listen carefully they will teach you what works and that s just great fun Ok I ll shut up about my centerboard now but one last observation When you first raise your sail and are pointed into the wind making sternway the boat is reluctant to fall off the wind In that case dropping the centerboard gives the boat a better pivot gives the rudder a nice long lever on the boat s center of mass and I think moving the keel s center of effort towards the pointy end of the boat when making sternway yields lee helm and the boat moving in reverse falls off onto a tack much better Or it s all just a fascinating hallucination Either way I m entertained Sun Cat Posted By George Boley ex Sun Cat hat damn boat is smarter than you in all BUT ONE aspect If your board is all the way DOWN if you will just LET GO of both the tiller and the sheet that STUPID boat will head up directly into the wind IN LESS THAN A BOAT LENGTH 19 Rigging and Lazy Jacks Rigging Length of Line Chart Sanderling Je have found that over the years when people make temporary rigging repairs purchase a used boat or for one reason or another do not launch their catboat for a year or two the rigging may need to be replaced Below you will see port and starboard views of the Marshall
98. t easier to launch than the Com Pac line Picnic Cat 14ft Sun Cat 17ft Horizon Cat 20ft with their Mastendr Mast Raising System Some of our residents make it off the trailer and sailing in a Very Quick 10 minutes Some of the other catboat lines also offer hinged masts but we haven t heard much on how easy they are to set up right A line that comes to mind there is the Marshall Catboats Sandpiper 15ft Sanderling 18ft Marshall 22 22ft I do know that the Nonsuch line produced the 18 Naiad Bill Wickett who periodically visits owned one It was possible for a couple to get the mast up The Nonsuches are like normal catboats on steroids think of a Windsurfer rig blow it up and put it on a boat Naiads are no longer in production but you can get them used if you watch long enough Really fun boat There are other Marconi rigged boats if gaff rigged just isn t your style Alerion Express Cat I believe has a furling main Catboats vs Ease of Single Handing the catboats were initially designed for fishing families just a man and his little boy pulling fish out of the water in each boat You have one giant sail one sheet The halyards come back to the cockpit No headsails to fuss with These boats are shallow water boats for boats longer than 20 feet you ll only have a draft of about 2 feet and a few pennies Less of a wade to the beach if you ve got kids Catboats vs Roomy Cockpits catboats are the beamiest recreational sailb
99. t work anyway removed the screws and then mounted these new scuppers right on the back of the old one the holes match perfectly with 1 1 4 inch screws and a little marine caulk I left the old ones in place because they seemed really well glued on and the new ones fit so well right on the top of the old They seem to work better when the boat is not moving than the old scuppers but if your flappers are working well I wouldn t change to the Flow Max They key for me was the new drain tubes which make solid contact with the plugs and do not leak at all 44 Anchors Posted By Gerald Donaldson saw some of the posts on anchor choices and I disagree strongly with many of them I ve been through every type of ese imaginable and the bottom line is that you keep a broken down bagged Danforth type Fortress as a back up but do NOT use a Danforth type as your primary anchor They stink they drag they don t reset well you find yourself across the creek up against a bank Recommendations from long experience 1 Max Anchor had a 24 lbs for 11 years on my Com Pac 27 sloop Sets INSTANTLY NEVER drags performs well in every type of bottom from tapioca pudding to hard sand Needs virtually no chain expect to reduce bottom abrasion of the nylon rode You will want the 10 lbs model sold by Andy Peabody at Creative Marine in southern Mississippi a prince of a guy You will not be disappointed It is far superior to plows bad design a
100. tachment at the top of the mast and the rings mid way Sorry I don t have an over all view this was as far away as I could get on the boat The eyestraps allow the line to move to either side of the sail As a side note we also use the lazyjacks when reefed to gather the sail up instead of reefing lines The black line on the boom is the single line reefing Se Interesting but a little confusing based on the photos you and George differ quite a bit on your lazy jack systems Since both work well perhaps the arrangement isn t as critical as I thought Your top wires go all the way to the top of your mast while George s appear to be tied off at the shroud tangs Its hard to tell on the boom photo but it appears that the cheek block and cleat are placed aft of the mainsheet while George s appear to placed forward of it I wonder if that makes any difference The actual placement on the boom seems that yours are placed further aft on the boom but spaced about the same apart Is it at all possible to get measurements especially along the boom 26 And Another Sun Cat Lazy Jack Installation Posted By John have made up my lazy jacks Made a 30 foot line 1 4 with an eye splice on each end and two harken carbo blocks on the line This will form the botton portion of the system The ends of the line will be attached to each side of the boom 1 3 from the end with eye straps The middle will slide through a strap attached to
101. th a halyard outhaul or any line marline n a light tarred line used to whip rope ends secure mast hoops to sails etc mast n the vertical spar supporting the sail mast rings or hoops n sliding rings attaching the sail to the mast mat n a non woven fiberglass fabric on the wind n sailing as close to the eye of the wind as possible outhaul n a line used to stretch the head or foot of the sail along the gaff or boom parrel beads n revolving hardwood beads strung on the line holding the gaff saddle to the mast peak n the top corner of a sail peak halyard n the halyard which hoists the outer end of the gaff on a gaff rigged sail pennant n 1 a short line attached at one end i e a centerboard pennant 2 A long narrow flag pintle n the male half of a rudder pivot See gudgeon port n 1 When facing forward the side of the boat to your left Note The terms left and right are used relative to a person port and starboard are used relative to a vessel 2 An opening such as the ports in the side of a cabin 3 The shipping outlet of a city or place a harbor Porta Potti n A trade name for a portable self contained toilet Purchase n A block and tackle with multiple passes of the line to give power ratio increase Quarter n the after corner of a boat reef v to shorten a sail usually because of rising winds n a shortening of sail reef knot n a square knot or shoelace knot often with only one end looped fo
102. th your boat which is wider than my Sun Cat See note 5 about gaining a little more viewing room I have included a photo from an earlier post of a mirror that I got from an RV dealer that hooks on the tailgate of my pick up and allows me to see the trailer hitch while hooking up Even with someone with me to help I prefer to use this set up I can see what s happening and react faster than when someone is yelling at me I also have a metal plate that slips into a holder between the ball and my truck to prevent me from going to far and bending up my license plate with the trailer hitch Questions About Trailering Picnic Cat Posted by David D Do I lessen the tongue weight Do I put larger wheels on Do I add bearing buddies Do I continue to float the boat rather than tilting the trailer What are your thoughts Here are my thoughts Posted by George Haycraft Do I lessen the tongue weight Maybe yes maybe no You ve probably got close to 800 lbs of boat trailer and gear back there The rule of thumb is about 10 as tongue weight or about 80 lbs If the tongue weight is too light the boat trailers squirrelly You can check the tongue weight pretty close by putting a bathroom scale under your tongue jack wheel If you re in the ball park leave it My boat is far enough forward to keep the tilt joint closed Oh be sure to pull out the spring loaded locking pin from the joint before attempting to use it As for pushing th
103. the bottom of the boom 1 3 from the gooseneck I have spliced two 1 4 lines 20 ft long to the blocks and run the lines through two check blocks and put eye splices on each end The check blocks will be attached to each side of the mast near the top The ends of these lines will be joined to another single line with a shackle that will locate it hear the bottom portion of the mast This line 18ft will go down the mast and turn with a standup block as the halyards do and through a new deck organizer on the port side and a new spinlock cleat This way the systems will function as a topping lift I want the lines adjustable so I can collapse the lines to the mast to add a boom tent Homemade Lazy Jacks Posted By Dick Herman made my own Lazy Jacks total cost around fifteen dollars The attached photos show how I rigged it After a complete blotch I went back to the drawing board It is really very simple I attached an eye pad about four inches above the mast hound at the top of the mast I secured a quarter inch line to the eyepad and ran in down to the eyepad on the boom where the main sheet attaches and used a snap hook to attach it Then I looped the line under the boom and ran it back up to the top eyepad I rigged the sail and experimented as to how much slack the line needed The idea is for the billow of the sail to push the line out and take the slack from the upwind side It seemed to work With the sail raised I then reached as high as I coul
104. the center board to balance the helm as the wind increases this installation works well Mounting everything further aft per the documentation would allow me to delay raising the center board However there is not much room to mount this further aft without restricting the travel of the tiller when hand steering This setup allows me to more gracefully set strike sail AND lets me adjust the stereo and take pictures in a leisurely manner Raymarine ST1000 amp ST2000 Tillerpilots Ia by Autohelm in 1973 tiller pilots have consistently been the world s most popular pilot ever since setting the standard for performance reliability and ease of use Advanced features are standard AutoTack lets you handle the sheets while the pilot tacks the boat and AutoSeastate intelligently keeps the boat on course while conserving power 38 Whether used as a stand alone pilot or with a SeaTalk NMEA GPS the clear backlit LCD and 6 button keypad make these pilots safe and easy to use ST1000 for boats up to 6 600 lbs 3 000 kg ST2000 for boats up to 10 000lbs 4 500kg 10 15volt nominal supply voltage Power consumption in standby 40 mA 90 mA with full lighting Power consumption in Auto 0 5 A to 1 5 A depending on boat trim helm load and sailing conditions Port or Starboard mounting Automatic compass deviation correction SeaTalk and NMEA 0183 compatible Dedicated course adjustment keys Dedicated standby and pilot engagement keys Waypo
105. the following day Later that night snug abed I woke up thinking about a comment Jim made about using just one long dock line one end cleated at the bow the other at the stern I ve fouled a dock line on my prop twice and compensated for that idiocy by keeping my docklines short Not good With short docklines you can t shove the boat comfortably away from you to get easy angles on the lines to walk the boat With one long dockline I could drop one end and be able to recover it A little more snoozing and it came to me that if I approached the end of the finger dock at 90 degrees to the slip with the wind over my starboard quarter it left me with a nice escape route Flub the approach and I could just power up and keep going without having to fight inertia or the wind and with nothing directly in front of me That s when I decided I would park my boat where I darn well pleased and that I didn t have to begging for an easier slip The next morning I grabbed a 50 foot line two and a half times my LOA and worked an eye splice into each end Now the problem was how to keep my silly self from letting that line end up around my prop Loose lines on a boat are a menace props notwithstanding but I hit on a solution that worked well for me Feel free to heckle and I ll agree in advance this is not a good idea for the knot impaired Iled the line aft from my bow bitt along the side deck and doubled it up against its other end the one secured to
106. the stern I shift into neutral anywhere from twenty to thirty feet out and coast in but ready to shift into forward or reverse and apply power as required Usually a little blip of the throttle is all that is needed You also have to get proficient at tiller and throttle control In tight quarters that means you have to use the tiller and outboard together with one hand on the tiller and the other on the outboard s throttle i e the twist grip Swing the tiller and outboard together and the boat will spin on a dime centerboard down if possible It also works backing up Face backwards and just point the tip of the rudder and outboard propeller in the direction you want to go You may need to get an extension to fit over the outboard s twist grip A piece of PVC pipe might do the trick That way you can control the throttle and still swing the outboard side to side in conjunction with the tiller I ve also seen extensions to the shift lever which are little more than rods attached to the shift lever so you can push or pull the lever from the cockpit Docking and Mooring A this point the line will prevent the boat from going any further and the thrust of the engine combined with the line will hokd the boat in place allowing you to step off safely and secure all other lines wwe Measure and adjust this line at the dock before testing it to be sure it will stop the boat at proper distance Now take the other half of the mooring
107. to avoid fighting prop walk and spun the boat neatly around in the fairway now coming up abeam to the end of the dock and drifting before the wind A nudge in reverse slowed the boat to a crawl at the end of the dock just as it passed my position in the cockpit but it also highlighted something to stay aware of I had the wind at that point on my starboard quarter and that burp in reverse ate up a good foot of clearance The prop walk and the wind were both pushing the same direction I rolled over the coaming pulling and unzipping the dockline behind me The line jumped free and I halted the boat s remaining headway with the bow end of the line and pushed gently with my foot against the gunwale As the stern found it s way across the wind the boat swung to align nicely with the slip Hauling in on the stern and paying out the bowline put the boat into the slip perfectly I cleated off the stern but the boat still had a nice strong wind on its stern pushing it toward the forward wall of the slip Fortunately I had anticipated that in my dream state as well and already had one of my short docklines secured to a cabin top winch I grabbed that line and led it aft to a dock cleat using it for a spring line still hanging on to the bow line keeping the pointy end from swinging out from the dock Once the spring was cleated I was ready to walk forward and secure the bow That s when the most amazing thing happened I became aware of the sound
108. u fly their courtesy flag using an old raggy flag Some will even fine you for disrespect It happened to a friend of mine who was chartering in Turkey Lastly it is also a common courtesy to fly the national flag s of your guest s on board if they have a different nationality than the ensign is showing Flags Dimensions Although flags come in standardized sizes there are guidelines to help you selecting the proper size for your boat The size of a nautical flag is determined by the size of the boat that flies it Flags are more often too small than too large So in the rules below round upward to the nearest larger standard size e The flag at the stern of your boat U S ensign or national flag should be about one inch for each foot of overall length For example on a 40ft boat the ensign should be 40 in i e about 3 5ft e Other flags such as club burgees private signals and courtesy flags for use on sailboats should be approximately 1 2 inch for each foot of the highest mast above the water For example on a 30ft boat with 50ft between the masthead and the water the burgee should be about 25 in i e about 2 ft The shape and proportions of pennants and burgees will be prescribed by the organization which they relate to Raising and Lowering Flags Fly the ensign from morning 8 00 a m to evening sunset whether the boat is at rest under sail or under power The exception to this rule is The ensign is not flown by a
109. u re scared to death of what might happen if you don t you can skulk down below and mumble it on your own That s perfectly okay The main thing is that you carry it out The words must be spoken I compromised by sitting in Tagati s cockpit with the written out ceremony folded into a newspaper so that any passerby would think I was just reading the news to my wife sitting opposite Enough people think I m nuts already Even my wife has doubts The last part of the ceremony the libation must be performed at the bow just as it is in a naming ceremony There are two things to watch out for here Don t use cheap cheap champagne and don t try to keep any for yourself Buy a second bottle if you want some Use a brew that s reasonably expensive based on your ability to pay and pour the whole lot on the boat One of the things the gods of the sea despise most is meanness so don t try to do this bit on the cheap What sort of time period should elapse between this denaming ceremony and a new naming ceremony There s no fixed time You can do the renaming right after the denaming if you want but I personally would prefer to wait at least 24 hours to give any lingering demons a chance to clear out Scroll down for the wording of the ceremony Afterwards Now you can pop the cork shake the bottle and spray the whole of the contents on the bow When that s done you can quietly go below and enjoy the other bottle yourself Incidentally I had word fr
110. ugh to just remove the deep wrinkles coming up from the boom As the wind increases and the boat starts to heel tighten the foot with the outhaul proportionately With 12 knots of wind the outhaul should be as tight as you can get it The position of the draft is easy to control in a four sided sail The twin halyards of the gaff rig allow you to easily tweak the draft position and entry shape This is the major unique tool of the gaff rig there is nothing like it on a three sided sail Watch your sail as you adjust the peak halyard and observe the resulting change of draft position The four photos of a sail viewed from the cockpit demonstrate this progression of draft position as the peak halyard is raised With increased peak halyard tension the draft will move forward affecting the entry shape that we call deep throat This amazing control of the draft and entry shape by the peak halyard is a major key to maximizing your sail s performance In practice to measure the position of the draft use your reef points to estimate the length of the sail in percentage points For example if your sail has five reef points they divide the sail into roughly six equal distances of about 17 percent each Twist Twist is the tendency of the sail to rotate away from the perpendicular of the boom as it rises from the deck This is a more complicated problem to control in a four sided sail since the gaff is free floating around the mast at its saddle and th
111. ur sided sail The tricks of the gaff rig have been lost by all but a few The gaff rig of the past was burdened by the gaff being set at an angle to the mast of 30 to 45 degrees Sailboats with this kind of gaff will not go to windward very well The leading edge of a sail is what determines your windward ability The Menger Cat gaff is set at an angle of about 10 degrees In effect the gaff is an extension of the mast it is so closely in line Technical books term this rig a gunter rig rather than gaff 10 To raise the sail first untie the sail ties Pull on both the peak and throat halyards together pulling the gaff so it raises parallel to the boom Make sure the gaff does not go on the wrong side of the topping lift as you are pulling up DO NOT run the halyards through the inside hole of the cleats but let them run freely on the outside of the cleats The reason for tying a stopper knot through the hole in the cleat is to stop it from running up the mast Throw the line into the inside of the cabin Don t worry about being neat Keep on pulling until the throat halyard becomes taut At that point make it fast Keep on pulling the peak halyard up until it becomes taut While making sail in open water lay the boat on the port tack When the gaff is hoisted it will swing to starboard preventing the sail from fouling under the topping lift This gaff enables you make adjustments to the sail shape Once again you can hoist the sail and leave it a
112. ut raising and lowering the mast which I almost always do on the water Before the mast goes DOWN make sure the gaff sail and boom are BELOW the hinge line on the mast stub and the long fast pin is in place above the gaff to hold them there Lowering the mast with any of the above within the hinge area will result in a lot of bent metal Quick notes on sail set There are two wrinkles the too loose wrinkle from throat to clew and the too tight wrinkle from peak to tack For starters adjust the peak halyard to eliminate both of these With more wind and a more windward course you will need to peak up With less wind and a downwind course you ll need to ease off on the peak There is a narrow range of peak halyard tension maybe only a couple of inches in which there will be neither wrinkle Within this narrow range if you are on the tight side the too tight wrinkle has just disappeared the sail will have a fuller draft located further forward This of course is better for light air If you are on the loose side of this narrow range the too loose wrinkle has just been tightened out the sail will have less draft and it will be located further aft This produces a flatter less powerful but faster shape This is where you want to be in heavier air careful eye studying the sail can see the draft change with peak halyard tension over this narrow range Posted By Carl Haddick Horizon Cat Central Texas EO the gaff pretty much hor
113. ve in the author s opinion and that s been my experience as well When I m trimmed like that the leech tales fly pretty much straight back If they start curling leeward that s getting off that windward side of the groove The nice side effect is that when you re trimmed that close moving the tiller just four inches to the lee will immediately detune the rig enough to handle a lot of gusts If you can point up a smidge every time you need to set the boat back down instead of sheeting out you keep your speed up and sidestepping higher upwind is often a favorable thing to do On the other hand I don t think the catboat s reputation for not sailing well close hauled is really deserved My 20 foot Horizon Cat has a 17 foot boom and the geometry of the rig makes it look different A 30 foot sloop with a high aspect rig might only have an 8 foot boom At more than twice the boom length my boat will have its clew more than twice as far away from the boat s centerline with the sails set to the same angle Anyway it is indeed a good article Sailing magazine is worth subscribing to 14 Catboat Sail Trim Sailing Magazine January 2007 How deep throat can give better performance in a single sail gaff rigged boat many areas of the country the traditional gaff rigged catboat is seeing a comeback They are stable easy to sail and fun to race with fleets sailing strong in Barnegat Bay Cape Cod and in Florida In a classic gaff rig
114. ven THINKS about catching in those lazy jacks Don t laugh gaffs have a mind of their own I have heard horror stories of some catboats getting the boom on one side of the mast while the gaff is on the OTHER side I didn t ask De just finished scaling George s photo for placement of the Sun Cat s lazy jacks Because the wire from the tang in the picture is relaxed it was difficult to get an exact length on those wires but it should be close Here s what I got e Length of Wire from Mast Tang to its block 9 7 e Distance along boom from the gooseneck to the Cheek block closest block to the mast 3 7 e Distance along boom from the gooseneck to boom cradle eyestrap 9 George may be able to tell us how accurate these estimates are but I think it s a good starting place when taping on the blocks and testing 23 24 Another Sun Cat Lazy Jacks Installation fitted them on the Sun Cat and they show up quite well on the attached photo I ran the upper part of the lines over cheek blocks on the mast then to a single control line back to the cockpit This allowed adjustment of the tension of the lazy jacks from the cockpit and also allowed the lazy jacks to serve as topping lifts The way I had them positioned along the boom wasn t perfect as far as collecting all of the sail when it was lowered but did well enough to keep it from falling all over the cockpit 25 Still Another join up the mast you can see the at
115. was though that they did make the boat a little safer I learned the hard way I had Tom Clark in Essex CT make me a real full sized sail I also stabilized the mast with a head stay and two side stays While the performance of the boat was much improved what little stability it had was shot to hell My Picnic Cat is all the good the Mud Hen was without the bad The Sun Cat should be even more stable I would have gotten the Sun Cat but it wouldn t fit under my 7 ft garage door without removing the rig every time Besides I only wanted the cabin I realistically didn t need it With its stayed rig by design the mast section is very light Much less weight aloft and a lot easier to raise The hull has the beam stability the rig needs Even more stability on the Sun Cat with the shoal keel And we ve got self bailing cockpits too Posted By geneWj First Born Bradenton FL have carefully looked at the underbody the hull form and the ballast of a Sun Cat while I have never sailed one I am an EXPERT in hull forms stated by none other than Olin Stephens It is my humble opinion that the circumstances which would allow a Sun Cat to be over powered are not anything that a sailor would normally be venturing out in or caught out in They could be capsized in the bigga ocean by a Growler or Freak wave but then so could any other boat afloat and sailed The conditions are just not readily available for this to happen to a Sun Cat Gene K
116. xtra leverage and can raise it with that one hand while using the other to steady it and control the speed at which it comes up 6 Iraiseit slowly until I m sure that all lines are clear and the mast is totally under control then guide it into the slot and pin it 7 Ithen kneel down and brace myself by putting my right shoulder against the mast so I can lean forward to connect the forestay Whenever you go forward make sure the Cabin hatch cover is closed It gives you more room to walk note it does have the non skid on it and theoretically you can walk stand on anything that has that coating on it and you have less chance of accidentally trying to step into the open hatch on your way aft Lowering the mast is basically the same in reverse 1 Ifirst put the sail cover on I leave the halyards outside the cover 2 Igoforward and disconnect the forestay and let it dangle 3 Ipullthe pin holding the mast up and with my hand roughly where it was for the raising SLOWLY and under control lower the mast I find it helps to again take that step aft while lowering the mast as it gives you more control 29 4 Once the mast is lowered into the boom gallows I dress the halyard to the sailcover with bungees and put one around the upper end of the mast to hold it securely to the boom gallows so it will not be tempted to bounce around while trailering 5 Ialso put a bungee cord around the halyards shrouds and forestay as close to the
117. y band assigned to marine communications Also a transceiver using these frequencies wainscoting n decorative wood strips used to line the inside of the cabin weather helm n the tendency of a sailboat to point up into the wind requiring the helm tiller to be pulled to the weather or windward to maintain course See lee helm winch n a device offering mechanical assistance in hauling lines halyards etc windward adj the direction from which the wind is blowing woven roving n a form of fiberglass material having strength in two directions 63

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