You think BMWs had swing-axles? You think BMWs were bad....
Are Performance "Cruising" Catamarans Safe? - by Antares Catamarans
- Thread starter jmh2002
- Start date
boardhead
Anarchist
Yes I do!
boardhead
Anarchist
boardhead
Anarchist
Yep, semi trailing lower arm with coil over strut - NO upper - so it's a swing arm.
Look at the inside rear wheel, it's tucking under just like the Triumph Spitfire (the GT6 was the same) ONLY difference is the 2002 has an extension limit - OOH - and your shots show the Spit being pushed to its limit, the Beemer is cruising!
You wanna talk about the equally crap XRS tyres they equipped the 2002tii and 3.0S with in 1975 when we were driving them - hard, in UK.
With pedestrian use they were OK and the comp models were well controlled.
So, back to multihulls?
Look at the inside rear wheel, it's tucking under just like the Triumph Spitfire (the GT6 was the same) ONLY difference is the 2002 has an extension limit - OOH - and your shots show the Spit being pushed to its limit, the Beemer is cruising!
You wanna talk about the equally crap XRS tyres they equipped the 2002tii and 3.0S with in 1975 when we were driving them - hard, in UK.
With pedestrian use they were OK and the comp models were well controlled.
So, back to multihulls?
Ravenswing
Member
- 103
- 154
oh man, I want a ride in THAT! lets go look at a boat together some day, and you drive
Rantifarian
Rantifarian
I was on a 43' cruising cat that dropped the rig while racing close hauled in some breeze, if anyone had been on the leeward deck at the time they would have been fucked. It snapped around halfway up, and come down FAST.
Luckily the only people out of the cockpit were up the bow trying to get the inner forestay on, to stop the rig pumping. If they had been 30 seconds quicker, rig would still be up . . .
Veeger
Super Anarchist
With my 2 cruising cats, I was zealous to a fault, in sailing 'by the numbers'. I was conservative but when TWS approached my numbers, I ALWAYS reefed. As mentioned above (before the great car thread drift!), cats lose the most commonly felt/understood safety fuse--heeling and rounding up. Most cruising cats will 'feel' just fine--until they don't. In fact, the most 'fun' sailing occurs when you get close to the edge and there really is no warning.
In my commercial seagoing experience, I will never forget experiencing a severe and sudden wind increase that forever gave me a wariness for sailing a multihull offshore.
On a great afternoon in winds easily less than 20 kts, I saw a line squall approaching. Were I sailing, I would definitely have reduced sail. But probably I would not have taken everything down, just reefed somewhat. It was a squall but not any 'worse' looking than dozens I've been through. The ship's anemometer pegged at 100 kts in less than 5 minutes! I don't think ANY multihull would have survived that with any sail up. Either the mast would have come down or the boat would have capsized.
As an aside, this was in the area commonly understood to be the Bermuda Triangle. Sailing there on the day, I suspect I would have been 'another' mysterious disappearance in my multihull... It was a formative experience for me!
In my commercial seagoing experience, I will never forget experiencing a severe and sudden wind increase that forever gave me a wariness for sailing a multihull offshore.
On a great afternoon in winds easily less than 20 kts, I saw a line squall approaching. Were I sailing, I would definitely have reduced sail. But probably I would not have taken everything down, just reefed somewhat. It was a squall but not any 'worse' looking than dozens I've been through. The ship's anemometer pegged at 100 kts in less than 5 minutes! I don't think ANY multihull would have survived that with any sail up. Either the mast would have come down or the boat would have capsized.
As an aside, this was in the area commonly understood to be the Bermuda Triangle. Sailing there on the day, I suspect I would have been 'another' mysterious disappearance in my multihull... It was a formative experience for me!
Veeger
Super Anarchist
By contrast, I was sailing a couple days ago on my new Beneteau 46.1 (production boat, crappy, yeah, yeah, blah, blah...). The wind steadily increased over 10 minutes time from 5-8 kts to 21 knot gusts. My former multihull rule was 1st reef at 16 or 20 kts (2 different boats). This time, I didn't as I had yet to sail this boat in much over 5 kts of wind (too few excursions yet). Moderate heel, finger tip control, everything below already secured, it was great. The ONE thing MISSING for the first time in years.... that pit in my stomach that I'd better get that reef in NOW!
Btw, the light air performance so far appears quite a bit better than that of my 2 cats in the under 8kt TWS...
Btw, the light air performance so far appears quite a bit better than that of my 2 cats in the under 8kt TWS...
Wess
Super Anarchist
I am a bit scared to mention the MG Midget and MGB I restored and somehow kept running as a commuter car way back in my misspent youth...
I almost capsized one of those. But married the girl in it at the time...
I almost capsized one of those. But married the girl in it at the time...
solosailor
Super Anarchist
Anytime.oh man, I want a ride in THAT! lets go look at a boat together some day, and you drive
Wess
Super Anarchist
Just stop it. You know what I have to do and you are killing me LOL!
Veeger
Super Anarchist
WEessss...Come to the Darrrrkk Sighed...
The water is fine.... once you get used to that first shiver...uh, shudder, uh....
The water is fine.... once you get used to that first shiver...uh, shudder, uh....
- Thread starter
- #54
Wess - monohull keelboat - surely not... ?
Much as you despise them (probably in comparison to a light performance multihull of course - maybe a change of mindset would alter that?), wouldn't a Neel trimaran or more cruise orientated Cat still be better than a monohull?
Much as you despise them (probably in comparison to a light performance multihull of course - maybe a change of mindset would alter that?), wouldn't a Neel trimaran or more cruise orientated Cat still be better than a monohull?
Wess
Super Anarchist
Well we would be staying on the dark side as you know. But its kinda like going from a Guinness to a Guinness Baltimore Blonde. That said Dick does a wonderful job with ergonomics for an elderly parent w limited mobility. Basically his 41 ain't the boat we want but its the boat we need for the current mission. Rough time to buy though without getting hosed when you want to get back out and back to what we love. Really struggling with this...
Hey we have owned 20 plus boats. Powerboats, sailboats. Dinghies and big boats. Luxury and spartan. Ocean going and coastal. Cats, tris, and monohulls. And we love them all (even if we sometimes didn't even while writing a 6 figure check). Its always about the mission and we are good at being brutally honest with ourselves on what that is and then getting a boat that checks only those boxes (instead of what we might eventually do or happen to lust over at the moment).Wess - monohull keelboat - surely not... ?
Much as you despise them (probably in comparison to a light performance multihull of course - maybe a change of mindset would alter that?), wouldn't a Neel trimaran or more cruise orientated Cat still be better than a monohull?
The boat we own now is a tri. We LOVE this boat. The summation of everything we have done and learned. The smallest fun to sail tri with a usable enclosed stand up shower and simple system was the brief and what we got. Outboard engine so we can (and do) sail all winter (no need to winterize) and keeps the boat light. Does 7 knots under motor while sipping less than 1 gal/hour. Can easily carry 3 days of gas in jerry cans and put that weight where it helps when the wife wants to run the ditch. Easy 8 knots under sail (what we plan around) and 10 without worry. Had her over 20 sustained many times but we tend to reef at 10-12 knots SOG for comfort. Realistic easy 75% true wind speed boat that tacks through 90 degrees and gybes through 60 with the runner. Main, jib (furls) screacher (furls and lives hoisted) and asym runner that is deck launched and retrieved. Standing headroom, sleeps 4 without needing salon. Simple systems. Outboard engine. Solar and AGM. Which run fridge/freezer, pressure water, AP, plotter, radar and depth. Propane stove and on demand hot water. No windless or power winches. Rotating rig with added runners or checks. Tiller with big ass battle stick so you can drive from the float 14 feet away happy as a clam. Or sit in cockpit under canvas for shade if you like that better. Oh and when we are done playing on the east coast and islands we can fold her up, put her on her trailer drive her cross country and go do the same on the west coast. Did I mention we LOVE this boat.
Problem is we are now caring for elderly parent post stroke in mid 80s with limited mobility. Love to sail and cruise but cant get in or out of dinghy from boat, and hard to get on and off boat from dock as nets are a no go.
So we are looking for a cruising cat God save my soul and marriage.
I should start a thread on this but I already know there is no good answer. I need to get the boat I need now not the boat I love or want or happen to own. Sigh...
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Apologies but it's hard to keep with who owns what. What kind of tri?
Not that I'm planning for the future or anything but a long term plan is always good
- Thread starter
- #58
That seems entirely reasonable to me. In fact not just reasonable, but the totally correct decision at this point in time
Having the coolest boat that you really love but that doesn't suit the current mission is where a lot of people make an error I think.
LionIsland
Member
I was wondering. Guessing F32.
