I Want to Go Fast and Party Too (Maine Cat 22)

[pjwalsh]

Great to see you using your Maine Cat 22 this way. One of my early boatbuilding jobs was helping make these boats a reality. I worked on the design with Dick Newick - this was one of the first hulls he had used software to draw. Dick Vermeulen and I built the first hull in his garage in cedar strip then, with some help from a glass shop near Belfast, I splashed a kinda crude mold that we used to build the plug and eventually the mold in the original production facility in Damariscotta.

View attachment 529865

This photo is the plug being readied to accept the first coat of tooling gel coat. That is me on the left and Dick Vermeulen by the workbench.

Dick Newick was very generous to me in giving me design experience at this point in my journey. He let me design the shapes of the beams, the forward wing and transition to the hull shearline - looking over my shoulder of course! All three of us were very pleased with the aesthetics and performance of this boat. Dick Vermeulen, who later became a good designer in his own right, and especially an astute business owner, realized quickly that there was not a lot of profit in these great little cats and he pivoted to larger boats.

It was a great experience for me and I am glad you are enjoying your boat.

 

[patmo141]

This photo is the plug being readied to accept the first coat of tooling gel coat. That is me on the left and Dick Vermeulen by the workbench.

Dick Newick was very generous to me in giving me design experience at this point in my journey. He let me design the shapes of the beams, the forward wing and transition to the hull shearline - looking over my shoulder of course! All three of us were very pleased with the aesthetics and performance of this boat. Dick Vermeulen, who later became a good designer in his own right, and especially an astute business owner, realized quickly that there was not a lot of profit in these great little cats and he pivoted to larger boats.

It was a great experience for me and I am glad you are enjoying your boat.

Wow @pjwalsh thank you for this history. I really appreciate you taking the time to dig it up and to post. There are 3 guys in the pic and if I'm reading right that is you, Dick Vermeulen and Dick Newick in the same picture working on the plug? I can happily report that we are also extremely pleased with the aesthetics, comfort, performance and simplicity of this boat. If you are in eastern NC you are welcome to join us for a cruise.

 

[patmo141]

So this post is dedicated to the wives.
TLDR: A special weather window presented and they let the boys go for a lap when we both have newborns
Full Story:
My second child is 6weeks old. Co-captain's 2nd child is 4.5 week old. The gravity of getting a blessing from both partners to do this trip may never fully be understood. Both families happened to be in Beaufort for the weekend, expectations were maybe to have a cocktail together one night, anything else was bonus. The forecast for Sat turned N/NE 10-15kts high 83F and crystal clear. Friday morning we started buttering the biscuits and by 8pm we had both inked deals with our wives the details of which cannot be shared. We could leave as early as we wanted but had to be back by 10am.

Planning:
High tide at Beaufort inlet was 9am.
High at Bardens 8:30am
Tide is a major factor and can be a 2 knot (maybe more) delta at a few of the pinch points.
Bottom was dirty from 2 months of sitting.
Full moon + high tide would let us cut some corners in skinny water.
Our calculation was that if we could cut some corners on the route, leaving at 7am, we would be back on dock by 10am if we averaged a little over 6 knots. Our thought was that we should hit Barden's just in time for the tide to turn and get sucked out the bite with a tail wind to then broad reach and have a light outgoing tide to fight coming back through Beaufort inlet. We would have 3 adults and no gear, just breakfast and a few waters.
Our plan was to dash to the carrot island, clean the bottom and then motorsail the creek with the tail current and make our decision on whether we would go for the full loop based on our time down the creek.
We were on the boat at 6:15am. Full moon and beautiful sunrise. Only picture I took actually.

Dashed to carrot island, scrubbed bottom for 30 minutes and departed top of carrot island at 6:45am. We motor-sailed the creek with a tail current and averaged around 7.5 knots. We were feeling good, like we are going to crush this.

After we cleared the turn into the sound, we stopped the motor to see what our performance was. We found the wind a little lighter than expected, and we dropped to 4.5 to 5.5 but our average was staying in spec and we knew we were going to get more wind as we approached the cape. You an see the track freshen the more out from under the lee of Harker's Island we got. We skated the shoals and barely had to let the rudders up at 8:07.

We turned the corner, ready to receive a slack tide and then a little push out the bight aaaand........

At this point I shoot my wife a text...."Current not as predicted, we are a little behind schedule." I am proud of the final leg of our race, as we helmed decently, actively trimmed sails to apparent wind, caught 2 Spanish mackerel on clarke spoons. Wave state allowed us to cut the inlet on the east and dive straight inside the bird shoals to buzz the beach right to the last corner. Motor on for final stint upwind and up-current to the dock. 10:29 am by the track.

raceQs

 

[cyclone]

Nice work but credit goes to wives.

 

[patmo141]

Parking spot last weekend courtesy of Co-captain. Fomo.

 

[patmo141]

Thanks for the link. Just get that cat sailing first. You have some mad skillz but that stuff can wait.

Follow up, 3 years later this comment was 100pct correct. Have gotten a ton of good advice from good people in here.

 

[Mizzmo]

I love the way you put these stories together. I wouldn't even think to write up a little sail like that, but the way your write it comes out like an epic adventure. I remember with newborns every time I got a quick sail it felt like I had won the lottery.

 

[patmo141]

I love the way you put these stories together. I wouldn't even think to write up a little sail like that, but the way your write it comes out like an epic adventure. I remember with newborns every time I got a quick sail it felt like I had won the lottery.

I can say without any hesitation that these excursions represent peak joy and to me do feel like epic adventures.

 

[pjwalsh]

Wow @pjwalsh thank you for this history. I really appreciate you taking the time to dig it up and to post. There are 3 guys in the pic and if I'm reading right that is you, Dick Vermeulen and Dick Newick in the same picture working on the plug? I can happily report that we are also extremely pleased with the aesthetics, comfort, performance and simplicity of this boat. If you are in eastern NC you are welcome to join us for a cruise.

I think the three people in the image are me, Dick Vermeulen and a talented composites mechanic named Roscoe, don't remember his last name - Roscoe ended up being one of the key people building later Maine Cat boats. I do have some nice pictures of Dick Newick sailing hull number one somewhere - I will try to find it and upload it for you.

 

[patmo141]

Finishing up pre-launch stuff getting ready to splash in May.

- New tramp, and new standing rigging, and a few new shark bean bags for the increase in children.
I'm still thinking about putting a small bowsprit for some light air headsail on a continuous furler. Since that's probably not going to actually happen, I'm messing around with this.

DIY Roller Furler: 3D printing and whatnot

Don't ask why. After all is said and done, hours spent designing and messing around, I could have, and likely will, just buy a Karver k0.9 or Ronstan series 80. I ran across some swivel/thrust bearings on amazon with 2000lb working loads and cool anodized colors so I ordered one for fun. It's...

forums.sailinganarchy.com

 

[patmo141]

Shakedown cruise accomplished. Furled my jib backwards so I have to fix that next weekend. Got a doctor's degree in sore hands and a minor in line splicing for new centerboard and rudder control lines. Quick test of our new (used) asym spin worked great. Some final rigging for that coming up. tramp is on. Life is good!

 

[Russell Brown]

I hope your kids and grandkids get to go fast and party on that boat!
Newick was dear to a lot of us and that boat is dear too, just because he he designed it.

 

[eliboat]

I hope your kids and grandkids get to go fast and party on that boat!
Newick was dear to a lot of us and that boat is dear too, just because he he designed it.

Got to hang out with Dick Newick a couple of times. Hilarious guy; a rare visionary too.

 

[patmo141]

Got to hang out with Dick Newick a couple of times. Hilarious guy; a rare visionary too.

If his vision was this, then hell yeah he was.

Got the fam out first time. 4 adults, 3 kids (10mo, 11mo, 4yo). Sailing gods or Dick or whoever smiling on us. First two kids out like a light within 5 mins of sails up. My son "drove" with me for a while, then "fished" dangling lines through the tramp. Then played with sand trucks on the deck. 2 hours of unreal peace. We set out with 0 expectations. Moms got 1.5 hours of adult time no kids having mimosas on the tramp. My cousin and I taking turns single handing the boat, water and snack injecting the 4yo and monitoring the nappers. Happy mother's day y'all.

Yes the halyard had a little problem affected our pointing...had no effect on our day. New dyneema rudder down hauls did well.

 

[munt]

If you're going to use a dyneema downhaul for the rudders you might consider some type of "fuse" for when you hit something. Otherwise the damage can be pretty significant. A wooden chopstick has been perfectly engineered for the job. Find the exact rake where you want to lock the rudders and get busy with the drill. Or you could buy one of them fancy cleats, but I've had mixed results with those. You have a very cool boat.

 

[he b gb]

mainsheet trimmer falling asleep on the job?

 

[patmo141]

That's great insight actually. I didn't really pick the dyneema for strength but more for water and abrasion performance and easy to splice the eyes. Will absolutely be rethinking a fuse since we spend a lot of time around shoals. Thank you!

 

[guerdon]

You guy get it. God bless you.

 

[patmo141]

Had a window where one of my childhood sailing buddies was in tow and the forecast wind 13 to 18kts northish so I reworked my schedule, got up at 5am to knock out my work responsibilities, hit the water at 3pm

1. This is the edge of appropriate range flying the spinnaker by my load estimates. Got a handheld anemometer to check. We headed dead down with just main up, and apparent was 8 to 11 knts, we were going about 7? against the current. When we popped the chute we were hitting 8 to 11 against some the current in 15 to 17 true but not enough hands to look at a phone, hold the anemometer and sail the boat so I'll never know but I have a good feel for what the max we can get that thing involved in. Definitely could not carry the sail very high compared to the testing in the lighter air. Makes sense, good to have a feel for it now.

2. Reaching down ocean side of shackleford in north wind still one of lifes great expereinces. If you ever get a chance to do it, do so in any boat. Even go on the Lookout catamaran in beaufort.
3. I think I'm pleased with our upwind performance with the new standing rigging. We replaced it for safety, but I think our mast being a little straighter might help performance. I also had the sail actually all the way up with a bit of luff tension, an actual clew strap, and the foot/outhaul actually adjusted. So there's that too if you have been following since the beginning.

RACE Q's Link ->>>

raceQs

 

[patmo141]

Big wind today. 22ish iwhen we went for a super early jaunt 615am to 8am so we could ride the current back in. Got pretty spicy out there. We started with a reef in the main and put 3 wraps on the jib furler for the upwind return. Phone died about 1/2 way so I think we got a little faster than this in a few puffs. No one was looking at their phone today! This the only photo taken.