Why Cats

I started sailing cadets in 1980. Moved on to crewing Scorpions before sailing Lasers. Discovered girls, stopped sailing. When my hormones had settled down I tried windsurfing as my job was pretty mobile - loved the speed but hated lying in cold water waiting for the next gust to waterstart. Sold my boards and bought a Vortex. Unfortunately the only one in Ireland to do so. However, helming from the trapeze is the mutts nuts, my club sails Hurricanes and the European champs were being held there 6 months later. No boat gives a bigger bang for the buck! Sold the Vortex for just under £3k, bought a Hurricane for just over.

It was just luck that my club sails Hurricanes but the boat suits me cos I am too heavy to be competitive in a D18 or Spitfire. Actually I am to heavy to be competitive in a Hurricane (that's my latest excuse). However the best advice is to sail what is popular at your local club. When we all started to put spinnakers on, either in Sport or SX mode, I followed.

Would I go back to mono-hulls? I would happily sail anything that floats and I do miss not being able to rig up and go in 10 minutes. Towing is also a bit of a bugger even if you can tow flat (I can). I am off to Blessington, Co Wicklow this weekend and some of the roads are only an inch or two wider that the boat. Also, I cannot sail a twenty-foot cat single-handed so I'm buggered if my crew is unavailable.

But the speed is sensational. 49ers can beat us downwind but only just. Cats are stable but to sail them at their best you have to fly a hull and keep it there and that takes balance. There's lots of ropes and things to pull and try and understand which, as an engineer, I like.

But the key things about sailing is sharing these experiences with other likeminded individuals and then exagerating about them in the bar afterwards.

Tornado Alive wrote

"The biggest, baddest, fastest boats at the club were cats, so I moved in that direction.  Later on I still played with monos and yachts but also turned to skiffs, but something always drew me back to the cats."

I've gotta ask, why yachts if speeds the thing. They obviously enjoy the drink when they have a race to (and around) Hamilton Island (I don't know a Euro equivalent). But getting there would (to me) be as boring as bat sh$t.

Action (with prejudice showing)

Originally posted by lostatsea So which cats are the best? and why.

Just like mono's, it depends what you are after!!

If you are light then F16 may be a good way.

If you are slightly heavier and want a good international circuit then F18.

A bit more money will get you a tornado.

Hurricaines also have a good UK following.

But that is only looking at the more modern types of cats with asymmetrics and we mustn't forget about the merits of other cats such as Dart 18s, Dart 15s and Shearwaters etc.

In summary, just like in monos, it depends on who you are and what you want.  There is no 'best'!!!

Edit: I somehow forgot to mention the Hobie 16 which is my favourite boat on a reach in anything more than a force 4!!


Edited by Worthy

Grew up in monos sailing at a mixed class club.....

The biggest, baddest, fastest boats at the club were cats, so I moved in that direction.  Later on I still played with monos and yachts but also turned to skiffs, but something always drew me back to the cats.

What are trainig wheels?