To follow up on the "what boat to buy" thread below, I am interested in moving from my asymmetrical spinnakered dinghy to a beach cat and was wondering what classes (esp. spinnaker classes) are actively sailed on the middle and southern Chesapeake Bay and where. Thanks for any help.

Hi:

Glad to hear that you're on the Chesapeake.

There are two main spinnaker boats being currently sailed on the Chesapeake. These are Inter 20 and Tornado. They fill potentially different, but similar niches within the sailing community.

The I-20 is a strict manufacturer controlled one-design class. As I understand it, sails and equipment must come from the manufacturer. The I-20 is quite modern in hull shape and popular among distance racing folks. If you are interested in an extremely tightly controlled class (read aren't interested in messing around with rigging, sails, etc), and are perhaps a bit more casual in your racing desires, then I-20 may be the class for you.

The Int'l Tornado is an Olympic class, with a member controlled class association. Sails may be bought from any sailmaker. Equipment may be from any supplier. In principle, boats and spars can be from any supplier, although in practice the Marstrom Tornado and spars are superior to all others.

While the I-20 has greater numbers throughout the US than the Tornado, the Chesapeake Bay has the largest fleet of Tcats in the country and , there isat least the same activity in Tcats as I-20s locally. However, and hoping to not start a pissing match about this, I suspect that the level of competitiveness in Tornado is higher than that generally found in other classes since the focus of many Tornado sailors is to go to the Olympics. Regardless of what side of the fence you want to stand on the previous statement, there are certainly more high level regattas for Tcats than for I-20s. For example, CORK, a regatta in Kingston, Ontario ( 8 1/2 hours from Annapolis) held each August, gives ISAF international ranking points and is generally attended by the best Tcat sailors in the US. In addition, Kingston hosts two other Tornado regattas, one in early July and one in October, that attract high quality competition. The North American Cnampionships will be held in Houston this year in November. The US Nationals will be held in Miami in December, and the Miami Olympic classes regatta will be held at the same venue in January of 2002. The last three regattas mentioned will be used to determine membership to the US Sailing Team for 2002, so all Olympic hopefuls will attend. In addition to these regattas, the 2002 Tcat Worlds will be held in Marthas Vineyard in September 2002.

I encourage you te evaluate your sailing goals and pick the class of your choice. As a long time Tornado sailor, I can speak with some authority about the Tcat. If you are interested in very high level competition in a member controlled class and if you are used to and want freedom to experiment with equipment within a one-design framework, then consider the Tornado. Feel free to call me at 301 208 0828 (MD) and I'll answer any questions that I can. I will be home tonite, but I will be leaving for Kingston tomorrow evening for a Tcat regatta and two days of training.

-Greg

Thanks for the info. Greg. Based on your description and due to my schedule, I think I would lean more toward the I20's no brainer sort of put up the stick and go kind of one design racing. Thanks again for your help.

What Greg failed to mention is the tornado must be taken apart to be moved or you will have to buy a special trailer. The width of the Tornado does make it a more stable platform.
Most beach cats can carry a chute if you race portsmouth. They even make a chute for the Hobie 16, although alot of people would rather go to a larger faster boat for the expense.
The Tornado also has Centerboards rather than Daggerboards that kickup when hitting an underwater obstruction. Centerboards are much easier on the crew in a pitchpole.Tornados can be expensive like the I 20 but in your location you would be sailing with some of the top ranked sailors. That means your learning curve would probably be much more steep with that boat. No matter what boat you decide to get your getting a catamaran so remember everything happens much faster.

As the only Nacra 5.5SL with spinnaker on the Chesapeake (as far as I know) I would suggest you get one also, so I will have someone to race directly against.

I really only posted here as an excuse to test inserting an image and other tricks. We'll see what works.

Nacra 5.5SL w/ spi


Patrick
ragenp@yahoo.com
http://www.chesapeake.net/~ragen/nacra/nacra.htm



Patrick Ragen
Nacra 5.5SL #310
CRAC web maintainer
www.sailCRAC.com

Thanks for the response. From the other respnses, it seems like I can get any boat that I want and put a spinnaker on it. At CRAC events, do you usually see one class (spin. or not) that has more boats than the rest? I am going to try to make it over to check out one day of the Summer Sizzler (I think - race is 7/13 and 7/14).

By the way, that's a pretty cool picture of your boat.

While it is true that you can put a spinnaker on just about any boat that you may have, that does mean that each of these boats is going to have the same benefit from the spinnaker or that the spinnaker will be as easy/fun to use on all of the boats.

I had a reacher/hooter installed on my previous Prindle 19, and the useability and extra performance were not nearly as large as the spinnaker on the I20, simply because the I20 was designed from the start to carry a spinnaker. The P19+reacher did not steer that well (lots of lee helm) with the reacher out. Since it wasn't designed for the reacher, the boards/rudders were not in the best position for sailing with a reacher, which consequently made it tough to steer.

On the I20, since it was designed for the spinnaker, all of the other components of the boat have been designed with this in mind. For example, the I20 has a smaller jib and larger main than the P19. This is because, on non-spinnaker boats, the jib has to act like a crude spinnaker going downwind. For the reason, the Hobie 20 and Nacra 6.0 have even larger jibs than the P19. However, it is more efficient to have area in the main than the jib when going upwind (look at the A-class). Since the I20 has a spinnaker, it doesn't need for the jib to act like a crude spinnaker downwind - the chute is there! Therefore, the jib/main can be sized for primarily upwind efficiency, knowing that the spinnaker will help out (quite a bit!) during downwind sailing.

An added consequence of the small jib/large main is that the main beam of the I20 is about a foot (maybe more) farther forward than the P19. This makes the tramp much bigger, and also provides a nice sheeting point for the jib (the I20 jib blocks are on the main beam). The P19/H20, with large jibs, have to put the jib blocks on the middle of the tramp, where they are always gouging your knees and legs. Another difference is that, since the I20 is designed for a spinnaker, the size and position of the daggerboards/rudders is designed to work with the spinnaker, so that the helm is completely neutral going either upwind or downwind (the size of the spinnaker and length of the spinnaker pole also affect this and must also be balanced against the other boat design characteristics). On a boat not originally designed for a spinnaker, the size of the main/jib, the position of the main beam/rudders/daggerboards will not be as well balanced as on a boat designed with the extra headsail in mind.

Also, even if you do add a spinnaker to an existing boat, you should be sure to get the E/O Snuffer system that the Inter has. This makes spinnakers much easier to launch/retrieve, even singlehanded, compared to having a spinnaker bag on the tramp. If you try it, you'll be convinced. Even the Hobie Fox has copied the E/O Snuffer system from the Inter's.

Anyway, I just wanted to point that you don't get the same result from adding a spinnaker to any existing boat. I highly suggest that you test-sail an I20 before you try to "build-your-own". If you give it a try I'm sure you'll be convinced like I was.

Alan Thompson
I20 - San Diego

I would have to agree with every thing Alan said. I tested sailed the I20 once. I just had to have one. Sold my 6.0 and after 2.5 racing seasons never looked back. I have to look at my girlfriends' bruised leg for a week after racing on the 6.0. I sail without kneepads and often barefoot. I am sure the I20 sailors of CRAC would get you out on a boat. Drop me a line and I can get you in touch with them.

Is that the way you make new I-20's?

I wish! It would be a little easier on the checkbook.

There is a great mix of Cats on the Bay. Glad to hear there is another person who is interested in joining. Hobie 20s, Nacra 5.5, 5.8, 6.0, Acat, TCat, H20, SuperCat 22, and I20 are several that are commonly seen. I think (My personal perspective here) the I20 is growing the fastest--its a new design, easy to trailer and sail in all conditions, and of course is one very competitive. If you want a ride, send me an email and we can hook you up some weekend. -Don

There are a couple of Arc22(SuperCat22) on the Bay
They are Fast and Fun!

Lets see if I can Post a Picture......


I think that because I have my pictures on my MSN account the picture does not post as it should. If you want to see the picture right click the mouse and then (view image).

Steve

Edited by Steve on 06/28/01 07:02 AM.