The Venture Cat looks, and probably acts, a lot like a Hobie 16, so you might get more useful information from the Hobie 16 forum on this website.
As with many boardless boats, windward performance (pointing ability) is improved by raking the mast pretty far aft to move the center of effort aft and "load up" the rudders, making them act sort of like daggerboards.
And as with any catamaran, weight distribution of the person(s) on the boat is very important for performance, and it is even more critical on a boat like the Venture Cat that has a lot of "rocker." If you are sitting on the back of the boat, you are going to go very, very slow. Try to put your weight where it will keep the boat sitting on its lines as though there were nobody on the boat at all. Generally, this will be over the deepest part of the hull. On the Venture Cat in light air you may have to move a little forward and in heavy air you may have to move a little aft. But the objective is always generally the same, to keep the boat level fore and aft.
Last edited by Mary; 07/31/05 05:36 AM.