Ditto to you Richard, I learned a bunch of new stuff on that one by Hobienick.


So is there no way to seal the gel coat, and why is it designed the way it is? I thought if the hulls were just filling, you could install solar powered bilge pumps to occasionally pump the hulls out, as in the case of the father-in-law.

But what you are saying, the foam actually absorbs the water which then become waterlogged and sluggish while sailing. How long does this process take, and what determines the time? I have read of the hull filling with water in the course of a day of sailing, but assumed that it was a funtion of the bottom wear.

The bottom paint I would understand acts as a seal until it wears off, but how is it that it slows the boat down?

If you locked the mast in one position to keep it from rotating does that solve the problem. Someone earlier suggested using bungies on the shrouds, does that solve that issue?

I wondered if the cat configuration being so wide, compared to a monohull, would cause the mast to whip from side to side more than a mono due to the wave action, resulting in more wear and tear?

So in the course of a day of sailing, and anchoring for an hour or two, do these issues become significant? TnT

TnT