Hi all, let me tell you the reason I'm asking.

I don't have much cat experience yet but I just love 'em! My brother and I went out about a month ago in a Topcat K2 model (no boards). We were having great fun and even flipped the boat once just for the hell of it. Never noticed a tacking problem, although I tended to keep the weight forward during tacking as advised by the rental guy. So far, so good. So great actually, we were screaming! Well, no, we were cool, but the boat was screaming... Ahum.

Then we decided to go in so the ol' cumulonimbus' wouldn't catch us. When we got in it looked like the nasty stuff would stay much farther out to sea, so went out again. DUMB DUMB DUMB...
In the end we were caught out in a gale and I really had to pull out all the stops just to stay upright. But I couldn't for the life of me get the boat tacked. It was hard enough to estimate where we were going, because I couldn't see more than 30-40ft ahead. I didn't dare to put very much tension on the main sheet (even if I could physically have managed to) to get a tight enough jib luff. I was praying the mast top would handle the savage beating it was getting. So we jibed instead, but that cost me a lot of height because of the dramatic speed increase and the time it took me to time the jibes so as not to trip on any waves. Thank heavens for boomless mains or I wouldn't have dared to jibe an unreefed main in gale force winds.

Can anyone give me some tips I should consider in situations such as this. Not being there is one I already considered...


Dennis

For starters, if the main isn't sheeted tightly, you will definitely have difficulty tacking in any kind of wind. Under most circumstances, it is important to have the main sheeted firmly when tacking.

You should be able to tack in heavy air even if the boat will not carry all the way through. For starters, as you turn up into the wind and get nearly head to wind, the boat may stop - this is OK! As skipper, you need to keep the boat turned into the wind but watch the water flow over the rudders. As soon as the boat begins to sail backwards, reverse the rudders to back the boat onto the new tack. It will also help dramatically if you have the crew leave the jib sheeted on the wrong side for a second or two (backwinding the jib). This will cause the nose of the boat to swing around more easily on the new tack. Ease the mainsail as the boat goes through the wind, quickly get the jib to the correct side, and continue to bear away in your turn as the boat begins to move forward again.

Another tip is to move weight aft just as you approach head to wind. Delay on crew moving to the other hull until you're past head to wind. These two things can dramatically improve your tacking since they help reduce the waterline by lifting the leeward bow up or out of the water and they create a pivot point on the original windward hull near the transom. Finally, as you reach the head to wind point, ease off the mainsheet. This prevents the sail acting as a weather vane which is what can put you in irons.

but not too far back or you capsize backwards.

This is how I tack.. and I am a newb trust me I learned how to right my boat very quickly.. lol

Yes, once the boat starts sailing backwards it is easy to drive the stern under and flip. I have watched this happen to my great amusement.
So.
Main is in tight and you have good speed.
You push rudders steadly, not quickly away as you come to the top of a wave and you do not push them more than 45 degrees.
Your crew is obsessed with the jib and when he or she moves across.
You are obsessed with the main and when to release it ( you will not go about if you keep this tight) and the rudders and when the boat might start to reverse.
The jib backwinds and at the same time the boat might come to a stop.
The crew goes across and as he or she does, the cleated sheet is pulled out and the free sheet is pulled in. This is a quick, coordinated action on the crews behalf but not a violent one. At the same time you have reversed the rudders if needed and you have come across and are ready to sheet the main in with a steady pull, not a violent one as you build into the power.
The jib has taken power very quickly and the boat moves forward and you straiten the rudders and sheet in.
In regard to being forward or back on the boat. You want the weight forward until the bows have gone through the wind as otherwise they will take wind and want to push you back. The reverse is true once they are through the wind. At that point you want them high so they take the wind and are pushed though.
Because you do this at the top of a wave the boat is shortened and it pushes less water through its turn.

With no crew it is reasonably simpe to do all of this yourself....just practice a little.

As mentioned, getting the mainsheet on tight is critical, otherwise the boat will stop before it gets head to wind. If you're struggling to get tension on, luff up a little to take some power off, then bear off again to power up.

With a crew and a jib, you shouldn't have too much trouble: if you can get the jib to back you've won, and this happens before you even get head to wind.

Let some main off as you go through head to wind, and only put it back on once you got some boat speed on the new tack.

Paul

You are a truly great bunch, thanks very much!

Thinking about what went wrong, I probably did everything wrong at one time or another...

I'm sure I was late reversing the rudders a couple of times because I was watching the waves in stead of the rudder wake itself...

The tip about luffing up to help sheet in the main is brilliant (maybe not in a race, but this was a survival situation!), I won't forget that one.

I'm positive I almost always kept the main tight far too long into the tack. That's a keelboat flaw that I know I suffer from.

Bottom line is: I obviously need more practice. With these tips I can really focus on fixing my technique. Thanks a lot, who knows, maybe one of you just saved me from a lee shore!

Be careful not to luff to much. As when you sheet in more you can quickly go into irons.

Good luck and welcome to the fun world of cats.

Doug

Something that is also welth worth the practice is backing the boat.
They sail backwards quite well and it can very very useful as you can imagine.