Hi all,
My wifr and I are former H16 owners and novice cat sailors. We sold to boat with intentions of eventually getting something a bit larger, like an 18 sw we could go out with others without too much trouble and we could stretch out a bit more. We love the idea of wings. I very much enjoyed the speed of the boat, and at times was even intimidated by it. We just started to learn to fly a hull.

We saw a Getaway on the beach in Sarasota this past weekend when we were visiting there from Orlando. We liked it for it's simplicity, no boom, the available space on it and the other extras like the storage. I have 2 concerns:

1. I will be dissapointed with the performance. My wife is not as interested in the speed as in the cruising, but I like the speed of the H16. Even in light wind I want to be able to get going on it. I don't want to piddle along just slightly faster than a monohull.

2. I am concerned about the long term outlook of the plastic hulls, i.e. wear on the bottoms from beaching and sun damage over the long term. It seems like you can't easily repain the getaway like you can a fiberglass boat.

Any thoughts or insights from anyone out there?

Greg

I can't speak for the speed. I do know that I took a getaway out on a rental once during a moderate breeze and had a hell of a good time. Never had to worry about pitchpoling it, and my little sister, who can be a scardy-cat at times, never was intimidated. The speed is slightly slower than a 16 imo.

As for the wear. The plastic hulls hold up just fine. In fact, they are probably going to look better longer than a fiberglass hull would. I know that on our club JY15s, whose hulls are ABS plastic, we fixed hull cracks with a heat gun and it turned out well. (Note: these boats are 12 years old)

Portsmouth rating the getaway is rated 9% slower than the H16...but for having a cooler molded into the hull? I'll take that 9%!

Hi Greg. My wife and I have had our Getaway for over 2 years now, and have been very pleased. As to your concerns:
1) It is the first cat I have sailed, so I really can't compare it to others. I have not sailed it compeditively. One thing I do know is that it is a heck of alot more stable than a 16 in high wind. It is very hard to pitchpole and incredibly boyant. I have a hard time flying a hull on it, but I imagine that some of that is due to my lack of experience. It will not fly a hull as easy as a H16 because of the weight. The wing seats are a great addition, but I do think they slow the boat down some as they weigh over 100lbs.

2) My hulls have held up very good and I have been abusive at times to them. I keep it uncovered in the TX sun and there is no sign of discoloration.

It was the perfect boat for me and my family because of the lack of boom and the high occupancy (and the coolers ). I have had a total of 5 adults on at once in heavy wind and we were cookin' and powering through the times when the front hulls tried to dig themselves under.

If you want a sailboat to have fun on, the Getaway is it. We have had one since it came out. The roto-molded hulls are much more resistant to the elements than fiberglass. The boat is heavier than an H-16 and a little slower. The speed is negligable in a good breeze.

If you want better speed, ease of setup and plenty of room, the Nacra 570 is your boat.