I have a 15' Venture Cat because it was the only sailboat I could afford. I hesitated getting it because I'm not particularly athletic, my wife is even less so, and I really wanted a boat in which we could stay relatively dry. But it was available, the price was right ($100), and the fellow I got it from convinced me that it could do everything I wanted and more.

That was last year. I spent the year learning to sail, and I found that I really enjoyed its speed and stability (not counting the time I turtled!) I'm now very glad I got it, and it's allowed me to discover that my arm-chair sailing fantasies can become real.

However, it's been hard for my wife and I to enjoy it together. Scrambling from side to side as we tack is really hard for both us, especially my wife. Once we almost capsized because I was slow to let loose the mainsheet in a sudden gust of wind, and my wife was not able to scramble to the weather side of the tramp. The weather hull flew up, I finally spilled the mainsheet and the boom slammed into my wife. That was a scary time!

I've thought about it a lot this summer, and last week we tried something different. We each stayed on our own sides. I handled the tiller and controlled the mainsheet when the wind was on my side. I was careful to explain to my wife the travel area of the boom, and she watched it carefully, ready to stay out of its way. We sat about midships, kind of leaning against the shroud.

When we tacked, I gave the mainsheet to my wife and she had control over our speed. If the ride felt too wild, or it felt like we were heeling too much, it was simple for her to let the mainsheet out. I was careful to watch for the boom and I continued to steer. It worked great!

This allowed us to both enjoy together our boat, at a speed and heeling degree that we felt comfortable with. We still get wet, but it feels a lot better.

Which brings up a related point. As much as I enjoy our little cat, we probably will get a monohull as soon as we can afford it...I'm thinking a Catalina 22 for $5000-6000. This will allow us a drier sail, and we can stay overnight in it.

So, is it fair to say that beach cats are really only for the athletic sailors? Is it fair to say that any catamaran less than 30' long is really only a "sport" boat, designed for speed and thrills? I guess I'm thinking that because I can get a used 21' monohull in which I could sleep overnight in relative comfort for $3000-4000, while I imagine a catamaran big enough to have a cabin, perhaps 30-40' long would be tens of thousands of dollars, even for a used boat.

Uhm ... Yes! You are correct sir.

As much as I don't wish to see a catsailor revert to monodom, it sounds like what you are after (if you can stand sailing so slow after all this!)

P.S. there are boomless catamarans.

Keep in mind Milt, on a "leaner" (monohull), especially a Catalina 22, you will be seeing the world mostly at 4 knots. And, that's on a good day. That will shorten your day sail to about a quarter of the distance you've been used to going. I've sailed both types of boats extensively, and I never want to sail a monohull again. You need to try out a bigger cat. That one you have is pretty small. There are a lot of boats out there, and I'm sure one would fill your needs. Keep looking -- a Hobie Getaway may be more what you need.

Good luck.

Would it be as simple as not using my boom? My mainsail is free-footed...I could attach my mainsheet block directly to the clew of my mainsail? I assume the disadvantage is loss of airfoil shape?

Thanks, Don, for the encouragement. I'll check out the Getaway.

BTW, I've crewed on a Catalina 22, the fastest we ever sailed was about 7 knots, and yes, that was on a very good day.

I know! I'll buy a Catalina 22 and tow my Venture Cat as my dinghy!!

The only catamaran that I know of that might fit is the Wharram Tiki (http://www.wharram.com/tiki_wingsail_article.shtml)

These are mostly homebuilt but the price would probably be right if you could find one.

There are also some small Triamarans (18-20) like Farrier or Eagle 18. There are some being built today in Fla but I don't remember their names. These are going to be a little small to overnight on though.

maybe - but I doubt it. You would certainly loose the ability to flatten the sail (important for pointing ability and depowering in heavy wind) if you didn't have any modifications made to the sail. Boomless sails are cut specifically for that...usually the sheet attachment point is much farther inboard (and adjustable) than on a sail with a boom. The Nacra 6.0NA, Nacra 5.5, Nacra 5.0(?), and others are designed without booms. You can probably have your existing sail modified for this purpose without much loss of performance however.

Thanks for the tips. The Wharram design is interesting. I just finished an article about one of his boats in an old issue of Cruising World...lots of room, easy to sail. The large luff pocket on the mainsail is very interesting.

Thanks, Jake, for the clarification and advice. A boomless mainsail would certainly make it easier (safer) for us two stick-in-the muds! I might just try it once on my boat by taking off the boom and seeing what happens.

The prices you quoted for a 22' monohull seem pretty steep. That's as much as I paid for my 24' and it has standing headroom and a marine head with Lectra-San. See if there aren't any Seafarer sailboats in your area. These are very well built boats with admirable performance (for a mono) and bluewater potential. They come in sizes from 22-48'...

www.seafarer-research-center.com has some information on them.

Milt,
Where do you sail in Idaho? My family had an Aquarius 21 at Bear Lake, ID for a while years ago--slow but plenty of room inside and easy to trailer.

Sycho, thanks for the link. I'd not heard, of Seafarer boats...they look very nice....reasonable price, too.

Eric, I spent most of last summer at Payette Lake (McCall). This year I've sailed mostly at Lake Lowell, near Nampa. It's only 30 minutes from home, so it's easy to get to, and it's had much better wind compared with McCall.

There are multihull designs out there with good accomodations below 30 feet. But I'm afraid they might be expensive if you can not find 'the right deal'.

Most of them are designed for homebuilding, so you should consider a survey if you find a model you like.

Personaly, I like Richard Woods designs at http://www.sailingcatamarans.com, especially the Gypsy and the Rob Denney design Harryproa at http://www.harryproas.com

If you have the time, skills, money and motivation, you might even consider building it yourself..

Milt, This is what you do. Find a couple of yacht clubs or marinas in your reasonable area. The marinas always have a boat that ends up neglected and someone quit paying the slip fees. The marina or club seizes the boat and sells it to free up space and get rid of the boat (not to mention getting some back rent for the slip). Our club has done that and someone usually picks up a good boat for under $1K. All you might have to do is a real good cleaning and basic maintenance because of neglect. I know someone that picked up a Cabo Rico (37' bluewater boat) for less than he sold his Catalina 24. He ended up with a boat worth about $100K for a song. The deals are there, you just have to look.

Either way, keep sailing.

Clayton

Milt,

We have a group called the Southern Idaho Sailing Association ( SISA ) that has events about every other weekend from April through October. This year, they are almost exclusively races, but there should be more fun events next year upon my request. We have a pseudo sub group ( Idaho Beachcats ) of beachcats that attend those events as well as putting some informal fun sails and BBQ's together. I have a Hobie 18, we have several 16s, a couple of 20s, some Nacra's and Prindle's. We would be more than happy to have you join us for a fun sail or just come out for some rides. I'd be more than happy to take you out for a spin.

There are lots of members of monoslugs and I'm sure they would be more than happy to take you out and show you the fine art of going slow . There are several Cat 22s, Mac 26s, San Juan 21s and variety of others to go out on. Our next race is 9/6-7 at CJ Strike and we'd love to see you there.

We sail a lot at Cascade, a couple of regattas at Payette and a few at CJ Strike as well. If you want good wind, go up to Lucky Peak at dawn and enjoy double trap wind until about 10am. Good stuff there and there are a few cat sailors up there during the week. If you have any questions, feel free to email me at [email]......canes_rool@yahoo.com.......[/email]

Hope to see you soon!

Kip
TheMightyHobie18
Boise

have you considered a windrider trimaran? www.windrider.com. in my evolution as a boater i started with a sailing canoe, went through sunfish, force 5, daysailor, san juan 21,,,, then i got a hobie. if you get that catalina 22 i predict you will miss the lil ol venture, and spend more time and money on maintenance than you will ever get back in sailing. live and learn...

Rolf, thanks for the links. I found the designs very interesting. I was amazed to find catamarans under 30' with berths for four! And trailerable! There's a lot more out there in the catamaran world than I knew. Maybe there's hope for me yet! Thanks!

Kip, good to hear from you. I'm not sure I met you, but I'm pretty familiar with SISA. About 2-3 years ago I crewed fairly often at the regattas, usually with John Nielson's Catalina 22. I found the group very friendly and helpful to a raw novice like myself. I quit attending last year only because I had gotten my Venture Cat and wanted time to learn it without the pressure of trying to make the marks and avoiding running into anyone. This year I think I could have raced, and at least finished without any death or injury, but to be honest, I'm short on funds and time. I didn't feel I could help with the regatta fees, and I've been pretty busy, at least on the days a regatta's been held.

But I really enjoyed the group and the racing. So far my schedule's open for CJ Strike. The last time I was there, a terrific storm struck. We had just barely gotten off the water when winds of 30-40 knots (at least that's what I remember) and hail and lightning slammed down on us. I remember one sailboat was caught out in it. I don't know if her shrouds broke, or they lost a mast or what, but it seems like they limped in after the storm.

Thanks for the invite, and I'll try to make it!