Hi
I'am new into cat sailing but I have been windsurfing for 20 years now. I have newer been sailling a Cat or a monohull before so this cat will be my first, but which one should it be. I will be sailing the cat on the local lake where the wind is 6 to 14 knots most of the time, but of course there will also be days with more wind but then I would be go windsurfing...
I would be sailing the cat singlehanded and my weight is 84 kg, what cat can give my the same fun as my windsurfers in low wind ?
Best regards Jan

Hi Jan,

Because you are used to a small windsurfboard, I would say for starting, definitly the good old-fashioned Hobie-14.

You can buy a very good occasion for 1000 euro or less and for learning purposes it's ideal. When you master a H14 you can sail later everything else. Because y've learned to react quickly and feel the boat and the wind like you are used with windsurfing.

Succes with your quest.

I found a Hobie 14 and a Hobie 14 Turbo and I also found a Prindle 16, which one to go for?

Hobie 14 turbo has a jib (front-sail) which the normal 14 hasn't. So I would always pick the turbo.

The Prindle16 is for singlehanded sailing on the heavy side. Only if you plan to take most of the times someone with you, that would be a possible choice.

You can also start searching for a Prindle15 ( with jib) which I have sailed many,many years. I'm really a big fan of this cat.

(as the forum already knows).

The Hobie 14 is more heavy than the Prindle 16, that's not any go for lightwind sailing I think. But is my 85 kg to light for a Prindle 16 ?

No, but its too heavy for a Hobie 14

As far as I remember a H14 in real life is certainly not more heavy than a P16. But if you are only searching for light wind, then a P16 is not a bad choice.

Uprighting a P16 after capseize alone can be a problem though (Yes,yes, forum, I know it can be done, but......)

Prindle 15 is not an easy Cat to find for sale, the Hobie cat 14 turbo is way more common :-(

You are right :-), the Hobie 14 Turbo is lighter but has almost 5m2 smaller sail.

Prindle16 is 135 kg. and 17.56m2 sail http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=3860

And the Hobie 14 turbo is 109 kg and 13.75m2 sail with a jig. http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=3854

As far as your weight concerns, 25 years ago I owned and sailed a H14 turbo at sea. In those days I was also about 83 kg. (that weight I can never catch up nowadays).

I even used to sail also with crew (girls, young ladies)!

So, I never found myself to heavy for my H14.

I combined windsurfing and catsailing for the same 25 years and it's a great combination. But because you are used to planing, you will need some wind for the catsailing too.

But isn't the Prindle 16 with 17,5m2 sail a big difference to the Hobie 14 Turbo with 13,7 when there are only 8 knots wind on the lake.
The next problem is only to get the Prindle 16 Uprighting again after a capseize...alone :-(

With 8 knots the Prindle 16 by far beats the Hobie 14T.

As far as the uprighting business; you can find on this forum a lot of threads (topics) regarding this subject.
The storeof this forum sales a special pole-system for this problem.
And there are ofcourse waterbags for that too. Even a combination of those two lies within the possibilities.

It's just something you have to investigate and learn as a necessary manoeuvre.


P.S.
The problem with uprighting is not the weight of the boat on itself. It's the size of the sail and the mastlenght.
You have to create with your weight enough leverage to at least lift your sails out of the water for a few feet!

Would a Prindle 16 be faster than a 160 liter windsurfboard with a 9,5 camber sail at 8 knots wind ?

Would it be fun on a Prindle 16 at 8 knots?

I never sailed a 9.5 camber sail with as low as 8 knots with my surfboard, so that I don't know.

Personally I find sailing with 8 knots on a cat more enjoyable then (what I think it is) to sail on a large surfboard.

I remember me trying to surf with large sails, I even bought once a 10 meter sail. But I dumped all that stuff within 2 trials.

Yes bigger sails than 10 m2 are no fun on a windsurfer, I have to try out the speed feeling on a cat before I will go out and buy me 16 foot catamaran.

One might consider the F 16. They race the boat singlehanded - main and spinnaker.

There should be plenty of used ones in Europe.

It has a lively feel ... like driving a sports car.

You mean catamarans from the F16 catamaran class, or a specific one. I have read about the Blade and Razor from Phill Brander. I have also read about the Paper Tiger Catamaran.

For F16 ....

http://www.formula16.net/

Falcon Marine Falcon F16
AHPC Viper
NACRA F16
Stealth Marine

See the "boats" section of the F16 website above.

The F16 cats are to expensive for me as a starter cat, I think cats like Prindle, Nacra or Papertiger or the Blade or the Razor from Phill Brander are more the cats with the right price tack for me in the start. The F16 cats here in europe used cost from 9000,- Euros and up, the other is from 2000,- euros

Well now I found a Nacra 5,5 here in Poland, and I will get some pictures after the weekend from the seller of the Nacra. Let's hope it's as nice as he says, afterwards I will go check it out for myself.

Does the Nacra 5.5 have any weaknesses, that I should be aware of ?