Are there other kinds of sails that have been used or tried on cats, beyond the main, jib, and spin? (Is the fixed wing considered a main?) For that matter, has a missen mast ever been tried?
Jeff Peterson H-16 Sail #23721 Big Marine Lake, MN
I wonder how much weight aloft it adds. It looked like they had some minor stability issues at times. Maybe rake it back some? Can you do that with a wing?
Rob V.
Nacra 5.2
Panama City
Re: Unusual Sails for Cats?
[Re: Dazz]
#272955 06/01/1407:42 AM06/01/1407:42 AM
I've been thinking about that concept (soft wing, where you can raise/lower it with a halyard) since I first saw something similar on a windsurfer.
Question: Where did the fore stay attach?
And why no jib?
Also, if it does develop more lift than a traditional F18 mainsail, perhaps you can get away with a shorter mast/sail combo, helping reduce the weight aloft issue?
I would think this could work quite well on an A cat, where you don't have the jib/spinnaker issue. I wonder why we haven't seen that yet.
Regarding a shorter rig, isn't it best to go with a higher aspect ratio? IIRC, tip losses start to kill the efficiency of shorter low aspect rigs.
Regarding the jib, I think AC72 guys had it mostly for maneuvering. Even with near zero camber they generated too much drag at high speed. This boat isn't in that speed realm yet (add foils?) but watching the video they didn't look like they needed any more pressure up front.
There was the solid winged 18 sq Wild Turkey, whose dominance may have contributed to the demise of the fleet. Very shophisticated construction for day, both the wing and the boat, which was very lightweight. Lots of money and time invested at the time.
For sale in N CA, contact me if interested.
Dave
Re: Unusual Sails for Cats?
[Re: davefarmer]
#272966 06/02/1408:42 AM06/02/1408:42 AM
I just read that Cruising World article about the 70 foot wooden cat built a long time ago (70's?) just restored and it hit a rock at anchorage and partially sank.
It has a mizzen and broke all kinds of records in it's prime
There is also a commercial production cruising cat (maybe 40'?) with what looks like two furling jibs and no main.
Someone here posted pics of a cat with what looked like two windsurf rigs (one on each hull).
I just read that Cruising World article about the 70 foot wooden cat built a long time ago (70's?) just restored and it hit a rock at anchorage and partially sank.
It has a mizzen and broke all kinds of records in it's prime
There is also a commercial production cruising cat (maybe 40'?) with what looks like two furling jibs and no main.
Someone here posted pics of a cat with what looked like two windsurf rigs (one on each hull).
Flight Risk(custom 24' cat) briefly supported a biplane rig before I owned it. It was being used as a test bed for the concept, the owner was contemplating a 65' cruising cat with that set up. Worked quite well, lower center of effort, no heeling in our testing, great simplicity with no headsails, which was his quest. Only the windward rig was powered up in a beam reach, but the leeward rig was quite docile, and the boat still moved nicely on that course. Both rigs outboard on a dead downwind run was great. Probably not as high performance as a sloop rig, but great for recreational sailing, worthy of more experimentation in my eyes.
Re: Unusual Sails for Cats?
[Re: Timbo]
#272979 06/02/1410:50 AM06/02/1410:50 AM
I've been thinking about that concept (soft wing, where you can raise/lower it with a halyard) since I first saw something similar on a windsurfer.
Question: Where did the fore stay attach?
And why no jib?
Also, if it does develop more lift than a traditional F18 mainsail, perhaps you can get away with a shorter mast/sail combo, helping reduce the weight aloft issue?
I would think this could work quite well on an A cat, where you don't have the jib/spinnaker issue. I wonder why we haven't seen that yet.
In the vid when they're raising the sail you can see the fore stay going to the top of the mast.