Why That Cat?

Of all the makes and models to choose from, why did pick that particular cat to purchase?

The fact that my club has a great fleet size in what would be classified as a country based club, and has a number of National and State champions sailing on a weekly basis, can only help my sailing in the long run I believe.

I've wanted a Taipan since seeing the first one hit the water in its prototype stage, when Jim Boyer and Greg Goodall bought one to the Lake Bolac Easter Regatta many years ago.

Three equally important reasons: light weight, excellent performance, versatility of 1 or 2 up racing.

I bought mine to get ready for a Blade and to learn spinnaker on. And it was onlY $2700 <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

Really heavy, decent performance, versatility of 1,2 or 10 racing, and can cary more beer than you'll ever need <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />
And when you're screaming into "B" mark people usually get out of the way because they know you're not as agile as the smaller cats!

Of course its a Stiletto 27!

Wanna beer!

Clayton

Because I love ocean sailing, and the Nacra20 is by far the *Best* ocean boat out there at 8'6" beam.

Because we love tight one-design racing, which is more important and exciting than speed for us these days.

And we wanted to race one-up on our own boats.

And we wanted something strong and durable, because we are not into spending time on maintenance.

And we wanted something light enough that each of us can move around by ourselves.

And we wanted a boat that does not penalize people for big differences in crew weight (like 100 pounds difference).

And we wanted something relatively inexpensive, so as many people as possible would be able to get those boats, whether new or used.

And we wanted something relatively small, so we can fit a lot of them into the space available at the two clubs we belong to.

And we wanted something we can take the young grandchildren out on (like age 5) and put them on the helm without worrying about the boat capsizing (I hold the mainsheet).

And we wanted a platform to which we could add a hot headsail and make it fast enough to participate in Portsmouth races.

We wanted a boat that we could double or triple-stack to take to regattas.

We wanted a boat that would be equally sailable by youth (age 11), by elderly people (age 80+), and by women.

And we wanted it to be a catamaran! <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

And I wanted to be able to raise the mast by myself.

I know, it sounds impossible.

But the Hobie Wave fits all those requirements for us. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

You make great points Mary for a Wave

This is my 3rd cat in 3 1/2 years. I kept getting bigger and better boats (I think I am done upgrading for a while.)

I bought my Mystere 5.5 about 4 months ago and love it. I have sailed it every weekend, even in cold (60's here in Florida is cold to us) and rainy weather.

The guy I bought my TheMightyHobie18 from, sold it because he had just bought a Mystere 6.0. After I tested the TheMightyHobie18 we went out on his 6.0 and I loved it and have always loved them.

I had a H16, then TheMightyHobie18. I was sick of being in the B-Fleet. HATED being beat by lighter boats and lighter crew... needed a newer design, more powerful ride (since I couldn't lose 300 lbs of boat and belly to compete with them.)

My 20+ year old TheMightyHobie18 was starting to have structural issues. I had basically replaced almost every part on my TheMightyHobie18 and wanted a more expensive repair bills (kidding.)

We have 6 Mystere’s in our crew who sail on our beach.

I felt I could handle a much more powerful boat now.

I decided I had Peter Pan'ed and capsized enough times with my dagger boards because of sandbars in the area I sail... wanted centerboards.

There's more. It's not like it is either/or. Anybody who has a bigger cat can get a Wave pretty inexpensively and carry it on top of their racing cat so the family can come along to regattas and the kids can go out and play on the Wave while you are out racing on your fast boat. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Or, you could just not have kids, save the money instead of buying a Wave, and spend the money on one of the following:

Cheap liquor and expensive women
OR
Cheap women and expensive liquor.

The choice is yours...

No, the choice is YOURS. And someday you will have to make that choice. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Personally, I would suggest the cheap women and expensive liquor.

'94 Prindle 18.2

1. The main body of water I sail on, Lake Norman, is notorious for underwater obstacles, shoals and unexpected groundings. No daggerboards was a must and the P-18.2's rotating centerboards can be a real god-send.

2. I often sail with first-timers, friends, family - mostly unexperienced cat sailors. So ease of use was important. While it's not the most relaxing way to sail, I can solo my P-18.2

3. I can't dedicate the time to train and race all that much. When the opportunity does pop up, I don't mind an open class. So I wasn't looking for a fleet class boat.

4. I feel like it's a bit tougher than many of the lightweight speed machines you all sail. A litle more glass in the hulls adds weight, but I often beach it on many and unknown island.

5. The boat was new, never sailed, sitting around for 4 years from a dealer that went belly-up in a cloud of reefer smoke. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif" alt="" /> It was a real bargain and Performance Cat actually honored the warranty from when I bought it since I was the first owner.

somebody give trey some chocolate milk!!!

ohh and i choose the supercat line cause they sail really smoothly and are very comfortable both on the tramp (8'X 9')and on the wire (rounded hulls) with no cramping feet....

I was in the market for a boat that met my requirements

* Capable of taking a passenger out for a few hours and not being cramped (sunfish and 2 people sucks)

*Still capable of single handing, as that is how I roll 75% of the time

*somewhat fast

*Room for snacks and soda

*I also wanted something that had readily available second hand parts, (for when I break stuff, because I can break anything and usually break something.)

*My 4 cylinder sedan had to be able to tow it

I really didn't care what kind of boat that I found, only that it met my requirements. I found my little beater H16 and I figure in a couple years I'll have enough second hand parts collected to be somewhat competitive.

I almost bought a laser, but it didn't meet my space requirements ( food and a passenger).

[quote
somebody give trey some chocolate milk!!!
[/quote]

-It goes great with Bailey's...

After a number of boats, all cats but for two, I just found it too difficult to find and keep crew. (this was during my pre- Paxil days)I looked at the H-14,Nacra 4.5,and Wave and others, but found the Sea Spray fit my needs best..why, well parts are cheap at Lowes, painting is done from a spray can (the good stuff), lines generaly can be found where you hang laundry to dry, the mast weighs in at 15+- lbs.(4in.dia. aluminum irrigation pipe on most)the boat full up is under 200 lbs.(fully drained of water) making it easy to deal with. It has digger boards,seldom wants to pitchpole,very easy to right, and Finally, because no one wants them, they are cheap if you can find one. Truth is, I love sailing the ugly little things...

The Sea Spray is NOT ugly. It's very cute. I had some great pictures and videos of them at a seminar or regatta somewhere out west, maybe Canada, a number of years ago. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Are they still holding their National (or is it North American) championships? I think they used to rotate it back and forth between the U.S. and Canada.

Hey! Let's leave the Govenor of NY out of this OK?

At $80k, I don't consider her cheap <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" />

$80K!!! Hhhmmmmm! I could have a top of the line Fox with plenty left over for drinks.

I have two boats, sail in a consistently windy area on inland lakes.

Recreational boat: cheap, durable, plenty of parts available, plenty of tuning experience available, was designed for reaching (it's fastest point of sail), can invite a third person if it's really windy, newbies can sail the same boat for a low cost commitment. Hobie 16

Racing boat: big local (divisional) racing fleet, reasonable price and used availibilty, plenty of tuning experience available, fast in light air, other than these reasons I would not own this boat, I'm addicted to racing <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/smirk.gif" alt="" /> Hobie 20

Mary, you have a superb memory..it was at Osoyoos, BC and yes, they still sail them in the North Americans...one year in the US and the next in BC...or. My last SS race had 27 of them show up in Chico, Ca. So you don't subscribe to the moniker "SLB's" eh.. lol

Like this?

Or, they can also race. Harrison Hot Springs Hobie Reattta 2007, also site of Hobie North American's 2008 for the Tiger, H-18 and H-17's;
Picture attached. Peter Nelson H-16A 1st, Will Nelson, Wave 1st, Dan Tarleton, Wave 2nd, Caleb Tarleton, H-17 3rd.

I wanted to go up against the toughest competition I could find, and I wanted to be in the largest fleet possible. I would rather be 5th in a 20-boat, competitive fleet than 1st in a 3-5 boat fleet. Plus, my body weight (170#) is pretty ideal for the Hobie 16.

1983 Nacra 5.0 is what i sail and here are the reasons...
Solid glass construction...had a hobie that suffered from delam so after that i made up my mind that if i was to get a used boat in my price range it would have to be glass with no foam core. Not to mention my neighbor does fiberglass repair for a living. Budget was low and i ended up picking the boat up for 1K(have alot more than that in it now). The boat fit my budget at the time and after reveiwing the new nacra 500 i saw they were still the same hull shape for the most part but the old boat was a fraction of the cost. No side rails up top...My prindle and hobie both had the lip on the top edge of the hull and i didnt really like that because it was loud while sailing. After sailing with a freind on a Nacra i decided that i liked the silence of the hull with no top edge and that the spray didnt really bother me. The next reason would probably be that the guy that has tought me to sail sails a Nacra and alot of the other club members sail them also. The last reason would have to be the look of the boat. I prefer the look of the nacra type hull to the traditional Hobie/prindle hull and had always heard the saying "I sold the Hobie and upgraded to a Nacra" which i now know is total crap...I get beat by guys on Hobies all the time!

Those are my reasons...Long live the 5.0!

Wanted a boat in production. Wanted to class race one design but still be able to be multi hull racing competive. Wanted a spin and wanted speed. Wanted a proven platform. Got a Hobie Tiger last year and love it.