Racing cats without centerboards or rudders ?!?!

found this on the internet today, to be honest I could not imagine having to deal with racing situations with a rudder on the boat! looks to be an active and vibrant class of boats though.

I'v told this forum already before of this spanish cat, but I like to tell you once again because I have owned (with joy) several years such a cat.

See me below in South France:



In Spanish it's called a "Patin A Vela" which means skate with sail.
They are made of wooden veneerplates around a wooden frame of bulkheads and stringers. Beams are also wooden plates (1.5m large).
These type of cats are invented by Spanish monks in a monastery in North Spain around 1920!!!!

Steering is done with the sail and the lateral point of the hulls. So moving forward on the hull means turning to the wind as does sheeting of the sail. The reverse means turning away from the wind; but the effect of moving the weight distribution on the hulls is by far the most.

Handling this type of cat seems impossible the first time when you sit on it, but everything get used to. At the end you can be very handy on it and even steer close around swimmers in the break.

One thing though: they are not racing cats as such. The speed is zero compared to a modern beachcat. (But ofcourse you can course race with fellow-users)

This class is "discovered" every few years and posted here. I enjoy the discovery each time.

Okay Pete,

What I wonder is how many Patins are sailed outside of Spain. Is there one in the US????

In the time I owned one (15 years ago) there were only two in Holland (my friend had one and I had one).
By the way I found mine totally destroyed in a garbage container near the beach; so I had to rebuilt it completely. The mast was gone too, but I could use an old sawn-off H14 mast (which I first had to bend straight with fireheating and a jump on it with two men). Those were the days..

Anyway a Patin a Vela is a very, very simple cat, back to the beginning of sailing. Undestructable on the beach, just a hull frame, a mast, four stays, a sail with no battens and one sheetrope with no delay.

It takes 5 minutes to rig it completely and ready to sail.

I've never seen or heard of one in the U.S.

I have a penchant for simple things done well and the Patin a Vela certainly qualifies.

The problem with old sentimental fools like me, is that when you start digging in old memories, the sigh to the old times becomes too much.

So, here are still some old photo's of the Patin a Vela (after that I will shut my mouth):

1992/ Cap d"Agde South-France :



Do you see: there's no tramp at all (but the sheet has a delay)



My French neighbour-boy. But look how small the beamsize of the cat is; I narrowed it down to about 1 meter. (the most narrow cat on earth?) By the way, very handy with turning it back after capsizing. And there is ofcourse no pitchpoling!


With tent and windsurfgear the 16 hour non-stop trip to the south of france .

Looks like fun!