"Joe" wrote ...
Why do they call "cat boats" cat boats?



jlrogers±³© wrote:
So, behold the catboat. ... (snip for brevity)...
The classic catboat has a plumb stem, high bow, and big barndoor rudder.
Those cats 17 feet or more usually have a cuddy cabin with two bunks and the
rudiments for overnight sailing. The cat is rarely longer than 22 to 25
feet. She was never intended for blue water work. Some of the bigger cats
did go 30 or more miles offshore in the fisheries. But the cat mostly was an
alongshore workboat.


Excellent post, bravo! The only thing I would add is that the huge gaff
mains of *working* catboats, not racing ones, also overhung the transom
by a lot in many cases.... they often had "summer rigs" meant for light
air, and it was common among working boats of many types to have 4
reefs in their working mainsails.

But it doesn't naswer the question, why the name?

Here's the answer: because there was already a dog boat common to New
England back in the early days. However it was not as efficient and
effective a type as the catboat, and died out.

signed- Injun Ear (formerly known as Eagle Eye)