Speed potential this time. A lot of the talk about how cats are faster
than monos seems like hyperbole. However, here are some intersting
stats from the 2005 ARC. In the rally, 18% of cats finished the course
in less than 8 days, versus 5 % of monos. 29% of cats finished in
between 8 and 9 days, compared to 8% for monos. And 12% of cats
finished between 9 and 10 days versus 16% for monos. So, 59% of the
cats that entered finished in less than 10 days against 29% of monos.
These are not corrected for engine usage, because in the cruising world
what matters is how long it takes to get there, whether you motor or
sail. Anyway, there isnt much difference on that score; there also
wasnt much difference in LOA. Interesting and seems to point out that
cats do make faster passages.

"Quint" wrote in message
oups.com...
Speed potential this time. A lot of the talk about how cats are faster
than monos seems like hyperbole. However, here are some intersting
stats from the 2005 ARC. In the rally, 18% of cats finished the course
in less than 8 days, versus 5 % of monos. 29% of cats finished in
between 8 and 9 days, compared to 8% for monos. And 12% of cats
finished between 9 and 10 days versus 16% for monos. So, 59% of the
cats that entered finished in less than 10 days against 29% of monos.
These are not corrected for engine usage, because in the cruising world
what matters is how long it takes to get there, whether you motor or
sail. Anyway, there isnt much difference on that score; there also
wasnt much difference in LOA. Interesting and seems to point out that
cats do make faster passages.

There's a huge amount of hyperbole about the speed of cats. Most of these
speed claims are nothing more than claims and have nothing to do with
reality. I've found that cats are typically about the same as similarly
sized monos close to the wind. Off the wind, they're significantly faster.
Thus, a particular journey on a cat covers a longer course than a mono, but
you get there a bit faster, and probably you get there in better shape,
since you're not so fatigued by the heel over a long period.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

Yea, but the ARC course - transAtlantic - consistently show the cats
getting across faster than the monos. So there is something to the
hype.

Quint wrote:
Yea, but the ARC course - transAtlantic - consistently show the cats
getting across faster than the monos. So there is something to the
hype.

I'm not sure why you would be skeptical. Certainly there is some
hyperbole to some cat claims, but if you listen to monohull sailors,
half of them claim to do 2 knots over hull speed all day long.

The bottom line is that cats do not devote 40% of their displacement
to a hunk of lead they drag through the water, and their length to
beam ratio (per hull) is about 10 to 1, so they do not create large
waves. These two factors mean that if there is wind, a cat should be
much faster than a monohull. It also means that under power they are
also fast and fuel efficient.

There are several situations that can slow them down: Upwind sailing
suffers on many, though if this is a concern, you can get a cat with
daggerboards. The large wetted surface means that some cats don't do
as well in light air. Again, if this is a concern, you probably don't
want a cat with a small, conservative rig.

And, of course, if you overload a cat it can slow down to the speed of
a monohull. As near as I can tell, even though we've added a lot of
crap to ours, we're still faster than cruising monohulls up about 45
feet. In a breeze we'll do 9+ knots all day, and even in 10 knots
we'll do 5 or 6.

I agree with Jeff here. One thing to keep in mind is that cats tend to
be much more on the cruising side of the racer/cruiser spectrum than
monos because there is no real club racing market for them. Most cats
that are actually out here cruising are derived from charter boats that
are slow to begin with and are made slower by adding live aboard stores
and systems. By contrast, much of the monohull fleet is derived from
club racers or at least heavily influenced by them. This suggests that
there is more room for improvement in the multi fleet than in the mono
fleet. In the 60 foot classes where multi's race against mono's with
canting keels and rigs and movable ballast, the multi's tend to average
about 30% faster over the same courses. I think if the cruising multi
fleet were as influenced by racing as the cruising mono fleet is we'd
see pretty much the same 30% advantage.

I'm not sure how important fast is though. The only times I've ever
felt an adavantage to going fast was when racing to get from one
anchorage to another in daylight. Offshore no cruising boats that I
know of are fast enough to avoid bad weather. There is a lot of
marketing hype, particularly from those selling motorsailers to
multi-millionairs, about how being able to maintian very high average
speeds makes passages safer... Maybe, but I think most of it is BS,
and if you hate passages, why the heck are you out voyaging?

-- Tom.

I agree with Jeff here. One thing to keep in mind is that cats tend to
be much more on the cruising side of the racer/cruiser spectrum than
monos because there is no real club racing market for them. Most cats
that are actually out here cruising are derived from charter boats that
are slow to begin with and are made slower by adding live aboard stores
and systems. By contrast, much of the monohull fleet is derived from
club racers or at least heavily influenced by them. This suggests that
there is more room for improvement in the multi fleet than in the mono
fleet. In the 60 foot classes where multi's race against mono's with
canting keels and rigs and movable ballast, the multi's tend to average
about 30% faster over the same courses. I think if the cruising multi
fleet were as influenced by racing as the cruising mono fleet is we'd
see pretty much the same 30% advantage.

I'm not sure how important fast is though. The only times I've ever
felt an adavantage to going fast was when racing to get from one
anchorage to another in daylight. Offshore no cruising boats that I
know of are fast enough to avoid bad weather. There is a lot of
marketing hype, particularly from those selling motorsailers to
multi-millionairs, about how being able to maintian very high average
speeds makes passages safer... Maybe, but I think most of it is BS,
and if you hate passages, why the heck are you out voyaging?

-- Tom.

I agree with Jeff here. One thing to keep in mind is that cats tend to
be much more on the cruising side of the racer/cruiser spectrum than
monos because there is no real club racing market for them. Most cats
that are actually out here cruising are derived from charter boats that
are slow to begin with and are made slower by adding live aboard stores
and systems. By contrast, much of the monohull fleet is derived from
club racers or at least heavily influenced by them. This suggests that
there is more room for improvement in the multi fleet than in the mono
fleet. In the 60 foot classes where multi's race against mono's with
canting keels and rigs and movable ballast, the multi's tend to average
about 30% faster over the same courses. I think if the cruising multi
fleet were as influenced by racing as the cruising mono fleet is we'd
see pretty much the same 30% advantage.

I'm not sure how important fast is though. The only times I've ever
felt an adavantage to going fast was when racing to get from one
anchorage to another in daylight. Offshore no cruising boats that I
know of are fast enough to avoid bad weather. There is a lot of
marketing hype, particularly from those selling motorsailers to
multi-millionairs, about how being able to maintian very high average
speeds makes passages safer... Maybe, but I think most of it is BS,
and if you hate passages, why the heck are you out voyaging?

-- Tom.

I love cats.

Lots of fun in warm weather/water!

But I always use the right tool for the right job.

Bob wrote:
I love cats.

Lots of fun in warm weather/water!

But I always use the right tool for the right job.

I like cats. They taste like chicken.

Do I like cats?
Yes I do.
Broiled, boiled, or in a stew.