[Bardo]

all catamaran sailors. I just got back from my first 10 day BVI cruise, which was great (despite vile sea conditions at times). We chartered an Admiral 38, which did the trick as far as berthing, eating and hanging out is concerned, just fine. But as far as sailing qualities are concerned, I was deeply disappointed. Lack of cat experience will have played into it, I am sure, but all in all, I had little joy in the sailing portion of our trip. No visibility on the main sail at all, except for a small window that let me see base of the mast; inability to sail closer than 60 degrees to the wind on the starboard tack (as close as 30 on the port); very touchy on the tack (I did learn to back the head sail to help her through the wind {thanks Chuckles}); occasionally I had to motor through. No "feel" at all to the boat. As an RV with sails, the boat was good, and probably the best vehicle for the BVI family fun cruise. To her credit, she was pretty stable, which helped all hands keep their lunch where it belonged. And the twin deisels made maneuvering around the anchorages a pleasure. But forget the deep pleasure of manning the helm and driving upwind with the lee rail bubbling and green water sliding over the foredeck occasionally. Like any RV, the pleasure in a catamaran seems to be in having the comforts of home with you wherever you go, not in the journey getting there!