Aerorigged Catamaran

[djeeke]

Hi !

I am looking to buy a cruising Cat...

Would it be worthwhile considering one with an Aerorig?
(easily singlehanded ?)

In another thread I already found :

The Carbospars aerorigs were not cheap, or light.
Advantages are:
A single lightly loaded sheet can be dumped to completely depower the rig and stop the boat in any conditions, on any point of sail.
Because the rig is unstayed, it flexes in gusts, hugely increasing the safety factor and reducing the need to reef.
The headsail is clear of the deck, allowing visibility forward and to leeward.
The sails can be hoisted, reefed and lowered on any point of sail, any wind speed. Bat cars and rcb track are not required.
Gybing is far easier (pull in then release the lightly loaded sheet), far safer (no traveller, no boom crashing across, no stays to stop the boom) and in really bad conditions you can granny the rig all the way round the front of the boat.
There is much less maintenance, and what there is is at deck level. If anything does break, the mast won't fall down.
Running square, you ease the boom to 90 degrees or more, the jib poles out to windward automatically.
Reaching, the jib does not need barberhauling
Apart from local reinforcing of the deck and mast step, the layout of a cat is not compromised with local strengthening for chainplates, fore beams, strikers, travellers, mast bulkheads and sheet winches. Not having all these is also a considerable weight saving.

Disadvantages are:
If a round mast is used, there may be more windage, depending on what rig configuration is chosen. If a wing section is used, the drag is way less.
The jib cannot easily be backed during a tack.
Forestay tension can be hard to get, which affects the jib for heavy air upwind and racing. Easy enough to put runners from the hounds to the end of the boom if required for these situations.

I would like to get some feedback as obviously the selling broker will tell me this rig is just ideal for me

Thanks for any ideas on this one !
Djeeke.

[sailingdog]

Not a big fan of the AeroRig. If the boat wasn't specifically designed for the AeroRig, the bridgedeck has to be modified quite heavily to support it, since the rig is unstayed. A properly designed sloop rigged catamaran is fairly simple to single hand. Also, if you're cruising long-distances, getting an AeroRig repaired in remote locales may be much more difficult.

[djeeke]

Thanks for the feedback sailindog !

You're absolutely right, getting things fixed in remote locations might be an issue...

On the other hand, ss you stated the boat is unstayed, so not to worry about issues with standing rigging. Also visibility is improved as you're never looking into your front sail

This particular boat has been extensively reinforced to have the aerorig installed. I have no clue however how this sails, it is claimed to be easy to sail but then again, you are right, sailing singlehanded is not to tough either without that rig...

Djeeke.

[djeeke]

One comment I got is that this is a great rig but terribly heavy and weight is a big issue on Cat's, they hate too much load (more than a mono)
Although it is unstayed (hence weight saving on that end) it seems still to add a lot of weight to the boat...
Anyone by any chance happens to have seen some figures ???