Too much boat getting old ? 30ft Cat-rig

[Robbie Ross]

Hi - may be selling my " big " crew dependant endurance - to replace her -thinking of a-building a "TOM-THUMB" steel 30 footer plum stem and stern - more WLL to OAL - roomy - with a " nonsuch" cat rig setup with wishbone boom - and a try-sail ( loose leach luff and foot ) - I will be mostly single handed - leaving east coast south africa - for the pacific in a few years time when kids university education is finnished - I have sailed a olympic class cat rigged Finn dingy all my life - and am well aquanted with the "death role" which usualy occures only with the plate up - no lifiting keel on the Tom Thumb so hope this isnt one of the rigs weaknesses -- a similar yacht is the " nonsuch" 305 - which seems to sail only in sheltered waters -- or waters that have easy access to safe berths -- my question then - has anyone experiance in such a rig in deep blue water and in sever bad weather - a Junk rig seems cluttered to me -