catamaran first timer, lee drift

[gc1111]

There are at least 3 things that can "stall" in a Hobie 16.
The rudders are vertical airfoils. At slow speeds if you put the rudders hard over and they stall then you have no control, the boat keeps going straight. The cure is to center the helm, let the flow around the rudders re-establish and then slowly move the helm.
The assymetric hulls are also airfoils that can stall. Again this is a slow speed phenomena that ends up in lots of leeway. The cure is to get the boat moving again, usually by bearing off.
And the sails can stall - but that is a whole separate thread.

[normofthenorth]

I think the plan was excellent, but the execution not so much. And I think the key was probably that the sails were trimmed too tight. As sailingdog said, all the comments about trimming tighter than you think DO NOT apply to your super-slow situation. In fact, they don't apply all that much to the Hobie Getaway and the Hobie Wave even at full speed, because those rotomolded PE Hobies aren't faster than most monohull dinghies of the same size (certainly not any faster than the 15' Albacores I usually sail).

With the sails trimmed out so they're partly luffing, and the boat steered on a beam reach, there isn't much force on the sails, but it's almost purely FORWARDS, and not sideways. Trim the sails in hard, near the centerline of the boat, and there's big force on the sails, and it's almost purely SIDEWAYS, and not forwards. Especially in the situation you describe, the old maxim "When in doubt, let it out" applies in spades.

Norm

[tomaz_423]

Norm,
You opened a very touchy subject.
I have impression that on this forum it is not allowed to claim that any mono hull (Giulietta exempted) is ever faster then any multi.
I sailed Laser a lot when young and was also a windsurfing teacher.
Once I rented a Hobby CAT on vacation and wanted to show-off a little. I got a very hard lesson on how little I knew about multis and how easy was to stall/get in irons/loose control a cat.
I did everything wrong: wanted to pull sharp turns with rudder hard over (stalled), wanted to tack very fast - like on a Laser(ended in irons), went high speed on broad reach (apparent wind was still forward) and I observed the girls more then the wind, so changed course a bit too much and ended in the water after an accidental gybe...
So, Yes. It is very different from a mono dinghy. But it is a lot of fun after you get the basics.

[sailingdog]

Tomaz-

Norm is speaking of two specific rotomolded catamarans. Rotomolded hulls aren't used on what I would consider performance boats generally.

The specifications for the Hobie Wave:

Specifications:
Length: 13' 0"
Beam: 7'
Mast Length: 20'
Weight: 245 lbs.
Hull Construction: Roto-Molded Polyethylene

The specifications for the Hobie Getaway:

Specifications:
Length: 16' 7"
Beam: 7' 8"
Mast Length: 25'
Sail Area: 180 Sq. Ft.
Weight: 390 lbs.
Hull Construction: Roto-Molded Polyethylene

You should also note that the Hobie Wave and Getaway are relatively narrow catamarans and as such can't carry as much sail as a wider one would. The Hobie 16, is only a bit wider but carries a good deal more sail than the Getaway, and is lighter as well.

Specifications:
Length: 16' 7" 16.58333
Beam: 7' 11" 7.916666
Mast Length: 26' 6"
Sail Area: 218 Sq. Ft.
Weight: 320 lbs.
Hull Construction: Fiberglass/Foam Sandwich

Planing dinghies can indeed give a small catamaran dinghy a run for their money—since the hull speed rule does not apply to either catamarans or planing dinghies. Foil-equipped dinghies, like the Moth Foiler, are even faster than their planing counterparts... if considerably less stable.

However, once you get into displacement hull monohulls, the disparities between the multihull and the monohull become readily apparent. I've done 15 knots in my Telstar 28, which has an LOA of 27' 6" and a waterline of 26' 3". A Beneteau First 27.7, with an LOA of 28' 2" and a waterline of 27' 3", isn't going to be able to make 15 knots without a miracle—and it has a relatively high SA-D ratio of 25.04 or so. A Tartan 27 isn't going to catch the Beneteau First 27.7 anytime soon either.