Sailing Characteristics

[TN Kelly]

How do the CS17's sail different compared to single masted sailboats?

 

How do they compare to other sailboats in general?

 

Very keen to try one of these out!

 

Hard to get people to make statements for fear they will step on toes.  So difficult to get information a novice can use.

 

 

 

 

Thanks

Peace and Respect

Kelly

[Hirilonde]

Cat Ketch compared to Sloop

 

1.  Doesn't point quite as close to the wind

2.  Lower sail plan, less healing forces for a given sail area

3.  Simpler to tack, though it may take a little getting used to if you have been sailing sloops.

4. Simpler, maybe even easier to rig (this matters with a trailered boat)

 

A novice will like #2, so will people looking for a more leisurely sail while still making reasonable speed.

 

I have sailed sloops for, well, a lot of years and a cat ketch but a few times.  These are my impressions.

[Howard]

Except for the Spindrift I built and a Sunfish, most of the boats I've sailed have been sloops. My current boat is a sloop.

 

But I have sailed on a cat ketch and based on that experience, I'm building one. Not so much that I was shocked and impressed, but to allay my fears. I doubt they will point as high as a well tuned, well sailed sloop, but that is about the only area I can see where they take a back seat.

 

I agree with what all that Dave mentioned, but would elaborate on the "simpler to rig". The sprit, controlled by a tensioning line led aft (snotter), serves both the same purpose as the outhaul and vang to change the draft of the sail. In addition to taking a lot of tension off the sheets, the shape of the sail remains constant no matter the heading.

 

The masts are unstayed. This does a couple things. Since the masts are unstayed, the fully shaped sails can swing forward of the masts, providing very stable conditions for full sail runs off the wind. One of these is to sail "by the lee", which allows you to sail on a deep broad reach without having to worry about a gybe, nor having the aft sail blanketing the forward sail, so you can present all the sail area you have.  Since these boats are not ballasted, in enough wind, this sail configuration may have you on top and planing. Running fast, stable and in full control. And you did all that with no sail change. Basically, you turned the tiller and let out some sheet.

 

The other aspect of the unstayed rig is that in a gust, the mast will flex and bend, which flattens and depowers the sail. A built in gust response, so you may be able to carry more sail than you might expect for the wind conditions. If the winds are light, and you are in a hurry, you can pull up a third light air sale called a mizzen staysail to give you a little more boost.

 

Lastly, with a fore and aft sail, these boats are easy to "hove to" and park. I can't think of a more welcome safety feature on a boat than the ability to "hove to", reliably and safely. The fore and aft configuration is also easy to balance as far as trim is concerned. Get that right and the boat is very stable as to direction. With experience, it can be made to do a very good job of self-steering, vs. the constant attention you have to give most sloops to keep them on a heading.

 

On balance, I think there is a lot to like about a cat ketch.

[TN Kelly]

Thanks!

 

Liking these boats more and more.

 

What does a CS17 or 20 feel like with ballast? Does it just give you more stability and more confidence to sail in higher winds?  Does it make the boat slower to react to input?  My only sailing experience has been on 8ft pram with same style sail as on the CoreSounds.

 

 

Thank you.

Peace and Respect

Kelly

[Ken_Potts]

Hi Kelly - Welcome to the forum.

In my opinion ballast is a good way to slow a Core Sound down.  These boats are lots of fun mostly because they are relatively lightweight and they pop up on plane pretty easily.  There are some pretty cool keelboats out there (I currently own one) that derive their performance from ballast but the Core Sounds are much happier sailing over the water than through it.

Don't worry too much about stability - Just go out on pleasant days and get used to the boat. Eventually you'll find yourself having fun on slightly rougher days until one day you're surfing down a wave on a run and you're too busy whooping and hollering to look at the gps and figure out how fast you're really going.  These are pretty forgiving boats but they're also plenty fast when you know how to handle them.

If I were to hand out unsolicited advice I'd say an inexperienced sailor should build a Core Sound without modifying anything at all.  The worst you'll end up with is a really good sailboat (really, really good, but I might be biased).

[Hirilonde]

What does a CS17 or 20 feel like with ballast? Does it just give you more stability and more confidence to sail in higher winds? 

If it gives you confidence you are in trouble.  The only things that should give you confidence are skill and intelligence. If you are intelligent you will know your skill and sail accordingly and under appropriate conditions.

[Dale Niemann]

I know you asked about sailing qualities but I would like to add to what Howard and others have said.  If you are planning to trailer your boat, another Big advantage over sloops is rigging the free standing masts.  It is as simple as dropping the masts in their holes.  No standing rigging to add time and effort before launch.

 

my 2 cents.

 

Dale

[Alex]

As Dale said about the free standing masts. I would say that my Spindrift 12 would take no longer than 3 minutes to rig and be off sailing and about half that time to de-rig. I will never go back to a stayed rig again. There used to be so many occasions in the past where I wanted to go for a quick sail and didn't bother, purely because of the time it took to rig and de-rig. I would say that my Spindrift would be one of the most used boats in my area.

[Hirilonde]

As Dale said about the free standing masts. I would say that my Spindrift 12 would take no longer than 3 minutes to rig and be off sailing and about half that time to de-rig. I will never go back to a stayed rig again. There used to be so many occasions in the past where I wanted to go for a quick sail and didn't bother, purely because of the time it took to rig and de-rig. I would say that my Spindrift would be one of the most used boats in my area.

This is one of the biggest truths about trailered or car top boats.  I was talking to the owner of a kayak outfitter about this.  He figures that well over 80% of the recreational tupperware kayaks he sells just sit in garages and basements after being used a couple times for that very reason.  They are heavy and even with a top shelf roof rack they are a chore to get to and from the launching area. He also told me he would deny saying that if I repeated it to anyone.

[Scott Dufour]

It's a amazing how just doubling the time it takes to get the boat rigged cuts the days you actually go sailing by the same ratio.

[SteveKos]

The ease and speed of rigging these boats is what attracted me to build one (Spindrift 11). I can't wait to get it on the water after all I've read from those who have built them. The unstayed mast is a real safety feature, and is great when you have to 'drop everything' to attend to something urgent. Just let the sail go and she stops. It's as simple as that. On my sailing kayak/trimaran I can go out fishing, anchor off the stern and let the sail go forward. Unless it is very windy it sits nice and quiet, and allows me to fish all round the boat. My preferred sail is the leg-o-mutton sprit sail which is a very simple sail to rig and handle, and due to the ability to adjust the sail tension with a snotter line, the sail can be let go, and then trimmed or reefed on the water without having to worry about the sail position.

 

I sailed a catamaran with a friend as crew for a couple of seasons and was always cursing the complicated (and potentially dangerous) rigging that would so easily get in the way, or snag sails and ropes, and even cause capsizes, let alone the tedious time wasted in rigging and de-rigging every time we went out.