my first cat was an aqua-cat that was given to me by one of my clients. it was sitting in the weeds behind his house with flat tires on the trailer and tons of calcified lake crud on the hulls. i spent hours cleaning that off with a harsh chemical that i can't recall the name of now. i had sailed a flying junior for 15 yrs before that so i wasn't a newby, but that aqua-cat was, at the same time, a 'dog' and 'scary'. with two on board, the hulls rode right at the waterline, the thing wouldn't tack, and the sail shape was severely compromised by that 'a-frame' system which cuts right into the middle of the sail. i sold it first chance i could.
next cat was a venture 15 which seemed light-yrs ahead of the aqua-tub. now i own 3 nacra 5.8's and a nacra inter18. all easier to sail and understand than an aqua-cat. watch the aqua-cat video on their website and you will see one of the best cat sailors there is........cause he's flyin' a hull on that thing. that's skill man!
The AquaCat is a little tricky to tack and anyone can get the hull up but it has to be blowing 14+knots and 17+knots with 2 large adults. To tack an AquaCat go full speed close hauled, go through the tack in a slow round way, when head to wind, ease the sail a few inches (the momentum should bring you beyond close hauled on the new tack) trim and nose down until the boat loads up.
I sailed agua cat 14s in the Caribbean Ocean. They still have them at hotels on the beach and are quite a lot of fun. Wind was approx 16 knots and seas were running 2' to 5'. At speed they run with one hull off the water. If you sit too far fwd they will flip over on tips. So move back when you fly the hull. The best part is how easy they are to rig and you have almost no rigging to mess with. If you have busted forestays and shrouds you know what I mean. They are not as fast as a Hobie 16 but do manage to hang in there against the Wave. I guess the daggerboards make it reach better into wind. They are also quite sturdy as I ran one over a shallow reef with minimal damage from the rocks.
Don't knock em if you have not sailed them.
My dad bought me an aqua cat 30 years ago and I sailed the piss out of it. Great starter boat and it began my addiction to cats. Which lead to a h14 then h16 a h17 and now a h21se. I need help.
There's one brand new in the box on L.A. craigslist won on a game show. Asking $4000 but will take almost any offer. Pete
prindle pete
How about this brand new one for $1500 o.b.o
http://hartford.craigslist.org/boa/3964192975.html
Edited by pknapp66 on Aug 04, 2013 - 05:13 PM.
H18m
p16
Venture15