which beach cat?

The broach factor would be risky in breaking waves or are you thinking of non-breaking swells moving across shoals? I wouldn't try anything like that near the beach, mast hitting sand and the force of oncoming waves sounds like a recipe for tearing out your rigging.

rbuehn wrote: ... launching in surf and riding waves? ...

This is precisely why Hobie Alter designed his first catamarans. I suggest you look into a Hobie 14 or Hobie 16.

Make sure it does not have dagger boards. Single handed off and on the beach in surf with boards would be an extra challenge you likely do not want.

I would think a H14 turbo would be a good boat for single handing. A H16 would be good if you would take crew. The H16 in waves would be hard to right solo. Anything for that matter is harder to right in waves, so make sure you practice when other people are around the help if needed.

You know if you plan on staying in the surf, I would go for something bomb proof. Like the wave. Sure seems indestructible and easy to right one man.

How about the Getaway? Can that be righted solo? Would be nice to take a friend sometimes.

yes a Getaway would be a good choice.can be self righted and they are tough little buggers.
you can take several friend on one of them. they only lack in high end performance, but are good, fun general purpose boats

With a Wave you can bring friends still...With the getaway, I think its nearly a thousand pounds of capacity! Kinda crazy 🙂 Wave is a no brainer for righting...Getaway needs a bag if your solo.

I had a Getaway for a couple years. At 190lbs I was able to right it solo. But I still carried a bag just in case.

It's very easy to solo with only jib, main, and traveler sheets to deal with. The wings give some security to going overboard.

The plastic hulls are bullet proof. But not very efficient. Driven hard, the wing struts will drag in the water and bring the boat to a crawl, or the leeward hull dives and everyone gets thrown forward. The struts also impact flying a hull.

Why would you want to bring your friends on a wave or getaway. That is like saying come on and see my Dodge Caravan.

Why not?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erxcLrm6Wk0&feature=player_embedded

🙂
(not my vid)

I agree! Nothing wrong with that Getaway!

If you are going to be launching in surf and riding waves you want a simple boat with good floatation that will take some punishment, the Wave is tailor made for that! The getaway is a bit of a truck/minivan though, probably heavier than you would like. I you get a wave you will want to get an aftermarket steering extension for it so you can hike out and move your weight around easier. Barring that the other option is to pick up a cheap H14 and H16, clean it up and slap a wear strip of Marine tex on the keel and you are ready to go. They are lighter, sexier, and the steering is more responsive, but if you crash them you could damage the fibreglass hulls. the good new is that spare parts are easy and relatively cheap to come by. I know a local guy who has a H14 and H16 mast collection and I live in freaking nowhere Canada.

What you likely want to avoid are the boats with overly complicated controls and daggerboards. So anything longer than 16 ft is probably out except for a couple of exception (N 5.7). A boomless design would also be a plus because there is nothing worse when you are bouncing around than having the boom bounce into your head! So really the Wave appears to be ideal for the purpose. Cheap and bullet proof are nice qualities to have even if it isn't a rocketship.

golfdad75 wrote: Why would you want to bring your friends on a wave or getaway. That is like saying come on and see my Dodge Caravan.

every boat (and minivan) has pros and cons.
if your needs are bulletproof starter boat... these rotomolds are very good. if you want speed and sexy, go buy the bmw/oracle 180'wingmast tri

Just trying to keep the conversation lively.

Hobie Turbo 14 is my choice. At 175 lbs. I can right one easily. It was designed to surf and negotiate beach breaks. Fiberglass, you can fix it yourself. You can buy one for $750-$1200. Great for solo sailing in high winds. Want to buy one? Sorry mine's not for sail. Good luck, Dave

Here is what you can do with a Hobie.

http://www.thebeachcats.com/pictures/?g2_itemId=79442

I sailed my Hobie 16 hard last summer on the Northern Gulf Of Mexico. I am a newbie and made planty of mistakes, but one thing I have learned is that a Hobie 16 is a tough boat!

Hmmm if the getaway is a minivan, I sure hope I didn’t just buy the bus. I just got an H 21 SE. Anyway I still think bombing aorund the surf on a wave would be a blast. I mean it is called the 'wave' after all right?