am I to big for a beach cat?

Hello 06commonrail and welcome to TheBeachcats.com.

Happy to hear you are interested in learning to sail.

Before we jump into recommending a particular beachcat we'll need a little more information about you and your sailing area and plans.

What area do you plan to sail? From a beach or from a marina?

You are obviously a big dude but (how to put this delicately) are you a 6'7" 330 pound 22 year old linebacker in great shape or retirement age and way over your "fighting weight"? Just so you know, I'm also 6-7 and have weighed and sailed at 300 pounds, currently at 230 (subject to change over the winter). 😀

What's your name, or should I keep calling you 06commonrail?

My names Tim I'm 28 and built like a linebacker. I live in FL spacecoast, so would be in a river launching from the beach. Just looking to start a new hobby, just looking for some fun, learning to sail. So anything from just cruising around to getting to get the most speed/adrenaline.

you need a bigger boat for sure but you should be ok
you want a boat with large hull volume and larger sail plan to accommodate

i would recommend a mystere 5.5 (meters) or 6.0 or nacra of a similar size

Mystere 5.5 for sure, we have a large gentleman at our club with one of these and and he has no issues.

I will recommend a Hobie 18 with wings. I am also in the tall sailor club, 6'8" ~220lbs. I love the seating position of the wings versus on the trampoline, plus big enough to for 3 people but at your size can sail solo without issue once you get experience. I had a H18 for years for these same reasons. They are also fairly inexpensive to learn on and hold their value well. The other 18' boats out there should work for you too. I would avoid boats under 18' at your size.

Glad to hear I have some options. Found a few of the nacra somewhat local, haven't seen any of the mystere in the US. But I'll keep looking.
Thanks for the recommendations.

With my 290 lbs I had a Prindle 18-2 as a starter-catamaran.
Fun boat, affordable, no dagger-boards but kick-up boards.
Convenient, and You can make it as "technical" as You like.
Soloed it for 4 years, it was outrageous fun !!
Taking crew is hard in medium/low wind speeds .. in our
weight-range ;-(
Thats why I stepped up to a Tornado, another learning curve.

Grtz, André

Supercats have big, buoyant hulls, a 17 would be a good solo boat, a 19 better for two. A 20 is probably too much to start with. Probably easier to find than a Mystere.

Dave

I'm 240 and regularly sail my Nacra 5.7 solo and with a crew weight over 500 lbs. It does great, is a little simpler to solo without boards or boom and has a nice open tramp area. The hobie 18 or Nacra 5.5 or bigger are likely good options for you also as are the 18-19ft prindles. I wouldn't start on a 20 footer. .

06commonrail wrote: Glad to hear I have some options. Found a few of the nacra somewhat local, haven't seen any of the mystere in the US. But I'll keep looking.
Thanks for the recommendations.

Where are you?
there are many around here (tampa area)
-

Edited by MN3 on Nov 09, 2015 - 10:56 AM.

I'm in the Melbourne area about a half hour south of cocoa beach

Here is a Mystere 5.5 in Clearwater http://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/boa/5267832417.html

06commonrail wrote: I'm in the Melbourne area about a half hour south of cocoa beach

cool -that's about due east from here.. There used to be mystere dealers here, there are lots of them on this coast and a few on yours.

that boat above is mine and for sale
That boat has carried 4 adults and gear

my friend has a 6.0 with wings for sale (with or without wings)

let me know if your interested or have questions

Edited by MN3 on Nov 09, 2015 - 04:00 PM.

I will recommend a Hobie 18 with wings. I am also in the tall sailor club, 6'8" ~220lbs.

OK, I just acquired an H18 Magnum, with wings. I am only 170lb, 5'11" Will I suck? Not be able to right it? 😀

Edchris177 wrote:

I will recommend a Hobie 18 with wings. I am also in the tall sailor club, 6'8" ~220lbs.

OK, I just acquired an H18 Magnum, with wings. I am only 170lb, 5'11" Will I suck? Not be able to right it? 😀

I needed a bag to right my h18 (no wings)

[quote=Edchris177]

Will I suck? Not be able to right it?

Don't know if you'll suck, but I doubt if you'd be able to right a Hobie 18 Magnum alone at 170lb's unless you use a large righting bag or something like Gary's Solo Right.

Stick to light air if you are solo.

We just had our last cat regatta and the two Hobie 18s, sailed solo, seemed to do just fine in high gusty winds. I sailed my Hobie 16 solo (crew bailed on me - worthless kids), came close to flipping it a few times, and had a hard time getting it to move forward a couple of times (had a blast though and came in 2nd place). So the 18 might be more stable than a smaller cat.
Buy a righting bag, flip the boat, and practice righting.

Does anyone know if a slightly smaller sail can be put on the Magnum? might help.