Hi, im a Swedish guy who is both beginner on both sailing and catamarans. I have a history of windsurfing between 1986-1998 and i was rather good. Now when turning 40 years old I plan to do some sailing. Only for fun but with the possibility to do some raids. Since note of my friends sail i need to find a cat that can be handled only by me. I am also a father and I have a 3 year old at home and a new baby thats going to be delivered in april 2016, therefore the time and money for sailing will be rather limiten for at least one year. So what catamarans can be used single handed but also with the option to bring a friend when I what to? My budget for a used boat is around $6000-7000.
The priority for the cat is
1. Single handed
2. Speed
3. Big class if i want to compete
4. Easy to use
5. Possibility to manage passengers
check out a hobie 16...great single handed boat, fast, largest one design class in racing, and will easily take two, three if passengers are kids and with a three year old and a newborn you have a few years to get real comfortable before they head to the water
F16s are race boats designed to be sailed solo(main and spin), and with crew(add jib). Lightweight compared with older 16' designs, and more sophisticated rigging, so higher performance, higher maintenance, and a bit more delicate. You might find older models in your price range. Might suit your needs.
Dave
I will chime in with my usual answer. I like the Nacra 5.0/500, easy to sail solo, plenty of floatation for crew, no boom, no daggerboards, and reasonably fast and fun!
The Hobie 16 is also a very good choice and you can likely find one reasonably cheap.
In europe a Dart 16 would be a good choice also, similar benefits as the Nacra 5.0, but I'm not sure about availability outside of the UK.
There are also some cool cats out there that we haven't even heard of in North America like the Hobie Twixxy, Hobie 15.
Dave Bonin
1981 Nacra 5.2
In your neck of the woods.... the A - Division (A Class Catamarans) is pretty big a supper competitive.
More here for your local association..
Oh! Welcome
Edited by JohnES on Sep 06, 2015 - 03:25 PM.
Hobie 16
Prindle 16
Nacra 5.0
The A class cats are exclusively solo boat, will break with too much crew weight and powered up. Great racing, awesome ride for an experienced catsailor.
As you're probably realizing, your decision will be based on your weighing of the positive and negative attributes of a variety of boats. Durability will be at the expense of light weight and performance, the better the boat handles bigger loads, the less amenable it will be for solo work. Older is cheaper, newer more expensive and more sophisticated. Boats that are good for socializing will have less performance than ones designed for racing. Some of the boats we mentioned might not be available in your area. It's a dance, keep asking questions, filtering these opinions, and evaluate your priorities. It's fun! Worst that can happen is you get the wrong boat, sell it and buy what you then think is more appropriate.
Dave
If you want class racing with large fleets, the first step is to see what is going on in your area. I would suspect the answer will be the F16 platform. It can be sailed solo, but most people race them (here) double handed.
How about a Taipan 4.9 It is a great single handed boat. They are raced single handed as cat rig. You can sail double handed with a sloop rig. If you want to with the spinnaker you can sail the boat in the F16 class. (It may not be super competitive as an F16, but it is grandfathered into the F16 class). They are rare in the US so you will likely sail handicap, but there are Portsmouth ratings for all 3 configurations.
I would say a Hobie 16, in you're price-range its possible to get a
very competitive H 16 . And it can take crew.
Since You live in Europe, the down-side is the H16 is not really a
popular class anymore overhere. So fewer one to one racing.
A-class is a singlehander, no way You can sail it with crew.
Some decisions have to be made, buy a H16 and have fun with crew,
and join some class-legal racing.
Get an A-cat, within you're price-range its already hard to find a boat
that's competitive. (They seem to foil, these days). No crew.
Next step up is a F18, it will be harder to solo and in You're price-range
it will be hard to find a cat thats competitive.
If you will race in mixed races, where the "yard-stick" is the latter,
a, class-legal Hobie 16 is the one.
Regards, André
Edited by catmodding on Sep 10, 2015 - 01:48 AM.
André de Bruin, Amsterdam,the Netherlands
P 18-2
used 2007 F18 for Euro8,500 listed in the Netherlands:
http://2ehands.nacrasailing.com/listing/nacra-f18-infusion-2007/
Uhh. Sweden is like a 2/2,5 day drive from Holland.
One way. Need I say more ? In this respect ?
marekli wrote: used 2007 F18 for Euro8,500 listed in the Netherlands:
http://2ehands.nacrasailing.com/listing/nacra-f18-infusion-2007/
Edited by catmodding on Sep 10, 2015 - 02:22 AM.
André de Bruin, Amsterdam,the Netherlands
P 18-2
depends really where his and the boats location exactly are and how bad he wants it, e.g amsterdam/stockholm 1400km/15hrs driving distance...easy thing call the listing number or shoot them an e-mail to find out then decide if it's worth the extra effort.
After some investigation i realize that sailing catamarans in sweden is not very common. I hav called the local sailing clubs but there are none that i have found that is sailing cats...
So I will reconsider my choise and look for a Rs Aero instead. Moth dingy looked interesting but when i saw the price i realized that it will not be possible for me right now:(
Shame, think catamaran-sailing is the best and sportiest way to sail a boat. Good luck finding a boat that suits You.
mach wrote: After some investigation i realize that sailing catamarans in sweden is not very common. I hav called the local sailing clubs but there are none that i have found that is sailing cats...
So I will reconsider my choise and look for a Rs Aero instead. Moth dingy looked interesting but when i saw the price i realized that it will not be possible for me right now:(
Yes, technically its possible, but there's a ferry-crossing and numerous works on the highway in Germany.
Nevertheless, if you are in the ijselmeer-region, would like to meet and sail together.
Regards, André
marekli wrote: depends really where his and the boats location exactly are and how bad he wants it, e.g amsterdam/stockholm 1400km/15hrs driving distance...easy thing call the listing number or shoot them an e-mail to find out then decide if it's worth the extra effort.
Edited by catmodding on Sep 11, 2015 - 01:00 AM.
André de Bruin, Amsterdam,the Netherlands
P 18-2
Hello Mach,
You are correct, cats are rare-ish in Skandinavia, but dont let that stop you. Just take a look at Blocket and you find way more cats for sale than we have in Finland. As I'm a newbie on cats, I cant compare different cats as well a others on the forum. What I can just tell you that I love my Nacra 500, simple, fast and FUN! At one point I was looking a the Spitfire 16 from the sailing school in bottom link, but went for the Nacra, bought it from Estonia.
If you are around Stockholm, you can take a look at this listing: http://www.katamaranspecialisten.se/index.php?cPath=21&osCsid=9e528a44087e0976049279e1f7d64466
-CH-