Originally Posted by Pearson
Originally Posted by kneafseym
Once upon a time I used to teach the ASA Cat course. There are some differences, all can be sorted in a day, if I was in the islands I would show you the ropes. Like monohulls there are good cats and bad ones, but unlike 30 years ago, most are good cats. Avoid the cats with far aft steering as you will have no bow visibility.

Items to address:
The main is a lot harder to raise as it is a double purchase
Anchoring as the the boat will swing differently, setting a bridal is very important
Tacking is a bit different, not always needed, but sometimes it helps to back wind the jib for a second.
When tacking you need to pay attention to your jib sheets they can can caught on the mast
Motoring on 2 engines is a piece of cake. We used to practice at Leverick Bay or Sydneys at JVD. Grabbing a mooring is so much easier, you just need to play with your engines a bit to know how the boat reacts. A cat will quickly stop dead in the water a monohull will glide for a while.



Ha..thanks for the offer! I will charter from a modern charter agency, so expect FP, Lagoon or other recent cats, most if not all of which have the raised helm. I appreciate the tips on the main, anchoring and tacking, which surprises me about backwinding the jib. Perhaps, I could see backwinding in lighter air, but in winds like in the BVI's? But like you suggest, one of the hot topics is managing dual engines. I understand the virtues, just no practical experience. Thanks for taking the time to reply!


I think that backing the jib is a good idea most of the time. The tacks are so slow otherwise that if you don't properly instruct your crew on how to back it, you'll stall and it's a pain. One of the things that made me most nervous about monohulls was docking and maneuvering in a crowded anchorage/marina. Cats make it a breeze. You almost can't go wrong if you're not afraid to give it some throttle and make it turn. Don't touch the wheel while at slow speeds. It'll just confuse things, especially when going astern.