Yeah, I'm fast.
Catamaran sailing, as a newbie, being trained on boats with volunteer teachers. Great fun.
It is not too hard to try as a novice, yet has lots of fine points - which reward one with a direct feel of a tighter, faster boat.
The combination of wind / no motor / speed / and water is sublime for me.
Here is a run where the sails are set almost optimally (linear flow over the sails, and a shape that functions as a wing).
Some other fun spots, here
Passing bigger boats is fun-
And even moving around on land is worth smiling about:
Amazingly, for a moment I thought I saw this team go by..
The more things change the more they stay the same?
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*note: click on any image to view it in full size
Looks like a blast! Who was taking the pictures of you guys? Were they on land?
That looks like a lot of fun! I could totally get into that. I have two questions for you:
1. Did you scrape the bottom of it on cement taking it out like I think you did with the one back in high school? My guess is no.
2. Why are you the only person with log sleeves? :)
What lake were you all on and how fast do you get moving on the catamaran?
Craig /Heather / Kris -
These pics were from an instructor checking on us from a power boat. I don't know how fast we're moving (probably feels faster due to being so close to the water and with wind hitting you, too) but sometimes the power boat had to gun its engine to catch up. The cats certainly run circles around the other sailboats, and they can kick up quite a wake. I was told it's possible to waterski behind these cats, and to sail them using only the aerodynamics of the mast withOUT a sail, but these may well be snipe-hunt type tales for the new guy...
Since I was with people who knew what they were doing, there was a lot less boat scraping than my old routine, although another crew did get T-boned by a cabin boat, which made for some excitement. Apparently right of way matters - and exercising your right of way, rather than waffling, tends to makes things safer for all.
The long sleeves are a concession to pale Scot skin. I still managed to sunburn my ankles (!) pretty well. Must have been the kilt.
We recently got our cat (not yet re-named) out for the first time and it performed nicely. It's not designed as a racer, but it moves plenty fast enough for me. More shots later.
Sorry so verbose. It's been a while since I had a hobby.