Bi-plane catamaran

[JPh]

Just joined and would like to have comments on the description of the project I am working on. See http://www.geocities.com/jp_br/Dreampage/Catamaran.html
thanks in advance

[grob]

JP,

I agree with all that you are doing, I think twin rigs on a cat is the way to go.

Make sure you keep talking to Richard Glanville of Freewing as I know his design is Patented, and you would not want to infringe his patent.

Good luck

Gareth
www.fourhulls.com

[JPh]

Hi Gareth,

Thanks for your comments, I am in fact in contact with Richard and I would not use his material without his knowledge. We are still comparing solutions and costs will come in as a next step. Derek Kelsall and Richard are also in contact, so we should be able to find a solution together. I would like to have a furling boom because it would be easier to use and reef, main problem is they are heavier therefore dangerous when gibing. A balestron rig would in fact nicely counterbalance that tendency. Can I afford two of those?
We will see what comes up in the next few months.
Thanks again,

Jean Philippe

http://www.geocities.com/jp_br/

[OldYachtie]

http://www.schionningdesigns.com.au/www/welcome.cfm see "Radical Bay 8000" which has a biplane rig. His site won't let me post the exact page.

[frosh]

Hi JP, bi-plane cat rigs probably have as many pros as cons. I read a detailed review of Schionnings " Radical Bay ". Masts were carbon and custom built with a large section down low and highly tapered. Could be quite expensive.
The other main thing that I remember is that when sailing off the wind one sail can easily blanket the other suddenly reducing your effective sail area. The author tried to paint this in a positive light claiming that it was an easy method of depowering, or that it makes reefing easier by first blanketing the leeward sail, then taking it down. Make up your own mind however. The correct method of running a bi-plane rig is the way that that the high speed prototype, Yves Parlier's " Hydraplaneur" was rigged.

http://www.seglermagazin.de/Orma-Termine-Parlier-mischt.3474.0.html

[OldYachtie]

Bi-plane sailors say that when beam reaching, you just let out the weather sail a bit more than usual, and haul in the lee sail a bit more than usual, and it sails just fine. If you visualize it in overview, it looks rather like one sail, with the maximum camber in the middle.