Low Budget Racer

[gonzo]

The cost of the hulls will be around 15% of the total cost. From the rest 40-60% is on stuff that wears out. Sails, for example, may last two seasons if you don't sail too much.

[rapscallion]

Originally Posted by gonzo

The cost of the hulls will be around 15% of the total cost. From the rest 40-60% is on stuff that wears out. Sails, for example, may last two seasons if you don't sail too much.

I'm sure there are a lot of skippers that buy new sails for every regatta. The owner of North Sails is a member of the yacht club I usually race at, and most of the boats that race here (against him in PHRF) don't buy new sails every year.

Most racing isn't at a grand prix level, it's at a club level. I really only race at the club level, and I have been racing at the club level for over 25 years....I've raced in PHRF, Lightnings, lasers, E scows, M16s, M20s, M17s, DNs, J24s and laser 28s (one design)... and from what I have seen it doesn't get as competitive as you imply until you reach say the NA level for example... at least in my experience.

At the club level good sailors that pick the right direction can do well with average equipment in my experience.

I'm not saying you are wrong; competitive sailing is expensive. It's just that in my experience there is a big difference between Wednesday night beer can races and the sport boat class in the Chi-Mac.

[Richard Woods]

I have done a lot of racing in 24-26ft multihulls (cats and tris) and also in monohulls

Racing a multihull is very different to a monohull

A 25ft monohull tends to be raced by 5-6 people, mainly for stability, but the spinnaker often needs more hands (the 26ft mono I raced for several seasons had a conventional spinnaker and running backstays and was best sailed with 6 people). The cockpit is relatively small and narrow. So crew tend to sit in a certain order and most of the time don't do anything except think heavy.

The multihull on the other hand is sailed by two or three. Interestingly the tris tend to race with three, the cats with two.

So the crew do a lot more running around, it's much more work than on a monohull. And you're going at maybe twice the speed (which in the days before gps meant navigation was hit and miss at best) and meeting another boat at a closing speed of 30 knots means much quicker reactions are needed.

It all means that the deck layout needs very careful thought and if you haven't raced multihulls much you are unlikely to get it right first time. For example, on my 24-26ft racing catamarans the crew spends all their time in front of the mastbeam when sailing to windward. So you need to arrange the genoa winches and sheet leads accordingly.

Fortunately multihull mainsails tend to be fully battened and, apart from batten chafe, last for years. Same with jibs, which tend to be small, so relatively lightly loaded. Screechers and spis get a hammering though.

But you can never win any race with dacron sails so budget accordingly

No doubt you have read my comments on chined boats. Basically I don't think the speed difference between a chined hull and a round bilge hull is that great. Certainly you will gain more performance with better sails.

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

[rapscallion]

Thanks for the comments Richard. I know you have done more than your share of racing and I respect your opinion. I haven't even thought about how to run the lines yet, so your comments are very helpful. I love how the control lines were done on the Phuket 8 meter sport boat. All the lines were under the deck and all lead to one spot. Since the boat I would like to build will be raced single handed I would most likely attempt something similar.

I'm just looking for a multihull club racer that is easy to sail and own. All of the features found in the G-32 are what I'm looking for:
Fast and easy set up
Fast and easy launch.
Fast and easy solo sailing.
I have done solo distance races in my Laser 28, and I want to move to a multihull and continue racing in the solo distance stuff... I qualify for the solo Chi-Mac because of the distance races I have done in the past, and I would like to give it a try. The Jester Challenge also looks like it would be a lot of fun, especially now that I may have to spend some time in the UK for work.
But finding a multihull that is as easy to launch as a G-32, and that can reach it's performance potential when sailed single handed must not be appealing. There really aren't many designs that fit the criteria out there.... at least that I know of..