Swiftsure 2104

I didn't race this year, it is still in progress as I write.

http://www.swiftsure.org/

It is an interesting race as it allows multihulls and monohulls to race on the same course. As always the monohulls start 10 minutes earlier than the multihulls. You can see from the forecast "Juan de Fuca Strait – east entrance.
Strong wind warning in effect. Wind west 20 to 30 knots diminishing to west 10 to 15 early this morning then increasing to west 15 to 25 late this afternoon." that the first 50 miles was a beat into a strong wind.

So check the tracker http://tracker.swiftsure.org/ and note the times when the leaders rounded the windward mark at Neah Bay. Bad Kitty is a 35ft one off much modified home design/built catamaran from the 1980's, Freda Mae is a standard F31R, Dragonfly is a ex F40. Flash is an OD48

The Swiftsure class sail a longer race, but Icon is a Bob Perry 70fter, Westerly a SC72.

All these boats were close together on the beat out. So who says multihulls don't go to windward??

Dragonfly is almost home as I write and about an hour ago passed the still outgoing Leopard cat which still had 50 miles to go to the turning mark. Maybe its those sort of production charter cats that are sold as "fast" that are the ones that give multihulls a bad name.

When I raced the Swiftsure on Bad Kitty a few years ago we were first boat to finish and beat Dragonfly by 8secs over the line

Of course it isn't just in the Swiftsure that well designed cruising multihulls show they can beat monohulls

http://woodsdesigns.blogspot.ca/2014/05/sailing-in-uk.html?view=magazine

and years ago (scroll right down to the Round the Island race report)

http://sailingcatamarans.com/index.php/newsletters/417-1999-newsletter

Richard Woods of Woods Designs

www.sailingcatamarans.com

 

Richard, is that the "Bad Kitty" which belonged to Karl Uthoff. :?:

 

2104? Hey share the time machine! it is good to see these boats holding up at the 100 year mark

Same Bad Kitty Paddy.

Lots of rain at the West end of Juan De Fuca now making its way inland.

 

sorry, cannot change it now. But 2104 is probably the year Snow Leopard will finish, its still outgoing, Dragonfly finished before dark last night, Bad Kitty before midnight.

Not quite the same Bad Kitty, it's hard to know whats left of Karl's original - new rig, new beams, new foils, new deck layout, major changes to the hulls. Even the name changed from Karl's "Tardis" original

Richard Woods

 

Excellent, I shall send this to the multihulls going upwind naysayers at work... It should irritate them, and they get to read this post as well.

To quote a popular phrase "it's a win win".

Nick Sargent