Heeelp - Design specific assistance required

I'm still wrestling with some things and some changes as I get new ideas. The urge is there to just make a 10m long trailer...

 

10m is a very big catamaran and is going to be heavy and difficult to tow. If you plan on towing regularly that is too big. Go and look at www.sea-tribe.com it is a 8.7m long catamaran built in Durban. It is probably not what you are looking for but it will give you and idea of how much space you will get. This is a very big, very expensive project you are planning.

 

Tuks is right. If your main pursuit is fishing, then the cat is not your best option. Not even a good option. I am a veteran sailor and have no particular enthusiasm for power boats. Sailor or no, I would not even consider a sailboat as a vessel primarily for fishing. Yes, I know that our ancesters fished from sailboats, but they did it out of necessity not by choice.

Tuks has suggested a displacement hull with a small diesel to drive it. The displacement powerboat will give you the ability to go any direction you choose in whatever weather is at hand. The sail boat, particularly a cat, will put serious limitations on what you can and cannot do. In adition to all that, there is a serious learning curve in the process of becoming an accomplished sailor. Yes of course you can learn and probably become a first rate sailor. The learning time would be better spent doing what you want to do in the first place and that seems to be; fishing. A ten meter powerboat will make better average time than the cat. The cat may have the potential to go at a greater speed but it will not do so at your beck and call. The power boat will do it's thing whenever you tell it to.

By all means hang around the sailing community for a while before you decide which boat you need.

 

Thanks for the comments, all noted and appreciated.

Tuks, the size I'm looking at is an 8 x 5 m cat. The boat in your link looks very nice. Are you suggesting I buy a truck to transport it As you said, it's quite big.

Messabout, I may not become a real sailor like you are, but who knows. The cat would probably have only one sail for simplicity. I'm currently weighing all possibilities so don't hold back. Let me have it.

 

An 8m cat sounds like a better size to me. I have towed a monohull down to PE and Durban a few times with a 4.8l Landrover discovery, the boat weighs 1150kg and the trailer is probably 200-300kg all the stuf for a week away. If you plan on towing your boat regularly I would not let it get heavier than that. The fuel costs were horrendus so if you were going to tow more than 2-3 times a year it would be cheaper to leave it at a yacht club somewhere.

Just another thought about trolling. When my father sailed on the Cape to Rio on a 34ft monohull they trolled lures occasionally. He said that they did not get any hits when the boat was cruising at slow speeds(5kts). As soon as the wind picked up and the boat was going fast there was more action. My father said that the most hookups happened when they were surfing down waves at 11-12kts. Every single time it was impossible to slow the boat to fight the fish. They lost all their lures and the only fish that they landed was a small dorado of 2-3kg which was skipping along ontop of the water because they were going too fast. My point is that if you are planning on trolling you need to find out what speeds you need to troll at and how you will stop the boat. You mentioned lashing the boom(horizontal spar) to the mast, this is called scandalising and is generally done when there is a screwup and you cant get the sail down, you would be better off just dropping the sail.

Just another thought, to get you in the ballpark of how much it will cost to put that sail on your boat. Im building a small 6.8m racing monohull, The mast and rigging cost about R40 000 and the sails R35 000. You might use more cruising oriented products but the rig and sails will be much bigger on an 8m catamaran. You can buy quite alot of petrol for that.

 

Hi Tuks, I would be very carefull admitting to own a Landy. They do surveys by satelite to determine how many of them there are by just counting the oil stains

You should have a look at the newer diesels. My one friend has a 3L Audi A6. Man is this thing has a LOT of torque ! It out perform most of it's larger petrol counterparts, when towing the boat you don't even notice it's there ! Impressively light of diesel too, around 8L/100km towing if I'm not mistaken.

True, different fish requires different speeds to get them excited. If you move too slow you could always cast out and retreive to pick speed up on the lure. It's amazing how fast some of these fish reall are eh ! Best sporting (fast and ferocious) fish I ever got hooked into were Tiger fish on Jozini, especially the larger ones. Unbelievable.

I doubt we will take the women with Point taken, thanks. When you get hooked int a fish at that speed you would have to stop or slow the boat enough to bring the fish in. I'm sure there are some way to slow a sailboat ? Maybe just drop the achor out

You know, if you have a dream, to obtain something there are always ten million reasons why not, and not as many why's. Me, I just go ahead and do it anyway. Life's too short to worry about all the reasons why there's not enough time or money and all the other reasons. I guess I'm just one of those people if you tell me I can't do it I do it The wife's the pesimist around here. She's always telling me it won't work and the sky will fall on our heads. Yet, when it's done she's the one bragging with it

I don't have the time, the space or the money. I'll do it in any case.

 

Fanie

I do suggest you look for a spin on a sailing boat so you can see what its about. Sailing requires a lot of skill and knowledge so you might want to start reading up on it.

You mentioned about maybee installing small outboards on the pontoons, so you will also have to figure out how you will control them simultaniously especially since your boat will be in knockdown form. There is nothing more dangerous for any boat to end up in heavy swells or surf with motor problems and trying to hoist sails in such a situation can be dangerous.

Also, you'll have to invest in a big bakkie or truck as 8m trailers will not be easy to tow.

How about renting a sailboat in Durbs or Richards bay and sail up to Mozambique, you won't need to book accomodation as you can stay on the boat for the duration of your trip. Maybee you and your mates must do this to get the feel of things?

PS - Landies go where other 4x4's turn back, oil slicks and all.

 

Hi Basjan,

I am. Got half a hard drive full of pictures and info to add to the confusion.

I'm not so much worried about the outboards. I've remote controlled my boat a while back to see what it's like. You'd think no one would look for a steering wheel on a boat... I was asked where it was by probably 30 guys. You should've seen their faces when I took off

How difficult something will tow depends on various factors. Weight and road conditions defenately plays a roll. I'm not a bakkie fan, never needed one.

I will give it a go as soon as things around here let up some. You know anyone with a catamaran we could ask ? Just a one day trip should be ok.

What is the smallest safe size cat one can cruise the sea ? Or should I rather ask what is the recommended size ? I got the impression larger than 8 x 5 becomes dedicated equipment while smaller you're pushing your luck.

I have a bunch of questions if anyone is ready to answer them...

 

Don't know of any one, but try Richards bay or Durban yacht clubs. You'll find someone willing there.

Our local yacht club is on the web:

www.abyc.org.za

I haven't seen any small sailing cats in the harbour, the usual size being around 10m and up. There are a few mono hulls that I have seen that is so small, I can actually hang them in my garage and still park my car underneath.
Contact the yacht clubs for any info related to the size and safety of the boats. They will have one or more members that do inspections for seaworthy certificates.

Try this site I googled:

www.sailrsa.org.za

 

I've spoken with a very nice gentleman who owns a catamaran in Richardsbay who has given me some positive information on what a catamaran is like on the water, he does own a big one though.

I still think I'm on the right track with what I envisioned, so I'll move my further questions to the multihull section.

Thanks all so far for your support and patience.