Ketch vs Sloop ..... rookie sailor .....100 hours

We are building a 50' Wharram Ariki ........ and planned on going with a Ketch Rig ......... but I don't see many new Ketch Rigged Cat's ......... we will have a boom furling system for easier sail handling ........... so I am wondering if maybe a Sloop rig may be just as easy to handle ........ plus go to wind better?? ..... is it correct that the Ketch rig may be more difficult to flip upside down?? safer for myself although will not go to wind as good as sloop??

 

To maintain the same sail area a sloop will usually have a taller mast which is something Wharram avoids due to the increase in weight and force aloft which will increase the tipping forces. You could compensate with increasing beam but that means stronger beams and connection which increases weight which means you need to increase the displacement which means...............
Stick with the original design unless altered by the designer himself.

 

Original design was a Sloop

Thank you Redreuben

The original design was with a sloop rig ............. ("Bazinga" ............ the boat before mine) ............. now the builder/ designer is building me the same boat, but wanting to rig it as a Ketch ........ with the appropriate sail planning................. I'm just wondering if it is better to go with the Ketch rig ............. sacrifice some windward performance, and simplicity to have lower center of gravity, and lower center of power, more sail selection.

Or .............. with a good boom furling system ....... the sloop is pretty simple and easy to handle ............ less rigging cluttering the boat ....... but slightly more top heavy ...............

All the new Cat's that I see out there are Sloop Rigged .........

This is the boat built before mine (BAZINGA!)............... we are almost done the hull's on Smile Maker.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ZdyIlWFUr0

Thanks again Redreuben

 

From an engineering standpoint the sloop is a better option. Modern sail handeling gear is more than capable of taming a sail that size without problems. If a ketch is something you love it won't hurt you that much on performance, and loving your boat is important too.

 

A sloop rig on a Wharram Cat of that size is perfectly alright providing the sail can be easily and safely reefed. No big deal.

 

Agree there's little reason not to choose a sloop, but shorter, split rigs offer advantages on a windy day when you simply set the foresail and mizzen and carry on. We're all used to single stick however I'm still a fan of low stress ketch and yawl rigs.

I saw 3-4 yachts exit a marina in Italy a few years ago and make a real mess of raising their sails into the eye of a good blow, I guess they all broached at some point, then some fella pottered out in his 50' ketch raised his mizzen and stays'l and bimbled off. He left me grinning from ear to ear.

 

Wharram

Actually of the Wharram rigs, my fave purely on aesthetics and saltiness is the Tiki schooner.

 

...ketches, schooners? on a cat? - DON'T!

 

Agreed.

For the OP: Limited experience on a Wharram Tane, including adding a centrally mounted daggerboard for improving upwind sailing, but... IMNSHO, unless you are highly experienced with Wharram designs, You would be well advised to build to the plans - EXACTLY - or you are likely to have a rather poor sailing/handling boat on your hands.

It's rather easy to waste all your money and those manhours.

Except for the poor weatherly performance, the boats are safe and reliable offshore boats, especially in severe weather.

Personally, in smaller sizes, the Thomas Firth Jones designed Brine Shrimp (23') or Dandy II (27') would provide much better sailing qualities (speed and weatherliness) and equally good offshore capabilities. see http://www.jonesboatstuckahoe.com/

Cheers,