boats catrigs

Whether they were weekend warriors or serious seamen, when they were questioned by journalists for the paper press, television or the Internet, the answer to the question of how each seaman would cope was different, but followed four major outlines:

1. Power boaters: Planning fewer trips; shorter trips, and more time around the harbor or mooring2. Business seamen: Better trip planning for the most efficient use of fuel; switching to diesel, if possible because it has inherently better mileage characteristics 3. Yachtsmen: Lesser use of the auxiliary power, except to clear a mooring area or dock and more sail time; trips, though, weren't being shortened but were dependent prevailing weather and winds4. Weekend sailors: Very few plan changes, although they likely were going to rely on sail more than auxiliary power

If you look at the reports from traditional summer seaport destinations you can see from reports in various websites earlier this year that there were more masts tied to moorings and fewer power boats. And, if you were to have access to proprietary figures which we don't they would likely show that business seamen (lobstermen, fishermen, dragger operators, even whale watchers) were operating on more efficient routes and were shortening their trips as much as possible. Yachtsmen confirmed the reports of various harbormasters about their planned trips and where they tied up, as did weekend sailors.

That makes revivals and use of day sailboat such as a cat-rigged boat. From a distance, a cat-rig and a sloop might be mistaken so you would have to look closely at them to ensure you were looking at the correct sailboat.

If the boat you saw had two foresails, then it was a sloop because sloops mount two sails. The cat-rigged boat differs in that its mainmast is set far forward and, in general, the cat-rig has only one sail. It's interesting to note just how far forward the mainmast of a traditional cat-rigged boat is set. It is set almost to the bow.

This placement immediately does two things:

1. It means you have a very long boom for the very long-footed sail2. It means you can mount a lot of canvas in a single sail, although the boom is long. It also means you have to be careful in every tack or jibe to duck, no matter where you are on the sailboat, unless you just happen to be sitting on the bow

Cat-rigged boats have an inherent advantage in their handling characteristics. For instance, if you are tacking or jibing with a cat-rigged sailboat you only have to deal with one mainsheet and not jibs.

Cat-rigged boats tend to be older or antique craft because they are not quite as powerful running downwind as, say a Bermuda-rigged boat.

Cat-rigged sailboats are rather stately and their lines do follow that function.