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Thread: Beach Cat in Singlehanded Transpac?

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Default Beach Cat in Singlehanded Transpac?

    To any SSS members that have the power to accept or deny an SHTP race entry, I have a question for you.

    If someone (me) were to put together an offshore-capable beach catamaran that was 20-feet or longer in length, and then completed a qualifier and make the boat meet all race rules, would the RC accept their entry?

    Beach cats have crossed the Atlantic and the Pacific multiple times singlehanded, and Yvan Bourgnon from Switzerland has almost circumnavigated a beach catamaran.

    I'm not super serious about this endeavor yet, but am just curious if it would be allowed. It has been on my mind for quite some time.

    Thank you,

    Ronnie Simpson

    edit: per reviewing the rules, this rule would likely pose a problem. if a multi-time race veteran showed up with an otherwise sea-worthy vessel that didn't meet this rule, would it be possible to get an exception or waiver?

    5 ADDITIONAL MULTIHULL REQUIREMENTS
    5.01 Multihull yachts shall meet the requirements of RRC Rule 3 and 4 as well as the following: [a] A combined length and beam of at least 40 feet, with a minimum beam of one half the length.
    Last edited by ronnie simpson; 07-27-2015 at 12:41 PM.

  2. #2
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    Jul 2015
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    Ronnie:
    Damn you dream big!
    Best of luck!
    Chris

  3. #3
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    Default

    Ronnie, if you are discouraged from sailing your beach cat, maybe you'd like to try with this pretty blue lido sailboat in my backyard? You could build a hard dodger, add lifelines, borrow my plb and I'll pay for the decal with any name you like. Perhaps xs?
    Attached Images Attached Images  

  4. #4
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    Hi Ronnie, We have one Proa that has asked a similar question. You likely have seen the design concept, a boat that is easily shipped and believed to be seaworthy. The only way we could even consider such an effort is if the design was deemed seaworthy by a noted naval architect who had given the boat complete scrutiny. When you say beach cat I think of the various Hobie's and Nacra's I raced for 10 years. I took them as far as 20 miles offshore (outside Monterrey) Bay and would not want to attempt crossing gale alley in one. The one time I was caught in a very nasty squall I intentionally flipped the boat and sat on the upside down hulls watching the November rain squall pass. Easier than reefing on that day. Brian

  5. #5
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    Charlotte, NC
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    While I wouldn't want to do this race in a Hobie 18, I have been thinking about Corsair F-27. Anyone here have experience with these?

  6. #6
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    Pretty sure one did the SHTP in the '90s. Got to Hanalei in good shape.

  7. #7
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    Default Cats to Hawaii

    Quote Originally Posted by SeanRhone View Post
    While I wouldn't want to do this race in a Hobie 18, I have been thinking about Corsair F-27. Anyone here have experience with these?
    Contact Dave Morris or Larry Olsen, both are members here. I will PM you with their address. Also, you should contact the BAMA group, Bay Area Multi Hull Assoc. They have a lot of boats on the water that plow the waters of the Gulf of the Farallones. If you want more contact data I have an acquitance in Florida who has a small cruising cat, he is a professional rigger, and has done a lot of sailing in Florida and points south.

    Thanks,

    Brian

  8. #8
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    HARRIER is correct - Bob Dixon raced a F-27 to Hanalei in 1990. Gary Helms raced a F-31 over in 1996. I'd want a release mechanism (fuse) on the sheets, especially once I reached squall alley.

    Ronnie is the one guy I know who could probably make it to Hanalei on a beach cat. However if it was up to me I wouldn't bend the rules that much to allow it, for two principal reasons: 1) the next guy who wanted to do the race on a beach cat wouldn't have Ronnie's skills and 2) since the likely rescuer will be another competitor, you've screwed up someone else's race if you have to be rescued. Since it takes so much for most of us to do a SHTP, that's an unreasonable burden to place on the fleet.
    Last edited by BobJ; 08-17-2015 at 08:26 AM.

  9. #9
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    About a decade ago two guys tried to sail a true beach cat to Hawaii from So. Cal. From memory - they were warned by USCG not to go. They took off anyway, and as I recall they had taken some precautions to make the Cat liveable, providing some kind of dodger to hide from the elements. The remnants of the boat were found about 300 miles west of Catalina. I don't have specifics on the incident but there were no survivors.

    Having raced quite a few beach cats, the usual production models, I would be terrified of the beams or corner castings breaking with the 1000's of miles of wave action. That said, an F27 is a different animal.

  10. #10
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    As Brian points out, structural integrity is a real concern for any boat wanting to cross an ocean that wasn’t designed to do so. My experience sailing beach cats leads me to think during a weeks long sail, capsizing is inevitable. These alone aren’t necessarily show stoppers (though the capsize potential would be for me!) as it is reasonable that a young, strong competent skipper could adequately prepare for these and other small boat limitations. And as Ronnie pointed out beach cats have successfully crossed oceans, here’s a 20 footer one that double-handed across the Atlantic:

    http://yachtpals.com/sailing-catamaran-7024

    And here’s a guy who single-handed across three oceans before running aground and wrecking his small cat, aborting (or stalling?) his circumnavigation goal:

    http://www.redbull.com/us/en/adventu...in-a-catamaran

    So a beach cat SHTP isn’t unthinkable. But I think BobJ nailed it with his very real concern about the above-average potential burden to other sailors. Perhaps it would be fair that, if by some miracle the RC deemed the entrant feasible, that other contestants also buy into the above-average risks posed by a beach cat transpac entry.
    Last edited by hodgmo; 08-17-2015 at 12:34 PM.

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