QSM Page 6

WHY A CATAMARAN?                                                                         Jerry Garner

 Margaret and I had been racing together in National Twelve dinghies for 20 years and previously we each had a dinghy while our sons crewed for us.  In recent years we had often trailed the National to open meetings as far away as the Solway Firth and Southampton Water.  Early in 2010 we decided that the loss of agility due to age meant we needed to consider a “retirement” boat: but what?

 We needed something we could keep at Manningtree, ten minutes from home, which meant that it must take the ground twice a day.  The obvious answer was a bilge-keel yacht, as many Stour SC members have decided.  However, the sailing performance of most bilge-keel designs might be a bit dull after racing our dinghy.  I was certainly attracted by one lifting keel cruiser but the cost would have stretched our budget and only been justified if we planned serious cruising.  Like most members, day sailing and the odd night or two away is the more likely pattern.

 Our only experience of multihulls was a fortnight’s charter of a Prout Scirroco catamaran in Scotland in 1988.  Very spacious accommodation but it sailed like a raft!  However, we started to investigate a few catamaran and trimaran designs.  We soon realised there was a divide between the rather hairy performance multihulls and the floating caravan type, with very little in between.  Recent designs were also too expensive for us.  We eventually decided that a Strider Club catamaran would meet our requirements.  This is a cruiser version of the Strider which was a very successful micro-multihull racer in the 1980s.  It has slightly less sail area than the racing version.  Stub keels instead of daggerboards and a solid deck aft of the mast, instead of a trampoline.  Like the two Wharram designed catamarans already in the club, there is a separate cabin in each hull but no big deck cabin joining the two.  On a small catamaran that adds too much windage and weight.

 During the summer of 2010 I started searching for a Strider Club but all those advertised in the UK were already sold, apart from a badly damaged one in Plymouth.  In the early autumn I was wasting time on the internet and discovered the designer, who lives in the USA, has his own website and there was a “pre-owned boats” section.  I started looking at the various cats of his design that were for sale around the world and there was a Strider Club at West Mersea! 

[frame src=”https://www.stoursailingclub.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/Coco-de-Mer-sml.jpg” width=”400″ height=”IMAGE_HEIGHT” lightbox=”on” title=”Coco de Mer” align=”left” ]
We have now had four seasons sailing Coco de Mer so how have we got on?  We have had a lot to learn but one of the first things we discovered on our inaugural voyage: we can put down our wine glass while we tack and pick it up again unspilt!  In smooth water tacking is easy but in a steep head sea it can be difficult as there is not enough weight to keep way on through the tack.  For the same reason, maneuvering under sail or power needs a different technique than for a ballasted keelboat.  We keep the power on until the last moment when picking up the mooring.  The motion in waves is rather different to a monohull.  Particularly noticeable in a beam sea as the wave picks up each hull in turn.  However there is none of that pendulum rolling or heavy pitching that you get in a ballasted yacht.

 With less than 2ft draft we can be off our mooring nearly 3 hours before high water and our speed is enough to get well past Wrabness and return to our mooring before the tide has dropped much.  The fastest recorded speed so far is 10 knots but I think we did more than that on the final leg of the 21 mile race in 2012, passing everything under sail or power going up the Stour, but the log was not working!  Reaching is the fastest point of sailing.  Close-hauled we tack through 110 degrees at best but traveling at up to 6 knots we can still beat many monohulls.

 The huge deck space is great for sunbathing.  The cabins are rather cramped but we have a cockpit tent that can join the two, making the bridge deck into a larger living space.  We have had several trips to the Walton Backwaters, staying a night or two.  Also the Curry Cruise and other trips up the Orwell.

 In 2014 we went a bit further.  The club cruise to Woodbridge was very enjoyable, with lunch at HTSC on the way back.  Finally we made it to the Blackwater, which had been planned in two previous seasons but called off both times due to bad weather.  We spent a night at Bradwell and made a “pilgrimage” to St Peter-on-the-Wall, built by St Cedd in the 7^th century.

 Coco has certainly met our requirements for a retirement boat.  One big advantage for us older crews; we can move around on deck easily when under sail.  None of this hanging on with the boat heeled 30 degrees!  After all, when we were dinghy racing, the whole aim was to keep the boat level!