{"id":92,"date":"2025-08-27T09:04:01","date_gmt":"2025-08-26T23:04:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.multihullbooks.com\/wordpress\/?p=92"},"modified":"2025-08-27T09:04:01","modified_gmt":"2025-08-26T23:04:01","slug":"the-reality-of-racing-a-cruising-catamaran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.multihullbooks.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2025\/08\/27\/the-reality-of-racing-a-cruising-catamaran\/","title":{"rendered":"The reality of racing a cruising catamaran"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are many lessons to be learnt from extrapolating an idea into a reality. \u00a0\u00a0Some are hard lessons, some come with a cost. We don\u2019t live in an ideal world and my vision of \u2018racing my cruising catamaran\u2019 involved comfortable conditions and systems that didn\u2019t fail – mainly because they had all worked over the past three years of cruising.<\/p>\n

Favourite Child, Catherine and my Roger Hill 15.9m cruising catamaran, recently competed in the Airle Beach Race Week in the Whitsunday islands, North Queensland, Australia.\u00a0 It was a learning curve and a broad experience. \u00a0I thought I would share the reality, warts and all.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

I entered the Performance Handicap passage division.\u00a0 Entry to Airlie Beach Race Week (ABRW) cost $650 for a 52ft Cat. \u00a0The bigger the boat the more the cost.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure why as the background organisation was identical.\u00a0 I imagine it is because people assume you can afford to pay more.\u00a0 Cruisers are not generally like that \u2013 some sail on a tight budget and this entry might keep them cruising for a month or more.\u00a0 The Notice of Race and Sailing Instructions also did not give you the costs \u2013 until you are filling in the entry form online when they pop up.<\/p>\n

We decided to take a sailing club mooring, just off the club.\u00a0\u00a0 Our entry was too late to get a marina berth and I prefer a mooring or anchoring anyway.\u00a0 Not quite as convenient but less docking stress and a lot cheaper.\u00a0\u00a0 I initially planned of racing with a crew of 6-8.\u00a0\u00a0 We ended up with 10-11 which was even more fun and turned out to be advantageous when things went wrong.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 With such a big crew I knew some of the bar and meals tab would be high. How yachts organise their crew varies enormously.\u00a0 In some of the monohull divisions there were professional crew members.\u00a0 Some had people paying to race, some sharing costs.\u00a0 Most had friends and family racing with them for the fun of it. Favourite Child was definitely the latter.<\/p>\n

Through a crew member who was a Whitsunday Sailing Club member, I discovered that members get a 30% discount on meals and drinks \u2013 and full membership was $300 and it turned out to be a great investment.\u00a0 This club knows how to encourage members in the bar and restaurant!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

The forecast for the weeks racing was wind, wind and more wind. \u00a0Not what I was hoping or planning for. \u00a0\u00a0In my division there were eight multihulls ranging from a 42ft Pescott Whitehaven, (Alba Dash) to a 60ft Lagoon (Social Platform) \u00a0\u00a0We had a Young 57 (Earthling) \u2013 light fast and huge, and a Crowther 56 podcat (Room with a View) \u2013 now nearly 40 years old and looking awesome.\u00a0 Also amongst the mix was a Schionning waterline 1480 (Freedom Express), a Lidgard 52 (Avalance), a Grainger Raku 48 (Mint) and finally, \u00a0Favourite Child.<\/p>\n

Favourite Child had been measured for an Offshore Multihull Rating in 2024 \u2013 0.704 \u2013 and as we were the most current one, we probably became the yardstick.\u00a0\u00a0 Most of the rest of the division did not have a handicap and these were applied on a best calculated approximation and the handicap modified as the races progressed.\u00a0 The idea was to keep the \u2018corrected finish times\u2019 as close a possible.\u00a0\u00a0 The mystery of handicapping is beyond my remit, and it is probably done on an algorithm these days.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Throughout the regatta our handicap varied by less than 0.05, while those around us varied by as much as 0.24.\u00a0\u00a0 How the handicap is applied is simple.\u00a0 Your finishing time is multiplied by your handicap to give corrected time.<\/p>\n

\"\"\"\"<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The racing.\u00a0 The first reality check.\u00a0 When cruising I generally start with the smallest sail set and increase as needed.\u00a0\u00a0 When racing, we started with full rig every day except one \u2013 on that day it \u00a0was over 20 knots true at the race start so I put in a \u2018flattening reef\u2019 which took out about 8m2 of mainsail area<\/p>\n

Every other day it was full main and jib at the start. \u00a0Forecasts were18-24 knots.\u00a0\u00a0 It was with some trepidation that we got amongst the jostling big cats on a start line, all with considerable momentum and slower manoeuvring ability.\u00a0 It made for an interesting mindset.\u00a0\u00a0 We didn\u2019t play conservative.\u00a0 I have done hundreds of starts over the years and we had five crew with extensive catamaran racing experience.\u00a0 They made calls from each corner of the boat.\u00a0\u00a0 During one wild start Earthling attempted to drive over us before the line and we forced them up. \u00a0At the same time Social Platform did the same to us and on that start both Favourite Child and Earthing broke the line.\u00a0 They tacked and went around the start boat, we dropped back, gybed and ducked back below the line and started on port tack.\u00a0\u00a0 Fortunately, port tack was favoured, and we were third around the first mark.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Some started conservatively, hanging back, and as the fleet had varied speeds and spread out fairly quickly, there was not a lot of time lost by not being on the line, on the gun. \u00a0ABRW had over 140 yachts racing and the timed fleet starts meant only the first fleet had clear air.\u00a0 The rest of us (we were fourth starting fleet) worked the disturbed wind.<\/p>\n

The races were \u2018passage races\u2019 \u2013 out into Molle Passage or Whitsunday passage and around islands.\u00a0 Inevitably here the wind strength increased, the waves picked up and when wind and tide fought each other the seas became steep and short. \u00a0Whenever possible we flew spinnaker or screecher off the wind.\u00a0 We never usually fly these in 18 \u2013 22 true.\u00a0\u00a0 It was in these situations the weak points were revealed.<\/p>\n

The list:<\/p>\n

Screecher sheet line \u2013 broke at knot.<\/p>\n

Screecher tack line \u2013 shredded and tore, tearing the furling drum base off.<\/p>\n

Jib sheet outhaul blocks \u00a0\u2013 the original two collapsed, then the replacement two collapsed until finally we found a set that could take the loads.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Luck was on our side.\u00a0 No injuries occurred and each time the heavily loaded screecher decided not to play ball the crew fired into action.\u00a0 When the furling drum was damaged we couldn\u2019t furl the screecher in.\u00a0 We were in 20 plus knots, full main and belting \u00a0on a tight reach.\u00a0 The sail was hauled to deck behind the mainsail, then manhandled into the cockpit and cabin (where the 124m2 sail filled all available space).\u00a0 \u00a0Whilst crew were hauling to sail clear, others got the jib unfurled and the racing continued.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

During a wild race into Whitsunday Passage we passed the Stealth 12.5m catamaran \u2018Fez\u2019 capsized.\u00a0 Fez was a light performance catamaran in the division above us.\u00a0 All crew were okay but she was not salvaged for many days and had considerable damage.<\/p>\n

We had two \u2018near miss\u2019 incidents .<\/p>\n

The first was when Favourite Child was belting to windward in the Whitsunday Passage at 9-10 knots into steep short seas.\u00a0\u00a0 We were on Starboard tack and the Schionning 1480 \u2018Freedom Express\u2019 was fast approaching on Port.\u00a0 I\u2019m not sure if they saw us and by the time they heard our \u2018STARBOARD\u2019 calls and put in a toss it was getting tight.\u00a0 Too tight for me to bear down and as they went into a tack it appeared they had something amiss.\u00a0 I tacked Favourite Child around as fast as I could, Freedom Express went into irons and our stern missed their bow by metres as we turned.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Fortunately, Favourite Child nearly never fails to tack.\u00a0 Our 15,000kg momentum drives her through and around every time. \u00a0I\u2019m sure all my crew had hammering hearts at that point.<\/p>\n

It turned out \u2018Freedom Express\u2019 had a centreboard problem and couldn\u2019t tack.\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018Prepare for the unexpected\u2019 is a mantra I follow, and I should have avoided earlier but in the heat of racing that option wasn\u2019t on my mind.<\/p>\n

Incident number two was also of my own making.\u00a0 At White Rock we were close racing the Lidgard 52 \u2018Avalanche\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0 We had to round white rock to port and Avalanche tacked below and ahead of us and were coming into the rock on starboard.\u00a0\u00a0 I decided to tack just below them.\u00a0 It meant we were in the lead and in control \u2013 except it was a tight angle to the rock.\u00a0 The tide was against us. Favourite Child slowly slipped to leeward and so did Avalanche in our dirty wind.\u00a0 One of my crew members was John Cadwallader, a fellow multihuller who had competed in the Around Australia Race against Catherine and I on his trimaran \u2018St Therese\u2019.\u00a0 \u00a0He was the local knowledge expert and called to be wary of the shingly outcropping at White Rock.\u00a0\u00a0 We touched, scrapped gently the port centreboard, I yelled \u2018Water\u2019 as Avalanche was hot on our stern as I tacked.\u00a0 They were attentive so did the same.\u00a0 Fortunately.\u00a0 \u00a0On later inspection we only removed a bit of antifouling from the daggerboard, but it could have been much worse.\u00a0 I should have dived below Avalanche earlier and played it safe on the rounding.<\/p>\n

From a performance viewpoint, we sailed full rig in up to 30 knots apparent and we were trimming in these conditions.\u00a0 We found the mainsail worked best when sailing to windward with the traveller about 50cm to windward putting a nice twist in the top of the sail and good flow.\u00a0\u00a0 We never had to feather or spill wind despite the bullets.\u00a0 One of the advantages of being a cruising boat with a washing machine and coffee maker!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We used our new top-down furling spinnaker on the deep runs and became smooth and competent in gybing this.\u00a0 We also found the \u2018time to furl\u2019 was important so we didn\u2019t wallow downwind under jib and main alone.\u00a0 We did not have the pace off the wind in comparison to \u00a0some of the other yachts in our division, many who had huge kites.\u00a0 My sailmaker made my spinnaker for shorthanded cruising, for which it is ideal. \u00a0I had to keep reminding myself of this!<\/p>\n

Lessons learned were invaluable.\u00a0 I now look more critically at sheets and halyards with a replacement list.\u00a0\u00a0 Waiting until they age and look like them may break is not an option anymore!<\/p>\n

I loved the camaraderie and skill development amongst the crew.\u00a0 Our youngest crewmember was 15. Our oldest was John (80 something).\u00a0 \u00a0The roles were distributed on skill set with those who had previous racing experience mentoring those that had none or little.\u00a0\u00a0 As the series progressed everyone developed confidence in the boat and their roles.\u00a0 We had trimmers on main, jib, screecher and spinnaker. The foredeck (adventure land) crew handled sail changes and retrieval (and incident management). \u00a0My sister-law-law was the one monohull sailor, whose extensive racing experience was with boats that heeled. She was eventually multihull mainsail trimming like a champ.\u00a0 She also called the wind bullets for me which helped enormously on the crowded course.\u00a0 We were sailing in a fleet of 140 yachts so at times it was semi-controlled chaos.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Everyone worked as a team, sorted jobs, offered advice and input. \u00a0Catherine was a godsend aboard with drinks, snacks and the ever ready after race rum.\u00a0\u00a0 She has an eye for any boat heading our way and made sure I was aware of them.\u00a0\u00a0 You can never have too much information given to you on the helm!<\/p>\n

For the series our race placings were 4,2,2,3,4,4 \u2013 putting us equal first with \u2018Social Platform\u2019\u00a0 who placed 6,6,4,2,2,1.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 They beat us on countback \u2013 having the most firsts. \u00a0The catamaran Alba Dash broke both daggerboards and two of their expewrienced crew moved onto Social Platform and hauled out screechers and spinnakers for the last three races.\u00a0 In any handicap series it is always good to continue to get better! \u00a0\u00a0I was happy with second place.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

We survived the regatta, had meaningful, memorable experiences and spent time having an adventure with family and friends.\u00a0 \u00a0Favourite Child a better yacht for it, and, hopefully, so is her skipper.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There are many lessons to be learnt from extrapolating an idea into a reality. \u00a0\u00a0Some are hard lessons, some come with a cost. We don\u2019t live in an ideal world and my vision of \u2018racing my cruising catamaran\u2019 involved comfortable conditions and systems that didn\u2019t fail – mainly because they had all worked over the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.multihullbooks.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.multihullbooks.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.multihullbooks.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.multihullbooks.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.multihullbooks.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.multihullbooks.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":108,"href":"http:\/\/www.multihullbooks.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92\/revisions\/108"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.multihullbooks.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.multihullbooks.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.multihullbooks.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}