Ketch Rigged 63' Catamaran

[brian eiland]

A report from her designer Chris White.
Sailing trip down the east coast of the US

Chris White Designs Concept 63 Sailing Report

The Concept 63 has long slender easily driven hulls that make her a fast long distance cruiser for a small crew.

www.chriswhitedesigns.com

PS: Has my attention particularly when I refer to my aftmast rig as a 'single-masted ketch'

 

[montero]

@ Brian
I’m not a sailor.
What do you think of a biplane rig?
Or maybe drop some links when you have a moment.

 

[brian eiland]

If you are not a sailor, then I would suggest you stay out of the discussions.
i want to see what other sailors have to say.

 

[wet feet]

The report is dated 1998,so hardly a recent event and the range of catamarans around the world has changed since then.For a look at rather more recent catamarans,take a look at:Cruising catamarans - Fountaine Pajot | The world reference https://www.catamarans-fountaine-pajot.com/en/sailing-catamarans/?_gl=1*borvpy*_up*MQ..*_ga*MTg2ODc2NjIwLjE3OTAyMzI4MjQ.*_ga_2Y88F363KM*czE3OTAyMzI4MjMkbzEkZzAkdDE3OTAyMzI4MjMkajYwJGwwJGgxNDQ5MjU0Mjcx

Sailyachts – Grand Large Yachting

www.grandlargeyachting.com

 

[brian eiland]

Yes, those cats are MARVELOUS examples of condo-marans,...really neat layout plans.

But they all have what I consider to be a safety flaw,...that tall full battened mainsail, that's even taller as a result of its mounting over the tall flybridge structure. The height of the sailplan is the biggest contributor to capsizing in squally conditions.

Yes, that tall mainsail can be reefed down,..and you best consider a second reef rather than just one. How many of you have actually experienced putting a reef in a full-battened mainsail in squally conditions, particularly standing up there on that bouncing flybridge roof.. And they show a nice 'stack pack' mainsail, that's not quite as easy to use as its made out to be,...and it often requires at least 2 people to tame that sail,...and keep track of the lazy-jacks that are often a part of a stack pack,....and btw, who is on the helm to try keeping the boat into the ever variable wind direction of those gust?...Oh, and who is manning the mainsail traveler so the boom doesn't sweep one of those crew up on the flybridge roof overboard?

You have to wonder why we see ever more condo-marans sailing around without their mainsails set at all,particularly with older couples as owners.

 

[wet feet]

Clearly you didn't check all the catamaran brands of those conglomerates.

Outremer Catamarans - See our full range of models

From 48 to 60 feet, seaworthy, fast and comfortable, with no compromise on safety: each model remains faithful to the Outremer DNA.

catamaran-outremer.com

Accueil ORC - ORC Catamarans

Simple by nature. Fast by design. Pleasant by definition. Bienvenue chez ORC Depuis sa création en 1995, notre chantier a développé un savoir-faire réputé dans la construction de catamarans de croisière rapide, avec une philosophie basée sur la simplicité. Nous partons du principe que cette...

ocean-rider-catamarans.com

https://gunboat.com/

Collectively they build and sell quite a lot of catamarans to those who might wish to own them and go places.

 

[brian eiland]

I did NOT check all those other brands,...BUT I can almost guarantee you they stick to same OLD configurations,...tall full battened mainsail sloops, mostly fractional headsails as those configurations don't tolerate masthead headsails too well. They don't make attempts at low aspect ratio sail plans like the ketch rig I posted at the opening of this subject thread.

Nor like the cutter rigs that became popular with the OSTAR single-handed atlantic racers,

Post in thread 'Multiple headsail, "mainless" sailplan'

Sep 24, 2026

Lets look at a couple of multihulls that sailed in the once infamous single-handed transatlantic races from England to Newport RI,...OSTAR.

Three Cheers and Gulf Streamer sailing together in the Solent. Note the low aspect rigs, particularly of Three Cheers which enables her to carry several sails low down in strong weather. Neither yacht has a fully battened mainsail !

...on the cover,...Three Cheers in the Hebrides

• brian eiland

 

[wet feet]

I have to admit to having few prejudices in multihull rig design and am quite happy for owners and designers to choose whatever bundle of compromises best suits their purposes.I do find it a little odd that anybody should regard masthead headsails with large overlaps as desirable for two reasons.First of all,a very long time ago,back in the 1960's the British Shearwater catamaran allowed the freedom for owners to determine how their sail area was divided.The only stipulation was that it shouldn't exceed the stated maximum.After a few years they concluded that the fastest combination was a small jib and large mainsail and it was known as the Coster rig.At around the same time RORC/CCA offshore racers didn't measure the actual sail area of overlapping headsails and it became common for the clew to reach quite a long way along the cockpit.These sails weren't efficient and had very poor visibility,but hey the area wasn't measured and something for nothing had to be good.The strains imposed on the hull by such rigs were quite shocking and then a bunch of Antipodean designers came along and specified rigs that were designed for speed and not to cheat a rule.The world has never looked back.

With designs such as the Gunboat range that I linked to,the combination of performance and modern construction methods has put outstanding performance within reach of the ordinary sailor-subject to his/her finances permitting,and they can achieve remarkable passage times.I'm not sure how many of them use in mast furling but that is another development that has reduced the need to stand next to a boom while reefing.Having said that,I would still prefer to be next to a boom that is constrained to move in an arc then on a foredeck where a clew and associated shackles and blocks can travel in almost any direction.You just have to have an open mind,as somebody said recently.

 

[brian eiland]

I wonder what the other details are on this 2023 capsize of a Gunboat 66 sailing upwind in 18-22 knots??

...wouldn't have anything to do with that really tall full-battened mainsail would it ?

 

[wet feet]

I'm glad I skipped most of that agglomeration of AI stills.No mention of windspeed over the deck,or reference to polar diagrams to determine optimum sail area for the trip.With a sporty boat,they should be items of concern,as should keeping live people close to winches in case they need to have the sheets eased.

 

[brian eiland]

Was that video Ai generated? Was the text content untrue?

PS: edited:
Per you posting 'I'm glad I skipped most of that agglomeration of AI stills'
I agree with you that many of these modern videos include lots of images that don't even correspond to the spoken text at any specific time,...that is a shame and a real distraction. Its as though they just have to search for random images they can insert during their verbal text. Often I have to just ignore the images, and listen to the text to see if they make mistakes or false claims.

I did not find they made many false claims with their text in this video.

 

[wet feet]

Yes and who knows.No mention of Vmg or SOG.

 

[brian eiland]

Ketch Rig in Storm Conditions Hove-To

https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/f2/ketch-sailing-for-beginners-76189-3.html#post2158625

Did you ever try sailing under just jib and mizzen (no main) when the weather really kicked up?
Works particularly well if you have a staysail behind the genoa (dble headsail), Then just make it staysail and mizzen (with no main).

Easy to balance things out, ...and in real nasty conditions you can strap in the mizzen (forces you upwind), and concurrently back wind the jib (forces you off the wind). Boat will take care of itself in storm conditions like this.

He might have hove-to had he just battled a rough sea for 24 hrs straight. Sometimes the crew just get tired before the vessel does..
You could actual get some shut-eye in this situation. I know, I've done it in a particularly bad storm in the Atlantic,...in an old wood ketch I once owned. The three of us just got really tired of running down the really big sea, and avoiding the broaches. Brian Eiland

I had a real sailor to help us across the Tasman and thats what he did in 50knots except he didn't hove-to, just kept sailing. Said he wouldn't take down the mizzen - staysail set-up even up to 60 to 70knots. Boat was heavy and comfortable and sails were not delicate.