Multihull q& a

NIKKI HENDERSON REVEALS WHAT YOU REALLY NEED TO KNOW BEFORE GOING BLUEWATER CAT CRUISING

It has become routine now for me to bookend the summer sailing season with a trip to the south of France for the biannual ‘Outremer Week’. This hugely popular event gathers 100-plus new Outremer catamaran owners for five days of training, both in the classroom and on the water, and three days of friendly racing. The goal is to educate future owners so they are as prepared as they possibly can be for their upcoming bluewater cruising plans.

It’s an intensive week of 12-hour days, with a lot of information to absorb. Unsurprisingly there are some discussions specific to bluewater cruising in a catamaran that come up repeatedly, and they apply to owners or prospective owners of all brands of bluewater multihull. Here are some of the most common questions people ask me:

Q1

WHAT SAILS SHOULD I BUY?

Every day after sailing an owner will come up to me and say, “Nikki, I’d love to take up some of your time and rack your brains about sail selection.”

To pitch my advice appropriately, I always ask some key questions and I’d encourage you to ask yourself the same.

• What is your route plan?

Tradewind sailing will be predominantly downwind. So, focus your attention on downwind sails. A route involving more upwind requires more focus on headsails. Routes involving more upwind tend to be more coastal routes, or schedules with strict timings that will reduce the option to wait for downwind weather windows.

All bluewater plans will need storm options. Three reef points in the main is a must, or at the very least an extremely generous second reef. A storm headsail is another key component. Ideally it should be possible to hoist the storm jib up over the top of your furled foresail. In very big conditions, reliance on the thin furling line gets quite nerve-racking.

• How performance-orientated are you?

Performance catamarans are designed to sail angles downwind, ideally with an asymmetric spinnaker wardrobe. However, there is a cost to the incredible speeds that you can attain reaching on these boats: comfort. So, a key question is what is your attitude to speed versus comfort?

Performance-focused sailors are typically racing sailors, sailors without kids, or sailors who are in good physical shape. If you fit this category, then I’d advise purchasing one heavy weather flat-cut asymmetric sail that can withstand a squall up to 40 knots, and a rounder, lightweight sail that you can sail quite deeply in light to moderate conditions.

If you don’t have a taste or attention span for speed, then one heavy weather symmetric spinnaker (approximately up to 40 knots TWS) should be enough. This will allow you to sail a rhumbline course, and make night-time take-downs less of a worry because the kite