© Katalyst Marine Ltd.
30
9.
Sailing
This manual should never be viewed as, and is not intended to be, a
guide to learn how to sail. This chapter contains some details about
characteristic behaviour of a catamaran and of the Katalyst in
particular.
Ensure that you have read the blokart manual and understand those
sections that discuss sailing in particular.
Catamarans have some very distinctive features which set them apart
from monohulls:
A single hull of a catamaran and its construction can be
simplified significantly compared to a monohull. No cockpit and
supporting inner structures. In essence it is a pontoon or float
with a rudder. The net effect of this lies in weight saving, and
lighter is generally faster. This is immediately apparent with the
Katalyst blokart Edition. The maximum sail on a blokart is
5.5m
2
. That is typically regarded as a very small sail on a water
craft of similar size. However, because of the weight advantage
the Katalyst performs surprisingly well, regardless of its small
sail;
The two hulls are placed apart, making the craft wider than that
of comparable size monohull, which in turn simply creates a
more stable platform. In performance catamarans this
immediately calls for more sail. And more sail is faster. The
stability of the Katalyst blokart Edition is probably one of the
most striking characteristics of the vessel. Besides the set-apart
hulls which play a role in that, the mast also controls a large
portion of the stability. Although the mast performs very well in
stable winds it will automatically spill a large gust which
achieves the exceptional stability of the Katalyst;
A natural result of having two hulls is the fact that each of these
hulls is a sleek affair. Because these sleek hulls easily dive they
give catamarans the tendency to roll or pitch-poll. Two design
elements have largely overcome this tendency in the Katalyst:
