Gemini 105Mc Owner’s Manual
36
Copyright © 2004 Performance Cruising Inc.
Sails and Sailing
then in a water particle moving with the wave.
With the keel still in fixed water the boat will now
rock the other way. This pendulum motion on the
side of a huge wave can cause the boat to drop off
the side of the wave and invert, rolling over 180º.
The catamaran with high buoyancy hulls will not
dig a hull into the trough like a trimaran. The cata-
maran is also much narrower than the trimaran and
does not have a hull in the middle, which can cause
considerable heeling when punched by a wave. If a
wave punches the windward hull of a catamaran
upwards, because it is nowhere near the center of
gravity, it can only have half the power, and be-
cause the boat is narrow, the wave quickly reaches
the leeward hull and pushes that up.
The catamaran does not have the keel of a
monohull and will not trip over it when falling side-
ways of a wave. The fixed keel catamaran is not as
well off as the centerboard catamaran with the
centerboard up. However, because the fixed, low
aspect ratio keel does not work, this type of cata-
maran is still better than a monohull for surviving a
storm offshore.
Offshore Cruising and the Gemini
The sea can be a very rough environment. Punching
to windward in 25-knot winds and 15-ft seas for
hundreds of miles is very uncomfortable. When
beating to windward, 2.5 knots is the best any boat
can expect to make to windward. Even if the boat
is sailing at 7 knots, 40 Deg off the wind. At 2.5
knots, with 10 hours of daylight, it is only reason-
able to expect covering roughly 25 miles. In these
conditions, eating sleeping and cooking is difficult.
A lot of people will suffer from seasickness. To add
insult to injury, most boats after several hours of
this type of grueling punishment will need atten-
tion. 25 knots of wind is not the worst but is decep-
tively rough and can go on for days. A gale is nor-
mally short lived even though the conditions can be
bad. Pulling the sails down will make a gale easy to
cope with. Unfortunately, most people are trying to
get somewhere and do not have time to pull the
sails down in 25-knot winds that last for days. That
is why 25-knot winds on the nose can be the worst
condition.
Because of the horrendous conditions that can ex-
ist offshore and the fact that there is no one around
to help, it is up to the skipper to make sure the
boat is up to the condition that they intend to sail
in. There is no boat built that is suitable to go
straight from the factory into these rough condi-
tions. All boats should be tested thoroughly in pro-
gressively worsening conditions. If and when prob-
lems occur during the testing, they should be recti-
fied and made stronger. This is not the responsibil-
ity of the boat builder, unless the boat was sold spe-
cifically as suitable for offshore racing.
With today’s high tech sailboat, incorrect sailing
techniques will easily break the boat. Running back-
stays have to be correctly set up along with the rig-
ging; otherwise the mast can easily fail. Today’s
mast is much thinner, which is why boats are faster.
Severe pounding on today’s flat bottom boat will
break them up. Even 65 footers recommend slowing
down when pounding to windward to prevent struc-
tural damage. Catamarans with a bridge deck can be
damaged if the boat is recklessly overloaded and
pounded to windward.
Gemini is a boat that is suitable for many uses.
Gemini is built to a price so that the average buyer
who has dreamed of going cruising can follow his
dreams in an affordable package. In addition, Gem-
ini’s design is fully capable for offshore racing. In
fact, the Gemini 105Mc is CE certified for trans-
ocean use. However, Gemini is not built specifically
for offshore racing or around the world cruising. If an
owner wants to cruise offshore extensively, then the
recommendation is to take a standard Gemini and
thoroughly test her, and then reinforce the parts
that seemed inadequate during the testing. It must
also be remembered that a boat cannot be suitable
for all conditions. An around-the-world boat will be a
disaster in the light airs of the Chesapeake Bay; she
will have too short a mast and too heavy a sail. An
around the world boat will have few hatches for
safety. This boat will be unbearably hot in the some-
times windless conditions of the Chesapeake Bay.
For racing, Gemini is kept light and will perform
well racing to Bermuda with three people and only
the food and water necessary for the trip. No matter
how rough the conditions, Gemini will not pound the
bridge deck. However, if this same Gemini were to
be loaded for a two year cruise of the Caribbean,
then do not expect to sail to windward in rough seas
and strong wind without experiencing bad
bridgedeck pounding. Overloading the boat does not
make it unsafe. In fact, the boat is probably safer.
The only problem with overloading is bridgedeck
pounding. In this respect, Gemini is no different to
any other cruising catamaran. Catamarans are de-
signed to go over the waves. If they are overloaded
then they try to go through waves, and no matter
how high the bridgedeck, they will pound.
There are three factors that should be considered
for sailing across oceans, and the potential ocean
sailor must have at least one of them. The three
factors are: A large, specially built, ocean going
boat, considerable experience, and/or strength and
fitness. In other words, with the proper boat, an
older, less experienced skipper might make it across
the Atlantic. An experienced delivery skipper can
