Catamaran Sailing Confidence Course

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Hot of the press today: We just launched the new Catamaran Sailing Confidence Course written by Nick Harvey of Lagoon Catamarans and Captain Grant Headifen.

If you want to learn to sail a large catamaran, this is the sailing course for you.

Here is an excerpt from the course.

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And if there wasn’t enough advantages to sailing a catamaran here is another.

The mainsail traveler on a catamaran is significantly longer than on a cruising monohull. Thus you can take real advantage of this. The mainsail can now be adjusted in 2 different ways: using the traveler line or by adjusting the mainsheet.

When sailing closed hauled on a catamaran in heavier air, move the traveler up wind (on the opposite side of the sail) and let off on the main sheet. This will allow the boom to rise a little and “twist out” the top of the sail. Twisting the sail allows you to let some of the top part of the sail “deflate” in case of slightly stronger winds. In light air, make sure that the top of the mainsail is not “loosing air” meaning, keep the traveler close to the center and tighten the mainsheet pretty good to make sure the main cannot open up at the top.

As soon as the breeze kicks up, bring your traveler up a bit more and ease the mainsheet so that the boom does not come past center point.

Lagoon 420 with traveler pulled to windward

Lagoon 420 with traveler pulled to windward

Once out sailing you’ll be able to dispel one of the biggest “myths” surrounding catamarans because modern cats actually do do point pretty well!!

The flatter the water, the better they will point and it’ll be possible to sail in the high 30’s degrees off the wind and if you cat has the genoa tracks up on the coach roof, you will have a nice tight sheeting angle allowing you to go upwind comfortably.

As soon as you bare away from the wind slightly, you will want to bring the mainsail traveler down to leeward and start easing the mainsail (similar to a monohull).

Catamaran sailing on a reach

Catamaran sailing on a reach

The Catamaran Sailing Confidence course retails for $39 but for a limited time it is priced at $27. Please enjoy.

Author

  • Grant Headifen

    Grant Headifen is a USCG-certified Master Mariner (50-Ton), founder of NauticEd, and one of the sailing world's most recognized educators. With 46 years on the water, charters across 40+ global destinations, 5 sailing books, 30+ online courses, and 300,000+ students worldwide, Grant brings real-world expertise to every article. He pioneered fractional boat ownership through SailTime and serves on the Texas Boater Safety Advisory Board. NauticEd is the only U.S. sailing education body recognized by the U.S. Coast Guard under American National Standards.

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Last updated on July 6th, 2022
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