More than 20 years ago I was heading south around Lizard on our 38ft cat and I thought "It would be nice to do this by trailer sailer." So I worked out a design for a folding cat. I designed and built two of them, the second one has taken me over 10 years to finish. Anyway - my wife and I finally got to use the larger one - provisionally called Mog at the moment - for a 3 week jaunt to visit the Whitsundays and Great Keppel.

The boat is non ballasted and reasonably light - so she sits fine on a husky single axle trailer. The 2.8 litre Colorado pulled her well and averaged about 13l/100km in diesel for the trip. We got to Proserpine in 2 days driving but getting everything sorted at Cannonvale took a while and we only got out to Cid Harbour on the first day - then the wind came in.

Cid was fun, and we did our old favourite things, like walking the peak, watching the gusts on the water, and didn't do other favourite things , like swimming. We popped the boat on the hard a few nights as small boats are more rocky than big ones. We did manage to head to Hook Passage where we grabbed a mooring and climbed the ridge to a great view.

The wind really did pipe up and the charter boats were instructed to use no sails for a few days. So we headed over to South Molle and walked there too. Then back in, a lovely dinner with friends and pack the boat up and head down to Keppel.

Trailer sailers go to windward really well. Launching/retrieving and getting the boat ready on the trailer takes some time. But after about two hours everything was tied double and we were off to Rosslyn Bay.

Whereas the ramp at Cannonvale was really tight (I should have gone to Whitsunday Yacht club) the ramp at Rosslyn Bay is wonderful. A quick trip to the paid storage about 1.5 km away and we were heading over to see old friends, both sailors and the island itself.

One of the problems with constantly developing a new design is that every sail is a test of something new. So my wife was not totally convinced that some noises were fine, but then again, neither was I. (I had neglected to retighten the shroud shackles at the Whitsundays and we came pretty close to having the mast being held up by only the lowers - not good).

Great Keppel was lovely - it has fabulous walks and we got to play guitar on Svendsens beach with Libby Svendsen and also have a night of stargazing with husband Carl. After a joggly night (Deb's fitbit thought she had not slept at all due to the rocking) we ventrured into Leekes Creek - to watch the ospreys and sea eagles overhead and the stingrays in the water - thankfully the sandlfies were not bad at all.

After a few more days including some snorkelling we headed back in, rertracted the cat to trailering beam and visited Fraser Island. I was hoping for some soueasters but the wind went into the souwest which would have made PLatypus Bay quite rough. So we left the boat on shore and took the 4WD over instead. We got to see lots of whales - just in the ocean instead of in PLatypus Bay.

Got home today - it was a nice 3 weeks but the weather Gods were not too kind to us. I have spent about a year of my life in the Whitsundays and I know they can blow - I was hoping to get some okay weather but it tended to stronger rather than less but we still had a good time - more time would have allowed us to head out when the wind relented but that didn't fit in this time. BUt still it could have been much worse - so we were happy to get out on the first day we got there.

It was a good trip and the boat did well. I should have pushed her harder before we left but didn't get much wind in the two weekends we had before leaving. As it was the poor boat had all my Makita battery tools, epoxy, glass and boatbuilding gear inside just in case something bad happened - thankfully no tools were required.

Interestingly, the folding time of the cat is pretty immaterial. It takes about 1-3 minutes to fold the cat - although I am pretty sure I can get it down to less than a minute with some tweaks - all on the water and with no special tools or extra people. But the time spent getting a boat ready for a long drive or cruise is much different from splashing her for a daysail. It took us 2 hours to pack up at Rosslyn Bay. We weren't rushing but we were not being slow either - there is just a lot to be done.

Cheers Phil

Select to expand quote

Kankama said..
More than 20 years ago I was heading south around Lizard on our 38ft cat and I thought "It would be nice to do this by trailer sailer." So I worked out a design for a folding cat. I designed and built two of them, the second one has taken me over 10 years to finish. Anyway - my wife and I finally got to use the larger one - provisionally called Mog at the moment - for a 3 week jaunt to visit the Whitsundays ...

Sounds like a good time despite the Whitsundays turning on excessive wind. Always need a plan B (and C). We did Port Stephens on the way home in April when rain turned us off launching at Moreton Bay

Your cat looks great and I can only dream of fuel consumption in the 13s.

Tomorrow night should see us home too and it's getting damn cold at night :(.

Kanka. You mentioned the shrouds, how would you rate the dyneema ?

Gday Woko,

I got rid of the Dyneema. I am not at all sure that it works well on a trailer boat. The splices on the caps are constantly getting loosened and tightened when rigging and unrigging and I think this loosens the splices so they stretch every sail. So I ended up going back to stainless fore the shrouds but have kept the Dyneema for the forestay - which is really nice to have. So instead of having three stretchy stays I had only one. I will probably use the "old" dyneema caps to double or triple up the forestay to reduce stretch even more. I don't like watching the leeward caps go slack.

I reckon dyneema is not good for sailing boats that get unrigged everyday. The skiffs I sail don't use it and there must be a reason.

BUt it was a good trip. Have fun in the Whitsundays Woko. Remember the main rule - head south when the wind is light and keep the schedule very flexible (but you probably already know this).

The drive was fine Jules - the car had no issues, I guess it and the trailer were not working too hard. I have a friend with a petrol Landcruiser who towed a Ross 780 and he was up around the 25l/100km mark. That would be tough. Glad you got some good weather. I need to do a little more work on the boat - and test it with some nasty winds and sea conditions before I go again - 7 metres is small when the wind gets up outside Hook and Whitsunday Island. The only chance we had of getting to Hill and Whitehaven had us leaving Cid at 7am and trying to get south before the wind came in too much -but it was wind against tide. I tried for about 45 minutes to head south and the boat was game but in the end we were miserable in the 15-18 knots which was strengthening. If we had left later the wind would be more but the tide less. I gave it a shot but it didn't work out. But we did climb the ridge at Hook Passage on the way back which we had never done.

I knew things were going to be tough on that sail and then a guy on a really nice power cat went by me the other way and gave me a really solid wave - I reckon he thought I was brave heading out, or maybe just silly. I only saw one other boat sailing to windward that day - it was a 16 metre Schionning cat so we were not shamed too much.

I reckon some parts of the Whitsundays can be nastier than being offshore for the same wind strength when the tide is wrong. And the boat has some parts of a new design and I really didn't want to have any failures such a long way away from home with all our cruising gear (and my wife) aboard.

It was really nice to use the boat after designing and building her for so long. I started to get the mechanism right and then
flipped the hulls and added substantial foam to the stern sections because I got volumes and the weight study a bit wrong. Now that she has finally given us some good times I am already thinking of adding a dodger bimini so that we can use the area behind the mast as a sort of bridgedeck cabin. The boat has serious cockpit room for a 7 metre boat - about 4m x 2m which is a nice and it would be nice to have some more area out of the wind and spray when sailing and when at anchor. One day she will be finished.
cheers

Phil

Thanks Phil, I ask as I have a half baked plan to build a 16' - 18' folding / nesting boat, large tender / trailer sailor. The 1st 2 days in Whitsunday looks like typical 15 -20kts se then backing to the east 10-15 kts. I drove the same boat last year to windward in 25-30kts from Stonehaven to north Molle wind over tide & stayed dry. Bring on Tuesday!

Thanks for sharing and very well done build, gratz.
"thinking of adding a dodger bimini so that we can use the area behind the mast as a sort of bridgedeck cabin."
I'd be very interested in seeing your plans when you get around to it, sure the wind and spray get tiring fast but for me somewhere to duck out of the sun is what I puzzle over how to add to open bridge deck cats.

The very early plan at the moment (I only got back yesterday) is to make foam/glass or ply sides to the dodger. These would be self supporting. They are orange in the attached pic. The soft top would be made from weathertex or similar and attached to the sides by tonneau clips like in utes. I would have some battens from the sloped front panels holding the soft top up in the middle. The idea is that it is quick and easy to remove the soft top when not needed. She would then have a nice big space to get out of the weather when sailing and at anchor.

Simple and should do the job, the only thing that comes to mind is it might be a good idea to make a "door" in on one side to get forward easily.

Select to expand quote

Kankama said..
Gday Woko,

I got rid of the Dyneema. I am not at all sure that it works well on a trailer boat. The splices on the caps are constantly getting loosened and tightened when rigging and unrigging and I think this loosens the splices so they stretch every sail. So I ended up going back to stainless fore the shrouds but have kept the Dyneema for the forestay - which is really nice to have. So instead of having three stretchy stays I had only one. I will probably use the "old" dyneema caps to double or triple up the forestay to reduce stretch even more. I don't like watching the leeward caps go slack.
I reckon dyneema is not good for sailing boats that get unrigged everyday. The skiffs I sail don't use it and there must be a reason.

REPLY hereunder


Yes there reputedly a creep/slippage problem when a dyneema splice is constantly stressed and then relaxed. But I'm wondering if you locked it as is demonstrated in the attached YouTube video?

?si=VCx5GpSNYDORXcBp

Of course this problem is far less with a keel boat which is not constantly rigged and unrigged although the leeward shrouds still often go slack when beating to windward.

I don't think mine have moved probably due to being locked as shown in the video although I have only de-rigged and rigged once.

I can't begin to imagine that satisfaction of designing and building your own boat and taking it up to the Whitsundays - particularly a collapsible one. Hats off to you Phil :-)

Thanks for the kind wordss Jules

That doesn't look like a locked Brummel splice - it looks like the way we used to do ski ropes, just taper and insert. I could probably whip the brummel about halfway up the splice but there should be little movement with the Brummel lock.

As for designing and building - it is good, but I always have some more to do. But the boat is nice and different, light on the trailer and fun to sail.

Select to expand quote

Kankama said..
Thanks for the kind wordss Jules

That doesn't look like a locked Brummel splice - it looks like the way we used to do ski ropes, just taper and insert. I could probably whip the brummel about halfway up the splice but there should be little movement with the Brummel lock.

As for designing and building - it is good, but I always have some more to do. But the boat is nice and different, light on the trailer and fun to sail.

You should put up a post detailing how your cat folds up. Very impressed; What's next? Our next America's cup challenger ;).

After getting my Clubman bogged in my front yard whilst trying to do a u-turn prior to going to the Whitsundays I decided my old Hydra which has sat in the yard unused for decades was for the tip so took the angle grinder to it yesterday as depicted below. Kind of sacrilege and I was surprised how thick the fiberglass was. Anyone interested in the sails boom mast, cross beams or foils let me know.

Regarding splicing maybe I linked a wrong video. I used a brummel lock splice but in addition stitching with whipping twine going about halfway longitudinally down to where the splice taper is and then also stitched 90 degree rotated back up to where the brummel lock is before whipping to finish.

I seriously doubt that the combination of the brummel lock and the stitching of the tail would allow any slippage due to constant relaxation and re-tensioning.

Of course there is a splice at each end of the shroud as well as the splice in the narrower guage lashing dyneema at the base used for tensioning plus the locking of of the lashing so four potential sources of slippage.

My problem is the vibration/resonance/insane noise of the rig which is probably due to the dyneema and which I have yet to solve. Maybe I will put the rig up in the yard and have a play for a month or so although obviously the breeze will be less in the yard.

Select to expand quote

woko said..
Thanks Phil, I ask as I have a half baked plan to build a 16' - 18' folding / nesting boat, large tender / trailer sailor. The 1st 2 days in Whitsunday looks like typical 15 -20kts se then backing to the east 10-15 kts. I drove the same boat last year to windward in 25-30kts from Stonehaven to north Molle wind over tide & stayed dry. Bring on Tuesday!

I'm biased, but if you are looking for a folding TY I reckon Phil's little folding cats are wonderful. We borrowed his smaller one for a little cruise around Port Stephens years ago and it was fun to sail, had excellent accommodation, and could anchor anywhere.