Blue Suncat out on Charlotte Harbor Today

[Vectordirector]

Out today in moderately windy conditions on my friend's Cape Dory 22 when what goes by heading south but a pretty blue Sun Cat.   Just north of Ponce at about 3:00.   We passed much closer on the way back south.  I didn't see a name on her so I don't know who it was.  Anyone here?

You looked like you were having a ball.  Big smiles on both of you.  Great day wasn't it?  15 knots of wind, sunny skies, low humidity, racing catamarans flying around, big sailboats all over, just a wonderful day.  I hope the rest of you SW Florida Com-Pac people had a chance to sail today.  It doesn't get any better than this.


Vectdordirector

[hoddinr]

That would have been Mary's Stray Cat.  She was on her way to Cayo Costa to meet up with the WCTSS gathering in Pelican Bay.
We had four SunCats there, and it would have been five, but Tom's SunCat had a rudder problem and turned around.

Total number of boats at the meet was 17.  Not bad for a windy weekend!

Ron Hoddinott
Founder ~ WCTSS ~

[Vectordirector]

Not sure if it was her.  They appeared to be day sailing in the upper harbor, sailing north to south and then back north.  Pretty boat non the less.  I'm sure you all had a great time as it was perfect Saturday, less so since.  F-18 catamaran nationals started, or shall I say, tried to start yesterday.  Lots of carnage in 30 knot gusts.  A couple of the boats wound up towed in to Ponce and we helped them as much as we could.  One team from Michigan and another from Atlanta.  Poor guys were pretty beat up but still in good spirits, considering what they must have gone through.  We gave them a ride over to the beach to get their trailers.  They weren't sure they were going to get out today as the boats were pretty beat up  with torn sails and a broken rudder.   I'm really surprised they went out in that stuff as a small craft advisory was in effect until this morning.  Racers gotta race.  Looked like there were about 15 of them out racing a few minutes ago.  Winds are only gusting to 25 or so now.  I thought about going out and watching but it is too much wind for me.  I'm sure the Eclipse could handle it, I'm just not interested in fighting wind like that.  It is supposed to calm down on Thursday so I hope to get out then and watch.   

Be safe all,

Vectordirector

[Craig]

I was out Friday and it was exciting. The Harbor, being so shallow can get choppy in a hurry. When I was out the winds were probably 15 knots +/-. The waves get get confused because of the land effects close to the rt 41 bridge but settle down as you go further down. May be out tomorrow. Met the crew of Indy Anna(Suncat) on the golf course today! We were paired up as a foursome and it was not until the 5th hole that we realized we were catboaters! What are the odds of that! At any rate Larry and Kathy are delightful and hope to sail/golf with them again soon!    Don't ya just love SW Fl!

[Tom L.]

Must have been two blue Sun Cats on the bay this Friday. I passed "Stray Cat" as she was heading toward Cayo Costa. I was on my way to Cayo Costa but turned around and was limping back to Bookelia with a rudder problem. Bolts came loose on the aluminum casting that mounts to the transom. I couldn't reach in to tighten them up without major work to remove the cover that the tiller passes through. Ugh missed a great weekend.

Tom L.

[hoddinr]

On the way from Placida to Cayo Costa, I tried to time the crossing with slack ebb tide to avoid steep waves in the channel by Boca Grande.  Almost made it!  Left full sail up to see what she would do, and was very pleased to be getting 5.7 - 6.2 MPH.  Once past the center of the channel with a slight push from the tide, Nomad reached 7.1 MPH for a few moments.  I know that's way past her hull speed, but the incoming tide and a bit of surfing helped her along. 

On Saturday having to beat back across the chop, I put in a  single reef, which flattened out quite well, put the traveller down to leeward, and motor sailed at 5.7 MPH until the chop moderated in the lee of Devilfish and Sandfly Key.  Then I shut off the Yamahammer, and enjoyed 4.8 - 5 MPH to windward.  Once I was able to crack off on a reach the speed went up to well over 5 mph.

Completely satisfied with the performance.  Actually a bit surprised at how well the little gaffer did!

Ron

[Tom Ray]

Was there a long, black flag flying from the tip of the gaff on this mystery boat?

I suspect it may have been the new owner of Wily Conch.

He said he generally launches out of the Beach Complex and sails the northern part of the harbor.

[hoddinr]

That's great!  She's getting out in good (windy) SunCat weather!

Ron

[Vectordirector]

Hi Tom,

Is the new owner of Wily Conch on this forum?  Didn't see a black flag.  Like my Eclipse, the boat didn't appear to have a name anywhere on her.  Went out today at about 11:15 to watch the cats racing.  They had moved southwest from where they were yesterday, and were starting SW of number 1 and heading NE to a windward mark about halfway to Ponce.  Perfect day it appeared, looked like they got a full day of racing in .  Winds were E-NE about 10 knots with occasional gusts I would guess around 15.  I was feeling lazy and just sailed around jib only trying to stay out of the way.  It started picking up around 3 so I headed in just as they were wrapping up for the day.

Saw a blue Suncat out again, solo guy this time.  Not sure if it was the same one but how many blue ones could there be down here?  We passed close and said hi.  He sailed back north and I lost sight of him.  Another really great day.  I'll be out tomorrow noonish if the winds stay under 15 or so, as forecast.  We may take my friend's Cape Dory out, depending on how he feels.  He's 83.  If he's not up for it, I'll go out either solo or with my dad, wind permitting.

The F-18's are amazing to watch although the racing didn't seem that close.  The lead boat always seemed to have at least 5 boat lengths on the second one as they rounded the windward mark.  I couldn't tell what it was at the leeward mark as I was too far away.  It is hard to judge who is in first downwind as some gybe earlier than others.    Still, great to get out there and watch them.  Brings back memories of sailing my Hobie 25 years ago in Kansas City.  What a thrill ride!  See you all on the water.

Livin' la Vida Loca in Punta Gorda,

Vectordirector

[Tom Ray]

I don't know if the new owner has found his way here yet, Vectordirector, but I did tell him about this forum and trailer sailor.

I was out today too and thought I saw an Eclipse with just a jib but figured no one would do that!

I encountered the solo guy just outside Alligator Bay and spoke with him. That boat has a new sail, which is why it has no Com-Pac logo. He said he has owned it a couple of years.

I also came across another blue Sun Cat on my way down to the races. This one was west of Marker 2 and had two women on it. I spoke to them too.

I have pics of both of these and lots of F18 pics and videos but they're on the camera still.

I was in my yellow Hobie Adventure Island.

[Vectordirector]

Yeah, that was me.  Solo and wasn't sure how much wind there was so I just opened the jib and went for a lazy sail.  Worked out pretty well although the boat doesn't go to windward all that well without the main up.   In hindsight, I should have had the main up.  It wasn't as windy as I though it would be.  Still had a great time. 

I never saw you.  If you were sw of #1 by the starting line, I never made it down there.    I"d never seen the cats race and I wasn't sure what courses they would be sailing so I stayed to windward of them to stay out of the way.  Never got up near #2 either as I went way west of Ponce and then just beat back and forth watching the races.   Did you see the little powercat the race guys were using to move the windward mark?  Very cool little boat.  As I went by I asked what it was and he said homebuilt.  Looked pretty solid to me. 

I'm thinking of adding a power boat to my fleet.  I really like the 22'-26' Glacier Bays and World Cats.  I'm no fisherman but they seem to be very versatile, easy on gas, ride well, and are hard to find used.  I think that is a good sign.  My next door neighbor has a Glacier Bay 2640 that they say they love.  That being said, they doesn't use it much.  I'd be out all the time exploring around. 

I'd love to see some pics if you can post them somewhere. 

See ya around

Vectordirector

[Tom Ray]

I haven't seen that power cat in person but I'm partly responsible for it. The builder was aboard my pontoon boat when we were using it as a race committee boat and was asking all kinds of questions about it. He had been thinking a fiberglass cat would make a great sailing support boat but could not find one he liked. He liked my stripped-down 'toon a lot. Next thing I know, I see  pics of that boat on his Facebook.

He has a neat little shop in town and has built all kinds of boats. We also used his shop to construct a bunch of floating docks for the Disabled Sailing World's a couple of years ago.

I was down by the committee boat.

[Tom Ray]

Sun Cats spotted on the harbor yesterday:



and

[Vectordirector]

Great shots.  The first one is the one I saw yesterday.  The second one is the one I think is the one I saw on Saturday.  For some reason I had a feeling you were involved with that power cat.  Looks like Arthur is feeling better so we are going out on my boat probably in a couple of hours.  Are you going out today?

[Tom Ray]

We will have to get picky to figure out which blue Sun Cat is which on the harbor.

The first boat above has no Com-Pac logo on the sail. Also, it's a 2005 or earlier because the nav lights are in the hull, not on the mast. The blue bimini might or might not be up.

The second boat has the logo on the sail and is 2006 or later with nav light on mast. Tan bimini might or might not be up.

Our old boat is a 2006 and for now at least has the original factory sail with logo, nav light on the mast, blue bimini might or might not be up.

We'll have to go to anchors for positive ID between that second boat and our old boat if neither is showing a bimini top. That one has what looks like a Fortress or something. Ours has a very shiny polished stainless Lewmar knockoff on the Bruce anchor.

There is a fourth one: a 2004 that is sitting in my driveway awaiting the return of its snowbird owner. At the moment, that one is pretty easy to discern from the rest because no one has waxed or polished the hull since 2004, so we'll just call it the faded one.