Design Considerations (Or Lack Thereof)

S/V Kat Boat on a beautiful fall day. Polson, MT

 Big Sky Sailing Season 2018 is firmly astern. The vessel is cocooned under her tarp at the rear of the house. My thoughts are firmly planted on next season and the big plans that exist there. And of the volume of work I have to achieve before July. And this line of thinking brings me back to how I found the boat and how design choices lead to making this boat, a fine boat in it's own right, a better catboat.
 The Fatcat2 certainly looks like a cat boat. It's design cues are unmistakably that of those stout, working craft of the eastern seaboard. But when you look closer and more so when you sail her do you understand the whys and hows of what makes a catboat tick. And where for all of it's wonderful visual cues  the Fatcat2 fall short. But all is not lost and that is what this post is all about.
 I know I've touched on my history with catboats but it's short enough I will recap it here. They have always been my favorite sailboats. And I've spent an hour at the helm of a Beetle Cat in good winds with a man who knows these boats. And fell in love all over again. Then I bought the plans for a Fatcat2. And then I bought one. So that's my knowledge and history I have with the type. And in that short time here is some of what I learned.
 The catboat as a type evolved into what we know today for very specific reasons. Nothing exists without a reason for a vessel that fished in shallow waters with a minimal crew. The work it did shaped it and when looking to recreate that I fell you must draw from that well. And here is where perhaps we can bring the design of the Fatcat2 closer to that goal. If that is in fact the goal you're looking for.
 We'll start with one of the hallmarks of the breed, the rudder. Catboats are known for their long, barn door rudders. Absolutely out of place in just about every other boat you'll see it's my understanding the sail plan and work dictates this. The bottom of the rudder is even with the skeg so no kick up is required when working in shallow waters. And the enormous length and leverage works to counter act the force of the large sail placed so far forward. The Fatcat2 comes with a standard Michalak kick up rudder, a slightly enlarged version of what you find hanging at the stern of my previous Piccup Pram. I've now found several times that there wasn't enough waterline length on the rudder, especially at the slow speed coming out of a tack, to put the boat where I needed it. Now coming mainly from a marconi rigged Lido 14, a boat that will give you change on a dime turn this is a surprise. I had my suspicions that a short rudder may be the culprit,due mainly to the fact that kick up didn't look right on the stern of what was so clearly a catboat.  So I hauled on the kick up line a bit to see what the response was. Wasn't quite night and day but it was close. The extra leverage from more rudder in the water lengthwise meant better response, especially at slow speeds, and a much better feel. Going forward I plan on a redesign that will lessen the depth of the rudder while slightly increasing it's length.

Full and by in light winds on Polson Bay.

 The warped boom is also another problem. But the replacement is going to have to be a different scope all together.  Catboats have a relatively heavy boom. This keeps the boom down and lessens the need for a vang, something no self-respecting catboat has aboard. Now the Fatcat2 is designed with a boom of three laminations to finish 2-1/4" round and includes a stout vang line. By my reckoning the only reason for the vang is because the boom as designed isn't as heavy as it should be to ensure this oft touted feature of a catboat. The S/V Kat Boat did not come with a vang installed and due to the heavy purchase of the mainsheet to the boom gallows I have not noticed any major problems to be solved by adding a vang even in a slightly worrying blow. That replacement boom though will ensure further that the sail stays were it should. One of my hobbies involves the operation of a steam powered sawmill a few times a year. It is my goal to mill out a new solid boom 3" square and shape it to fit. There may be an upgrade in hardware needed to accommodate the new boom but that's one of the joys of an online chandlery.

Final day on the water.

 There is a also a laundry list of smaller things I'd like to do to improve the catboatness of my craft. You can see one in the above picture, using a gaff bridle instead of the single point to attach the gaff. I'd like to add a wire forestay to keep the loads off my mast on certain points of sail. It's a common design element for this type and it makes sense, especially if I'm going to be adding low down weight with the new boom. It's these small things that as I sail and observe more about this vessel that makes me wonder why they were not included from the get go. There is a century and a half of design work on building a better catboat. I love how this vessel is very much it's own design but I feel in some ways it misses the mark on the sheer utility of type if not the character. Hopefully when I'm done with the next stage of work she'll have a little bit more of both.

Master and Commander. Ready for new adventures.