Sailing a catamaran is a great experience. However, it is more difficult to control a catamaran than a common yacht. The reason is that a catamaran is a kind of more complicated yacht. This kind of boat features two hulls that minimize drag on water. As a result, the yacht moves much faster than other boats. So, a catamaran offers more speed than other yachts. But it is not easier to maneuver and turn a catamaran sailing at a high speed. Given below are five tips to help you sail a yacht easily.
Image source Flickr by SunCat
Launching into water
The first and most important thing you have to do in order to make a start on sailing a catamaran is to launch it. According to expert sailors, one of the most difficult things about sailing a catamaran is to launch it into water. If you launch it successfully, this means you have learnt the harder part of sailing a boat. In order to make a good launch, you need to push the boat into water and jump quickly in order to get onto the yacht. While doing this, you need to think quickly in order to launch the yacht in the right way.
Safety
Be careful not to hit your head against the sail and boom of the catamaran. These parts are made of hard plastic or metal and sit relatively lower compared with other yachts. Even if your yacht does not have a boom, the swinging of the sail can knock you out. In order to avoid an injury, you should keep your head low throughout the sailing. Some beginners do not keep this thing in mind and end up sustaining a head injury. So, you should be careful all the time.
Holding the tiller
Hold the tiller. The rudders of the catamaran have to tolerate a lot of pressure when it is rushing through the water. The rudders transfer the pressure to the tiller. So, if you want to keep control over your catamaran, you should take the tiller behind your back and under your arm. This will help you steer the catamaran easily. So, holding the tiller is very important when it comes to sailing a catamaran.
Tacking and jibing
You should learn the art of tacking and jibing. Unlike a boat with single hull, tacking and jibing a two-hulled boat is much more difficult. You can easily turn a yacht with one hull but it becomes difficult when it comes to a catamaran. The reason is that this type of boat has more width than other common boats. As a result, the yacht takes longer to turn. The boat requires more momentum and power in order to make a turn successfully. You may not succeed in turning the catamaran in first attempt but this does not mean you should give up after making first attempt. Keep on trying even if the yacht gets stuck in water while you are trying to turn it.
While sailing a catamaran, you should not lose heart and keep an eye on the wind and current. This will help you gain courage and strength.
So, given above are five tips to sail a catamaran properly. Hope you will find these tips helpful.
This is a guest post written by Grant Headifen. Grant teaches sailing courses and he is the captain of NauticEd sailing school which provides catamaran sailing courses and other sailing lessons.
