I don't see why you can't cartop a 14 feet cat as long as you are keeping the spar at max 6,5m. The cat on my car here is a Pixie 14 and the one on the trailer is a DS12

I've found 11 to 12 ft is ideal for a child to learn to sail properly but you cant beat fun and they seem to happily leave a couple of cats on the beach and laugh all day as a group on a 14ft

I have seen kids having great fun with the F12 cats, even going out at three. It’s probably the fastest craft intended for kids. Even adults are thrilled by this cat. That is also the reason why I see a need for a little bit bigger cat intended for adults, but who don’t want to spend the money for a racing cat. As it is not the hulls who are representing the expensive part of a cat...

What is holding back the F-14 cat from taking off (as well as catamaran sailing in general)? IMHO is the obsession with racing.

When I bought my first cat in 1975...a Hobie 14...racing was the last thing on my mind...I wanted to get out on the water...go as fast as I could, play in the surf and have fun. The boat was simply a tool to have fun.

I didn't obsess with tuning the rig...I didn't loose sleep at the thought of someone building a faster cat next week which would make my resale value go down...I wasn't concerned that some rich guy would "buy the race" because he could afford a boat built out of exotic materials...or whether the next guy had a carbon mast, carbon beams, glassed in beams, canted hulls, a taller mast or wider beam....I just went out and had fun free sailing...

All the above obsessions (and more) have sucked the fun out of sailing. Go back thru these forums and read the rabid discussions about length, beam, weight, mast height, hull materials, foils etc. Look at them from the perspective of a newbie looking in from the outside...there are a lot more people attracted at the prospect of having fun than there are "winning" a race.

Best Regards,
Bob

I agree completely whit you, we can just hope that the people thinking of a cat just for fun are not scanning this or any other forum with a related topic.
Still I understand the discussion here because here those who are most interested in sailing cats discuss. The experience gained by travelling around, showing and sailing my two F12 cats shows that there is a lot of interest for cat sailing outside the established cat sailing group. That is one of the reasons why I’m urging for a modern design but kept at a reasonable price. My intention is to build and sail a “cruising” version F14 cat next summer (in about 6 months).

gato
From my perspective the F-14 concept is far from dead...here is a picture of a long term F-14 project I am cooking up of my own with some valuable input from "friends"...it's a styrofoam plug so all things on it are subject to change...this is early picture of the basic hull shape before the deck and bottom shape were finalized. I love this medium since you can shape it full size and modify it easily either by taking away of adding more material.



Regards,
Bob

Nice looking hulls Bob. I love to race but I also love sailing in general and can see somebody buying a modern basic F14 to learn then adding spin's etc later if and when they want. They would never need to get a bigger cat and would be confident with it much sooner than an 18ft. We've had too much wind 5 weeks in a row here and for the last 2 weeks I've been taking the kids 14ft Arrow out and having a ball with no other boats on the water I only did it for a short but exciting time today because the wind turned off shore and the official wind put the gusts at 55km/h on land. The point is none of the bigger cats were even towed to the club I'm now selling my A and will sail an Arrow or Mozzie when I'm not on the Nacra. Gato did you see the pic I posted in Rolfs heating the workshop thread with my heatlights? Thats the bottom of the Arrow I'm sailing, that ones glass but I have a ply one as well, its dead flat, no dagger boards just a centreboard, it would be very easy to homebuild and I swear it planes, you can feel it get up to speed on a beam reach and then all of a sudden it takes off. Mind you it probably was ready to take off today while still on the sand. The Arrow has the same mast height as the F12 so your rigging could transfer
regards

Nice hull Seeker, We used to go windsurfing boards the same way. We are doing what a lot of people want to have, the question is how to get them on the marke for those not interested in homebuilding.
I saw the pics JeffS, nice cat, what is the total weight of that platform?

Arrow and Arafura Cadet specs are on the National (AUS) website
www.arrowarafura.com
Minimum Weight (hulls and fixed fittings) 50 kg
plans are $30
I like the idea of building the F12 and then if it gets outgrown building 14ft hulls to transfer the expensive bits over. The main sail area for the F12 is only 0.6m2 smaller than the Arrow, with its high aspect rig should work fine with the 2.6m2 jib. The Arrow has a metal framework for the centreboard which the kids and I don't like but it works unbelievably well and leaves the decks clear to sit on. When the kids go out they just pull the rope and cleat it like a dinghy and when they come back to the beach they release the cleat and the board comes up.
regards

On the F-14 site it states that the max beam is 8'-0"....is that still the case? Are all the other box rules still accurate? Darryl???
Regards,
Bob

Darryl...let me try this one more time...is the F14 max beam 7'-6" or 8'-0" ? On the F-14 web site it says 8'-0" on my A&O DVD it says 7'-6" Which is it? Your response would be greatly apreciated
Regards,
Bob

Darryl? Berney? Anyone out there? I guess that means I can set the beam width at anything I feel like when the time comes...works for me.

Maz beam for the F14 "class" is 8' - the max beam of the AO F14 is 7'6" as that is the beam that we calculated as being the best for all round performance for the Alpha. Just because the max beam allowable is 8' there is nothing wrong with being less than the maximum - just not over.

Thanks Darryl...I figured that if I went rouge I could elicit a response...LOL

Here is where I am at with my F14 project...Changed course from building a full fiberglass female mold to foam strip construction in a female wood jig...Put my foam plug to good use as I took templates off of it for my female jig. I have posted most of this on the homebuilt forum but thought I might as well put it here too since it does deal with a F14.

Best Regards,
Robert

Looks grate, is it your own design?

Thanks Gato...Yes it's my own design...tried to take inspiration from the latest offerings and run in my own direction with it. This design is definitly colored by my personal experience with high speed power boats and a couple decades of surfboard and sailboard design/construction.

As with every boat design, I build on a foundation of those who have walked a similar path before me and are generous enough to share their experience.

Best Regards,
Robert

Nice work mate, I'll follow your progress with great interest!!!
What is the min. weight of F14?

Thank you engineer...Here is a site that gives the F14 box rules.

http://www.formula14.yachting.org.au/

I'm going to build a F14 as I think it's the ultimate cat for me after building 2 F12:s and 2 F16:s. One is on the smaller side and the other too big 100kg+.
Still I think it's possible to end up around 60-65 kg for a F14 cat without using carbon.