sorry a tri and not a cat but as a kiwi i've been watching this baby slowly progress and as the 1st weta's are now selling in the states and getting rave reviews i thought i'd pass this on

and if you are in florida near the

Dunedin Causeway Saturday February 23rd at 10 am till whenever.

you might even be able to score a ride

http://www.sailinganarchy.com/fringe/2008/weta%20the%20chances.htm

For just under 10k this thing is very interesting.

It looks slow, wet and without a trapeeze, what's the advantage vs. a good used Hobie 18 for say, $1,000? Oh, and can you put more than one person on it?

I'm all for trimarans, but large enough to sleep in. Otherwise, the extra hull is just dead weight.

Here are some links to some accurate information about the Weta!

http://norbanks.com/weta.htm

http://www.wetamarine.com/

In the videos it looks very "pitchy". Without a trap it looks impossible to get far enough back with the kite up.

I have seen Rick's Weta out in winds we won’t sail in. Jan 1 we postponed our local "Hangover Regatta" due to excessive winds and poor conditions... He was out there whipping across the horizon. Came to shore and picked up another crewmember (3 people total).

He FLYS in that thing. It is a very VERY fast tri. He blows away the local 15' and 17' trimaran rentals (granted so do the sea turtles).

I have helped him several times with small rigging and tailoring hiccups. The Weta seems very well made and in really a great boat for someone not ready for all the set up and technical issues of cat sailing. Several accomplished, long time sailors have gone for rides with Rick and are impressed with that tri.

Truth be known.... I am pretty sure Rick doesn't love it when we all pass him in our cats, but he is out there every windy day learning his new passion. His son-in-law just bought a G-Cat 5.7 and they are both very friendly and eager to learn how to sail.

I guess cats aren't for everybody... and this is a great way into the multi-hull sport without having to step a 30' mast.

The specs say it's only 14 feet long, thus the "pitchy" part.

Each to their own Tim. I'll be quite interested to see the report from the demo day on the 23rd. It would be great if someone from here could stop by. The impression from the video footage mentioned here before was that the outer hulls seem fairly small and it can tend to trip up at high speed (some footage on the norbanks website). But they have done a great job in getting the product out in the international market.

True enough Mark but I sail Cats for the excitement of being out on the wire at speed, not sitting on the tramp getting douched. If you took my wires away, I'd sell my cat and get a ski boat. Still, if I were off (I'll be in Bombay) on the 23rd I would make the 2hr. drive just to see it up close. I am always interested in anything new. But I think I would put longer ama's on it.

It's a nice little boat but at only 14 feet and with that little ama constantly going under in a good blow, well, can we get them to produce a 20 foot version, with 20 foot amas so you can fly the center hull? That's where my Trimaran love fest begins. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Something like a mini 60'!

"It's a nice little boat but at only 14 feet..."
As opposed to that monster F-16 ya got?

Exactly, from racing the F16 I have decided that's about as short as I want to go. Did you see their vido of all the stuffing that thing does when it's blowing? That's why. And if those ama's are only 12 feet, that's a 25% reudction from my f16, which is short enough allready when it comes to pitch-poling.

February 17 th, 2008
Love Stinks Regatta
Sail Honeymoon Dunedin Causeway
By Tampa Bay Catamaran Sailors Inc.
80 degrees and good winds prediction. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif" alt="" />

That was good - I needed a good belly chuckle this morning.

It definitely looks like it could be fun. Kind of looks like an International 14 with ammas (training wheels). But I agree, from the video it looks like it really wants to pitchpole. And it immediatly wants to turtle when it goes over. I would imagine righting it is quite difficult.

sm

Great to see all the interest in the Weta. The video on Nor'Banks website was from a 25-30 knot (and gusty) day and it was a tough decision to put it on the website. It was also several sailors(including the designer) who were pushing the envelope (aka : no dumping sheets!). The boat is tough to capsize in conditions under 25 knots. You right the boat by flooding one of the amas by removing the access port at the back of the ama. It turns 90 degrees and you right it like a monohull. The hull drains when you are upright again and you put the port back on and sail off. It is fun that you can push the envelope with the Weta. Looking forward to getting it out to some races and see how it matches up.

Looks like it could be fun,

It needs some inverted foils about a 1/3 back on the ama's-
you know, for lift.

well, can we get them to produce a 20 foot version, with 20 foot amas so you can fly the center hull? That's where my Trimaran love fest begins. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> Something like a mini 60'! [/quote]

I think Mike Lenemann on the west coast has that idea with the Multi 23 he's importing from China. I think there's been some buzz on SA on that too.

Dan

Seen the SeaCart yet? Yes, it's very expensive and it's 30 feet, not 20, but if they could shrink it to 20feet, and race it with 3 sails and two sailors, make it fold up like a Corsair for trailering, that would be very cool.

something kind of like this....
http://www.multi23.com/eng/___________________.html

I remember readin somewhere that the M23 is designed by one of the more succesful design teams from the ORMA 60 big trimaran scene. If experience has any bearing on quality of design then this M23 may be expected to be a good design.

Wouter