Finally a bit of summer weather when it isn't blowing 30 knots. We have had a few sails, with a beach launch, which has been a pleasant change from sailing inside the harbour. Nice to sail in beautiful blue coastal waters, and visit virtually empty beaches further up the coast
see video link below
Bryan, I am thinking of building a Duo 480. What are the max wind speeds and wave heights you feel comfortable sailing her in? How does she sail with just one sail up. Cheers Andy Duncan
ReplyDeleteHi Andy
ReplyDeleteI only just saw your comment, so apologies for not getting back before now. I mostly sail with my wife, so in the interests of not putting her off the boat, I usually go out only in ideal sailing conditions- eg 12 to 15 knots. Having said that , I have been caught out a couple of times but have coped ok. I have yet to sail in much of a wave height,so i cant really answer fully on that one. The boat sails ok on one sail, but with my boomless set up it is easy to de-power the sails so normally thats all I do if I am going too hard and fast up wind. On a reach I have yet to get overpowered, so I havent reached full potential yet. Sitting on 10 yo 12 knots is fun, with best speed so far at 12.6 knots
regards
Hi Bryan, despite my attempting to look on this site several times I have singularly failed to spot your response in February - so sorry for my apparent rudeness, a combination of "operator error" and working abroad a lot this year. Thank you for your feedback it is very helpful. Cheers Andy
ReplyDeleteHi Bryan,
ReplyDeleteHave read your comments and experiences with DUO 480, can you still advise an older man if it would be wise to buy a DUO 480? There might be one on market, have not yet visited the seller, but seems to be on OK conditions. Looking for a smaller sailing boat, to sail shorter trips on the coast line, and as my crew not like harsh conditions, we will try to sail only when forecasts are good.
Would be glad if you also could give an update how you like the boat and your feelings and toughts under sail, compared to conventional smaller sail boats with a keel.
Best regards
Kenneth
Hi Kenneth
ReplyDeleteI guess it depends what you call older: I am not exactly young in any case. My own is set up as well as I could manage, keeping simplicity yet robustness in mind. I have a custom made trailer so launching and retrieving is as easy as it possibly could be , bearing in mind the size of the boat. The Duo 480 Jigsaw is easy to rig and simple to sail, in its standard configuration. It is faster than any cruising trailer sailer of comparable size and is faster than, for example, a Tiki 21 if you want to compare smaller cruising catamarans.
I would be curious to know which boat is for sale as some of the builders of Bernd's designs were posting on the K Designs chat forum during construction, so if is one of these then I may be able to comment further on what was shown during the original construction and the rig etc as posted by the builder at the time.
The only negative thing I could really say about my boat is that like all bi plane rigs it doesnt like sailing on a dead flat reach as one sail gets blanketed by the other, so the solution is to sail upwind a bit more and then down wind on a deeper reach if your destination is effectively a flat reach the whole way. I have never found this to be a problem, however it would not be an ideal setup for a race boat, which the Duo 480 is not. A catamaran sails much flatter than a monohull so hardly tilts over at all, but of course you need to be aware of the limits and sail accordingly. I have got a boomless sail set up so it is easy to power down the sails , and even fully furl one of them , which I have never had to do . The design goes up wind better with its asymmetric hulls than it has any right to do, partially also from the bi plane rig, and sails effortlessly on a reach. hope this helps
did your plans come PDF or did you need to get a program to read files ?
ReplyDeleteGreetings Brian. I am looking to build a boat in a couple of years and have got the list down to about 4. All catamarans. I gather you are in NZ and wonder if it would be possible to view yours at some stage to help with the decision. I am in Taupo but occasionally travel to both Ak and Wgtn but would be prepared to travel wherever to see it. Many thanks, Paul.
ReplyDeletesure Paul
ReplyDeleteI recently came across your blog and have been reading along. I thought I would leave my first comment. I don't know what to say except that I have enjoyed reading. Nice blog. I will keep visiting this blog very often.
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