Haha no they're just really old and over-uv exposed, but I'm too cheap to replace them yet. The little opening hatches in the front windows are lifesavers in the heat!
Hi, very nice video, thanks for sharing. I noticed the daggerboard case looks rather new. Did you build/install it after the boat was built? Did you find it very difficult? I have a Jarcat 5 without daggerboards which gives rather poor upwind performance and makes tacking in light wind a bit hit-and-miss.
Thanks! Sorry for the delay in replying! No, the daggerboard case isn't new, at least by me. I believe the original builder may have installed one after the fact, for the same reasons you mention. My Jarcat had (I've since sold this boat due to lack of off-season storage space and a new baby) small skeg keels, and I experimented with sailing without the daggerboard down and experience the same issues you mention. While it would sail, the sideslip was very noticeable, and forget about tacking! It would either refuse to come all the way up, or come up just enough to get caught in irons. That being said, I found it to have the rather typical small catamaran aversion to tacking...very light with lots of structure above the waterline, so low on inertia and high on windage. I worked out a process that worked great though. As I begin the tack, I would keep the main sheeted in and let the headsail run some to encourage the boat to weathervane around the daggerboard. As she came into the eye, I would loose the mainsheet and sheet in the soon-to-be windward jibsheet, backwinding the jib and reversing the weathervane effect, which would push her the rest of the way around to fall down into the new tack. Then simply loose the windward jibsheet and sheet in the main to arrest the weathervane effect and get her accelerating, and then sheet the leeward jibsheet in and set the jib. If all the above failed and she got caught in irons, she was very good about letting you steer her backwards into the new tack though, so it wasn't really all that frustrating the few times it did happen. Were I to have another Jarcat type boat that needed a daggerboard, I would be very tempted to experiment with either a Jim Michalak-style off-centerboard (think leeboard that pivots like a centerboard and functions on either tack) or a centerboard that was mounted to the underside of the bridgedeck. I've always been mildly concerned with trunks that penetrate the hull due to how difficult it is to inspect/maintain them inside the slot, and daggerboards can really ruin your day (or whole sailing season) if you strike something underwater at speed, especially in boats the size of a Jarcat. Something's gotta give. The centerboard concepts I mentioned above would simply swing up if you hit a deadhead, and I don't really think something like a Jarcat would notice the decrease in foil efficiency from a foil that enters the water at the surface rather than below the hull. Jarcats can move, but they're not exactly race cats...if you're pushing it to the point that you're cavitating your centerboard, you've probably long since overwhelmed the meager initial stability afforded by your street-legal 8.5 foot beam... *edited for grammer. It's later and I'm a few beers deep ;)
I love this video. Beautiful ⛵ boat. I love the interior shots. I would love to see more. Thanks. Great job.
Thanks! Hopefully I can get more video soon. I had to re-splice my standing rigging...forgot to factor in the Amsteel's 3% stretch factor haha.
Nice work. Are the windows "filmed" or an opaque base material?I've never thought of letting a hatch into the plexiglass.
Haha no they're just really old and over-uv exposed, but I'm too cheap to replace them yet.
The little opening hatches in the front windows are lifesavers in the heat!
Hi, very nice video, thanks for sharing. I noticed the daggerboard case looks rather new. Did you build/install it after the boat was built? Did you find it very difficult? I have a Jarcat 5 without daggerboards which gives rather poor upwind performance and makes tacking in light wind a bit hit-and-miss.
Thanks! Sorry for the delay in replying! No, the daggerboard case isn't new, at least by me. I believe the original builder may have installed one after the fact, for the same reasons you mention. My Jarcat had (I've since sold this boat due to lack of off-season storage space and a new baby) small skeg keels, and I experimented with sailing without the daggerboard down and experience the same issues you mention. While it would sail, the sideslip was very noticeable, and forget about tacking! It would either refuse to come all the way up, or come up just enough to get caught in irons.
That being said, I found it to have the rather typical small catamaran aversion to tacking...very light with lots of structure above the waterline, so low on inertia and high on windage. I worked out a process that worked great though. As I begin the tack, I would keep the main sheeted in and let the headsail run some to encourage the boat to weathervane around the daggerboard. As she came into the eye, I would loose the mainsheet and sheet in the soon-to-be windward jibsheet, backwinding the jib and reversing the weathervane effect, which would push her the rest of the way around to fall down into the new tack. Then simply loose the windward jibsheet and sheet in the main to arrest the weathervane effect and get her accelerating, and then sheet the leeward jibsheet in and set the jib. If all the above failed and she got caught in irons, she was very good about letting you steer her backwards into the new tack though, so it wasn't really all that frustrating the few times it did happen.
Were I to have another Jarcat type boat that needed a daggerboard, I would be very tempted to experiment with either a Jim Michalak-style off-centerboard (think leeboard that pivots like a centerboard and functions on either tack) or a centerboard that was mounted to the underside of the bridgedeck. I've always been mildly concerned with trunks that penetrate the hull due to how difficult it is to inspect/maintain them inside the slot, and daggerboards can really ruin your day (or whole sailing season) if you strike something underwater at speed, especially in boats the size of a Jarcat. Something's gotta give. The centerboard concepts I mentioned above would simply swing up if you hit a deadhead, and I don't really think something like a Jarcat would notice the decrease in foil efficiency from a foil that enters the water at the surface rather than below the hull. Jarcats can move, but they're not exactly race cats...if you're pushing it to the point that you're cavitating your centerboard, you've probably long since overwhelmed the meager initial stability afforded by your street-legal 8.5 foot beam...
*edited for grammer. It's later and I'm a few beers deep ;)