Take Her Home

After our little test drive, H. explained to me, with the same level of detail, the folding, derigging, mast stepping and making the Catri ready for transport. Again everything was recorded on video for later reuse.

On of the things that should really be done with care is the mast stepping. A lot can go wrong here. H. luckily invented a few tricks to make the process more safe.

Mast down process (4 x speed)

Defolded for better balance when stepping mast

Mast fixed for transport

H. very kindly offered me to stay over for the night so I could drive back to the Netherlands in day light. After a delightful BBQ with his family we go back to the Catri to pick it up and attach it to my car. Because the riding will be much better when the trailer is light, we put stuff like sails, rudder, daggerboards and other small stuff in the car.

Car and Boat ready for the big trip

The next morning we say good-bey and H. walks with me to the Catri. He really is a bit sad to let her go. When I drive away I'm all excited: although I've never driven before with such a combo, everything feels very light and easy and the first kilometres through Switzerland make me feel rich. I'm going to take her home!

Head out on the Highway...

At the German border I had to go to customs because I will have to import the Catri into the European Union. Luckily, H. had prepared the right forms and papers and except for the painfully slow and unkind swiss customs officer, everything went fine.

After a long drive with lots of traffic jams and 'Baustelle' I decided to make a stop near Bonn to have dinner and take some rest. I noticed I was pretty tired and realised it would be wise to have a short nap in the car before continuing the trip. Then I suddenly thought of the boat. Why not sleep in there? And so it happened that my first night on my new boat was on a parking along the highway.

That is a strange Caravan...

Not much room so keep in lane!

The night was a bit messy because of noisy truck drivers but it could not prevent a long deep sleep. When I climbed out of the hatch I was stared at by two kids with open mouths, standing besides their family Caravan. This type of Caravan they obviously never had seen before.

Home country (and naturally, it rains...)

After a long trip I arrived at Marina Muiderzand (near Amsterdam), where I had made arrangements for the boat to stay this season. In the pouring rain I took all the stuff out of the car and back into the cabin. Totally exhausted, I crashed directly to bed when I got home. It was quite a ride. 

But next week we will be sailing!

Test Drive

When I arrived at Lake Zurich the weather was beautiful. The owner, let's call him H. was well prepared and showed me the boat standing on it's trailer. When folded, it really looked strangely futuristic.
The general condition of the boat was very good. Apart from some repaired cracks at the beam / outrigger crossing of which I have read is a typical weak point of the Catri's I could not see anything suspicious. The interior looked superb. Of course this boat was only six years old!

I noticed that in my head, the decision was already made and I witnessed myself asking detail questions about rigging, not because I was just interested, but because I wanted to know how to do this myself when being back in the Netherlands with the boat!

The Catri rig is relatively complex: there are many lines and stoppers and it can be confusing in the beginning. Many question rose: How do I rig the mainsail? How do I fold the boat? And even more worrying: We would have to prepare the boat to be transported to the Netherlands. This means removing rudder, daggerboards, stepping the mast, removing all sails, and on and on.

Will I be able to get it all back together back home?

I asked H. to explain the boat while I was recording it on video. He agreed and it turned out H. to be a true talent! Systematically he explained rigging, folding, slipping and other stuff in a very clear and quiet way, and when appropriate, he gave directions to zoom in with the camera on specific details.

Excerpt of movie: moving the Catri into the lake

After filming more than an hour of material, I felt a bit more confident and we were ready to go for a little test drive.

There was little wind but this would be an ideal opportunity for H. to explain the improvements he made to this specific boat. Normally Catri's need a lot of wind because of the drag generated by the foils and wings. After some thorough analysis, H. changed the shape of the rudder and the ailerons on the back of the outriggers in a way that they don't drag so much but keep generating stabilised lift at higher speed.

Modified: winglet instead of twin ailerons for less drag

Original Catri ailerons

The effect of these modifications were immediately clear during the test trip: the Catri moved very light through the water and reacted very quickly to rudder movements.

On the water H. continued his lecture: exercises like reefing the mainsail and tacking were added to the video collection.

Beautiful day but not much wind

It was a wonderful afternoon on the water, although of course I had hoped for some more wind to feel the sensation of speed I had read so much about. However a strange feeling in my head told me I've fallen in love with this little trimaran already. So I told H. I would take her and we shook hands.

She's mine!

Attracted

When I was looking for a trimaran, the Catri's were high on my list.

My future boat had to be foldable and trailerable, so I could have chosen a Farrier or a Dragonfly. But the Catri promised to be more extreme with its foil daggerboards and lightweight design. In my Harbour close to Amsterdam there were a number of Farriers / Corsairs and Dragonflies but I really never had seen a Catri anywhere.

So when I noticed a Catri 23 for sale I knew I had to decide quickly since Catri’s are not on sale that much.

pictures of Catri 23 for sale in Switzerland

Compare it to something like when you’re looking for a fast BMW or Porsche and you suddenly encounter a Maserati within the price range: More beautiful, far more exclusive. But oh what a risk.

I knew from various internet sources that a Catri is a vulnarable boat, a boat that needs attention, and that the initial hulls were not without problems. On the other hand, performance was to be superb. After reading a blog of a UK Catri importer about sailing his new Catri 24 from Latvia to the UK I was convinced. This little Catri could be just what I was looking for.

I decided to email the owner some questions. He was very knowledgeable and seemed honest. There was a lot of interest for the boat, so I had to be quick. Since the Catri was in Switzerland it was not exactly close.

It took me one night of thinking (or was it dreaming) before I knew I just had to see this boat. I made arrangements at my work to take the day off and agreed with the owner that I could come by on Friday. I insisted on taking a test drive and pre agreed on a price based on a 100% condition of the boat. This seemed justified, if the boat was to be fine I’d rather take it home with me right away!