Sailing a Hobie T2 and Weta Trimaran

Bad Cunningham adjustment notwithstanding, we had a "champagne" sailing day. Ideal conditions - winds up to nearly 20 but rarely more and surprisingly flat water at the same time. The T2 set a personal best for upwind speed. The Weta just did what a Weta does if you're willing to push it a little...

[@dawnkey9176]

Enjoying your videos and advice! "What can ya' do?" Keep 'em coming!

[@andreteixeira5635]

Great fun! Which one of them you think is faster? The Weta or the T2?

[@TomKirkman1]

The DP-N for the T2 is 77.5 and the DP-N for the Weta is 78.5, so the T2 should be just a tad bit faster, like the H16 at 76.5. But on the race course there are other factors in play. The Weta can out-turn the T2 or H16 by miles. It's not a contest. I can go into a turn, come out the other side and be back up to full speed before a board-less cat has even come through the wind. So depending on the course, sailing a shorter course and turning more often gives the Weta an advantage. On longer courses these two cats will have a bit more straight line speed and could gradually walk away from the Weta. Conversely, the Weta has a spinnaker-reaching sail that can give it a speed edge on certain points of sail if the wind is sufficient.

[@yvesdanes6653]

Tom, thanks for your new nice video. Could you tell me which speed you hit. I think it's 18 knots. Is it true?

[@TomKirkman1]

I did not have my speed puck with me so can't say for sure. It is possible that I might have done 18 knots, downwind, at some point. Conditions were very good for speed that day. Water was very flat. The guy in the T2 did record 16.6 MPH (about 14.5 knots) upwind at some point. The reality is that none of these small multi-hulls are going to do much more than about 15 knots upwind. To get close to 20 or more you will have to be moving downwind and in most cases require some sort of large headsail - a spinnaker, reacher, Code 0, etc.

[@stupedcraig]

Looking into getting a smaller boat for my small family. Which one do you think would be more family friendly? 3-4 people onboard.

[@TomKirkman1]

The T2 will carry a much larger payload than the Weta.

[@stupedcraig]

@@TomKirkman1 Thanks!