WILD FUN SAILING WITH A PRODUCTION CATAMARAN

[@niclaslinden8608]

I had a big smile on my face while you guys sailed those big waves. Lovely!! And I am so happy for Terry.

[@CatamaranImpi]

Aye Niclas - so nice to hear from you again ! We really enjoyed our time with Terry (I call him Terex) - it's been a big move from South Africa to the States and he really loves working with boats and all things marine, so we are happy for him too! Thanks mate!

[@johnsalter7891]

Brent, a fantastic run in the wild waters,what a video.Kent is a gentleman who guided the Wynn’s through their purchase of a catamaran , and your son also sailed with the Wynn’s of which I had noticed in previous seasons.

[@CatamaranImpi]

Hi John - so nice to hear from you again and thanks for the comment about the video. We had awesome fun and I thought it would be a nice share for those who enjoy sailing and also of course for Terry as a memory of his holiday with us. Yes, certainly Kent is a gentleman - I grew up with him being my younger cousin (our fathers being brothers) and he always has been a kind and sharing kind of guy. Yes, Terry sailed with The Wynns when they first purchased their boat and he and Yola are great mates with Jason and Nikki ( an awesome couple and so nice to see them enjoying their boating life). Cheers my friend ... Brent

[@seatravel8536]

Fine young man y'all have. Met him briefly a couple months back. He has a great mentor in Kent there.

[@CatamaranImpi]

Thanks Sea Travel and pleased you got to meet the lad. Certainly Kent is a great mentor for Terry and Terry certainly saying how much he enjoys meeting folks who love sailing and the freedom it can bring one. I think the trick is for buyers to know what they are buying and what is required after the purchase. Buying a boat is a big decision for most, and especially those who are doing it as a form of retirement. All that hard earned money through years and years of work means it's important for folks to 'get it right'. Cheers and thanks for the comment

[@piusstuder794]

Plenty of action in this video, great footage, I almost felt to be on Impi with you and Ana. I wish your son lots of success in his new position. Really loved your past few videos about the roaring 40’s, they are very informative and just great to watch. All the best for your trip back to Aus.

[@CatamaranImpi]

Hi Pius - we still dream of those beautiful chocolates you gave us and use the cooler bag all the time so we constantly wonder how things are going with you. I will try and get busy with the rest of Tasmania series soon ... what a great place that is :) We always love the trip from New Caledonia to Australia - it's a very pleasant sail in that direction so hopefully we will get to see you again. Cheers my friend ...

[@paulnaylor3301]

Wow Mr Impi that was some smashing sailing footage and you cracked it with some clear natural sounds .. put a big smile on my face .. looked as thou you where sailing well to windward,, some shots of the rate of knots and the wind angle and wind strength would have been very informative .... now I will watch it again ... jolly good show .. and good to see that sailing runs in the family .

[@CatamaranImpi]

Thank you Paul - I am pleased you enjoyed it and appreciate the feedback especially since I am wondering if more of these 'short off the cuff videos' would be enjoyed or not. Sometimes it's easier to publish shorter 'not so well edited videos' given we sail a lot and have little time for editing. And yes, sailing runs in the veins of our family - I remember my dad and uncle (Kent - Just Catamarans - father)buying yachts to get the family out of South Africa many years ago. In the end we all remained, but the yachting lived on. I also remember raising some eyebrows when we elected to go the catamaran route - lol! Thanks for engaging with us and really pleased you enjoyed the sailing.

[@paulnaylor3301]

Thank you Brent for the reply I would like to know if Impi tacked in those wind strengths without having to use the motors ???

[@realulli]

@@paulnaylor3301 while I can't speak for Impi, last year, I sailed on a Lagoon 450, which tacked in 22 knot winds just fine.

[@CatamaranImpi]

@@realulli - Yes, the Lagoons tack without any effort at all in strong winds ... we never concern ourselves come time to tack.

[@simonhantler8062]

Brent good to see the lagoon thru it’s paces. As a matter of interest, when you bought your cat did you look at leopard, being in cape town and all. What made your decision for lagoon over leopard?

[@CatamaranImpi]

Hi there Simon ... Yes, we did look at Leopard especially being from Cape Town and knowing many of the Leopard people who are great folks and friends of ours. I think boats are a very personal choice ... there is no general right or wrong but there are things in a boat that tick boxes for individuals and the Lagoon 440 ticked many 'homely' boxes for us. At the time we owned a Catana 471 which also was a great boat, but for us when it came to cruising we really liked the 440 ... the enclosed back which has some of the safety features of a mono hull cockpit (in heavy weather cats should place stern to weather and deploy warps to prevent surfing, so the stern of the boat is very important) and we also liked the bridge which is contentious for many sailors, but again, personal preferences and we really love that bridge which creates so much additional space on a 45 foot cat and really is an awesome space in heavy weather conditions. Another feature we enjoyed at the time (models change with times) is how close to the wind the 440 can sail. Leopard had a single long spreader whilst the 440 had two shorter spreaders up the mast. This meant one could bring the genoa in tighter than the Leopard before the leech of the genoa became restricted by the spreader tips. On many passages across the oceans this gave us tighter angles when tacking - i.e. Panama to Galapagos. We were getting a closer 'point of sail' than many monohulls sailing with us and the Leopards lost ground here. We have yet to find a monohull or cat that sails as close to the wind on passages as the 440 - it has surprised so many of our friends crossing oceans with us. But as with all things, what works for a boat in one situation does not necessarily work for a boat in a different situation, so the 440 would really loose ground in winds aft of midship and that is mostly due to the genoa track position. To get around that, we used a barber hauler configuration to open the gap 'off wind' and I quite liked the fact that although not well configured for 'off wind sailing', we could sail close hauled and still 'make a plan' when winds were aft midship. To be sure, both Leopard and Lagoon (and many other brands) are great catamarans, and we spent months and months researching which cat we would buy, and ultimately, the choice as mentioned came down to 'personal preference'. Many of our friends who purchased Leopards are very happy boat owners and we almost never see folks unhappy with their choice in boat, no matter the model or brand, so in the end it proves that one should choose a boat that fits your own criteria. I would always recommend to folks who want to live onboard for years and years, to choose a craft that has the home comforts, can carry the weight whilst maintaining a decent level of 'performance' ... and for us, that is a cat that can achieve 150 - 250nm day averages on passages. Impi is VERY HEAVY - we have every 'home comfort' one can think of including dive compressor and dive gear , full size home washing machine etc. etc. - the boat performs well given the loads (we are NOT a race cat). Our Catana 471 was a great boat with dagger boards for close hauled sailing, but to be honest, I think the 440 gets as close without dagger boards and that has really surprised us. At the end of the day, I always recommend folks to consider what is important to them as individuals when purchasing a boat ... and most production boats will take one safely around the world but may need some mods along the way if they are to last.

[@ynAMe6Aj]

Drat. I was hoping to get some information on how the boat performed.

[@laurentfroggy6631]

That was some great action sailing Brent..... if and when I buy a boat I'll know who to call ;-) Thanks Brent and best from sunny and cool HKG. Bisous a Ana of course

[@CatamaranImpi]

Hey Laurent - thanks for the comment and yes, an awesome sail with my lad :) Thanks for the comment about buying a boat - all one can ask for is to give the lad a shot at it along with other brokers when looking for a great deal. Ana sends love too ... Cheers for now Brent

[@arumrunner]

Looks like a hoot, good crew on a solid vessel. I foresee a dagger board refit in your next haulout! lol

[@CatamaranImpi]

arumrunner - awesome fun and just how we love it :). The dagger board - lol :D Actually our previous catamaran (Catana 471) had daggerboards but with the way the Genoa is set up on Impi we sail as close to the wind, of not closer. The trick is the double spreaders up the mast which are shorter than the single longer spreaders on many cats and the track position which allows one to get the Genoa in real close before the spreader tips restrict the leech. On newer models the self tacking track avoids all this as the Genoa leech passes ahead of the mast. Cheers my friend and thanks for engaging with us

[@simonhantler8062]

Thanks Brent, some good advice there.

[@moz1953]

great to see a wild ride Brent, if i'm not mistaken wasn't Terry involved with the Wynns and their Leopard purchase ? they have settled in to the cruising life with their usual verve and panache, as ever very best to you and Ana

[@CatamaranImpi]

moz aye Moz and thanks for the comment. Yes indeed - Terry and Yolande feature in Gone With The Wynns and are friends with Jason and Niki. We had actually hoped they would be in this region when Terry and Yola arrived at Impi but on the other hand we got to spend more ‘alone time’ with them, so all good. I love how Jason and Nikki have settled into sailing life and I think they are awesome people. I hope you’re having a great weekend

[@moz1953]

thank you for taking the time to reply Brent - always appreciated

[@SailPalarran]

Another very good video. What was your SOG, AWS, and AWA? I've only had a few days when the winds were above 25 knots with small waves. Now that I'm in the Bahamas I hope to do more sailing like this than in open waters.

[@CatamaranImpi]

Hi SailPalarran - SOG is all over the place and I never encourage people to sail beyond what 'feels comfortable and safe for the boat' . SOG is influenced by many factors such as currents, tidal flow etc. etc. so I never place much measure in what folks claim to be achieving on their boats. The AWS was around 45 knots and the AWA was around 30*, which on the 440 is easily achieved thanks to the shorter spreaders up the mast which allows the leech of the genoa to come in closer. Of course when reefed on the genoa the leech can pass ahead of the spreader tips so that starts to factor out the spreader length. Main car set well to windward of center so the boom lies centered, reefed in hard but trimmed with no weather helm and she flies :) Sailing in the Bahamas is fun - loved our time there and to be sure, in a strong blow the waves can get steep and closely spaced too - enjoy Cheers my friend and thanks for commenting

[@TWROC96]

I just found your channel while watching past videos of "Gone with the Wynns" and your son sailed with them (2016) and mentioned you. I'm so glad he did mention your channel because I am really enjoying your adventures as well as the insightful information you provide. I bet Terry will be a huge success if he is anything like his uncle Kent. Kent worked so well with the Wynns that their videos probably led customers to Just Catamaran in Fort Lauderdale. All the best to you and Happy New Year 2019.

[@CatamaranImpi]

Thank you for the awesome comment :) Yes, Terry did quite the 'shout out' for us which was nice and today we got a message from Nikki and Jason (Gone With The Wynns) to say they will probably be catching up with us this year. I am sometimes a bit slow in putting out movies but we do try to share the things we learn and unfortunately not every movie, but we try. Terry has now moved full time into sales and we hope he does well for a lad that is more about people than than the sale, but then again Kent has always been the same and it got him far in life too. Take care and thanks for hooking up with us ... much appreciated

[@redlinesailing5099]

Great videos, thank you. Do you ever feel like you wish your boat was faster or had daggerboards for upwind performance? I'm realizing the biggest brands and x-charter boats are such a better value of price and comfort then the lower production Chinese or French daggerboard cats, but I'm afraid I will want more performance. Appreciate your thoughts.

[@CatamaranImpi]

Hi REDLINE SAILING - thanks for the compliment and thank you for engaging with us. Our previous catamaran actually had dagger boards - it was a Catana 471. The Lagoon 440 actually sails on a surprisingly close point of sail and mostly because of the genoa track position combined with mast spreader lengths. The 440 has two shorter spreaders on the mast as opposed to some cats that have a single or more longer spreaders, and what happens is that the genoa leech gets restricted at a certain point by the spreader tips. So on the Lagoon 440, the genoa tracks sit on top of the coach roof and the genoa can be brought in really tight for great 'upwind sailing' ... it surprises many sailors especially on mono hulls to see a cat get this close to the wind. The issue with the 440 genoa track position comes in with winds aft of midship and this is where the 440 really falls off in performance ... and the way to get around that is to set a barber hauler which on the 440 we do sooner than on many other catamarans. I quite like that the 440 performs well with a barber hauler configuration off the wind and has the ability to sail close to the wind. I guess some debate could be had about VMG (Velocity Made Good) and or CMG (course Made Good) as it relates to the speed / heading made good of the vessel in the direction of travel when it comes to dagger boards ... dagger boards can provide a better 'grip' reducing 'drift' according to some, but then again many catamarans with dagger boards do not carry the keels of those which do not have dagger boards. So I would conclude the benefit of dagger boards is shallow draft which means anchoring in shallower waters closer to the beach for example. Another benefit of dagger boards is being able to retract the boards in heavy seas dropping off ocean waves as the boat has less tendency to 'trip' over itself. This is why we deploy warps sooner to slow the boat down on keeled catamarans. What we have come to feel is that the 440 holds course and direction as well as our previous catamaran which had dagger boards and I personally do not feel a specific need to ever look toward dagger boards again. Some tricks when sailing close hauled on the 440 which we apply because we have a water maker on board, is to fill the water tanks (forward) which causes the bows to lower into the ocean. The result is that the dug in bows act to hold the boat close hauled. Off the wind we tend to dump water because it's no problem for us to make water again. When it comes to performance the question you would probably want to ask yourself is what order of importance is speed verses comfort. I say this because many performance catamarans are not designed to carry weight, and when weighted they drop quickly in performance. You will no doubt notice that performance catamarans generally have narrower hulls and to get space inside them, the designers have to raise either the floor level, bed close to ceiling etc. in order to find enough width in the hulls. Personally, I really struggled with sleeping close to the ceiling, so this was something we needed to consider when choosing our 'live aboard and cruise the world cat'. We also wanted a great size bed with room around the sides and did not want to have to crawl over our partner to get into bed or be 'up against a wall'. It may sound like a small compromise, but when one is sailing 24/7 year in and year out, the little comforts add to the enjoyment. When we were offered a great deal on a performance catamaran (I will not mention the brand here) I asked the builder if I could still carry the weight - my washing machine is a house hold style washing machine, dive compressors, generator, heavy dinghy etc. etc. and he immediately said 'no, the hulls will drop quickly and the performance will go 'squat'. He told me I needed to adjust my mind to accept a more basic but quicker way of getting from point A to B. So, what we looked for was a cat that could carry the weight whilst achieving a fair performance - for us it needed to achieve anywhere between 150 - 220nm (say 180nm) day averages which I believe is still on the safe side of ploughing through the oceans day in and day out. Some of our friends on very fast catamarans tell us they sit inside their boat some nights fearing they may hit something at the speeds they are doing. Of course we all fear this at any speed, but I would rather hit an object with a slower boat built from tougher materials than a faster boat built from light materials. Some nights when it's really dark out there and Impi is crashing through the oceans, squall after squall - Ana will look over at me and say, 'Man, this is like blind trust and faith in God at it's best' ... and it is kinda like that - we trust not to collide with something. Then again one could argue the point that having speed is great to avoid approaching weather systems which is a good point. What we do is to make sure we understand weather - we study it and make sure we choose our windows well, and we download weather gribs twice every day so we can 'place the boat' where it needs to be. I am speaking here as a 'cruising catamaran sailor' and it all comes down to what is more important to you - boats are very much 'personal preference choices'. We've had friends sell their performance cats for heavier production cats because 'home comforts' became important to them, and then too, we have had friends sell their production cats for performance cats because they wanted to get places faster. In the final analysis, I must say that even when we crossed oceans with friends on an Outremer 5x catamaran, they were never in a port more than a day earlier than us, and whilst a day can be a lot of time in sailing, it's negligible compared to the amount of time one spends at destinations. There is no right or wrong choice of boat - only right or wrong for the things that are important to you as an individual, a couple a family or whatever tribe you wish to be :) These are our opinions and we hope they help you to get closer to a decision that best suits you.

[@redlinesailing5099]

Wow, this is a great perspective and incredibly valuable opinion for me. Thank you so much. Additionally, the newer charter cats are shaving weight from 5 years ago and performance has improved. I'll favor the Admiral's priorities and give up very little, if anything. I'll see you out there in a couple of years. Thanks again!

[@majesticmark6054]

Aha,, Just what I love. Sailors who love to sail. We don't see this kind of sailing enough. ^_^

[@CatamaranImpi]

Thanks for saying so Mark - it's really difficult to capture the vibe of sailing and takes a lot of work. We will keep trying to capture as much as we can Cheers my friend Brent

[@simonhantler8062]

love the music. rock on impi.

[@CatamaranImpi]

Thanks Simon - we are finally getting there with the music :D Cheers mate

[@mikeyc181]

Wow, awesome sailing footage, i dont understand why the girls were not up there with you guys ??

[@CatamaranImpi]

lol - great comment Mickey - but someone had to be cooking lunch right ;). When Ana and I sail alone she would be up on the bridge for sure. Camilla was on her first powerful sail and the 3 lads were up there getting in each others way. Actually, it was not that bad - Terry and I were alternating at the helm or starboard genoa sheet, Andy was glued to Port side genoa sheets and I was taking some footage between for the fun of it. I think everyone left for home feeling exhilarated after that sail though - Impi took it in great stride. Cheers my friend From a new location today off Lifou ISland in the Loyalties - beautiful place to drop anchor a few moments ago and an awesome night off Mare Island.

[@wesleyrobinson8817]

I love the raw sailing footage with no music 😁 thank you. I know you have gotten many comments about that kind of footage. There are so many different Sailing channels but you always have the best actual Sailing footage. Everyone else is all about showing you around the towns and anchorages. That’s why I stopped watching la vagabonde, I don’t think they actually do Sailing anymore, they are more of a tour service for local towns :( thank you IMPI !! You know what would make an incredible video, if you just posted the camera on deck when you are out on the water and upload the raw footage with no music or editing :) I would be sooo incredibly excited to see something like that. No one does that... You could put up an hour video of that and I would probably watch it 10 times in one day ;) it would give us a taste of sitting on deck. Thank you so much for sharing. Good luck to your son in yacht sales!

[@snoopybluejeans]

I like the rawness myself.

[@CatamaranImpi]

Hi Wesley and thanks for the feedback. It was a pleasure for us to share this footage with you. I am trying to find techniques to capture the rawness of the ocean and here are some of the challenges I find. a. The ocean looks very 'flat' compared to what one is experiencing in reality and especially more so, since we film from a 'higher position' on the bridge deck. This means I need to shoot in 4K or 2.7K at least. The issue with this is the frame rate which on my camera becomes limited, so I set it for the highest available frame rate which means huge files (lots of data per minute). Each clip is GB's in data so my storage disks cost me mega bucks and this is without streaming. For this reason I usually try to capture 'moments' but to be sure, one is usually picking up the camera when things are 'calming' so it would be nice to be able to roll the camera when 'all hell is breaking loose'. One could use a bluetooth connection to record whilst busy at the helm, but then on the GoPro the battery runs down quite quickly. b. SOUND It's difficult to explain how wind rattles through a microphone and we have had many comments about that too, so I have been really working hard at sound capturing using multiple devices. Putting fur onto the Hero5 works well and I like that the Hero5 tends to pick up sound from various directions so one needs to figure how to hold the camera to capture the correct sounds, how to muffle it on certain angles and open channels on other angles - it becomes a but of a 'hit an miss ' scenario. You would laugh if you saw how we use cameras in different positions for the sole purpose of picking up the sounds. Then we need to figure the best footage for sound on each camera and take the best sound from each for those frames by matching them to the actual footage frame. It becomes a very lengthy process. So we are getting better in understanding for example how to dampen and open sounds on one camera like the Hero 5 but it's still work in progress and I do wish they would focus on a camera to the future that allows one to control the microphones for multiple sound directions that can be separated if need be. So for example - one can mute the upwind side microphone and deliver the sound from the 'wind shadow side' of the camera, or from a combination (mic on the side or bottom) position. The Hero 5 is actually getting there - I have found that by holding it in a certain manner, my hand position can improve sound in wind conditions but it becomes difficult to keep a steady hand for quality in footage sometimes, and then I a also helming he boat and trimming sails - lol. I think a video of me doing this would be great under the 'comedy section'. Anyway guys (Wesley and Snoopy below) I really appreciate this feedback and it encourages me to work harder at getting the vibe to you! Cheers for now Brent

[@soundbeings1]

Great sailing! Not bad for an 'old guy'! Showing the youngsters how it's done! Very informative - and fun - vids. Thank you. Don't know about your lad, think peeps should be getting in touch with you my friend for cat advice! Keep up the great work. Fair winds from NS Canada. (What speeds were you getting btw?).

[@CatamaranImpi]

Aye Phil - sorry for the late reply - I had replied previously but must have had an internet issue as I see not posted here. Old guy - lol - you sound like Terry :D Have a great weekend Phil and thanks for engaging with us. Cheers my friend ... Brent

[@soundbeings1]

No probs mate - thanks for the reply. I speak as an 'old guy' of 52 ! best. Phil

[@CatamaranImpi]

Aye Phil - we are definitely the older at 54. Cheers mate :)

[@MOTORVESSELFREEDOM]

Terry was involved in selling my boat......Great Guy!!!!

[@CatamaranImpi]

How awesome is that ! I think you were his first client John :)

[@patrickcoleman3]

I can appreciate the great video of you guys flogging into the wind, myself Id like a spray dodger. Cheers hope to see some more of Tassie soon

[@CatamaranImpi]

patrick coleman Hi Patrick and nice to hear from you again. Yes - I understand the dodger and some were tempted we put it up (as you know the 440 has a dodger to cover the flybridge) but I wanted them to ‘feel the spirit of the ocean’ and one only gets that vibe sailing without it. To be fair, most of our friends with 440’s sail with their dodgers up, so perhaps I am just an unusual chap :D Thanks again and I will see if I can get into that Tassie video after one or two chores on the boat. I hate to say it - but with Impi approaching 10 years age I need to remove and reseal the windows and that’s not a nice chore ... a two day job! Cheers my friend and hope it’s been a great weekend

[@patrickcoleman3]

You know I think the best footage I ever seen on any utube channels is when you guys crossed the Bass Strait. Was epic I done it 4 times. myself but in the Spirit of Tasmania. I have to say huge respect to you and yours. Cheers.

[@CatamaranImpi]

@@patrickcoleman3 Thank you Patric. That was epic for us - awesome respect for those oceans but so rewarding to sail down there. Once one gets 'the feel for it' - riding breaking waves and watching dolphins leaping out of them it becomes so exhilarating and one loves / treasures that feeling of 'feeling alive' ! Cheers

[@aardvarkmindshank]

How many reefs in the main? :)

[@CatamaranImpi]

Hi Aardvark (ant eater) - 3 reefs in the main i.e. reefed fully :)

[@aardvarkmindshank]

@@CatamaranImpi very sensible indeed. Good speed from just the genoa! Noice!!

[@CatamaranImpi]

@@aardvarkmindshank - the genoa was reefed 2nd reef and the main was reefed 3rd reef. So we had some main sail up and some genoa too :) Cheers my friend

[@aardvarkmindshank]

@@CatamaranImpiaah I see. Very good pace with smart use of the canvas. Exhilarating I'm sure!

[@corvuse.2873]

A lot of bug eating grins (without the bugs).

[@CatamaranImpi]

lol - good one! Talking of bugs, I must tell you that I have been surprised on occasion when I feel like we are flying through the oceans, gritting our teeth and being very attentive to wind shifts and so on, and then ... suddenly out of nowhere a butterfly cruises past my head ... going forward - lol. It's very humbling ..

[@robertjarrell5195]

How do I get in touch w Terry

[@CatamaranImpi]

Robert Jarrell hi Robert - you can contact him at [e-mail] Cheers mate

[@Aqu181]

now that is sailing wow

[@CatamaranImpi]

Pleased you like that and I think I should copy your profile name with a little twist --- 'Fun Sailing With Impi' Cheers mate

[@scr5051]

Be careful with copyright. Excelent channel

[@CatamaranImpi]

Thank you scr5051 and really appreciate you saying so. It's been a difficult route where I initially struggled for music, but in these days I use the KZbin music policy section to verify which artists allow the use of their music. It seems there, that we can use certain music on the understanding we do not monetise, and that the record label holder gets all advertisement rights. Under the copyright strikes section of the video editor, the copyright message comes up saying I can either remove the song or I can leave it there on the understanding that xxx has all rights to revenue stream from my video. This is why I am not monetising or earning from my videos - I want those viewers who enjoy sailing or travelling with us to have the best experience I can bring to them. This is a topic that concerns me though, so if you are more in tune with the legal side of this, I would appreciate further advice to what I have shared. Many thanks Brent

[@mikeferguson2828]

Love to see a cat being worked and not motoring along Brent 👍

[@CatamaranImpi]

Hi Mike and nice to hear from you again. I think cats need to be worked to keep them in good shape. It kinda keeps everything flexible and moving and definitely we can see in Impi that the boat enjoys it and keeps it in great shape. Cheers for now