A catboat (alternate spelling: cat boat), or a cat-rigged sailboat, is a sailing vessel characterized by a single mast carried well forward (i. In some cases less is more The purpose of this article is to give an overview Sailing is the art of controlling a Sailing vessel. By changing the Rigging, Rudder and dagger or centre board a Sailor manages the force The mast of a sailing ship is a tall vertical or near vertical Spar, or arrangement of Spars which supports the Sails Large ships have several masts e. , near the front of the boat).
Although any boat with a single sail and a mast carried well forward is 'technically' a catboat, the traditional catboat has a wide beam approximately half the length of the boat, a centerboard, and a single gaff-rigged sail. The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point or at the mid-point of its length centreboard is a retractable Keel which pivots out of a slot in the hull of a Sailboat, known as a centerboard trunk (US or case Gaff rig is a Sailing rig (configuration of sails in which the Sail is four-cornered Fore-and-aft rigged controlled at its peak and usually Some catboats such as the Barnegat Bay type and more modern catboat designs carry a Bermuda sail. Barnegat Bay is a small brackish arm of the Atlantic Ocean, approximately 30 miles (50 km long along the coast of Ocean County, New Jersey The term Bermuda rig refers to a configuration of mast and Rigging for a type of Sailboat and is also known as a Marconi rig; this is the typical A jib is sometimes added, but this may require a bowsprit, and technically creates a sloop sail-plan. A jib (also spelled jibb) is a triangular Staysail set ahead of the foremost mast of a sailing boat The bowsprit, or boltsprit, of a Sailing vessel is a pole extending forward from the vessel's prow For the military definition of sloop see Sloop-of-war. For the open learning project see SLOOP Project. A sail-plan is a set of drawings usually prepared by a naval architect.
It is generally accepted that the origin of the catboat type was in New York around 1840 and from there spread east and south as the virtues of the type - simplicity, ease of handling, shallow draft, large capacity - were discovered. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous The Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST internal designation HT-7U is an experimental Superconducting Tokamak Magnetic fusion energy South is one of Cardinal directions and is opposite to the North.
Historically, catboats were used for fishing and transport in the coastal waters around Cape Cod, Narragansett Bay, New York and New Jersey. Cape Cod (or simply the Cape to most New Englanders is a Peninsula nearly coextensive with Barnstable County Massachusetts and forming the easternmost Narragansett Bay is a Bay and Estuary on the north side of Rhode Island Sound. New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous New Jersey ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. Some were fitted with bowsprits for swordfishing and others were used as 'party boats' with canvas-sided, wood-framed summer cabins that could be rolled up.
Around the turn of the 19th century, catboats were adapted for racing, and long booms and gaffs, bowsprits and large jibs were fitted to capture as much wind as possible. In Sailing, a boom is a Spar (pole along the foot (bottom of a Fore and aft rigged Sail, that greatly improves control of the angle The decline of racing and advent of small, efficient gasoline engines eliminated the need for large sailplans, and catboats today are used as pleasure craft for day sailing and cruising, and have the virtues of roominess, stability and simple handling, though many catboats have poorer upwind performance than well-designed sloop-rigged craft. An engine is a mechanical device that produces some form of output from a given input A day sailer or dayboat is a small Sailboat without sleeping accommodations but which is larger than a Dinghy. For the military definition of sloop see Sloop-of-war. For the open learning project see SLOOP Project.
One of the most well-known catboats is the 12-foot (3. Mystic Seaport: The Museum of America and the Sea is a Living history Maritime museum situated along the banks of the Mystic River in Mystic Connecticut 7 m) Beetle Cat daysailer. A Beetle Cat is a 12'4" Catboat first built in 1920 in New Bedford Massachusetts by members of the Beetle family Fleets of these one-design boats are found in harbors all across New England, often competing in races. One-Design is a Racing method where all Vehicles or Boats have identical or very similar designs or models History See also History of New England New England's earliest inhabitants were Algonquian -speaking Native Americans including the In the 1960's, Breck Marshall based his 18-foot (5. 5 m) fiberglass Sanderling upon an existing, wooden design. The Sanderling has since become a very popular boat, with more than 700 built, and it has helped to rekindle interest in the catboat. To honor Marshall and his contribution to the type, the Catboat Association funded the construction of the Breck Marshall, a 20-foot (6. 1 m) catboat built and berthed at Mystic Seaport. Mystic Seaport: The Museum of America and the Sea is a Living history Maritime museum situated along the banks of the Mystic River in Mystic Connecticut
The terms catboat and cat-rigged are often confused with catamaran. A catamaran (From Tamil 'kattumaram' is a type of Multihulled Boat or Ship consisting of two hulls or vakas joined by some Catamaran describes the hull structure of a boat (specifically, it refers to two hulls side-by-side) whereas cat-rigged and catboat describe the sail plan and vessel type, respectively. A hull is the body of a Ship or Boat. It is a central concept in floating vessels as it provides the Buoyancy that keeps the vessel from sinking A sail-plan is a set of drawings usually prepared by a naval architect. To add to the confusion, some small sporting catamarans are cat-rigged and both terms are abbreviated cat when no ambiguity is foreseen.
See also
- Catboats
- Beetle Cat - small "daysailer" catboat
- Nonsuch - a series of 18 ft (5. A Beetle Cat is a 12'4" Catboat first built in 1920 in New Bedford Massachusetts by members of the Beetle family The Nonsuch line of Catboats is a series of popular cruising sailboats built between 1978 and the mid-1990s by Hinterhoeller Yachts in St 5 m) to 36 ft (11 m) modern catboats
- Inland Cat - 14. Inland Cat is a class of one- or two-man sailboat almost exclusively found on Lake George Indiana / Michigan. 5 footer designed and built in Northern Indiana.
References
- Grayson, Stan (2002). Cape Cod Catboats. Marblehead, MA: Devereux Books. ISBN 1-928862-05-5.
External links
- The Catboat Association a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving the history, and promoting the use, of catboats.
- Wagner Boat Works a manufacturer of traditionally-styled fiberglass catboats from 15 to 23 feet (7. 0 m) long.
- Marshall Marine Corporation a manufacturer of traditionally-styled fiberglass catboats from 15 to 22 feet (6. 7 m) long.
- Thompson Boatworks a manufacturer of 15- and 19-foot (5. 8 m) long traditionally-styled fiberglass catboats. Now owned and supported by Wagner Boat Works.
- Arey's Pond Boat Yard a manufacturer of traditionally-styled fiberglass catboats from 12 to 20 feet (6. 1 m) long.
- MengerCat.com a resource for information about Menger Catboats built between 1976 and 2005. Now owned and supported by Wagner Boat Works.
- Selina II the largest surviving vintage catboat.
- Beetle, Inc. manufacturer of the Beetle catboat.
- New England Beetle Cat Boat Association a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the maintenance, restoration, preservation and just plain sailing the Beetle Cat Boat.
- Howard Boats manufacturer of the Barnstable catboat, a fiberglass version of the traditional wooden Beetle catboat.
- "Catboat moments" an article about catboats in the August 2005 issue of Soundings Magazine.
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