Walking the cat

[Flex]

Hi all,

As I mentioned in another thread I'm the proud owner of a 5.2kc.
I've been in a 6.2 plenty of times. It never really driven one or taken much notice of the nuances . Plus my mate who drives just points and shoots.

ive searched walking the cat here and yet to find exact answers. I think know what the concept is, keep one sponson down in the water for longer while the other stays above the hole in the air for longer correct?

so those that do this, are you actively turning the wheel back and forth to make it walk? So turn slightly into the trough/hole to make the opposite sponson stay down? Then steer back once the wave has gone?

or am I way off base?

cheers.

[Noelm]

I think all this walking is something that started way back, and is in fact someone's fantasy... but that's just my opinion! your boat will be fine, they have no bad vices to worry about, but they do tend to kind of "roll" from side to side when under way, but they are easy to drive, just muck around a bit with trim and see what works for you.

[Fed]

I agree Noel, gotta be some buzzword (phrase) for what most would consider a normal part of driving them.

I bet the people that say it don't know what it means either, I've never found anyone who could pin point exactly what it is.

[Lovey80]

Flex I think what they refer to as walking the cat is a result of having your boat correctly trimmed into a head sea. Your boat won't like a direct head on chop, so most of the time if practical you'll attempt to create a slight angle so that you aren't directly heading into it.

Doing so you'll end up with different trim settings on your engines to get the best performance out of the boat. As you aren't hitting the chop square on, one sponson will hit the waves slightly before the other. This creates a slight side to side motion as each sponson hits, provides lift and lands again. If you get it right, your boat will glide beautifully from sponson to sponson as it deals with the chop. You'll only notice it between cruise and WOT speeds, so for you in the 22knt + range. Get the trim the wrong way and you'll know about it very quickly. It won't be dangerous but it'll put the wind up you very quick.

The 5.2m KC is very trim sensitive and you'll find yourself playing with trim for most of your trip to make it ride better. Remember if you want to lift the front of the boat on the right to raise the left engine and vise versa. Sometimes you'll want to trim the nose down a little and it works the same with the opposite engine in reverse.

[screaming reels]

G'day Flex, mate my understanding of walking the cat is the way the cat walks between/across the swell/chop/waves etc. I have owned cats (love the 18ft Shark Cat- Legendary Hull), worked on local cats over the years, and the wording walking cats has been lost ( agree with Noelm here) as I see it. Its more about getting your cat to glide across the chop and have that up, down, over smooth fluent type of motion. Trim also plays a big part in being able to smooth this walking motion with regard to sea heading and as well as levelling your turns (bigger cats are not as trim sensitive). Cheers Brent

[Flex]

Thanks for the reply guys.

Just got back from a week at stanage bay with my newly acquired 5.2 Kevlacat.
I do have a bit of time in cats, but im no means an expert. This is the first time I've driven a 5.2 in the rough.

Aside getting trim right on individual motors its just point and shoot. I did notice in a quarter following sea I could run harder if I turned into the larger holes that appear to keep that sponson out of the water a fraction longer and come down really soft. Then flick it back the otherway once it passed. Made the ride a bit smoother Plus a lot of fun to drive. This was no means necessary though. I was surprised how well it ran downhill actually. I was expecting a bit of fight back from the boat when coming down a wave. But it was fantastic to run in a following sea. Runs very true.

I was amazed at how much more trim sensitive the 5.2 is compared to the 6.2. I was expecting a difference, but not quite as much as experienced. Nothing nasty, just requires more activity on the trim buttons.

[Noelm]

A following sea is one of a cats best attributes, and a side on is just about as good, you just have to be game enough to keep the speed up, all this talk of cats broaching is rubbish.

[Fed]

I've broached my cat big time and in a similar vein nearly rolled it once coming off the plane in glassy water.
Combine stupid with inexperience and anything can happen.

[bannana]

I agree that following seas and beam on are cats best attribute but walking a cat is trying to get your boat into a motion of landing on one sponson followed by the opposite sponson landing on the next wave. It's all about the side to side motion. It's not a point and shoot. It's about one sponson cutting through the wave and equally about one sponson landing first to avoid the tunnel shudder. There times you need to achieve this for a softer ride and there's times you need to trim a sponson up so when running down a sea it doesn't dig in and there times you need to tuck a sponson down to cut through a sea.
Cats don't broach but in a 3-4 mtr following sea on the rear quarter I'd hate to be in any boat with a green skipper especially a sharp entries cat like the 2400. In the right hands no problem!

[perko]

Bananas on to it. A few rough trips I had in my 2400 had me just turning the steering ever so slightly to have the boat coming down on one sponson then follow with a slight turn of the wheel the other way to have it land on the other sponson next wave. Don't overdo it and done right your passengers don't even know what your up too. Makes the ride super soft though. Takes a bit of timing and understanding of the seas to get it right.

[seren-y-mor]

Never heard it phrased Walking a Cat but rather Walking a twin screw vessel. ie on and off the warf/pontoon sideways.
Hard helm to port and port ahead and stb astern and she will walk (move sideways)to stb. and hard helm to stb with sbt ahead and port astern she will walk to port. As you get to know your vessel you will know how much to compensate with ahead or astern.
but have never tryed with outboards only twin screw shaft drives and jet drives. although with fast planning hulls with small rudders it dose not always work.
hope this helps (or maybe walking a cat is something totally different?)

[The Woo]

Yeah, completely different.

Walking the Cat refers to planing speeds, and a skipper's ability to work the hulls alternately through a sea state therefore offering a better ride. As per what Perko has said above.

Some people will just never "get it", and that's ok. But a good skipper familiar with cats will have the feel and can make a cat an astounding boat to ride in.