How well do Wyliecats sail upwind?
One of the “old wives tales” you often hear about cat-rigged boats is that they have poor upwind performance. There may in fact be some truth to this reputation with traditional cat-rigged designs from earlier eras. The famous Chesapeake Bay catboat design, for example, had a beamy hull, a massive unfoiled “barn door” rudder, a shallow-draft centerboard, and an inefficient sail and rigging. It’s no wonder that its upwind performance was lacking! The Wyliecat yachts, in contrast, have been designed with state-of-the-art sailing technology. The hull features a fine entry, optimized NACA underwater foils, light displacement, and low-wetted surface. Combine this with the innovative and super-effecient Wyliecat rig, and you have a design that is as fast or faster than any conventionally-rigged performance sailboat in upwind sailing (not to mention other points of sail). A recent Sailing World magazine article noted that “the Wyliecat 48 can beat a Santa Cruz 50 upwind in 25 knots.
