Catalyst (Hull #2)

Owned by Dave & Pam Roberts

Sailing out of Marblehead, Ohio (Western Lake Erie)

The original construction included acrylic windows which could not handle the heat and stress and eventually cracked, causing the retrofit to glass windows which the manufacturer made good on the cost. While in the shop, we had the hardtop extended (see pictures) which eliminated the rain-catching and the taking up and down of the soft awning between the old hardtop and the arch. We also added the main sail stack pack (which we would not do without - drop and zip is so easy!), and the bow sprit and screecher.

Area map

After sailing a TomCat 6.2 for 3 years we saw Ted and Kerri King�s 9.7 being built and decided it was time to move up...

Built in 2004 and retrofitted in 2006, the molds for all later boats were taken off Catalyst.

Our big adventure with Catalyst was taking the boat up to Leamington, Canada for the retrofit. We chose the worst of days � 25 knots nor�easter with 6-8 foot waves which we were fortunate to quarter on our plumb line. Although we buried both hulls into waves and put a lot of water into the front anchor lockers, we were under full main sail and genoa and Catalyst performed magnificently. However, we will never try that again!

Pictured above and below: extended hardtop