Wildcat therapy

I never really cared much for cats. Somehow they don't fit into the category of real boats. However, this whole AC craze is putting giant cats on my radar like never before. Like it or not, those cats are now everywhere. Jane Fosset once wrote: Weird plastic critters skittering across the water. Gotta love that description.

A weird plastic bug...

However, windsurfers don't fit in the real boat category either, and windsurfing is huge fun. Sadly, virtual windsurfing is far from being an interesting simulation. It's a very physical thing, and the physical aspects are hard to replicate into a virtual world. Besides, the waves in SL are - uhm - wavesurfing isn't really there. Not a problem for cats though. They prefer flat waters...

...skittering across the flat waters of SL

Now, where was I going with this? Ahh! Cat sailing can be fun too. If you've followed my scriblings, I suppose you knew that. I had great fun with the Hepcat; I kinda liked the Wildcat35, and lately the Nacra17 has gotten a lot of attention. In fact, I've received complaints that the Nacra17 gets too much attention.

The Wildcat 45

This here is the Wildcat 45. It's a pretty wild thing. It is big, it is detailed, it is fast and it is fun. It might not have totally realistic sailing engine, but it is much better than the predecessor 35er, which had a somewhat strange interpretation of apparent wind. However, the most interesting thing about it is the trimmable wing and the adjustable flap. That's pretty close to the real thing:

The wing and the flap

If you wanna go wing sailing, the Wildcat 45 is probably one of the best options if not the best available on the virtual sailing scene. It is not just a toy. Work must be done to sail it well. Besides the steering, there's a flap to adjust, and it is also possible to move around to optimize the heeling angle, i.e. lift the windward hull out of the water. 

Steering and trimming...

Here's the virtual sailors: Me trimming and Erasmus deeply fokused on the steering. At least that's what he said :-D 

... to maintain high speed

Looks pretty good, right? There's a lotta detail on this boat. Sheets and lines run everywhere, and the wake is pretty good too. Scroll back a few shots and you see there is also a genakker. The speed sensation is there too, but the steering appeared a littlebit too computergamish to me. It felt like shifting directions in small abrubt moves, - not a smooth linear curve. Perhaps it was just Erasmus being new to the boat, I dunno.

More trimming

One thing I noticed though. It seems the AC45 is relatively slow at turning, almost like a real cat, and that's a nice touch. Again, I really cannot tell if it was Erasmus being new to the boat, but it seemed to be a good and realistic implementation of the turning angle versus sailing speed. For details on the performance, polars and stuff see Janes take on the Wildcat.

Cat-ch a bird?

Overall this is a fun & wild cat and it loves to sail at high speeds. I won't compare it to the Nacra17, because they are very different. However, they're both huge fun to sail. They both require work to sail fast, and they both require the crew to work a bit; Also, they both seem to miss out on WWC features such as currents, windshadows and local variations. That aside, I think it is a fun virtual sailboat. Maybe, just maybe, I could learn to like cats better; I just need more virtual cat therapy...  

The Beast

There's been so much talk about these boats. They've been massively promoted in RL. I've watched them sail on TV and on the website. I've talked to people sailing these things. I have also met people sailing them in SL, and now... I finally tried one.

The Beast at Tradewinds

I am talking about the AC45 cats. A few days back I was at Tradewinds YC messing with the Babysloop. As I stood there, Wendy Ohare landed one of these things right next to me, - on the beach. I probably stared, and Wendy probably noticed, and so she offered me a ride.

Set sails - uhm and wings

Didn't think twice, so here we are waiting for lift off. Wingsail and everything. Me very excited. So, she pulls the sheet and wrooom... it took off like nothing I've ever experienced. I mean really... the Hepcat was fast but this...

Wrooooom...

Within seconds we were at the starting line south of Dex, barely missing the mark, as we approached it so fast it simply popped out of nowhere. I can almost understand why Larry and his boyz choose to look like Bob the Builder, whenever they're at sea. It's a scary machine.

The unidentified flying object

Speed is obviously everything with these boats. No wonder they can't cover each other. No wonder there is hardly any boat to boat infight except at the marks. It is simply impossible to do a safe leeward tack. Besides, the course is so narrow, they can barely accellerate to max speed before they need to tack to avoid the hitting the boundary.

At full speed

In fact most of the close race as we know it from fleet race is non existant. These boats race so differently they even use different rules. So maybe they get a lot of attention from average Joe, but to a seasoned sailor the AC just isn't interesting anymore. It is not sailing. It is something else. It is sailing redesigned to compete with NASCAR. What a strange idea.

The wing

Here's a closeup of the wing as seen from my position. Pretty well made with the sections and the see through and all. The details are generally very good. Hull, mast, wing and everything looks great. The instruments are somewhat disappointing though. Dunno if they plan to make it better, but green text flowing mid-air on a super racer like this? That's not really up to par. Below is another shot taken from where I sat.

The onboard view

The most amazing thing however, is how well it handles sim crossing. When we sailed, I didn't once think about lag or anything. It was only afterwards it struck me... I didn't notice the sim crossing. At all. That's really something, as most other builders struggle with that at much lower speeds.

Helicopter view

I wonder what Corry did. Corry Kamachi, the builder. Is there a trick. Hmm. She probably knows stuff after building the WildWind boats for years. Too bad she stopped doing that. I haven't tried any of the other WildWinds, but if they are anything like this one...

Yeah!

But for now, - let's have another go round the sea south of Tradewinds. I know, they look weird and they're slow at turning. True, the AC circus is becoming just that, - a spectacular show which faintly resembles boat racing. Still, - for an afternoon cruise it is a refreshing, exhillerating and tickling experience. There is only one other boat that has this effect on me...

Update: Don tells me this is really a 35' cat built to wet our appetites. I thought it looked a little small for a 45'. Also, I understand the work on the AC45 goes on. I am very excited to hear that. The AC game might not resemble classic sailing much, but it sure is spectacular and it looks like fun.

More on the AC circus...