
26ft Eagle catamaran sailing fast down the Irish Sea
This video is an extract of a longer video of Uli's latest trip, primarily to show what its like sailing a small multihull at speed in strong winds (comfortable and dry is the answer!) Uli writes: During the summer of 2024 I made another long trip in my Eagle. From Germany I sailed to Norway (Egersund) and then further on, to Unst (Shetland) via Lerwick, round Cape Wrath to Kinlochbervie (Scotland). Sailing up wind south through The MInch and The Sea of Hebrides and, later, The Irish Sea was not really a joy. Throughout August cyclones crossed these area nearly every day. So small windows of opportunity and strong southerly winds dictated the trip. From Greystones (a harbour I do not recommend), near Dublin, to Fishguard I sailed up wind. The wind blew between 28 and 30 knots for more than six hours.(I lifted the daggerboards a little.) The wave got high - between 4 and 5 m - and stipply with white crests. In this, my experience and the weather reports are the same. The trip overall took less than ten an half hours. It was very wet. The Eagle sailed very well. From Fishguard to Lands End I again sailed up-wind, but in more moderate winds - force 4 to 5 - averaging between 8.5 - 9 knots. All the way I put my faith in the Eagle and the new autopilot. I sailed singlehanded about 2.400 nm, and I got a little bit more know-how about how to sail a multihull. You can see more of the Eagle here https://www.sailingcatamarans.com/index.php/designs-2/2-catamarans-under-25ft/455-eagle-24 and a video of a previous trip here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpX_fEAYLFU
