Com-Pac Suncat

The Com-Pac Suncat

The Shoal-Draft Daysailer That's As Easy To Rig As It Is Fun To Sail

The Com-Pac is a beautiful trailerable sailboat with the classic nautical appearance of much bigger boats.

The Sun Cat's roomy cockpit is comfortable even for large adults.

The Sun Cat's hinged mast makes it easy and fast to rig. The main boom, the gaff boom, and all the rigging lines stay in place while raising and lowering the mast.

The optional bimini top is a must-have for warm climates. It provides plenty of shade when deployed.

The Com-Pac Sun Cat just may be the cutest little sailboat in existence. At 17' 4" in length, the gaff-rig Sun Cat is easily trailerable, yet it presents the classic lines and nautical appearance of much bigger classical sailing yachts.

Dubbed "a modern breed of catboat" by Com-Pac Yachts, the Sun Cat is designed as a shoal draft daysailer that's easy to rig and sail, but with accommodations for overnighters. The Sun Cat has a draft of 54" with the centerboard down, but only 14" with the centerboard raised, allowing the boat to sail and anchor where many other sailboats wouldn't dare.

With its 6 1/2 foot cockpit and 7' 3" beam, the Sun Cat provides room to relax. Belowdecks, the cabin is brightened by 2 opening cabin ports, a forward hatch, and a large main companionway hatch. The cabin offers 3'6" of sitting headroom, plenty for large adults, with space for a marine PortaPotty designed into the layout. Two 6'5" settee berths provide sleeping accommodations.

The interior includes room for galley equipment and 4 large storage bins under the settees for personal gear and other supplies. The teak and holly sole and the teak handrails and trim add a classical nautical look to this trim little daysailer.

Rigging and Sails

The Sun Cat's mast and rigging system is where this little sailboat really shines. The mast has a stainless steel hinge about 2 feet above the deck. To rig the Sun Cat, you just lift the lightweight mast to vertical, insert the hinge pin to hold it in place, pin the forestay in place, and swing a lever to tighten the rig, then secure that with another pin. The whole procedure takes just a few minutes. The main boom and gaff boom, running rigging, and sail all stay in place while the mast is raised and lowered, so once the mast is raised and the rigging tightened, you're done and ready to launch.

Many trailerable sailboats can take a half-hour or more to rig, so that it hardly seems worth the trouble for an afternoon sail for an hour or two. The Sun Cat lets you spend more time afloat and less time messing with the rigging — and that means that you're more likely to take this sailboat out to play more often.

Sailing and Sail Handling

Much of what makes the Sun Cat so easy to sail is its gaff-rig sail configuration. With only one sail to set, and the control provided by the gaff boom, novice sailors can quickly learn to handle the Sun Cat. The sailboat sails well enough to please more experience sailors, who will enjoy the ease of sail handling.

The Sun Cat performs well beating upwind and reaching as well as running downwind. Upwind, boat heels at a comfortable angle, due to its ballasted shoal keel and wide beam. When reaching, the Sun Cat is very sensitive to small adjustments, helping the skipper learn quickly the ideal trim. The gaff rig runs downwind like a champ — just let the mainsheet out, and the gaff-rig sail swings out into position and fills up nicely.

Open-Cockpit Daysailer Sun Cat

If you're not interested in overnighting, the Sun Cat is available in a daysailer model as well. With no cabin, the Sun Cat Daysailer is completely open except for an enclosed locker forward. It has a massive cockpit with plenty of room for 6 adults plus cooler and personal gear.