How choppy can it be?

What kind of choppiness can the Getaway handle? I usually sail on a 3,000 acre inland lake here and though I get excellent wind (15 -25 mph) the water stays fairly calm. I am taking my getaway out on Lake Michigan on Saturday and it can get pretty rough (I've sailed monohauls there when we've had four foot troughs).

When is it too rough for the Getaway?

The boat can handle very rough conditions.

If it gets really rough, you might consider removing the forward trampoline.

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Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)

I went out about a month ago with two of my kids on Long Island Sound.There were about ten other catamarans from our beach already out on the water. It was calm for first 15 minutes. The weather changed very fast, it was still sunny and beautiful but the wind picked up- over 30mph and waves were like on the open ocean. It was really rough and even kids got a little scared they still enjoyed the ride( they are 5 and 7 years old). The biggest problem for me was to tack at those conditions because every time I was trying to do that rudders were coming out of the water with every wave we passed and hulls were pounded with the next one and the cat was going back to the previous course. We had about three foot troughs. I was going further and further from the shore trying to tack since the wind was picking up even more, finally I decided to jib and turned back to the beach.
Since it was my third time on Getaway I think it was my skills of turning the cat than anything else. I sailed monohaulls since I was twelve and had no problem to maneuver the boat but Getaway requires a little more experience to control it than other cats with dagger boards.
Jibing is a lot of fun to do but moving from side to side having two little ones on the tramp and pulling ropes on both sails by myself was quite difficult so I hesitated to do so at first. A week before that I took friend of mine that never sailed before, we jibed he didn’t move to the other side of the boat the sail flaw over my ears and the next thing I remember was water over my head- we tipped over.
Righting it was easy but to have experience like that with two little kids wasn’t something that I wanted to try that day.
When I got back to the beach everybody was already there only one guy decided continue to sail- nationally recognized sailor and his mate on Nacra 5.5 with traps.
My point is if you know how to control the boat and have experienced people with you Getaway is stable enough to sail in strong winds. I think it is more skills than the boat that will give you some problems.

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2 Hulls Cezar

Thanks guys! Tha's very helpful. I've flipped it and righted in high winds but on inland lakes where even in heavy air, the water is relatively calm.

I feel better about going out on Michigan now. In truth, most of the time the water is fine but it is VERY treacherous and the weather changes quite rapidly.

we've been out in large open ocean swells with ours....removing the forward tramp is a good idea in these conditions as it slows you down drastically.

We have cousins in Fairfield CT, and we have often threatened to trailer our Hobie 18 from Canada so we can all go sailing together.

Where do you sail out of?

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2015 H16, with spin,
SOLD 1989 Hobie SX18 Sail # 1947 "In Theory..."
'Only two things are infinite, the universe, and human stupidity. But I'm not sure about the former.'

Mostly out of Oakland beach in the upper Narragansett Beach..mainly because it is only 3 or so miles away...Sometimes we launch at Bay Campus in Narragansett and do a lap of Jamestown...Once in a GREAT while we lauch from Stoneington, CT and sail around Barn Island...little narragansett bay...

Im at school in Georgia now...Dad doesnt have any sailing partners...so his sailing season ends when I go back to college.

I sail off the beach 2 miles north of Pentwater, Michigan. On the beach, 15-20 mph yield 2-3' waves and the Getaway handles them just fine. My only problem is tacking when the waves get over 18" or so. It is really important not to stall the boat with too much rudder and backing the jib to push the bow through the waves is essential. If I'm sailing with a crew, I tell them don't release the jib until we are moving on the next tack.

My old boat was a Wave ad it could handle the lake but the Getaway is much more comfortable. The prevailing wind here is onshore from the NW and has the full width of Lake Michigan to build up "chop".

I don't think you will have any problem off Wisconsin.