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A catboat (or cat boat), is a sailboat, with a single sail on a single mast set well forward in the bow of the boat. Most have a shallow draft, with centreboards, although some have a keel.
Most are gaff rigged but some have a Bermuda rig. The beam of the classic Cape Cod Cat's beam measurement is almost half the waterline length, making it very stable.
Some cat boats in current use include the Beetle Cat, the Redden Catboat, the Nonsuch, the Inland Cat, the Zijlsloep. the Cape Cod Cat Com-Pac Trailerable, Marshal Menger, and the ABPY cat boat.
A catboat is not the same as a catamaran, which is a multi-hull with a raised trampoline for crew seating and trapezing. Nor is it the same as a Cat, or Norwgian ship used to carry up to 600 tons of coal.
History
Descended from small boats carried by the British in the new world, around the turn of the 20th century, catboats were adapted for racing, and long booms and gaffs, bowsprits and large jibs were fitted to capture as much wind as possible. The decline of racing and advent of small, efficient gasoline engines eliminated the need for large sailplans, and catboats today are used as pleasure craft for day sailing and cruising, and have the virtues of roominess, stability and simple handling, though many catboats have poorer upwind performance than well-designed sloop-rigged craft.
One of the most well-known catboats is the 12-foot (3.7 m) Beetle Cat daysailer. Fleets of these one-design boats are found in harbors all across New England, often competing in races. In the 1960s, Breck Marshall based his 18-foot (5.5 m) fiberglass Sanderling upon an existing, wooden design. The Sanderling has since become a very popular boat, with more than 700 built, and it has helped to rekindle interest in the catboat. To honor Marshall and his contribution to the type, the Catboat Association funded the construction of the Breck Marshall, a 20-foot (6.1 m) catboat built and berthed at Mystic Seaport.