INVESTIGATOR 563

Sometimes it’s just good to be alive. No sail adjustments necessary

So Ozzie, I am interested to know how well the cat works ?

It’s surprisingly good Peter. I had no intention of buying one but it came on a brilliant trailer that matched my motorhome and was perfect for what I was after. As the owner would not separate them I bought the package with motor for the trailer and intended to sell the boat as I already had a modified tinny ready to fit out for round Aus travel. We normally have a old 7ft tinnie for tendering the boat but today we took the cat for a putter first.

The poly cat is a 3m Finn Spindrift, very strong, and seats two comfortably. After a few uses we decided it won hands down as it’s very stable and light so the tinny is now waiting for its new owner to pick up. The spindrift takes up to 6hp but we use a five. I previously had a poly Duraplas Jacobi canoe/rib hybrid and I like the poly as you can repair it with a soldering iron. Also the safety orange is probably a plus as we want to explore places like Monkey Mia, Denham and Shark Bay that we visited back in the mid 90’s in WA but had no boat.

The other plus is they now sell a sailing pack for it. I have got most of the bits to make my own so I’m going to give that a try. I have no idea how it will sail, but I think it would be fun if nothing else.

https://finnboats.com.au/galleries/spin ... tamaran-2/

These pics are not my boat but from their website above Only thing I’d add is the 3.0m one like ours is really a bit big as a tender for the 563 as it’s a weight to tow behind but they do make a smaller 2.4 model. With my old tinnie tender I just leave it at the mooring all hours while we sail but these things would be a tempting target for theives.

I thought he was referring to the “cat” feline silouhette(??) to scare birds away.

Me too!

Oh that. Funny I didn’t think of that as I call the orange boat the cat.

The other”cat” is rubbish if you look at the pic carefully there is bird shite streaks on it ..so the little tu...terns have been using it as a perch I’m trying the fishing line strung about at the moment and will report. You could put the orange cat on deck as a bird deterrent I guess but it would make sailing difficult

Anyway no wasted pixels, everybody will be racing out to trade their 563 on a Spindrift my other excuse is I posted that at 12.30 last night trying to get to sleep and thought the whole thing was dream

Actually, never waste an opportunity. Can anyone tell me how they get the gaff to stay there on the Spindrift. I can’t see a mast extension above the sail ???

Thanks Ozzie, yes I was referring to the feline, Ha ha

The Spindrift looks like a good cat ozzie, imagine it's very stable too. Looks like the boat to RV with, those pics of it on various ute trays, ordinary trailers and roof tops say allot about its weight, ruggedness and versatility.

Never seen a gaff like that before, cant understand how it would work like that. If its free standing mast maybe a vintage windsurfer rig could be popped in. (when they had soft terylene sails, not the later mylar highly strung ones which delaminate easily).

How about a normal gaff, with a bit of extra mast to hang s halyard off?

Sorry Andrew missed your post. Yeah so far I’ve been fairly happy with it although it does weigh a little bit more than I thought but still manageable for the Mrs and I. I am fairly keen to give it a go with with some form of sail and I’ve already purchased a small aluminium dinghy mast off gumtree, which I’m going to freestand with appropriate brackets (I hope) , plus I have a box of old blocks and pulley stuff I have accumulated. I have a couple of the old-fashioned Wind Surfer sails so I’ll probably use those, to start with anyway. Really the sky is the limit. I might try a windsurfing rig or a lug sail even some kind of junk rig it would all be rather fun to experiment with. Don’t really think it will be a snappy sailor as it’s only 10 feet long but it is quite stable. I’ll have to work out some form of leeboard but I can add that later as even a bit of fun downwind would be good I’ll post a few pics if it works.


....what about a crab claw rig??