14ft cat on cat or the gand

[davecosnowboarder]

Last year I bought a 14ft aire lion cat. It has proved to be a very stable boat. I chose this boat for two reasons 1st I wanted a cat 2nd the min. size of a suport boat on the grand is 14ft. Some people have expressed to me their opinion that 14ft is not nearly big enough for these trips. I think if you are skilled you should be able to handle it.

Anyone got an opinion on that?

[st2eelpot]

I would think a 14 or 16 ft boat would be doable if you're experienced. Wild ride though. I wouldn't want to try to flip it back over by myself if it's loaded as a support boat.

Dave

[Faucet Butt]

People take 14' rafts and cats down the Grand and Cat all the time. As I recall, the aire lion has a long water line and big tubes. Load that puppy up, and trust the capabilities of a cat. As you probably know, they're very forgiving and capable boats. You might have to avoid a few giant holes, but you'd be wise to avoid those features in an 18 footer too.

[mania]

I took a 14 raft down in Jan and had no problems whatsoever. I wouldn't sweat it if as you say you are good.

[Beardance42]

I know two guys who have taken 14' Ocelots (small diameter tubes) down the Grand, both did fine.

Naturally, your mileage may vary....

[Rich]

Three trips witha 16' Hyside cat, no problems at all (except that one time in the ledge hole at Lava). One of the next two trips I plan on taking a a very
lightly loaded 12' cat. You will be able to take all the aggressive lines, just keep it straight and smile.

[rg5hole]

Just got back from Cat @ 50K...Joe styled the big drops (20-30' waves, holes, etc) in his cat with a hero line to boot....the rig flipped right after that with a different rower in not so big (under 20' waves).

hmmmm.

Took 6 people to get it upright. Ohh, and all the hard shit on the deck and oar rig flipped violent enough to bash a boater in the head...there was blood.

Anyway, depends on the rower I guess.

[JHimick]

We had two cats that size when I did the Grand and there were no problems.


Joke: Whats the worst part about telling your parents that you bought a cataraft?

Coming out of the closet.

[whip]

will be the amount of cargo you can carry. Done the Grand 3 X in 14 SB. Gear stacked to the ceiling. I'd say you'll most likely only be
able to carry your share of gear. Hopefully there's plenty of 18' rafts to haul
cargo on your trip.

[rafterman2007]

I've had relatives that took down old school Selway bucket boats in the 11-12' range down the GC--ones with 12-13" tubes.
Size is relative......