Say Hello To A New Cat

The Trudeau Leetle Cat has become a popular SL daysailer/trainer since her introduction over two years ago.  But time marches on and even classic boats can do with a facelift, especially if it makes them a better boat. With that thought in mind, Trudeau brought the LC into the yard with the goal of giving this cat a new life. And that we did – we proudly introduce our Leetle Cat II.  So where do we start? Despite her aged paint option, she is a completely new boat. You could say she is “One” new Leetle Cat.

  • Completely redesigned hull – smaller, less draft, follows more closely to the RL inspiration’s lines. Actual centerboard slot (why? Just because!) Other new parts – centerboard trunk, rudder, tiller, mast, mast hoops…
  • Beautiful sculpted gaff sail with just the right billow and twist to bring a tear to an old salt’s eye (thanks to the very talented Bunnie Mills – give it up for her!).
  • Our exclusive Tru-Sail feature as first introduced on the Trudeau One. The sail  flaps, luffs and fills to give inworld visual indication of correct sail set.  No HUD angle sail by numbers… no color codes… no big inworld dials…  just realistic true to life sail behavior.
  • Sculpted halyard and gaff detail prims follow sail rotation. Boom crotch and sail ties detailing when moored.
  • True to life sail response to wind in tacks and gybes (what was Trudeau thinking in those 1st and 2nd generation boats anyway???)
  • Helm location has 4 hiking positions to counteract heeling momentum. Is the helmsperson really steering by nudging the tiller with his/her feet on those outboard positions???? (thanks to Isis Rexie for that suggestion ;)
  • Second bonus sit position for a passenger/instructor/crew. While Leetle Cat II is designed with single handling in mind, after some shakedown sailing we determined it was wrong, just wrong, to keep this poor person planted on the lee side while heeling. So this location also has 2 hike positions – 1 port and 1 starboard – to help “slightly” in righting the boat. Remember, on LCII, trim is really up to the helmsperson.

  • While proper skipper positioning can pretty much keep you going in winds up to 10msec, there is also a sail reef point for when the winds kick up even higher.
  • Despite all the tools given to the skipper for the task of keeping his boat upright – hiking, spilling wind, reefing – there are times, like in real life, when you are just caught in the wrong side at the wrong time. Watch out! – yes, Leetle Cat II capsizes! The first Trudeau boat to do so since we introduced it to SL sailing with the Beach Cat 4 years ago.  Novices and instructors don’t worry, it’s as easy to right her as it is difficult to set her over. But don’t expect help from that smug crewperson of yours!

  • Self bailing cockpit – no more water lapping around the floorboards when you heel over.
  • As in One 1.14, the option of controlling the tiller rather than the boat direction with the keyboard arrows.
  • Geeky stuff – more than halved the script count of the original Leetle Cat as Linden Lab keeps making noise on setting a limit on the number of scripts per sim.

Customization templates? As always, we’ve got you covered to keep your Trudeau boat covered. Follow these links for .PSD graphics:

Hull (1.83MB) including rudder and CB trunk templates

Transom naming (57KB)

Sail (3.88MB) including furled sail and boom/reefed sail templates

(see this page for step-by-step naming instructions – Leetle Cat follows the Sea Sharp procedure).

Come see the all new Leetle Cat II  – the leetler cat – and sail the demo at Trudeau Classic Sailing Yachts.

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