In mid-July 2018, I went to Lake Diefenbaker, Saskatchewan, Canada to sail with my friend Rod on his Mana 24. We became friends on Facebook via the Wharram groups because we were both working on Wharrams at the same time. Rod had also built a Tiki 21 in the past so I was curious to sail on his new boat and talk about his old boat. Remember, at this point I have never sailed on a Wharram! My only catamaran experience is a small Hobie cat in college.

Annually, Rod gathers several friends for this sail trip called the Elbow Run. The idea is to sail for a week or so and just see how many miles are made to and fro on the big lake. We had some very windy conditions on day 1 and a big chop to deal with at the junction of the T-shaped lake. The Mana handled things well … until the main mast fell down!

Mast Down!

Luckily, neither of us was hurt. The problem occurred where the Dyneema shrouds were spliced around a shackle at the top of the mast. The splice was loose and sawed back and forth in the big waves. Good to know since I am using Dyneema shrouds as well. Though the trip was cut short I took a lot of pics of things I liked about the Mana and Rod’s workmanship. It was also interesting to see a boat built from a CNC kit.

CNC cut hatch

Cabin Ceiling

Mana 24 on a trailer