4. When you are in position, slowly release the pressure on the trailer winch, (be careful - the handle can spin fast  enough to seriously hurt you), so that the hook becomes loose on the bow eye. Remove it. The Cat will not go flying off  as the curve of the hull holds it on the trailer. 5. At this point, give the hull a push and it might start to slide off the trailer into the water, depending on the steepness  of the ramp. 6. If you cannot push the hull free, pull forward slightly with your vehicle and then back up and slam on your brakes. Do  not allow the rear wheels of your vehicle to enter the water. 7. At this point the boat will roll back and into the water. If this doesn't work the first time, try again. Doing this for the  first time is rather traumatic, but it works on all types of ramps. 1. Moor your boat as close to the ramp as possible. 2. Run lines from the bow and stern cleats long enough so that you are able to reach the launching ramp. 3. Raise the centerboard. Raise the motor. Raise the rudder (Sun Cat).  4. Back the trailer into the water until the wheels are submerged to the axle. Place wood blocks under the rear wheels of  your tow vehicle to prevent the trailer from pulling it into the water. 5. Slowly position the bow so that it lines up with the center of the trailer. 6. Let the wire out until you can reach the bow eye and attach the hook to it. 7. Reverse the direction of the winch so that it is pulling in. Slowly crank the winch in. If excessive force is needed, stop  winching and determine what is hanging up. The boat should roll slowly onto the trailer until the bow reaches the V- block on the winch stand. 8. You can now pull away from the ramp. Use low gear and slow speed. Again, watch for overhead wires!! 9. Lower the centerboard and plug in the trailer lights.  10. See section on lowering the mast. he centerboard on your Cat can be adjusted from time to time or left down about 24” all the time you are sailing. It  should be pulled up while the boat is moored or under power. The purpose of the centerboard is to resist the boat's  tendency to slide to the leeward while going into the wind. If necessary the Cat will sail to windward with board-up,  but will make considerable leeway.  T  To see this action, have one person sail and the other raise the board all the way while going hard on the wind. Observe  that the wake has an “oily” appearance. Slowly lower the board until the wake becomes normal. This position is the right  amount of board for sailing to windward with this amount of wind. It will measure about 20”-25” of pennant. If this is your  local area's normal wind, mark the pennant with a permanent marker..  The helmsman will note that the amount of weather helm decreased significantly when the board was raised. Lowering  the board all the way will considerably increase weather helm. Perhaps the reason catboats were saddled with a  reputation for heavy weather helm was not the design's fault but the lack of sailing skill of the sailor. Try reducing the  weather helm in a keel boat this way!  You can sail your Cat to windward in up to about 7 knots of wind and calm seas, by only adjusting the centerboard  pennant. Start out by setting a course to windward with your board set as you normally do. Let the tiller go and take the  centerboard pennant in hand. Lowering it causes the Cat to go “higher”; raising it causes you to “fall-off”. Somewhere in  between your Cat will sail herself to windward. Fasten the pennant and sit back and relax. (DO NOT FALL OVERBOARD  AT THIS TIME!)  Very few of us have had experience in adjusting a four-sided sail. The tricks of the gaff rig have been lost by all but a few.  The gaff rig of the past was burdened by the gaff being set at an angle to the mast of 30 to 45 degrees. Sailboats with this  Sail Trim  Centerboard  Sailing Tips  Loading  13