With virtually the same sail-area as a conventionally-rigged performance sloop of similar size, the Wyliecat 30 is both fast and easily sailed.

The elegantly simple, single-sail Wyliecat 30 makes the fun of sailing instantly accessible

When people hear the name Wyliecat 30, most think the "cat" refers to a multihull. It takes only one look to realize that Tom Wylie's latest addition to the racing/cruising scene is indeed a monohull and that it sports the simplest of cat rigs. So simple, in fact, that there are only three lines to adjust: the main-sheet, downhaul, and an ingenious choker that attaches the forward end of the 24-foot wishbone boom to the unstayed carbon fiber mast. Add a halyard, topping lift and lazyjack reefing lines and you have a boat that's easy to sail.

Sitting on a trailer ready to go into the water, the Wyliecat 30 looks not unlike many other modern performance cruisers. It has clean lines with fairly hefty shoulders near the waterline, a bulb keel and an elliptical rudder. At 5,500 pounds, it can be dry sailed, a process made easier by the absence of a permanent backstay. Once in the water, getting under way involves removing the sail cover and hoisting the main, which is as easy as it sounds.

There's nothing simple-minded about Wylie's approach to the design. After 30 years of designing and building performance sailboats, the northern Californian has become something of a legend in terms of combining form and function when it comes to sailing. Wylie's efforts have ranged from the 65-foot water-ballasted world cruiser Saga to the 24-foot sport boat Wylie Wabbit to the successful 46-foot IMS racer Kropp Duster and to the 70-foot ultralight Transpac racer Rage.

In creating the Wyliecat 30, Wylie drew upon other resources as well. Plagued by a bad back for the past two decades, he was motivated to design a boat that would be extremely user-friendly. The minimalist approach to sail and rig, the form-stable hull and high ballast/displacement ratio that prevents heeling much beyond 20 degrees was Wylie's solution. To say that this boat can be singlehanded is an understatement. It can literally be sailed with just one hand.

Our initial outing in the Wyliecat 30 offered only light winds and flat water. The 430-square-foot main moved the boat along well. The large roach provides enough extra power to give the helm some feel and enables the boat to sail fairly close to the wind despite the lack of a jib. To this Laser and Finn sailor, the sensation was very familiar—tiller extension in one hand, mainsheet across my lap, sitting on the weather rail and working the boat to weather with one eye on the ticklers along the luff and the other watching for puffs coming down the bay.

At the same time the owner's two children and a friend were scurrying about the boat. With only the mainsheet to adjust on tacks and jibes, there wasn't too much concern about the kids getting tangled up in the sheets or between the sails and the shrouds or mast. One of the kids' favorite locations, for virtually endless entertainment, was up front on the seat that straddles the pulpit and perches the occupant over the bow.

The nonskid decks are exceptionally clean, again thanks to the cat rig. Only four winches, two on the cabintop, and two on the cockpit coamings, are needed. The self-draining cockpit, which is almost 8 1/2 feet long, has a walkway to the swim platform in the stern.

Down below, the cabin seems inordinately open and roomy for a 30-footer. With the butt of the mast forward of the V-berth and no encumbering bulkheads or internal stays to bother with, the main cabin has few obstructions. The V-berth measures more than 6 feet and there's a large double berth aft under the cockpit. The settees could also double as bunks for the youngsters when they're not used for seating around the removeable dinette table. Behind the settees are padded backrests which double as storage shelves.

The galley is functional but not spacious, with a sink, portable ice chest, cabinets for storage and room for a stove. The interior can be custoized to add or reduce space in areas like the galley for those who want a more or less robust food preparation system. Opposite this area is the enclosed head, which has only 5 feet of headroom but includes a hanging locker that extends aft under the cockpit seat.

The hull and deck sandwich is half-inch balsa core between layers of vinylester resin and unidirectional E-glass. The area around the keel is beefed up with carbon fiber to support the 3,0500-pound keel bolted to the bottom of the hull. The same goes for the ring frame that stabilizes the butt of the mast in the bow. The sunken cabin floor in the galley and companionway offer a little more headroom, but up forward it's sit-down headroom for all but the young or height-challenged.

Considerable engineering and design work went into the rig. Wylie looked at various sailing systems in his research, focusing especially on the International Canoe class, which had stayed carbon fiber masts in the early 1990's, and the boardsailing system of a bendy mast with wishbone booms. He also spent considerable modeling time on the computer to find a good marriage of sail and mast.

The resulting boat has proven amazingly adaptable and seakindly. Our second sail on the boat took place in 15 knots of breeze with ashort, steep chop. The sail flattened out nicely with the choker pulled on to draw the front end of the wishbone aft, bring the clew down and back. The boat heeled 20 degrees and just stayed there, feeling very solid as it punched through the waves upwind. Looking up the mast, I noticed a very easy, almost sensual, movement to the spar that contrasted sharply with an aluminum mast's tendency to shiver whenever the boat drops off a wave. In a puff, the top of the mast falls off to leeward, the upper part of the sail inverts and feathers off the excess wind. The long, 24-foot aluminum booms keep the center of effort low, further reducing heeling moment.

Unlike boardsailing sails, which are always at high angles of attack, the Wyliecat's rig has to have a way to power up for reaches, especially since there's no headsail to add extra sail area. After releasing the choker, the sail takes on a fuller curve and turns into a powerful reaching sail. Reports from those who've raced the boat say that, except for really light conditions, they can readily match boats with spinnakers and in some cases outrun them. You do, however, need lots of room from outside boats to round the leeward mark.

For those who like the adrenaline rush and white knuckles of a heavy-air jibe with the kite up, the Wyliecat 30 will be disappointing. There's not even a real boom to swing menacingly across the cockpit, although the mainsheet can be a threat as it flies through. Other than that, heavy-air sailing is pretty benign, which is another plus for this unique craft. It doesn't plane readily, but it does maintain a pretty constant 6- or 7-knot speed both upwind and down.

There's a removable tube for an outboard motor bracket on the stern and a 4-horsepower engine should provide plenty of power. An alternative is to partially lower the main and just sail into your berth or mooring. The advantage of simplicity, which the Wyliecat 30 ably demonstrates, are many.

Shimon Van Collie is the co-author of two textbooks for the U.S. SAILING Keelboat Certification Program and a contributing editor for SAILING.