If I were a betting man, I'd wager that you own a marconi rigged monohull sloop. But there are many notable exceptions on the water, both in rigs and hull types. This week, let’s look at the merits of cruising catamarans. They're exceptionally roomy and stable, have shallow draft, and ought to turn a good speed, especially off the wind. Would you consider owning one instead of your mono-hull? (Discussion topic and quiz by Trevor MacLachlan)
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Not now but maybe someday I'll consider it
I have nothing against catamarans ( I actually like them) but with two hulls to polish and paint, two engines to service, plus the potential for paying for two slips due to width, it's too much work and money for me. Manny
I have nothing against catamarans ( I actually like them) but with two hulls to polish and paint, two engines to service, plus the potential for paying for two slips due to width, it's too much work and money for me. Manny
Not for me
I have heard Cats don't point well and that in seas, they are prone to pounding when waves hit the flat area between the hulls. I have never actually sailed one, except aHobie 14. I did get ride on 27 ft tri last summer,which, while a lot of fun, it had a sprts car type ride, that ove a long time, I would tire of. Beyond that, I think most of them are ugly - I am somewhat of a traditionalist when it comes to the looks of boats and I probably would not own one on looks alone.
I have heard Cats don't point well and that in seas, they are prone to pounding when waves hit the flat area between the hulls. I have never actually sailed one, except aHobie 14. I did get ride on 27 ft tri last summer,which, while a lot of fun, it had a sprts car type ride, that ove a long time, I would tire of. Beyond that, I think most of them are ugly - I am somewhat of a traditionalist when it comes to the looks of boats and I probably would not own one on looks alone.
Your bet is safe with me and I tend to be a traditionalist, but
way back in the 60's I had a sailing friend who raved about the benefits of trimarans. He didn't like cats however, because they were inherently unstable. If knocked down even with a mast head float you need help to right them, whereby with the tri, you can sink a hull and right them yourself. He liked sailing fast and flat with many of the cruising arrangements and benefits of a mono hull, and he liked the idea of anchoring right on the beach. He had lots of good arguments but he never converted me. I note however that they are much more popular than they ever were (even in the ocean) and the big ones have blown away transatlantic sailing records. They also can be had with fold up outriggers so that they can moor or be trailered like a mono hull. Maybe he was on to something but I won't try to sway anyone.
way back in the 60's I had a sailing friend who raved about the benefits of trimarans. He didn't like cats however, because they were inherently unstable. If knocked down even with a mast head float you need help to right them, whereby with the tri, you can sink a hull and right them yourself. He liked sailing fast and flat with many of the cruising arrangements and benefits of a mono hull, and he liked the idea of anchoring right on the beach. He had lots of good arguments but he never converted me. I note however that they are much more popular than they ever were (even in the ocean) and the big ones have blown away transatlantic sailing records. They also can be had with fold up outriggers so that they can moor or be trailered like a mono hull. Maybe he was on to something but I won't try to sway anyone.
I'll take the
mono hull over the cat. Comfort in rough water and seas, the ability to get myself uprighted easier in case of a knockdown. The interior space I prefer in lieu of having the tunnel effects below decks. Although the salons and galley if up above are more beamy, I just don't care for the narrow cabin below and the tube effect. Too much like living in an airplane fuselage for me. I guess to each their own however. If I was in a real hurry to go somewhere fast, then I wouldn't have any kind of sailing vessel.
mono hull over the cat. Comfort in rough water and seas, the ability to get myself uprighted easier in case of a knockdown. The interior space I prefer in lieu of having the tunnel effects below decks. Although the salons and galley if up above are more beamy, I just don't care for the narrow cabin below and the tube effect. Too much like living in an airplane fuselage for me. I guess to each their own however. If I was in a real hurry to go somewhere fast, then I wouldn't have any kind of sailing vessel.
I would love to...
have a cat... however it would need to be in the 40' range. They point like cr*p... but go like h*ll. Out of my price range.
have a cat... however it would need to be in the 40' range. They point like cr*p... but go like h*ll. Out of my price range.
No, I would not.
If I wanted speed I would have a power boat. Its hard enough finding transient slips for a 12' beam try doubling that. Handling rough seas in a Cat is at the least hazardous.
If I wanted speed I would have a power boat. Its hard enough finding transient slips for a 12' beam try doubling that. Handling rough seas in a Cat is at the least hazardous.
My brother bought a sizable cat about 6 months ago.
He is living like a live-aboard in anchorages. He is on the hook almost every night. He decides where he is going to stay and that is it. He is loving it. He is a Photographer and his wife still has an an elite day spa in a classy part of the burgh. He had a skeptical Bene owner say that cats can't point. That was until my brother not only caught the Bene he was following but then out pointed the Bene. I really like monos. I am not a cat kind of person. My brothers boat is kind of an eye opener. I had talked him into a Catalina 30 about 3 years ago. He bought the cat and sold the Catalina about 6 months ago. He has four queen size beds and 2 singles. I guess what I am saying is maybe we shouldn't look down our noses at these sailboats. I still like mono hull boats but the cat definitely fills the bill in many areas. Just something to think about. r.w.landau
He is living like a live-aboard in anchorages. He is on the hook almost every night. He decides where he is going to stay and that is it. He is loving it. He is a Photographer and his wife still has an an elite day spa in a classy part of the burgh. He had a skeptical Bene owner say that cats can't point. That was until my brother not only caught the Bene he was following but then out pointed the Bene. I really like monos. I am not a cat kind of person. My brothers boat is kind of an eye opener. I had talked him into a Catalina 30 about 3 years ago. He bought the cat and sold the Catalina about 6 months ago. He has four queen size beds and 2 singles. I guess what I am saying is maybe we shouldn't look down our noses at these sailboats. I still like mono hull boats but the cat definitely fills the bill in many areas. Just something to think about. r.w.landau
Maybe...and maybe not...
My wife and I started sailing 44 years ago and have owned seven sailboats, not including a couple of sailing dinghies. We've owned our present Hunter Legend 43 for so long that it's paid for. You've raised one of those interesting questions that I'm sure has been the subject over many hours of folks just yacking about yachts. To me, I think it's a question of what you are going to do with your vessel. If your idea of sailing is poking around local protected waters, I find multihulls fascinating...but not fascinating enough to own one...yet. If you plan on taking long ocean voyages, I vote for a monohull. We took a four-year cruise to Oz and back a few years ago...very carefully. Some of our passages included days of pretty exciting sailing, like putting three 200 mile days together going from Vanuatu to Australia. It was a rough ride, but we never worried about our safety. If we'd been out there with a multihull, I think I'd have been terrified. (I think that was what my wife felt when we left the dock in the US headed for a trip possibly around the world. I had wanted to get to Oz, but I thought that we'd just go west until it didn't look like fun any longer. When it didn't, we'd just come home, which we did.) Speed is really nice. Well, how much speed do you want? Glancing at our logs, I think that we averaged about 7.5 knots under way; not bad for a mom-and-pop cruiser. The trip from Mexico to the Marquesas Islands was about seven and a quarter; lots of light air. In a "cruiser's race" (where you use the engine if conditions were such that you would normally use one) from Fiji to Vanuatu we finished a couple of hours, I think) in front of a 36-ft trimaran; mostly brisk sailing. Multis aren't much faster than monos when you load them up. (We got a prize for being the first boat to sail across the finish line. 70-odd racers, I think.) To me, I'm not sure that they have really come up with a solution to tipping over a multi. Safety is number one to me. You must be able to survive almost anything that comes along. Handling a boat around a marina is another issue. Multis take a lot of maneuvering room amd seem to get blown around worse than monos. On the plus side, Puget Sound and the passages to Alaska are usually pretty docile. If you misjudge the weather, you can usually find a hurrican hole somewhere. I've hidden behind more than one island around here... Maybe...
My wife and I started sailing 44 years ago and have owned seven sailboats, not including a couple of sailing dinghies. We've owned our present Hunter Legend 43 for so long that it's paid for. You've raised one of those interesting questions that I'm sure has been the subject over many hours of folks just yacking about yachts. To me, I think it's a question of what you are going to do with your vessel. If your idea of sailing is poking around local protected waters, I find multihulls fascinating...but not fascinating enough to own one...yet. If you plan on taking long ocean voyages, I vote for a monohull. We took a four-year cruise to Oz and back a few years ago...very carefully. Some of our passages included days of pretty exciting sailing, like putting three 200 mile days together going from Vanuatu to Australia. It was a rough ride, but we never worried about our safety. If we'd been out there with a multihull, I think I'd have been terrified. (I think that was what my wife felt when we left the dock in the US headed for a trip possibly around the world. I had wanted to get to Oz, but I thought that we'd just go west until it didn't look like fun any longer. When it didn't, we'd just come home, which we did.) Speed is really nice. Well, how much speed do you want? Glancing at our logs, I think that we averaged about 7.5 knots under way; not bad for a mom-and-pop cruiser. The trip from Mexico to the Marquesas Islands was about seven and a quarter; lots of light air. In a "cruiser's race" (where you use the engine if conditions were such that you would normally use one) from Fiji to Vanuatu we finished a couple of hours, I think) in front of a 36-ft trimaran; mostly brisk sailing. Multis aren't much faster than monos when you load them up. (We got a prize for being the first boat to sail across the finish line. 70-odd racers, I think.) To me, I'm not sure that they have really come up with a solution to tipping over a multi. Safety is number one to me. You must be able to survive almost anything that comes along. Handling a boat around a marina is another issue. Multis take a lot of maneuvering room amd seem to get blown around worse than monos. On the plus side, Puget Sound and the passages to Alaska are usually pretty docile. If you misjudge the weather, you can usually find a hurrican hole somewhere. I've hidden behind more than one island around here... Maybe...
Loved my monohull, LOVE my cat
I moved from monohulls (latest 36 Pearson) to cats in 2000. Sailed a 43 Voyage back from Cape Town with lots of later open ocean sailing experiences - some good, some great. Some thoughts: 1. Cats charter very well - lots of space, forgiving to novice sailors -- 2. Handling: Don't compare the handling of a chartered cat to the handling of a monohull or multihull under the helm of an experienced skipper. For example, try backing your monohull upwind in a narrow channel to Med moor her - can be done if your experienced, impossible for a novice. Now try the same thing with a twin engine multihull - piece of cake, about like a twin engine sports fisherman. 3. Safety: Cats seldom flip. Modern production cats generally skid before they flip - you read of an occasional accident but . . . Monohulls sink - they are loaded with led ballast that makes them very unforgiving to leaks. Both boats have two stable positions, a Cat is stable mast up or mast down (upside down). A monohull is stable on the surface or on the bottom. Take your choice. 4. Comfort - there is just no comparison. Cooking underway on my monohull was possible but uncomfortable. Cooking with china, glass, and cakes that rise is the norm on a cat. We normally packed "under way" meals on our monohull - and only missed about 3 meals due to rough weather in 4 years of mostly open ocean cat sailing. 5. Which should you choose. I'll make you a deal - I won't suggest you choose a particular spouse if you don't suggest I choose a particular boat. In my limited experience, people are more faithful and more in love with their boat than their spouse - lots of stories about a boat surviving a divorce. So - choose your boat to meet your needs and your dreams. Learn to handle her by practicing such things as cross wind docking. overboard recovery, and reefing blindfolded -- over and over -- and the differences between your boat and the average boat will be much larger than the differences between monohulls and cats.
I moved from monohulls (latest 36 Pearson) to cats in 2000. Sailed a 43 Voyage back from Cape Town with lots of later open ocean sailing experiences - some good, some great. Some thoughts: 1. Cats charter very well - lots of space, forgiving to novice sailors -- 2. Handling: Don't compare the handling of a chartered cat to the handling of a monohull or multihull under the helm of an experienced skipper. For example, try backing your monohull upwind in a narrow channel to Med moor her - can be done if your experienced, impossible for a novice. Now try the same thing with a twin engine multihull - piece of cake, about like a twin engine sports fisherman. 3. Safety: Cats seldom flip. Modern production cats generally skid before they flip - you read of an occasional accident but . . . Monohulls sink - they are loaded with led ballast that makes them very unforgiving to leaks. Both boats have two stable positions, a Cat is stable mast up or mast down (upside down). A monohull is stable on the surface or on the bottom. Take your choice. 4. Comfort - there is just no comparison. Cooking underway on my monohull was possible but uncomfortable. Cooking with china, glass, and cakes that rise is the norm on a cat. We normally packed "under way" meals on our monohull - and only missed about 3 meals due to rough weather in 4 years of mostly open ocean cat sailing. 5. Which should you choose. I'll make you a deal - I won't suggest you choose a particular spouse if you don't suggest I choose a particular boat. In my limited experience, people are more faithful and more in love with their boat than their spouse - lots of stories about a boat surviving a divorce. So - choose your boat to meet your needs and your dreams. Learn to handle her by practicing such things as cross wind docking. overboard recovery, and reefing blindfolded -- over and over -- and the differences between your boat and the average boat will be much larger than the differences between monohulls and cats.
It's too early to tell.........
We are retired (older bodies, etc.) and have sailed our Mac25 and O'Day19 all over South Florida, while working the 9 to 5. We recently finished a winter (brrrr!) motoring from NC to FL on our Prout34, refurb in process. Did very little sailing on the ICW. The stable cat platform and increased beam makes it much easier on the old legs when on deck, but there are a lot of 3-step ups-and-downs inside. The 16 foot beam cuts down on available slips but we found space everywhere we wanted to dock. Docking a wide 34 with single screw is demanding. There are as many differences in cats as between cats and mono's. We researched cats for 15 years before buying and only felt comfortable on Prout and Gemini. Don & Betty on Jellicle Cat (in Winter) and in Tennessee (in summer).
We are retired (older bodies, etc.) and have sailed our Mac25 and O'Day19 all over South Florida, while working the 9 to 5. We recently finished a winter (brrrr!) motoring from NC to FL on our Prout34, refurb in process. Did very little sailing on the ICW. The stable cat platform and increased beam makes it much easier on the old legs when on deck, but there are a lot of 3-step ups-and-downs inside. The 16 foot beam cuts down on available slips but we found space everywhere we wanted to dock. Docking a wide 34 with single screw is demanding. There are as many differences in cats as between cats and mono's. We researched cats for 15 years before buying and only felt comfortable on Prout and Gemini. Don & Betty on Jellicle Cat (in Winter) and in Tennessee (in summer).
What is the cost differance.
I am a live a board on a 42 Hunter and keep maintance records from year to year. I am getting the boat ready for retirment and head south. I have thought about the idea of retiring on a Cat but was thinking that the maintance cost on engines, bottom paint, hauling cost, (if your marina has a lift to handle one) and general "stuff" must be much more than my mono hull. I would like to compare the cost from someone that lives a board a multi hull.
I am a live a board on a 42 Hunter and keep maintance records from year to year. I am getting the boat ready for retirment and head south. I have thought about the idea of retiring on a Cat but was thinking that the maintance cost on engines, bottom paint, hauling cost, (if your marina has a lift to handle one) and general "stuff" must be much more than my mono hull. I would like to compare the cost from someone that lives a board a multi hull.
Multi hull vs. single?
I'm in the market for another boat at the moment, and am considering a solid monohull as well as a similar length trimaran. The "new" boat would normally be used for moderate weather sailing (less than a gale), in moderate seas (8-12' are relatively normal around here). In an emergency, it may need to go out is less than optimum weather. I'd have no concern about a solid tri or a solid monohull. From a control viewpoint, I've heard that cats generally turn less well than monohulls, but trimarans turn virtually as well as monohulls. Thus, I wouldn't consider a catamaran...I may need to turn in tight areas. The shallow draft of most trimarans is a definite plus...I like to explore.
I'm in the market for another boat at the moment, and am considering a solid monohull as well as a similar length trimaran. The "new" boat would normally be used for moderate weather sailing (less than a gale), in moderate seas (8-12' are relatively normal around here). In an emergency, it may need to go out is less than optimum weather. I'd have no concern about a solid tri or a solid monohull. From a control viewpoint, I've heard that cats generally turn less well than monohulls, but trimarans turn virtually as well as monohulls. Thus, I wouldn't consider a catamaran...I may need to turn in tight areas. The shallow draft of most trimarans is a definite plus...I like to explore.
Mad Monk...I do not have
a large Catamarine. I do know that you will have ALOT of area on the deck... behind the dodger. Its like a livingroom on floats! There is a +/- 40 foot Manta at my Marina. They have a 55 ton travel lift... it stays in the water over the winter. Lift can't handle width. The cost must be at least double for maintenance. Need 2 of everything. Possibly 2 slips...sq sf for storage. Cats are somewhat difficult to tack (backwind jib). Point like cr*p. Very fast.
a large Catamarine. I do know that you will have ALOT of area on the deck... behind the dodger. Its like a livingroom on floats! There is a +/- 40 foot Manta at my Marina. They have a 55 ton travel lift... it stays in the water over the winter. Lift can't handle width. The cost must be at least double for maintenance. Need 2 of everything. Possibly 2 slips...sq sf for storage. Cats are somewhat difficult to tack (backwind jib). Point like cr*p. Very fast.
Cat going over
Link to a slideshow of a Cat Sass doing a pitchpole in the local 2006 Swiftsure race: http://www.pacificfog.net/Temp/CatSass.swf It's not every day you get a top photographer like Sean Trew in the right place at the right time with his motordrive Nikon. At 27 feet this is not your little Hobi, it is not a storm, and it is sailed by an experienced crew. But still a pitchpole happens. Just can't be too careful.
Link to a slideshow of a Cat Sass doing a pitchpole in the local 2006 Swiftsure race: http://www.pacificfog.net/Temp/CatSass.swf It's not every day you get a top photographer like Sean Trew in the right place at the right time with his motordrive Nikon. At 27 feet this is not your little Hobi, it is not a storm, and it is sailed by an experienced crew. But still a pitchpole happens. Just can't be too careful.
"Wow "Cat Going Over
Seeing that pitch poling sure did bring back great memories when I sailed my hobie 16 and 18 with a new crew and having that pitch poling happen to me. I love cats for sure but the price tag is unreal and did consider a Gemini 105 once but after hearing about one flipping the wife said her cat flipping days are over,I also was not crazy about the way things were set up on it but it did give that nice extra room in the cockpit and dinette and shallow draft,but they do flip and a hobie 18 is very easy to right up again and don't want to think about righting that 29 in the video or a Gemini either in gusty winds. Nick
Seeing that pitch poling sure did bring back great memories when I sailed my hobie 16 and 18 with a new crew and having that pitch poling happen to me. I love cats for sure but the price tag is unreal and did consider a Gemini 105 once but after hearing about one flipping the wife said her cat flipping days are over,I also was not crazy about the way things were set up on it but it did give that nice extra room in the cockpit and dinette and shallow draft,but they do flip and a hobie 18 is very easy to right up again and don't want to think about righting that 29 in the video or a Gemini either in gusty winds. Nick
Cats & dogs
I read some reports from a couple who gave up on their dream of cruising because their dogs couldn't handle the (monohull) boat. Later, they got a cat and the dogs reportedly did fine. As a dog-owner, it's a consideration. By the way, about the safety issue: Does anybody remember the crew that was delivering a cat to Washington state last winter? They were all lost in a big storm, but weeks later the cat washed up ashore - capsized but still floating. It always struck me that if the crew had simply stayed below deck they would have all survived. No?
I read some reports from a couple who gave up on their dream of cruising because their dogs couldn't handle the (monohull) boat. Later, they got a cat and the dogs reportedly did fine. As a dog-owner, it's a consideration. By the way, about the safety issue: Does anybody remember the crew that was delivering a cat to Washington state last winter? They were all lost in a big storm, but weeks later the cat washed up ashore - capsized but still floating. It always struck me that if the crew had simply stayed below deck they would have all survived. No?
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