Catamarans

[Scotty_Tradewind]

Apologies, probably should have put this on 'Liveaboard' in first place.

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...oard-and-WORLD-CRUISING&p=4699647#post4699647

S.

 

[rustybarge]

Apologies, probably should have put this on 'Liveaboard' in first place.

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthrea...oard-and-WORLD-CRUISING&p=4699647#post4699647

S.

You should have put it on the cat forum.http://www.multihulls4us.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=7

PS: for morer esoteric opinons on cats try the boat design forum:http://www.boatdesign.net/forums/
These guys are experts, Warning: don't try to BS on your posts, ask a simple question and you'll get fantastic answers.

 

[vyv_cox]

I cannot comment on the Pros as I have never sailed a cruising cat, although we raced Hobies, Darts and Prindles for many years. The main Con that we see is simply the amount of space they occupy. We see many hopeful cat sailors entering Eastern Med harbours late in the afternoon looking for a berth. Due to the tendency of many sailors to leave a boat-width space between them and their neighbour there is simply insufficient width for a wide cat. In lots of cases a monohull would get in but a big cat has no chance and they either go elsewhere, go stern-to in a rather dodgy position or anchor off. In many cases they would get in at midday but of course this is not always convenient.

 

[Etesian]

I went from a monohull to a Lagoon 380 Catamaran about 8 years ago. I was a little nervous about the decision. You never really know until you sail one. I have to say I LOVE it. The pros and cons are pretty accurate. Having two engines have saved us a couple of times when one of the engines had a problem. You can still get to a port to fix. But the huge advantage is the way they maneuver in port. The allow you complete steering control and you can turn on a dime. Since it does not rely on the rudder for steering, you can go as slow as you need to and still have complete control. I lock the rudder down when I enter a marina and do all of the steering with the engines.

Marina fees are sometimes the same per length which means you get a lot more boat for the same marina fee. But most of the time port fees are at 150% of monohulls. Given the significantly more space, I think it is still cheaper. We have never had a problem finding a berth in a marina, but all of our sailing has been in the Mediterranean.

More than anything the space and livability can not be matched. With two true queen-size beds and one double somewhat v-berth style, it beats any monohull of similar size that I have ever seen anyway. I also love the way the salon opens up directly to the cockpit area, giving you one indoor/outdoor space. In a monohull, you go down in the hatch for the living space. So it feels like you are separated from the guests seated in the monohull area.

Hope that gives you some other things to think about. If you have any specific questions, let me know.

Etesian

 

[geem]

I went from a monohull to a Lagoon 380 Catamaran about 8 years ago. I was a little nervous about the decision. You never really know until you sail one. I have to say I LOVE it. The pros and cons are pretty accurate. Having two engines have saved us a couple of times when one of the engines had a problem. You can still get to a port to fix. But the huge advantage is the way they maneuver in port. The allow you complete steering control and you can turn on a dime. Since it does not rely on the rudder for steering, you can go as slow as you need to and still have complete control. I lock the rudder down when I enter a marina and do all of the steering with the engines.

Marina fees are sometimes the same per length which means you get a lot more boat for the same marina fee. But most of the time port fees are at 150% of monohulls. Given the significantly more space, I think it is still cheaper. We have never had a problem finding a berth in a marina, but all of our sailing has been in the Mediterranean.

More than anything the space and livability can not be matched. With two true queen-size beds and one double somewhat v-berth style, it beats any monohull of similar size that I have ever seen anyway. I also love the way the salon opens up directly to the cockpit area, giving you one indoor/outdoor space. In a monohull, you go down in the hatch for the living space. So it feels like you are separated from the guests seated in the monohull area.

Hope that gives you some other things to think about. If you have any specific questions, let me know.

Etesian

We have gone the other way. 15 years with Catamarans. Now the proud owner of a monohull. Load carrying capacity was our biggest problem with the catamarans. We had to lighten everything and cruise with minimal gear. Now not a problem on a large monohull. We are off on another Atlantic circuit. The last one on a cat was three weeks to windward Antigua to Azores. No fun. New mono goes to windward with 2.2m draft and slippy hull shape. Large sail area for light wind. Something the cat struggled with was light headwinds ans sloppy sea. Sea knocked wind out of sails.
I really enjoyed the cat or we would have sailed one for so long. It ticked a lot of boxes but to trade up to something I would be happy with was twice the cost of a big comfortable capable monohull.

 

[25931]

There was a time when the Snowgoose was considered to be quite large and many ocean crossings have been and are still being made. Whilst not being racers they often outpace monos off the wind and as far as I'm aware none has ever capsized - we have experienced some nasty seas in Equinoxe and always felt safe. Obviously a larger cat has more space and obviously costs more. Rosie Swales travelled for years on a rather smaller boat. No-one can tell you, the only way to know what is acceptable to you is to try it out.

 

[Jegs]

There was a time when the Snowgoose was considered to be quite large and many ocean crossings have been and are still being made. Whilst not being racers they often outpace monos off the wind and as far as I'm aware none has ever capsized - we have experienced some nasty seas in Equinoxe and always felt safe. Obviously a larger cat has more space and obviously costs more. Rosie Swales travelled for years on a rather smaller boat. No-one can tell you, the only way to know what is acceptable to you is to try it out.

I'm a cat fan, but recall that a Snowgoose capsized in the '79 or '80 round the Island race, bit east of St Catherine's: racing, no doubt.

John G

 

[25931]

I'm a cat fan, but recall that a Snowgoose capsized in the '79 or '80 round the Island race, bit east of St Catherine's: racing, no doubt.

John G

I seem to remember something about a modified keel to be able to point better thus destroying the the safety which the Prout brothers built into their designs.

 

[rustybarge]

It's extraordinary that there isn't a single Cat manufacturer in the UK, excluding the commercial wind farm and inshore fishing boats of course.

The advantage a powercat has is that it's as seaworthy as a s/d boat, but without the fuel consumption penalty.

They are very popular down under, but zero interest here in Europe, admittedly they are little bit more expensive than a mono.