Cats that proud our seas

[sailaboutvic]

Are cats taken over the world ? And I am not talking about our four legged
Friends . In an anchorages of say 10 boat , one or two use to be a cat , looking around me to day , there 15 boat and 8 are cats . That's over 50% .
Will the day come soon when 8 boats out of 10 are cats and only two be monohull ?
I always been a Monohull guy , and never sailed a cat and the only time I been in one is at anchor , I have to say there make great Liveaboard boats so much space , but what about the sailing performance .?
Or have these owners only interested in living accommodation.
AlthoughI we have met and made friend with a Dutch couple who build there own and so we told in the right condition she will do 20kts and point 40 to the apparent wind .
Now there a thought , maybe I could be converted .

 

[BurnitBlue]

Catamarans in an anchorage are a menace because they mostly use their shallow draft to get close to shore then invariably straddle someones anchor and chain when they fall back.

Have you ever tried to get your anchor up when the chain is trapped under a catamaran.

A monohull is easy to push to one side. But with a catamaran, especially one of the big ones, it is almost impossible without using your boat to push it out of the way.

Nothing like a start to the day when --- you see about fifteen folk sitting in the cockpit just having breakfast. "We wiil be moving in about an hour (or two)"

 

[Norman_E]

They are a nuisance in Mediterranean harbours too, where two catamarans take up more space than three monohulls.

 

[SeamanStaines]

Arghhhh!!

OK, Yes Vic, Cats can be quick and point well (they use the speed to offset the leeway). I must say the days of us doingover 12kts have gone with the amount of junk we carry around

Huh, yes we can get in to shallow waer but I cant see why that makes us more likely to lay over an anchor than a muppet in a monohull. Generally, we can get so far inshore that the monohulls are nowhere near us anyway!

A 12mtrtCat is probably they equvelant of an 19mtr monohull in terms of the interior volume, I wonder how you get on pushing one of those out of the way! As I have already said their are muppets everwhere and it is not exclusive to catamarans. Generally though we are easier to move as lighter weight and no keels. I would go mad if you 'pushed' me out of the way with your boat!

Actually, its about the same as two catamarans, not more than, And we can use the shallower parts anyway

 

[RichardS]

Huh, yes we can get in to shallow waer but I cant see why that makes us more likely to lay over an anchor than a muppet in a monohull. Generally, we can get so far inshore that the monohulls are nowhere near us anyway!

That's absolutely correct. I anchor in the shallow water with the other cats and can use a lot less chain than the monohulls which are miles further out and nowhere near our chains.

Caribbean is 80% cats now and the Med will be the same in a few years. The big Med charterers are currently around 50:50 in their fleets.

Monohulls will be soon be a minority interest reduced to lurking out on the fringes of the boating world. :encouragement:

(I might convert you in a few weeks time Vic! )

Richard

 

[sailaboutvic]

Arghhhh!!

OK, Yes Vic, Cats can be quick and point well (they use the speed to offset the leeway). I must say the days of us doingover 12kts have gone with the amount of junk we carry around

Huh, yes we can get in to shallow waer but I cant see why that makes us more likely to lay over an anchor than a muppet in a monohull. Generally, we can get so far inshore that the monohulls are nowhere near us anyway!

A 12mtrtCat is probably they equvelant of an 19mtr monohull in terms of the interior volume, I wonder how you get on pushing one of those out of the way! As I have already said their are muppets everwhere and it is not exclusive to catamarans. Generally though we are easier to move as lighter weight and no keels. I would go mad if you 'pushed' me out of the way with your boat!

Actually, its about the same as two catamarans, not more than, And we can use the shallower parts anyway

Were you anchor the other night I can't see you over any one chain maybe over the odd deck chair or some poor body sun bathing on the beach .
I agree if any thing , they go in so close in some cases if any thing it leave more room for the rest of us .
But I also have to agree that one cat takes up room of two mono on a quay ,although as we don't offen use quay it doesn't bother us .
Now if I could find a cat that did 20kts and point well I could be temped .

 

[Sybarite]

This is what you want to go for Vic. It's about 20% faster than an equivalent length cruising cat.

http://www.neel-trimarans.com/fr/modele_bateau/neel-45/

 

[Niander]

Would you want to pay double on pontoons?
Believe They can be faster but i prefer monohulls.

 

[Colvic Watson]

Now if I could find a cat that did 20kts and point well I could be temped .

To replace your 20kts mono?

We had a cat for a few years and loved it, we would have had another when we needed to go bigger but affordable mid thirty feet cats are generally old and manky or non-family orientated racers. Hopefully all these new cats will trickle down so that the likes of me can afford one in a few years time.

 

[sailaboutvic]

To replace your 20kts mono?

We had a cat for a few years and loved it, we would have had another when we needed to go bigger but affordable mid thirty feet cats are generally old and manky or non-family orientated racers. Hopefully all these new cats will trickle down so that the likes of me can afford one in a few years time.

I only wish my mono could do 20kts , althought we have seen double figure once or twice over the years .

 

[Douglas T]

Every boat is a compromise,.. if there was a perfect boat we would all be sailing it.
Just get your priorities right!

 

[SamanthaTabs]

Aww bless..... Ok, to date we have never collected someone's chain, our chain however has been lifted once or twice. We do anchor in shallow water, not uncommon for us to be quite a distance from the monohulls. As far as taking up more room on a quay? Unless someone passes a law to say otherwise we will continue to moor up for the occasional night. Many marinas charge us double or 1 1/2, that's our choice to have a catamaran so suck it up.

Yes, speaking for myself, I love the living conditions on this which is my permanent home. No, we don't go very fast - about 6.5 kts is a gentle and comfortable speed, a bit faster if the conditions are right. It's a floating home not a racing vessel.

As far as being a nuisance? We've had to move on a number of occasions as a monohull has anchored much too close to us. Never the other way around. Perhaps we've just been lucky over the past 8 yrs or so

 

[BurnitBlue]

Well you seem to be convinced that a catamaran will and does not lie over a monohulls chain. You are wrong. I have seen it happen a dozen times at least in the ionian. Twice to me.

In fact I listened to a very entertaining account of how a monohull was almost wrecked when a catamaran dragged on to the poor innocent chap. He was trapped between the hulls with his chain under the bridge deck. He was completely helpless. The Catamaran crew were off the boat somewhere. He had to cut and buoy his chain to escape. The entertainment came when he described in flowing language his opinion of anyone in a catamaran who anchored off his bow.

This is the whole point I was making. That when it does happen that a catamaran straddles another boats chain or anchor is is very difficult to extract oneself without using the engine to push the cat sideways. It will happen.

I sailed a catamaran for six years in less crowded waters. I am amazed that anyone should think that a catamaran will never straddle any boats anchor chain. It happens with monohulls also but they do not cause the same problem because they can be pushed to one side. A totally different situation.

BTW I sailed a catamaran on both sides of the Atlantic for 6 years as a liveaboard.

 

[BurnitBlue]

Aww bless..... Ok, to date we have never collected someone's chain, our chain however has been lifted once or twice. We do anchor in shallow water, not uncommon for us to be quite a distance from the monohulls. As far as taking up more room on a quay? Unless someone passes a law to say otherwise we will continue to moor up for the occasional night. Many marinas charge us double or 1 1/2, that's our choice to have a catamaran so suck it up.

Yes, speaking for myself, I love the living conditions on this which is my permanent home. No, we don't go very fast - about 6.5 kts is a gentle and comfortable speed, a bit faster if the conditions are right. It's a floating home not a racing vessel.

As far as being a nuisance? We've had to move on a number of occasions as a monohull has anchored much too close to us. Never the other way around. Perhaps we've just been lucky over the past 8 yrs or so

You have been more than lucky if it hasn't happened to you in 8 years. I hope your luck continues. As for monohulls anchoring too close, well that is a problem in crowded anchorages and is not confined to monohulls.

Despite owning a catamaran for 6 years and even contemplating buying another soon, I really do GROAN when I see a Cat entering the anchorage. I can only relax when they have finally anchored. BTW why do modern cats sound like a freight train when they are lowering their anchor.?

I am coming across as if I have a thing against Cats. I don't but I do recognise the potential problem of trapping another boat by sitting on top of the chain. I cannot believe that no one else has experienced this problem. Maybe it is just luck.

 

[SamanthaTabs]

Our home is 13 yrs old, definitely slow goods train rather than freight. On that note I'll raise the bar offering up the clueless skipper of a monohull still cocking it up in a flat calm with bow thruster a 'thrusting. I chose to vocalise the sound to say "exterminate" repeatedly.
Appreciate comments of those who have had issues in the past. Long may our "luck" (nah, it's careful good judgement before dropping the hook) continue

 

[Colvic Watson]

You have been more than lucky if it hasn't happened to you in 8 years. I hope your luck continues. As for monohulls anchoring too close, well that is a problem in crowded anchorages and is not confined to monohulls.

Despite owning a catamaran for 6 years and even contemplating buying another soon, I really do GROAN when I see a Cat entering the anchorage. I can only relax when they have finally anchored. BTW why do modern cats sound like a freight train when they are lowering their anchor.?

I am coming across as if I have a thing against Cats. I don't but I do recognise the potential problem of trapping another boat by sitting on top of the chain. I cannot believe that no one else has experienced this problem. Maybe it is just luck.

Never seen it or heard of it. Maybe just a problem in your locality?

 

[RichardS]

I am amazed that anyone should think that a catamaran will never straddle any boats anchor chain. It happens with monohulls also but they do not cause the same problem because they can be pushed to one side. A totally different situation.

I don't think that any of us think that a cat will never straddle another boats anchor chain. As you say, it happens with monos but, surely, logic would say that it is more likely to happen with monohulls because they are often all closer together in the deeper water whereas cats are more likely to be in the shallower reaches.

I cannot see anything which is intrinsic to cats which makes them more likely than monohulls to lay their chain across another chain.

Richard

 

[sailaboutvic]

I don't think you can Blane cats for cross over anchors or picking someone else's chain ,
it's the skipper who is at fault, and if the same skipper was one mono he do the same .
As for sitting on someone anchor , well that's easily done , you come into a windless anchorage , boats sit all over the place , who know where an anchor lies , but I have never had a problem to move when someone wanted to go if I was on or close to his anchor and I can't think of a time when some one was on mine and was ask to move and he said no .
And here a little tip for anyone who find his anchor under another boat and the owner have gone ashore , just slowly nuge him with you dinghy , no damage , no problem .
Everyone happy .

 

[KellysEye]

How many of the Cats are charter boats?

 

[Seajet]

I had a Dart 18 dinghy cat; I suppose it was fast technically, but there was none of the spray and sensation one gets in a fast monohull racing dinghy.

It also had zero feel on the helm - which has to be a relatively complicated linkage rather than a proper tiller letting the boat talk.

I hated it.

An aircraft designer sailing chum commented about cruising cats " only really stable when they're upside down ! "

Some friends bought a very smart Heavenly Twins a while ago, well within a season they were tearing their hair out and near suicidal, a boat less useful for Solent dashes is hard to imagine, I can only think the original hippy Heavenly Twins fans must have wanted to take months in the Pacific to cultivate their dodgy crops !

Also a sod to lift and move around on shore taking up tons of otherwise useful space - same as in marinas - our club has banned any more joining for this reason.

If you like cat's - or tri's for that matter, great - have fun; but not for me.