Multihull ownership

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owen

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Being boatless at present i am wondering about multihulls. I wonder what problems and pleasures there are in owning one.
i read the recent article in Ym by R Woods about living with a multihull and was surprised to hear that they can be quite a bouncy ride and noisy down below. any recommendations or otherwise would be appreciated
 
Comfortable and roomy at rest, relatively fast on passage, bouncy but not tippy, female friendly, great for beaches, places others don't go and drying out.
Expensive to put in a marina, similar costs to run V+V a monohull in terms of length, Safe when ashore, and safe at sea if you throttle back to comfort zones.
My 10m cat at similar cost price to 10m monohull is twice as roomy and easier to sail. No brainer.
And I used to race and sail in Monohulls, until I saw the light. I do have a swinging mooring however.
 
I've stuck with a 25ft wide multi for many years. Obviously that width has it's disadvantages, but once you eschew marinas and use the shallow draft, then you can enjoy the wide flat decks, and the bridgedeck in a cruising cat. I suppose it's true they can be a bit noisy and jerky when it's rough but I've always preferred the sensation of being on top of the water rather than immersed in it. With a modest cruising rig they're safe. And unsinkability (for most models) is reassuring.
Why carry around a lump of lead which only works at a large heeling angle?
 
thanks for the replies.any views about in/outboard engines.i can understand twin inboards are good for manoevering but all that weight must be a drag in a light boat???
 
Some like them and others hate them. Personally I like them and would like to buy a Gemini 105Mc but have to sell my Cat first. The ride can be lively at times but then sailing upright does have advantages. Some marinas are b#??!!d's with surcharge whilst others are ok. Try a sail on one and make your mind up.
 
There are cats and cats. Normally if they have outboards they can be connected to the steering so turning is not a problem. Some have a single diesel with lift up leg connected to the steering like a mobo.
 
There is no such thing as "a catamaran" or "a monohull" There are various different types and sizes of both. However, talking Prout Snowgoose because I have one, and have owned many monohulls before, if we take say a Moody or whatever at around 36-37ft and compare, I would say firstly that there is obviously much more living space. Motion at sea is different. You won't be living at an angle going to windward which adds greatly to the comfort, but you will pitch more quickly in a hobbyhorse fashion and slam a bit into head seas. Thats where the "noisy" bit comes in. However you don't get slung across the boat ever, and when you get used to it it is much more comfortable and less tiring. It is perfectly true that I can put a full cup of coffee down on a flat surface in a force 6 and it is still there in 10 minutes time. The Moody will probably point higher than me to windward but only by about 5deg actually. I could point as high but wouldn't go any faster than the Moody if I did. Peel off 5-10 deg and I would be going quite a bit faster than the Moody, tack more, and be there at the same time. Downwind I would leave the Moody struggling in my wake. However!! Other performance cats would do better than that in light airs and some floating caravans like Catalacs would do far worse and never point as high.
Apart from all that they are less likely to sink so fast if holed (some are unsinkable some aren't but none will go to the bottom as fast as the Moody if holed).
You can anchor in comfort in 3 ft of water, dry out if you like and you will have the pleasure of watching monos rolling like a pig at anchor while you are not.
Having said all that, they are cumbersome beasts in marinas until you learn to handle them and when at anchor tend to sail around in circles!
There is no such thing as a perfect boat but all in all I would never revert to "half a boat" now
 
I had monos for about 20 years ,then after lusting after a tri for years I built myself a 38 footer. Performance was a major leap forwards as expected. The practicalities of maintenance and trying to get insurance and mooring something 30ft wide finally wore me down and I sold her after 5yrs. Id probably get another if I got rich. Ive just gone back to my roots and got a small fin keeler (Hunter Europa) If you do go for a multi make sure it has a daggerboard not long keels or you may as well buy a performance mono. To point high in a multi you must have a daggerbd.
 
Interesting. Like Boatmike I had a Prout cat - but I've now gone back to a Moody bilge.

I had the cat for 7 years and I can agree with much of what mike says. The ride is more comfortable and certainly more acceptable to my wife. Living aboard is easier on the cat, and I cant say that I found it any noisier under way. As for performance, it was a motorsailer to windward in any sort of sea, but would go to windward quite acceptably if the sea was flat. On average I used to passage plan on an average 15% faster than an equal length cruising mono. I couldnt keep up with cruiser racer monos.

In the 7 years I had the boat finishing about 4 years ago, I never once paid a cat surcharge at a marina from Ipswitch all along to south coast to the bristol channel. True I had a few arguments but I always won. This wasnt the case in France or Spain where I nearly always had to pay extra. It might well not be trhe situation now with far more boats around.

So if there are all these benefits, why did I change back. Two reasons really - the first is that cats are boring to sail, or at least cruising cats are. The sort of boat where you switch on the autohelm as you leave port and switch it off as you tie up. The second is that whilst they are good boats for long term downwind cruising, they are poor boats for day sailing including up wind in any sort of weather. And you cant race them in PY in reality. Dont regret the change at all - in fact I'm glad I did.

So in my view, if your use is long distance or long time cruising - get a cat. For general pottering / club racing / weekends away, get a moino.

And I ought to add, that in most respects the tri has the worst of both worlds.
 
Very interesting to hear from two forumites who've gone back to monos. It's a bit of a myth that skippers never "go back". I did wonder about "tri has the worst of both worlds". But I suppose it means that it's much wider than a cat but has less accommodation than a mono.
It's true that my boat at 7.5mtrs wide won't fit in a travelhoist which limits the cruising base to those with large cranes (or willingness to bring one in). And I always advise purchase of a cruising cat of less than 7mtrs beam, and probably less than 6mtrs beam, since many 7mtr travelhoists are straddling 6mtr docks. However modern multis are not cheap and require T berths or moorings. If on a budget you can find older ones, which include cruising tris rarely seen nowadays, although the newer folders have made a comeback.
I agree they're great down wind but can be tedious upwind. In fact this year my family will cruise south in the Adriatic but prefer to fly home before the more grizzled crew push north again!
We find it hard work to keep up with monos going to windward, either match the pointing at same speed or less, or crack off and sail faster and further for the same result. I'm convinced the lack of heeling is less tiring, and I sometimes wonder how mono crews accept life at a continual heel, but you can get used to anything!!
I admit I avoid large beam seas in a tri since profiling the waves can reach alarming angles. But this is less of a problem in a cat. However if I won the pools, I would buy another multi, probably a Catana cat developed from a Crowther design, although I'm intrigued by the Atlantic 42 by Chris White (and I quite like his tris too).
Owen should peruse the lists of multihull brokers and I suggest visiting Thornham "marina" nr Prinsted nr Emsworth from which Aqua Blue departed to the Med many years ago. There are always many multis at varying prices.
 
I have only been sailing for close to 55 years; have owned a number of mono, have raced and cruised extensively as well as delivered boats up and down the the east and west coasts of Australia.

If you had asked me 10 or 15 years ago if I would ever own a cat my response would not have been considered polite, despite the fact that I had completed wall over 2,000 n-miles in cats at that time.

However, modern design and materials have improved all types of boats, but none as much as multihulls. The modern cat is lighter, stronger and has moor clearance under the bridge deck. The long keels have been replaced with boards and the rigs improved out of site.

All this means the modern cat will sail as high and faster than monos into and off the wind. Some of the smaller (less than 8 m) cats are not just very fast, but very exciting to sail all be it a bit wet at times even though they have a full deck between the hulls.

Our cat is used every weekend all year round with very few exceptions and often gets a run or two during the week, sh only gets lifter out once a year for inspection, antifoul and anodes, back in under 48 hours.

We can sleep 8 in total comfort but have had 14 on board overnight, try that on a 42 foot mono.

Having sailed mono hulls and tri's down wind in big seas, then sailing a cat in the same conditions is something everyone should experience, in a mono you don't want to look back just in case, in a tri, you have to or else, in a cat you just steer a few degrees off the wave line and enjoy the ride in full control.

Cat's and multi's are very stable at rest and good nights kip is no problem. even better if you dry out, I like the day time dry out, sitting under the boat in the shade with the hulls guiding the cool breeze off the wet sand, just remember to fill the cold box before you go down.

The only marina I paid extra because it was a cat was on Hamilton Island during race week, all others have been OK. we are 42 by 20 feet.

Anyone contemplating a cat should first take a trip on one, but an old heavy lazy lump, try one that was built to sail and is not more than 6 or 7 years old.

Have a look at the boats built by Geoff Schionning, sail and power cats.

http://www.schionningdesigns.com.au/www/welcome.cfm

Avagoodweekend......
 
I asked about the surcharge for a cat at my marina and was told that the fees would be based only on length, not beam. My family and I then went to view 6 or 7 different cats up to about 30 foot at a place near Emsworth. My family didn't like any of them because although they ultimately had more space the 'saloon' did not have standing headroom.
 
before we brought our cat we spent many months looking at just a about all made.
many we discounted because 1, had a float on the mast oops thats for when it goes over. 2, as with many of the smaller prouts could not stand up in the cabin.3, again with the prouts it appeared they were almost like a tri with the bridge almost touching the water, therefore a lot of slap. I'm not knocking prouts they look great n sleek. 4, heavenly twins, did not feel safe in the tiny centre cockpit & unable to stand up.
As far as marina charges, we have cruised all along the south coast from Dart then onto the east coast & only ever been charged extra at Theiving DOVER. we tried arguing the point as we were put on the end of a pontoon where only ONE boat could go but they said we take up two berths, take it or leave it!!. We settled on our Catalac 900 series. as this based on the original 9mtr ie very safe & comfortable but with FULL standing headroom throughout, its been home for 5 years, through the french canals, calais to port camargue now in italy then to greece returning to uk this year. never had any slamming etc. oh buy the way she's up for sale as we are retiring to the canals.
 
Hi,
(resurrecting an old thread!)

A couple of questions for the multihull owners out there. How easy is it to de-power a trimaran? Is it as simple as reefing far earlier than one needs to? I cyrrently have a Capecutter19 (Shrimper lookalike, but better.....) and am considering changing to a Catri24 trimaran.

However, my wife does like the sometimes tranquil aspects, a gentle speed as opposed to the full out speed that a tr would offer in a F4. So if i assure her that a couple of reefs, and averything will be cool, would I be telling the truth?!

Second general question - my impression is that in the UK there is a bit of a bias against multihulls. Do you think that's true? I'm wondering about the market for the boat as an when I'd come to sell it.

Cheers,

David

PS the Catri24 seems to meet all of my requirements in being small, basic accomodation, speed and light.
 
I have a Dragonfly 920. It is always been possible to depower and go slower. I have 3 reefs in the main but have never used the 3rd. I sail in winds upto F6 upwind and F7 downwind. I don't reef earlier than I need to. I reef when the angle of dangle upwind or the boatspeed downwind reaches certain levels, or when the bumps start rattling my brain in a big sea.

I've not come across any bias against multis, or tris at least that I know about. Lots of interest and onlookers saying that they'd love to have one, or have a go, but no-one has ever said anything derogatory to me. It's usually the opposite.

When staying in marinas I'll say that I'm a tri and would like a wide berth if possible, but can fold if it means I will be charged extra at full width. Never had to do so yet. Sometimes I've had to fold just to get a space.

The market for tris, modern ones at least, is more of a European one than a UK one. You may have to go abroad to buy a used one (like I did), and likewise prospective buyers will come from abroad when you want to sell. A problem buying a used modern tri can be to find one for sale in the first place.
 
My admitedly very limited experience of multis has convinced me that I'm a mono man.
To me the advantages were slightly outweighed by the disadvantages.

But the killer is what I do most of - racing. A few weeks ago I lined up on the start line for the Royal Southern's Double handed regatta. We were in a large class - 15 boats if I recall, and had great cometition all weekend.

There was also a multihull class. There were 3 entries. And there's very little fully crewed racing on the multis.

Fast multis are very fast - they absolutely smoked past us several times that weekend, but also very lonely.
 
Hi David, pm me !

i'd def not buy the catri as a first trimaran. tri''s are fast enought without the extra hassle of foils.
look at a dragonfly or F etc.
you're welcome to sail on mine.
reef it early for sure, that is if you have sufficient slab reefing 'power'. i'm having a new main made that i can take down to 45% of normal size. not for a F10 but as you suggested to slow her down in a F4.
mine will reach at true wind speed with an asymetric, aswum if you like sailing.
Simon
 
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