Regular inspection of a catamaran is essential, including checking the exterior, including the hull, keel, trampolines, and helm, as well as the interior for corrosion and peeling. There are several factors to consider when choosing a catamaran, including differences from monohulls, important factors to consider, pros and cons, recommended destinations, and catamaran models.
For newcomers to catamaran sailing, it is recommended to mark three reef points on the foot with sail tape and monitor its stretches to avoid losing 5-10° of height. For extended stays aboard, consider factors like a good hull design, optimal helm station placement, boat stability, and adequate load-carrying capacity.
For a comfortable, spacious, and versatile sailing vessel, look for all fiberglass with a foam core, as plywood boats tend to have a short shelf life if not meticulously maintained. Check the wire for heavy rust and furler assemblies, as well as the corners of the sails, such as the headboard, tack board, and clew.
For a comfortable, spacious catamaran at anchor, go for wider hulls and open space. Consider chartering your boat if you need a raised helm, as it doesn’t have the windage or exposure of a full flybridge. Divers seeking the perfect catamaran should prioritize a vessel capable of comfortably handling rough weather and strong winds.
📹 How to choose a catamaran – Catamaran sailing techniques
Top multihull designer Nigel Irens guides us through the process of choosing a catamaran. We also speak to Lloyd Thornburg, …
📹 Essential skills to master, before you go cruising
Before you go cruising, there are some important skills to master on a catamaran to keep you and your family out of harms way, …
How refreshing to hear a knowledgeable discussion on the realities of choosing a Cat. So often the discussion centers around two misconceptions 1: Cats are faster than monohulls and 2: Cats make better cruisers than monohulls. Go to any number of the larger sailing forums and you will see the heated discussions. Being a former live aboard cruiser in a 40ft mono I was initially attracted to the two items mentioned above. For our next term afloat I wanted our cake and to eat it too. However when you start to look at actual hard data (ie: passage times) it becomes very apparent that the 40-55ft CondoCats are making very little (if any) improvement in passage times. Downwind times in light air is dreadful and upwind in moderate to strong is terrible on these foil-less Cats. Case in point, a popular Youtube vessel Cheeky Monkey is currently attempting a passage from Panama to the Galapagos, a 800nm passage of approx five days. Wind and sea conditions are moderate (10-15kts). However the wind is dead on the nose and they are currently 5 days into the passage and have only traveled approx 450nm. And their course has taken them closer to Ecuador than the Galapagos. In reviewing ARC passage times it becomes very apparent that the cruising Cats are not out performing the cruising monos. Clearly there are creature comfort benefits to the Cats, however any purchaser must be aware that they come with a cost, both literally and figuratively. My advise, if you have the budget, look at the Outremers, some Catanas, Schionning or a semi custom vessel such as a Barramundi.
No one ever considers reliability and robustness. Even with all the money in the world a complex comfy boat still has more parts to break which you might not be able to repair at sea or find someone to fix or you’ll spend your time repairing it. If you’re going long distance offshore, think about robustness, reliability, simplicity, and repairability.
Catamarans are a good example for me, for how the world is changing technology-wise. I am old enough to remember how catamarans were still a pretty much unheard of thing. Some weird, new curiosity a small number of boat builders were toying around with. Interesting how far this has come since then. Feels like it was just a few years ago and when I say “I am old enough”, I’m not talking about being a 90 year old living fossile, I’m 40. It is the same with other technologies that I remember not existing, but have become ubiquitous since then, like white LEDs for example. I remember being 17, sitting in a high school electronics class and being told by the teacher why red, blue or green LEDs exist, but no white ones and how that is a technology that many people are working on, but nobody could figure out yet, back then. Now it is as if they never not existed, somehow. I can’t remember hearing news about white LEDs finally being invented. They just were everywhere one day and I only noticed it in hindsight. Funny how such stuff sneaks up on you. I wonder what the next big trend or breakthrough technology in boat building might be.
Sailing a Leopard Cat for the entire series and then bringing in racing cat specialists like Lloyd and the other guy to pass irrelevant comments is like taking a RV out for spin and then asking Daniel Ricciardo to comment on what to buy, this is really crazy stuff and not at all helpful to newbie catamaran buyers
The articles title betrays the type of vessel illustrating the best performance. Anyone should know that Trimarans will always outperform cats on the high seas. Period. The problem is the Trimaran offerings for cruising are extremely limited. The only ones building Trimarans targeted to the cruising market are RAPIDO and NEEL. Two completely different approaches; RAPIDO has focused on both luxury and extreme performance while NEEL appears to be more comfort oriented. Much better looking than most cruising cats that look a bit silly. The dragonfly’s are nice but are hitting a different demographic.’ Not sure on their blue water chops either. The lagoon is probably one of the homeliest looking boats I’ve ever seen. The gold standard for cruising Catamarans used to be the Peter Spronk designs now its Gunboat or Outremer. I think on the coming years we’ll see more cruising Trimarans.
well I wanted family car that was sort of fun to drive, well you will a turbo charged open when wheel mono-cock construction . there is absolutely nothing the middle . Bullshit . I have after 40 plus years of sailing that the shittiest over weighted cat will blow the battens of a traditional full keel mono hull cruiser or for that matter a J boat. Instead of four -five knots you are looking 7-10 that’s huge . this article was completely dumb.