I'm guessing that any one of us who spends any time at all out and about is very much aware of the ever increasing number of multi hulls.
Now for the puropse of this thread lets ignore the very high tech racers and probably the tris and have a good look at true cruising catamarans. What is to like ? What is to dislike ?
The way I see it cats have two , pretty obvious, advantages over mono and that is comfort and speed. Now OK, your yahoo whizbang monos such as the amazing Pogos will give any cruising multi a serious run for their money but it does seem to me that for intents and purposes a cat will flog a mono over the ground. Or will it ? Hard on the wind there is probably not a lot in it but reaching it is surely a different story.
As an example of this, on our recent trip we left Port Stephens in company with a 40 odd foot cat. Close hauled we took opposing tacks for the first hour or so and when we crossed we'd pretty much held our own but then the cat eased off onto a reach while we maintained close hauled. An hour later they had beaten us into the anchorage by half an hour.
Now fairly obviously, cats have their shortcomings. Mooring and docking costs are pretty obvious examples. We stayed at two marinas while away, each an overnighter. One, full service and very fancy was $185.00 for the 24hrs but that included a courtesy car and the fanciest bathrooms I have ever seen in a marina, the other a more typical example in a less touristic port was $50.00. Double that for a multi.
Now .... for a cruising cat I'm thinking 40' or thereabouts would be the go. I've heard that under 40' there are comfort issues. True or not ? Much bigger than 40' and the thing is going to be ridiculously large for two people, hell even a forty foot cat has more than enough room for us.
So lets look at a few options, discuss (I know its been done before but what the hell, lets go round again) the pros and cons. Examples Leopard v Lagoon ? Chalk and cheese perhaps but just what does the Lagoon give to the Leopard or vice versa ?
anywho ... topic is here for discussion. I'll be very interested to get any feedback.
...... and no the Womboat is not on the market, I'm just interested in the subject of cats.
Now for the puropse of this thread lets ignore the very high tech racers and probably the tris and have a good look at true cruising catamarans. What is to like ? What is to dislike ?
The way I see it cats have two , pretty obvious, advantages over mono and that is comfort and speed. Now OK, your yahoo whizbang monos such as the amazing Pogos will give any cruising multi a serious run for their money but it does seem to me that for intents and purposes a cat will flog a mono over the ground. Or will it ? Hard on the wind there is probably not a lot in it but reaching it is surely a different story.
As an example of this, on our recent trip we left Port Stephens in company with a 40 odd foot cat. Close hauled we took opposing tacks for the first hour or so and when we crossed we'd pretty much held our own but then the cat eased off onto a reach while we maintained close hauled. An hour later they had beaten us into the anchorage by half an hour.
Now fairly obviously, cats have their shortcomings. Mooring and docking costs are pretty obvious examples. We stayed at two marinas while away, each an overnighter. One, full service and very fancy was $185.00 for the 24hrs but that included a courtesy car and the fanciest bathrooms I have ever seen in a marina, the other a more typical example in a less touristic port was $50.00. Double that for a multi.
Now .... for a cruising cat I'm thinking 40' or thereabouts would be the go. I've heard that under 40' there are comfort issues. True or not ? Much bigger than 40' and the thing is going to be ridiculously large for two people, hell even a forty foot cat has more than enough room for us.
So lets look at a few options, discuss (I know its been done before but what the hell, lets go round again) the pros and cons. Examples Leopard v Lagoon ? Chalk and cheese perhaps but just what does the Lagoon give to the Leopard or vice versa ?
anywho ... topic is here for discussion. I'll be very interested to get any feedback.
...... and no the Womboat is not on the market, I'm just interested in the subject of cats.