Prout Snowgoose or Gulfstar

[bg9208]

All my previous cruising has been in monohulls but next year we are proposing buying a boat to liveaboard, sail down to the Med for a few years and then, possibly bimble across the Indian Ocean to India and Sri lanka. As we would like to take as many important bits of our present life as is practical, we are likely to farily well loaded at the very start and for the bluewater bit loaded with provisions and fuel, all kept as low as possible. Now I like the Snowgoose but 'her indoors' thinks Cats are ugly however I think I can probably address that challenge but my own concern, due to lack of firsthand knowledge is the frequent reference to degradation of performance of Cats when overloaded. What I must ask is 1) just how much is weight is needed to 'overload' a Snowgoose 2) Just how much effect on performance and stability would 'overloading' cause 3)Is the Snowgoose right for the task 4) What effect to windward ability and handling/manoverability, or should I stick with monohull.
Bear in mind that I'm not interested in racing just to go fast enough to get out of trouble.
TIA

Brian Owen

[sailingdog]

Welcome to Sailnet. I'd highly recommend you read this post to get the most out of your time on Sailnet.

That said, the real question is how much stuff do you really need? If you want to carry everything in the world you had when living on-shore, like the HDTV, 300 disc changer stereo system, etc... then no, a Catamaran probably isn't the right boat for you. A Gulfstar is probably going to not notice all that weight—a Snowgoose most definitely will.

If you like the living space a catamaran can provide, and can resist the urge to fill it with crap... then you'd probably be happy on a Snowgoose.


Why do you have the list down to these two boats in specific? It would probably help if you said what your budget was, since you've already said what your goals are. That would help elicit a list of good boats for your purpose.