Another Un-informed 'Lubber Question

[AirMedMech]

I appreciate all the feedback on such a vague (I now realize) question!

You guys rock!

[stevensuf]

The best thing about a cat, is less roll at anchor.

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Dragon Lady

...
Be warned most wives take a shine to cats so once she has seen one you may have trouble convincing her to go to a mono...

Yup, that's how I wound up with cat.

Also, hosted a sundowner aboard my cat once, about 15 local cruisers aboard -- all quite comfortably. One of the cruisers had a very nice smaller traditional mono. The sundowner aboard my boat was his wife's first time aboard a cat -- she liked it -- a lot. I saw him a couple of days later and he was not happy -- seems his wife now wanted a cat!

Another advantage of a cat for a cruising couple is that it has "his and her" hulls. When you need a little time apart it is much easier to do!

[AirMedMech]

Originally Posted by belizesailor

Another advantage of a cat for a cruising couple is that it has "his and her" hulls. When you need a little time apart it is much easier to do!

That's good info! His and her sides of the boat! LOL

[AirMedMech]

Also, to answer an earlier question I missed:

Not looking to live aboard, most likely cruising the Gulf of Mexico and Caribbean for a couple weeks at a time, and probably weekend runs just to keep everything in working order.

[Cheechako]

Multis have far more space than monos. My 42 cat probably had about double the living area of my 47 mono... tri's probably not so much so....

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by AirMedMech

I've heard that multi-hull boats are short on space compared to a mono-hull of comparable length.

I'm interested in the stability aspects of multi-hull boats, but I'm not thrilled with the idea of cruising with my wife in a boat that has us cramped like sardines in a can.

Any insight on this subject? How big of a boat is required for a reasonable amount of comfort for two people? And how much bigger would a multi-hull have to be to provide that same level of comfort?

Just now starting the journey toward the possibility of acquiring a sailing vessel, so I have lots of questions. Thanks in advance for your time and advice

Just to clarify terminology a bit: Multihulls are technically any vessel with more than one hull. Common sailing multihulls tend to be either catamarans (2 hulls) or tri-marans (3 hulls). The most common type of cruising multihull sailing vessel is a catamaran. So, I'm going to assume that's what interests you.

Re Space. I think that most people who have been aboard modern production cruising cats feel the opposite about the space. Loads of accomodation space on most modern cats (an almost absurd amount on some larger cats). A frequently used very rough rule of thumb is that to get similar accommodation space you would need to look at a mono about 1.5 times the LOA. And, that does not include the above deck space -- lots of deck & cockpit space on a typical cat.

Re Motion "Stability". It sounds like your question is more about "motion" than technical stuff like "stability curves" so I will answer under that assumption. Simplistically, many people like cats because they don't heel perceptibly. I've run a lot of charters with guests on monos and cats and while I have not crunched the numbers on this, anecdotally, guests do appear less prone to sea sickness on cats (not immune, just less prone). Heeling really makes some non-sailing guests uncomfortable (scared even) so they obviously prefer cats. Minimal heeling also makes it easier to enjoy all that deck space underway (I remember one of my first cruising cat sails under spinnaker...walking around the level decks with GPS in one hand reading 10+ knots...and a beer in the other...thinking "hey I could get used to this!"), On long crossings, crew fatigue also appears to be significantly less on a cat. I suspect that in really heavy sustained conditions that might not hold true, but in light to moderate conditions definitely appears to be the case. Apparently due to minimal heeling. Assuming no significant wind/current opposition, cats do not tend to "sail" at anchor (some monos do...like my H33 -- big time! But depends upon the design of the boat). Cats may do really interesting dances at anchor when wind and current are opposed however. Underway cats move "differently" than monos. I think of this as a more "arrhythmic" movement created by the fact that you have two hulls moving through the water -- quite often each hull will be at a different point in the wave train causing an irregular motion in the boat. In most circumstances this is no big deal, but can be unpleasant in "beam seas" (seas approaching parallel to the center line of the boat). Beam seas can of course be unpleasant on a mono too, but the effect is more pronounced on a cat. As with the space, it has been my observation that most non-sailing female guests tend to prefer the motion of a cat.

Re "how big". For cruising boats, whether mono or cat, about 40-45 feet seems to be good practical size for cruising. You see fewer cruising boats both above and below this range (have not actually done the math, but my perception anyway). Again, for the same space/comfort level a catamaran could be smaller than a mono. Case in point, my little Wildcat 35 with 4 cabins, queen sized bunks, two full heads, full galley, roomy main salon, loads of cockpit and deck space is way comfortable as a cruiser and a live aboard. No need for more space at all. And, bumping up a bit in LOA to lets say a 40-45 foot catamaran does not really give you much more liveable space. What it does give you is more load carrying capacity and more water line length (thus more boat speed potential). On a smaller catamaran loading has a noticeably bigger effect on performance than on a larger cat. I used to run larger cats in charter, which we loaded up with many cases of beverages and full-service charter stuff, guests and all their gear, and it had minimal effect on performance. On a larger cruising cat I can still rock along at low double digit speeds with these loads in moderate winds...a smaller cat -- not likely.

Did that answer your questions?

[AirMedMech]

@belizesailor: Definitely appreciate the insight! Like I said earlier, just now looking into sailing, so I have to get all the clueless newb questions out there. LOL. Hoping to start hitting nearby marinas and start building experience by bugging the sailors I run across there...