Multihullers, Tell Us What You Like About Monohulls

[simonmd]

To me, its like comparing an SUV (cat) with a sportscar (mono). As Cat' owner, i'll happily admit that monos are faster (generaly) and certainly better into the wind and overall give a 'purer' sailing experience.

For me as a livaboard / cruiser though, these are secondary to the overall comfort, space and stability that a cat' gives me. I love being able to make nice coffee when under sail and not having to climb up and down a ladder at a 25 degree angle, that way i get to drink ALL of it!

[smj]

Originally Posted by simonmd

To me, its like comparing an SUV (cat) with a sportscar (mono). As Cat' owner, i'll happily admit that monos are faster (generaly) and certainly better into the wind and overall give a 'purer' sailing experience.

For me as a livaboard / cruiser though, these are secondary to the overall comfort, space and stability that a cat' gives me. I love being able to make nice coffee when under sail and not having to climb up and down a ladder at a 25 degree angle, that way i get to drink ALL of it!

I wouldn't think your Catalac would be an indication of typical catamaran performance. I think the Catalac is a great seaworthy boat but quite docile when it comes to performance.

[D&D]

Originally Posted by simonmd

the overall comfort, space and stability that a cat' gives me. I love being able to make nice coffee when under sail and not having to climb up and down a ladder at a 25 degree angle, that way i get to drink ALL of it!

Hear! Hear! ...and noting further the added dimension that these same comforts give to long passages. Perhaps it's our advancing age, but we certainly notice there is vastly less stress involved (and thus greater residual personal energy, for both fun and safety in emergencies) in 'flat' sailing. Be rested and ready for demanding situations and arrive more refreshed...totally converted here to 'the dark side'.

[Southern Star]

D & D, this thread was supposed to be about what multihullers like about monohulls!

Brad

[boatman61]

Short attention spans abound....

[D&D]

Originally Posted by Southern Star

D & D, this thread was supposed to be about what multihullers like about monohulls!

Oops...we're bad......altho, to be fair (to us!) check out Post #50 in this thread...

[limejucer]

Some Old classics are beautiful.
Traditional long keel is kindly in rough weather.
We know all the faults and understand limits, so can be safe.
Mucho feedback for learing to sail.
easy to make at home.
makes good dinks.
reduced wetted area for displacement.
some great crew and sailors on board

[Southern Star]

Thanks D&D - your post#50 was indeed in the spirit of this thread!

Brad

[SunDevil]

You can get started on an inexpensive monohull easily to learn.

I have good memories of sailing a small monohull around the lake with my Dad as a kid.

[D&D]

Originally Posted by SunDevil

You can get started on an inexpensive monohull easily to learn.

Absolutely...and we would suggest further (appropriately for this thread too!) that monohulls may be better vessels to learn on in any event, given their greater 'feedback' and response to changing conditions.

[Lagoon4us]

Okay to answer the thread as posted. We love monohulls, i've built many in most materials from a value of 30 or 40 k to 6.5 million dollars. I totally love the lines of a Hood, an Adams S&S anything with sheer and powerful fwd sections. I love Nordic designs, double enders mmmm!!
My wife dislikes heeling and thats the only downside, we have deciced to retire to cruising a Lagoon 44, WHY? Comfort, room and a level playing field.
People seem to be tribal they want conformity in their lives, personally i don't give a ratsarse, monohullers powerboaters and landlubbers are all welcome onboard just leave your prejudices at the dinghy. Cheers all 'Viva la difference'!!!!

[kaimusailing]

I like sailing a catamaran and feeling that acceleration when a gust hits. There is an instant connection wth the wind.

Some of my fellow captains have monohull yachts and I sail with them. I seem to have learned something about sail balance on a cat that they have forgotten on their monohull. I showd them. We sailed along with no one on the helm. It was like a rock, that bastard just shouldered the swells away. Lot of lead down there.
But I sail that way no matter what boat I'm on. I think most multihullers like to sail on monohulls when it is a big heavy displacement boat. Then you feel the other side. It's like being on a battering ram with so much weight behind it. A cat can get stuffed hitting a chop, but a big heavy keeled monohull will work its way through it, if you find the right point of sail. But off the wind, forget about it. Two different kinds of boats, both offering rewards to their sailors.

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by D&D

Absolutely...and we would suggest further (appropriately for this thread too!) that monohulls may be better vessels to learn on in any event, given their greater 'feedback' and response to changing conditions.

This is really a serious question although may not seem like it.

Would beach cat learning transfer to bigger cats? In terms of no heel then flying a hull, almost instantly. In terms of how it slows down in a tack and accelerates rapidly. In terms of how to get one out of irons compared to a mono.

I don't even know. Do big cats slow down in tacks like beach cats, especially in comparison to monos? My only observation on this was a regatta that had a 36 foot cruising cat in it. On any point of sail this cat kicked our but in our 26 foot boat. But we were in a channel on a beat and it became a tacking exercise. They couldn't get near us and we are usually last. The only one behind them was the MacGreggor 26. Now this was a regatta, not a a"real" race so they maybe weren't sailing hard, I don't know but it appeared to be almost stopped after every tack.

Eventually they motored up and the Macgreggor motored up and we had last line honors but got 3rd on handicap - LOL...

So if you are gonna sail big cats is it better to start in beach cats instead of lasers?

[Lagoon4us]

Originally Posted by D&D

Absolutely...and we would suggest further (appropriately for this thread too!) that monohulls may be better vessels to learn on in any event, given their greater 'feedback' and response to changing conditions.

Lol i was just thinking how quick a Hobie will dunk you if you don't respond to the gust, also i loved my early sailing lessons on a laser (short rig) who cares? It was all fun!!!

[D&D]

Originally Posted by Lagoon4us

We love monohulls...totally love the lines!!

My wife dislikes heeling and thats the only downside, we have deciced to retire to cruising a Lagoon 44, WHY? Comfort, room and a level playing field.

Cheers all 'Viva la difference'!!!!

We 100% agree with all of that!

Back on the training issue and some recent comments, our experience FWIW...

Big cats -- Well, 44-footers anyway! --definitely tack slower than equivalent length monohulls.

Big cats boat speed responds to wind gusts/increases as much (often more than) equivalent length monohulls.

Big cats should be reefed earlier than equivalent length monohulls because the cats provide NO real rig stress feedback, BUT reefing a big cat will affect its boat speed much less than reefing equivalent length monohulls. We reef pretty much as soon as we're thinking about it, but we often find there is no change in boat speed...unless the wind drops, of course...