Catamaran vs Sailboat...

[Yorkshire Girl]

...to live aboard initially, on my own, then learn to sail and eventually sail too. In the interests of future proofing the boat I buy, I would be grateful for experiences shared of both and opinions on which you might start with if you were me...thank you in anticipation,
Carole

[Dulcesuenos]

Originally Posted by Yorkshire Girl

...to live aboard initially, on my own, then learn to sail and eventually sail too. In the interests of future proofing the boat I buy, I would be grateful for experiences shared of both and opinions on which you might start with if you were me...thank you in anticipation,

Carole

If your just living aboard then a trawler or motor cruiser, most bang for your buck. If your budget allows and you want to travel a cat, even a smaller car, endeavor cat, Prout, Catalac etc will do. If your budget doesn't allow and you want to travel a monohull.


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[StuM]

Most (?) catamarans ARE sailboats.

So what are you really asking about:
Catamaran v Monohull?
Motor boat (trawler/motor cruiser) v sailing boat?

Either way, Dulcesuenos makes a lot of sense.

[Skip JayR]

Yorkshire Girl, its a provocative "thesis", that Cats dont belong to "real sailboats". Typical Western thinking.

If you plan to live on board, there is no way around multihulls. So here you already made your right decision.

Think about and let us remember, that in many different non-western cultures the tpyical boat type is a multihull, e.g. catamaran, trimaran or proa.

Interesting essay about the HISTORY OF MULTIHULLS (author: Michael Kingdom-Hocking)
and in the Boat Design forum: Historical multihulls

So there is nothing wrong if you focus on what you target at. Learn to sail multihulls, e.g. you can start with little ones, e.g. Hobies, Nacra, Weta 4.0 etc. .... and then go on bigger trimarans and multihulls.

You will see quickly, that multihulls demand more from you... as their speed potentials are higher you will train your senses more intensively. Multihulls are more sensitive in trimming, and offer you more options to trim (e.g. lifting daggerboard, foils, rotation wing mast). It will make you a complete sailor to learn all this from scratch.

Follow your heart ! - And 2nd most important: be in the right place, with the right people around you to learn from.

It can't be Planet Earth. - It must be a Multihull Haven Heaven !

Good luck on your own journey of exploration ! :-)

[paxfish]

Originally Posted by Yorkshire Girl

...to live aboard initially, on my own, then learn to sail and eventually sail too. In the interests of future proofing the boat I buy, I would be grateful for experiences shared of both and opinions on which you might start with if you were me...thank you in anticipation,
Carole

FUTURE PROOFING - BWAHAHAHAHA!!!!

You'll see many similar posts and the common response is to get something and learn to sail first. There are many 15 to 25 foot boats in the free to $3000 range to learn to sail with.

If you're looking for accommodations straightaway, Craigslist will provide you with quite a few possibilities in the $15000 range that will get you started.

These approaches lower your risk while you figure out if this will become a passion for you. But it is OK to go through several boats during your journey.

[rancher44]

Not sure what you are really asking but welcome to the forum.

For first time sailors the dream is very different from the reality.

Go to a marina and ask how many of the boats are sailed . You will find in Fl that about 10%are day sailed on a irregular basis. 5%are sailed on more than passages over one night . But the majority are in there slips and used or not used as an apartment or just a status symbol.
They make good conversation pieces.

Start small and gradually move up. I f you want to go big from the get go buy a something like a 30'catalina. good entry boat lots of room and cheap[20-30K sometimes much less]

Good luck and follow your dream --it doesn't hurt to try

Join a sailing club and go on sails as crew. Sailors are very friendly for the most part and you will learn a lot .
Also consider taking a few sailing courses.

Lots of good advice on this site .]

[Muckle Flugga]

Oh that title is a Beaut!

Now you CAN prepare yourself for a storm of responses!

[Yorkshire Girl]

I now realize my error in the title...fortunately people were kind enough to understand it was my lack of knowledge and give me a break...thank you everyone

[kevinnem]

My thoughts are 2 fold.

First consider that ever new thing in life comes with learning. You buy your first car, you learn what you like and don't like about cars. You move out of your parents house, you learn what you like and don't about houses. Same with boats, you will learn on this first boat what like and don't. I appreciate that you see a "cost" with switching boats should you not get the one you want off the bat, and you should strive to do that, but recognize that you are being unfair to yourself by expecting kniwlage you have not had the chance to gain yet. Tl;Dr get what you think is best but you will learn and likely get something else at some point.


Secondly, you have to ask yourself what is the minimum viable product for what you want to do. You could save up money untill the end of time and there will still be a boat that is a bit better for a bit more money. Ask yourself what you need the boat to be able to do for you. Future proofing comes in many forms, one of them is getting a good deal on a boat so you don't"lose " as much come time for you to sell it.

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[nigel1]

Carole,

I dont the situation in the USA, but in the UK, marina's charge close to double for berth compared to a monohull.

[valhalla360]

Originally Posted by nigel1

Carole,

I dont the situation in the USA, but in the UK, marina's charge close to double for berth compared to a monohull.

Not usually an issue in the USA. Particularly for smaller 30-35' cats that have a beam of 16' or less.

[scarlet]

personally? I'd buy a small monohull.. and spend a good amount of time learning to sail before you did anything. I would not want to learn to sail on a catamaran first. It would be like learning how to drive in a macktruck.. vs a Kia... VERY intimidating, and a lot to handle. And, if you are "on your own"... you will, more than likely, never take that cat out of the slip.

And, to spend THAT much money on a cat without even knowing if you like sailing? not the way I'd go...

(just a note.. catamarans ARE sailboats.. )

[Lizzy Belle]

As previous posters stated: cats usually ARE sailboats, so ... sailboat or sailboat?
You even posted in "multihull sailboats"

Lack of knowledge you wrote - I understand that, but if you're not aware cats usually are sailboats, you may want to take some time learning about boats before you consider buying one.

If you want to sail, you'll have to decide if you want a monohull or not.
Not a forum question, for obvious reasons. Monuhull-peeps will say monuhull, cat people will say ... cat. Never ending discussion. You'll have to make up your own mind.

My advise: stay on land for a while longer, and buy a small (22' or so - one hull only) boat to see if you even like sailing. Take it from there.

Future proof??? Are you thinking zombies, WW3, tsunami's or ...?

[solarbri]

Originally Posted by kevinnem

My thoughts are 2 fold...

Yeah...Mine too!!! Cat2Fold

My 36' x 24' wide catamaran was the first and only boat I've ever owned!!!
Learning to sail on small cats, although it really CAN teach you to sail with the consequence of flipping, is nothing even remotely comparable to sailing on a larger cruising catamaran. My cat (and most legit cruising cats) won't even bat an eye if you do everything absolutely wrong. No flipping. No healing. Maybe break something, but generally very forgiving, easy to learn on craft. Now, I'm not talking about crossing oceans here... And, coming into dock, if everything is working correctly (both engines running and working in forward and reverse), is as easy, or easier, than anything!!! Ok, maybe some super high tech bow and stern thruster equipped mega yacht can do it even easier...
I'm the kind of guy that money doesn't stay with very long, so when it came time to decide whether to buy a boat or not and which one, I bought a fairly large, one of a kind (proto type #1) folding, trailerable Catamaran as my first ever boat.
I remember trying to justify it financially, asking all kinds of questions here and on other forums, driving myself nuts until someone (can't remember who) explained that... Boats are an emotional purchase. There is no way to financially justify the purchase of ANY boat. You either see a boat and you HAVE to have it, or not.
When I told my idea to a friend that I thought would support the decision to buy the boat laughed in my face and said, "HAHAHA...You might as well just BURN your money!!!" I felt like an idiot and, like he recommended, invested a large amount of my money into physical silver. This was in April (I think) of 2011.
The day after my "wise investment", several days before even receiving my silver, the price dropped 50%. Since then it has continued to drop. ALOT!!!
After "burning my money" by investing, I decided to buy Cat2Fold the very next day, knowing that it was either going to be the best or the stupidest decision I'd ever make. 4 years later, preparing to go spend my 5th winter (5-6 months at a pop) cruising Western Mexico, I can honestly say, that it was the wisest thing I've ever done!
Like most things in life, I say follow your gut/heart. Thinking too much just gets in the way and has the potential to screw everything up!!!
Cheers!!!

[barnakiel]

To me the mono vs. cat is two different experiences. I like both. I think a cat is easier on newcomers.

If I had limited time and not looking for broad skills, I might go the cat way.

If I had plenty of time and were looking for building broad skills, I would learn / sail both.

b.