Catamarans -- Best Choice for Us?

[smj]

Originally Posted by rabbi

Depends on size and configuration of the boat. In general at around 40ft you should be able to get under the boat with a dinghy.

What you should keep in mind: You may need an easy way out of this sailing thing so my advice is to go for one of the usual suspects: Fontaine Pajot, Lagoon, Leopard
These may not be the perfect match for your perceived current and future needs but I have the impression that you don't really know yet what you want and need so they should be OK.
These boats are easy to sell if you find out that sailing is a stupid, boring, slow, wet way of travelling and that you always meet the same anchor neighbours wearing only sunglasses all day long.

If you really like sailing but don't like particular details about your boat then you can sell and buy what you really want and need as soon as you that. This is "first hand experience" that you can't get from the couch, no matter how many people you talk to. You may get it from chartering but only to a limited degree as chartering is different from living aboard.

From my experience most liveaboard cruisers don't care much about performance while most couch sailors do. Charter sailors don't care about water & energy budgets while this is of highest importance for liveaboards.

We are liveaboard multi sailers and performance is very important to us. The group of multi sailers we hang out with are performance oriented. The top three cat manufactures mentioned won't bring you great performance but a nice liveaboard platform. All depends in what you want.

[rabbi]

Originally Posted by smj

We are liveaboard multi sailers and performance is very important to us. The group of multi sailers we hang out with are performance oriented. The top three cat manufactures mentioned won't bring you great performance but a nice liveaboard platform. All depends in what you want.

OK, but my experience is different.
Maybe it's just that performance guys tend to flock with other performance guys and vice versa.

[tomfl]

Not only is performance a very subjective thing but lots of times the guy trimming the sails and turning the wheel is a bigger factor in performance than the boat itself.

I am not saying the boat you choose is not a factor but I know plenty of guys who can sail circles around me even if I am in a faster boat.

[rabbi]

Its a matter of mindset, if you are more a performance / sailing type or more a comfort / lifestyle liveaboard.
Many liveaboards are not focused on the sailing&performance part but more on the cruising life and thus tend to fill their boats with stuff, tools, amenities and toys plus all the energy generation stuff that you need to run this.

Originally Posted by tomfl

Not only is performance a very subjective thing but lots of times the guy trimming the sails and turning the wheel is a bigger factor in performance than the boat itself.

For a lot of liveaboard boats there are rarely real persons at the wheel (autopilot >95% of the time) and trimming sails is limited to setting them and then checking every now and then.

[dirkdig]

We have had a few 200 mile days in our Lagoon 440 cruiser.
I guess it depend just how fast you want to go.

[reynoldsa]

We've just started looking into sailing as our retirement option (we're drawn to features in the Seawind 1160). What are the annual expenses associated with this, knowing that it would depend on where you dock and travel to. Thank you!

[MIRELOS]

my wife and I sail an Eleuthera 60', Once you are used to the size its not a problem.
keeps us in shape and all the space is a welcome when living aboard.
must to consider with every 5' feet in increase the maintenance costs and labor increase 10x.
four of us crossed the Atlantic with watches of two at the time with no problem, with all kinds of weather. Difficult handling chores happen near land.