To Catamaran or Not to Catamaran

By Susan & Sheldon Stuchell

 S/V Perfect View

Wow, have you noticed how many more catamarans are cruising this year? In almost every case, the owners sold their monohull for a catamaran of basically the same length.

What causes such a change? Well, for Susan and I, we had planned to retire on our 50 ft Beneteau Oceanis. The boat refit and procurement of safety gear for cruising full-time was ongoing.  We absolutely loved our Beneteau Oceanis.  Caribbean here we come!  And, the answer to the question is below.

Then, with some friends, we chartered a 48 ft Leopard catamaran in the BVI’s. It didn’t take long and on the way home we discussed how comfortable the boat was and how easy to live on.

Of all the plusses, one big positive was noted by Susan. She is prone to getting seasick, especially when she would go below on the monohull to cook or take a break from the weather. On the catamaran, she could go in the salon, look out the windows and still see the horizon while working inside!  The salon layout allowed Susan to cook or take a break from weather without risking the seasickness she might experience on our monohull. The decision was made.

We started cruising full-time on Perfect View, our Lagoon 450s, in June 2018. We noticed almost immediately that we typically sail about 15% of the time. The rest of our time, we are at anchor, on a mooring ball, or in a marina. So, for us it’s not so much about how the boat performs while sailing (Perfect View does great), but much more about living aboard in comfort.  We have done our share of performance sailing on monohulls.

Perfect View is 45 ft long with a beam of 26 ft. While it may appear that we “downsized” from the 50 ft monohull (with a beam of 16) to our 45 ft catamaran. We nearly doubled our living space!

We now have two engines (no bow thruster), and a completely enclosed helm and aft cockpit.  As an extra benefit, we can put out more fishing lines than Susan and I can handle. Everyone stays warm and dry during passage-making.

With three staterooms, each with a queen size bed and it’s own head we are never short of company.. Between the three staterooms, the salon, the front and rear cockpits, everyone has more space & privacy.

Once at anchor or on a mooring ball, we might move a little when the bay gets rolly, but watching  monohulls roll through 50 degrees (25 degrees from one side to 25 degrees on the other side) has definitely affirmed we made the right decision. The stability at anchor, on a mooring ball, or even when sailing is huge.

Because catamarans, like Perfect View, just don’t heel, we find the sailing experience is less tiring.  You just aren’t battling gravity and a severely angled deck.

Once moving, a cat is usually faster and more stable than a mono of the same size.  Therefore, we find passage-making can be significantly reduced, at times by as much as 25%.  Not always, but there is a definite difference.

Why do Cats move faster?  Cats move faster because of the high degree of stability and a more powerful rig.  It’s like having your boat on a set of rails that make it faster and running in a straight line.

So what else convinced us to switch from our beloved Beneteau Oceanis 50 to a Lagoon?  Space & speed, visibility and storage. Our visibility is almost 360° even with the sails up.  It doesn’t matter whether you have a “sport top” like Perfect View, or the “full fly-bridge.”  When we are looking around to maintain our awareness, we definitely see all around; we have much better visibility than on our Beneteau.

Cupboard and locker space is also incrementally better on a Cat. Susan and I live on Perfect View, we sold our house and most of our belongings. Everyone who knows us, will tell you we like stuff, minimalism is just not in our vocabulary. Although, while it’s hard to say having more storage is exponentially better, but for us its definitely better.

With our fully enclosed helm and aft cockpit, we never have to be out in the weather!

So how does it sail?   A Cat sails similar to a mono.  The genoa works the same.  The main works the same with a halyard and mainsheet, but does operate differently.  We found it very easy to get used to any subtle differences between the operation of a cat and a monohull—and whatever the nuances, we got to address it with level decks.

Do you want to sail in the Bahamas or anchor in closer to the beach?  No problem. You can definitely go where most monos can’t go with their deep keels.  Perfect View draws just 1.3 m.  Many monos draw much more. Indeed our Oceanis had a 1.7 m draft—33% deeper than Perfect View—and even that was a relatively shallow draft for her length.

We now have a few years under our keels on Perfect View and she is a few years older.  We’ve noticed some of the newer production catamarans have some amenities we wish were available in 2017, but none of these “wish list” amenities have us considering a switch.  Instead, our decision has been validated every passage and every bay.

Now, what about the “rest of the story?”  Surely a catamaran can’t be perfect?

The first thing everyone sailing a cat in any weather notices,  are the waves pounding under the bridge deck.  The first time you hear it, you think the boat is coming apart.  But no, it’s normal for every cat to have that pounding under the bridge deck.  You do end up getting used to it.

Of course, with two engines that means double the engine maintenance.  Two hulls, double the cleaning and waxing.

Did I mention that not every marina can fit a cat?  Well, at 26 ft wide, we need a double-width slip.  Yes, usually we can find the t-head to tie to, or a wall, but a slip sometimes can be really nice.  And keep in mind that getting a double-wide slip often comes with a premium price. The price for that “double” slip is usually 1.5 to 2 times the mono cost.

What about haul-out? Options are more limited.  While haul out shipyards that can handle catamarans seem more limited in the States, surprisingly, we have found enough haul out options in the Caribbean. 

How do you know when to reef on that two-hulled boat?  On a monohull, if you understand that when the winds pick up or gusts a little, the boat heels over and spills the extra wind/power.  Yes, you still have to reef a cat in heavy weather, etc.  But normal sailing, a mono spills excess wind by heeling.  For most production cats, there is substantially no heeling.  Without heeling, it is much more important that the helmsman be aware of the winds and reef early when needed.  When sailing a cat, you won’t readily notice when it takes off and the wind is building.

Can you sail upwind?  On our Beneteau mono’s we have owned, we could often point into the wind at close to 25 degrees apparent wind angle. You can’t do that on a production cat without dagger-boards. Indeed, on a production cat without dagger-boards, VMG to windward is unlikely to be sustained at more than 3 knots. Performance cats, which often have dagger-boards, can sail upwind better, and some compare favorably with a monohull.

As noted, a cat sails along as if on a set of rails.  Fantastic if you are going straight or making slight heading adjustments of 15 to 25 degrees.  But if you need to tack 100 degrees, the cat will definitely slow down. In fact, on many cats VMG will collapse at 35 degrees AWA.  So as you tack, you begin to quickly lose speed.

Earlier, we mentioned the extra storage space.  Well, anyone that has ever owned a house with a garage and maybe a basement will agree they fill up the space.  Same as a mono.  If there is a place to put this extra doohickey, then it comes along.  But, on a cat, you can really add weight by loading all those spaces.  But keep in mind, weight can really affect performance.  Cats are much more sensitive to load.  Go beyond what is acceptable by over loading every location, not only you can’t remember where everything is, but it will slow you down!  (An advantage of a mono – less sensitive to over-load.)

Now back to the seasickness aspect!  A cat does not handle the seas and waves like a mono. Remember those hobby-horse spring things at the playground?  Well, that motion is not much different than a cat.  People do get seasick on cats.   

So, it’s not about performance, but rather, all about comfort. Once you go catamaran, there’s no going back!