@paliswood
We own a 44' cat - Privilege 435. We're really happy we choose a cat vs a mono. I sailed quite a bit of monos' (and still do), although I like sailing them, when it comes to comfort at anchor or even while traveling I'm a fan of cats. Spending a winter or longer term on a cat is quite easy and you have so much more space, especially when it rains for several days or even weeks. I think you covered a lot of the pros and cons, but one point you did not mention is the draft. Most cats will have the advantage on mono especially in certain parts of the Caribbeans. Another one - Most of the folks we sail with have monohulls. Granted they can sail closer to the wind, but they all dial back due to the slamming when going up wind. I recently sailed a 50' along the coast of BC, Desolation Sound, and again the owner wanted us to veer off due to slamming when going too much into the wind. My2cents! Great video - keep them coming and obviously I'm a member of Practical Sailor - love the info you guys put up keep it up!
@julioerodriguez6097
I started sailing when I was thirteen on a small catamaran (Hobie 14). These boats are fast and thrilling, but in strong winds, it’s easy to bury a hull and get "catapulted like a pumpkin in a chunking festival". On smaller cats, it's manageable if you're prepared with the right gear and experience. I can only imagine how challenging a capsize would be on a much larger multi-hull. Thank you for consistently sharing great content with the sailing community. Cheers!
@Cptnbond
There is a quiet revolution in boat buying, partly because the sailors are not the kind from the past, that was inspired by a round-the-globe adventure. There is a second dream, overwhelmingly displayed on all YT sailing channels, luring with sundowners and blue water. Pair that with a floating apartment - no wonder it attracts those who can afford the luxury lifestyle. Then add all five reasons, and it's given as a choice.
@kellymurphy1098
All I can say is, I'm not an outdoorsy person, not someone into camping, and I'm getting old... But I'm seriously considering buying a catamaran for my twilight years. Because I'm not a sailor, not into it as a sport, but having a house I can bring with me in travelling the world is a very appealing concept. Simple as that.
@rupertfb
Starlink has enabled/encouraged many - (who might not otherwise have done so through lack of sailing knowledge) - to live and work in a floating mobile house. As a delivery skipper, I’ve seen many people buy a cat rather than a condo under this plan. Don’t get me wrong, I have no issues with this….. I’m just adding another reason why cats are doing so well atm.
@EduardoMiri
Hi, very good approach. Saludos from Spain. I'll give you two more reasons. I've always been a monohull guy, but now at sixty-something, planning to live aboard, I'm seriously switching to a catamaran. (Obviously not a tupper; I'm very serious about seaworthiness and longevity value.) One, to not live in a basement, and two, the draft. More light, more air and more connection with the environment we love, in addition to being able to anchor with more flexibility or even beach the boat. I really have no intention of living in a marina but rather moving around without any major plans, just the art of the possible and the movement of the sea. Congratulations on the channel. My tumb up 👍
@stephennowlan2637
Two winters ago we chartered an Astrea 42 out of St Thomas for 20 days. Family of 6, the youngest (twins) were graduating that year and thought we’d try a cat instead of boats to give more space for everyone. The vacation was great, the Astrea 42 was not. 2m seas was all it took to make it feel like it was coming apart as the bridge deck was repeatedly slammed from underneath. I’d argue that storage space was less than what we’d experienced on island packets chartered in the past. After provisioning we had to keep most of the boxes so we had something to put the food in around the salon. We hardly sailed the whole time, was a windy December and was out of limits unless double reefed on the main most days. I think we burned about $800 of diesel where as similar trips on boats only required a splash to fill the tank. It had its pluses, but was a one and done for me. Currently shopping for a boat and it’s definitely a monohull.
@stewthebassman
I love to sail anything. My wife will tolerate a few hours on a mono but she all in for a couple of weeks on a cat. It's different but I'm still on the water and comfortable and happy with people I love.
@SailingTipsCa
You’re right that cats with those stubby “mini keels” don’t point very well but cats with daggerboards can point very well!
@W_D_Richards
My reasons for a cat: 1. SOLAR! The bigger the cat, the more square meters of solar cells and that means I never have to use diesel. Electric shaft drive motors. Yes, you need a backup generator for blue water crossing—batteries only carry so much charge at night if you need to run the motors because you are in the doldrums. Absolute silence when motor-sailing up the arms of Glacier Bay in Alaska against the wind or tide. You can hear the wildlife around you. Absolute silence when motoring out of a marina. The look on people's faces when your boat starts pulling away and there isn't a sound! No stink of diesel exhaust! Significantly less mechanical maintenance. 2. Many cats are now rigged for single-handed sailing. None of my family or friends no how to sail a boat. It's fun to teach them when out in the bay, but once in the open ocean, it's dangerous for them if they don't know what they are doing. There are a couple of cat designs that are quite capable of being under sail even in light winds. 3. Handicap accessible. I have a number of family and friends who are wheelchair-bound. I can get them onto the dingy platform, lift them up to the main deck, and wheel them onto the boat so they can finally enjoy a day of sailing instead of hearing about and dreaming about what it would be like. By the same token, we can set them on the platform and lower them into the water so they can enjoy swimming with everybody else, and then be returned to the boat, safely. No, picking up a wheelchair outside of an extreme emergency situation is incredibly dangerous for the person in the chair. I have never seen a monohull that I can easily wheel a chair onboard. 4. Yes, comfort. This isn't just a boat, it's home! And I have guest rooms! I have as much space here as any apartment I've ever lived in. Why pump my money into a house when I can own a home that can take me around the world? Also, I have enough rooms that I can take friends and family for a weekend sail around the bay and islands. Having a steak and lobster dinner in the harbor of the island with friends is priceless. And when the arthritis reaches a point where I can no longer handle the boat, the retained value of the boat will still allow me to buy a nice house to live out my days. A well-maintained boat retains a good portion of its value. 5. Office space. I can easily work out of the cat as part of the owner's suite is converted to being an office and workshop. With a reliable satellite uplink for internet access, I can truly get work done in the most remote of places. Imagine sitting up on the flying deck in a recliner and writing the next chapter, and the only sounds you hear are the claws of a bear on shore rummaging for shellfish and a glacier singing to you as it drops house-sized chunks of ice into the water. 5. Monohulls have a poetic elegance that a squat cat just cannot touch. But living in a monohull is like living in a cramped RV. When sailing in northern latitudes, it is easier to sail shielded from the elements on a cat than a monohull. It's cold up north and almost always raining. You want the best of both worlds? Take a look at trimarans! Sadly, trimarans lack the square meterage for adequate solar cells for electric motoring. But a larger trimaran and improvements in solar cell capability could change that in the near future. Though, I imagine it could be possible to stow foldable solar panels in the amas that you could extend when needed. Trimarans are beachable—some even have ladders in the bow so you can climb down onto the sand and remain dry. In locations with questionable anchorage (Inside Passage in Alaska), this can be a plus. Some trimarans can fold in their amas so you can easily pull into a slip like a monohull that no cat would ever fit in.
@JamesNewton-w6m7v
If a cat or tri capsize they won't sink. The emergency hatches provide access to provisions, tools, first aid, and weather protection. Still and all the best idea is to minimize the pressures on your rigging and keep your boat upright.
@maicaw113
I get it. The move from mono to cat is all about seeking more pleasure rather than the love of actually sailing. We have seen this pleasure-seeking trend before.
@Smalleyster
Sadly I'll never be able to own another boat, that said I only consider cats. My last two boats were a 36 MacGregor and a 42 Wharram. I loved them both dearly.
@JosePedroEspinosa
For me, it's very simple. My family, since my great-grandfather, has had summer homes in a place in central Chile called Zapallar. Today, the smallest and cheapest lot you can buy in Zapallar is 3,000 square feet and costs $300,000, and I haven't even built a house yet. For that price, I can buy La Goia, a wonderful 58-foot trimaran that allows me to sail faster than the wind, with a top speed of over 30 knots. For me, there's no way to get lost.
@lightning9279
I had a cat that flipped and then turned back over. Of course I had to rub its belly first. 👍
@DaringDan
Awesome! We'll theoretically see a drop in monohull price and I'm all about it! Now, I can't wait for manually rotated inflatable sails.
@scottdoran-p6n
50,000 nm in my Cat and I’m still,in love Currently in Seychelles 🇸🇨 heading for Tanzania 🇹🇿 next week
@FranklinGray
When I compare my Whitby 55 to a 45' cruising cat, this is what I come up with: -- I have more space. 3 cabins, 3 heads, larger salon and galley. -- They have me beat on the cockpit but I do have an aft deck that I really enjoy at sea. Oddly, on anchor I rarely see them in the cockpit. I guess they don't get enough wind to keep cool in the cockpit. -- I can easily do 9 knots. Most cruising cats in the 45' range can't. So I am faster. -- I can sail much closer to the wind than they can. This was a big key for me when I was moving up in boat size and had to decide on cat vs monohull. -- They don't heel but they wabble like a drunken sailor trying to walk down a 30 year old floating dock. It does not seem comfortable to me at all and the cat owners I talked to in Fiji say a monohull is much more comfortable at sea. -- Because mine has a 16,000 lb keel and a mast only 60' high, I reach hull speed at 12 degrees of heel on a close reach. True, the modern boats heel like there is no end in sight but older boats don't. -- I am a lot safter. It's not just the capsize thing, but what I can sail in. There is a video out there of a large lagoon cat that had to drop the sails and run the motor downwind to keep control in just 40 knots of wind.....and their destination was not downwind. That right there tells me cats are not bluewater boats. 40 knots is a mild storm for offshore. So why compare a 55' monohull to a 45' cat? The price is about the same, the marina fees are the same, the amount of bottom paint is about the same. The engine is bigger on a 55' monohull but the cat has two engines so cost is cheaper for the monohull. It's a fair comparison.
@brownnoise357
Hi Tim. At First Glance, or second or third for that matter.Multihulls sure do seem to offer a lot don’t and on 4th glance, rears the very unfortunate annual expense, which ain’t cheap, then at fifth glance, it sinks in that it is much easier comparatively to substantially increase the long term Safety of perfectly comfortable Monohulls. Anyway, being so enamoured by Rosie Swales opinion of her Prout Catamaran, with a view to purchase one, I went on a test sail in the Irish Sea, and as I have made the point before, rapidly discovered that multihulls positively hate me and the flaw gets revealed anywhere there are waves with vertical faces, which are very common in the Irish Sea, and other places, and can even show up from the wash from other boats - basically though, it involves hulls connecting with waves at different times, which tends to be at an angle heading up wind, and the result is a vicious corkscrew or Bucking Bronco Motion, which in my case, almost threw me over the side rails several times, before we got back into harbour. I haven’t been on a multihull since, and that was back in the 80’s. My big worry is for multihull owners, and a likely coming Global Economic Collapse. How many of them, should such economic circumstances arrive, will be able to afford even a fraction of the annual running costs of a multihull ? I reckon it will be a remarkably small number, and who in Depression level circumstances globally, is going to be able to sell them ? The level of my concern is such that the size of my next Monohull has shrunk to a still comfortable 36 foot, which I may stretch to 38 feet for the better engine, just to make damned sure ALL Needed maintenance and service work can be done annually. The reduction in costs for the 36 foot foot, seriously starts to add up frankly- to the point I can get haulout for free with servicing work, but that yard are very good friends of long standing - it will be a return trip to the yard after a busy period boat launch, so no actual loss for them, and they get servicing work during the post launch quiet period, so we both win. 👍
@billfish5847