Sea Sickness Survey: Monohull vs. Multihull -- No Speculation

[Cruising Couple]

I know some of you are saying "this has been done" and are wondering if I've read the other postings on the forum and "yes, I have." I have read this forum for years and sometimes I feel there is never a consensus. Sometimes you get 10 different responses from eight different people.

There is a caveat to this survey. I am asking that there be no speculation! I would like only pure, anecdotal experiences from sailors who fall into this category:

You or someone you sail with is plagued with sea sickness and you and this person (if applicable) have sailed both a monohull and a multihull. PLEASE share your experience as it relates to sea sickness. I realize weather, sailing conditions, and other variables may be in play.

For those of us who suffer with the same and really want to know .... from those who REALLY know. Thank you!

Darby

[maxingout]

I get seasick on both monohulls and multihulls, but I don't upchuck. My wife also gets seasick on both monohulls and multihulls. That 's why we like longer passages because the seasickness fades after a couple of days irrespective of the number of hulls on the yacht.

[Amapola]

I'm fine as long as I stay topside on any vessel.

[msponer]

My wife gets seasick on both.

[44'cruisingcat]

I used to get seasick on our old boat - monohull. I don't on this boat - catamaran.

But it's all personal, everyone is different.

[boatman61]

When I joined the Royal Navy as a junior seaman in '64 at 15yrs old it was coz I got airsick and car sick.... but I'd made the voyage from Bombay (Mumbai) to Liverpool on a passenger liner and loved the voyage...
6mths into my 1st yrs training at HMS Ganges we joined HMS Wakefield for 2 weeks seatraining.... it was 2 weeks in hell.. I upchucked loads... the only time I felt 1/2 decent was sat in the open air on the quarter deck.
To make matters worse I'd chosen Torpedo Anti Submarine Control as my speciality... sat in a box under the bridge 4hrs a time with headphones on my head listening to 'Pings' as we hunted subs in 4 on 4off shifts for days on end in the following years combating NATO ships and sub's training of Portland,UK or in the Med.... never got quite over it.. but in the Navy they could not care less..
Get over it Boy....
Come civvy street and after a few years bought my 1st sailboat... surprise, surprise... I don't suffer so badly on the small boats... the motions sharper and the variety of jobs and being on deck most times was great..
Today... 48yrs later I still get queasy now and then.. but it did not stop me back in my projectile days... so the sensation of acid in my gut aint gonna stop me now..
Some are beyond overcoming it.. known guys heave as soon as the lines are cast off.. know women who've sat laughing at me as they munch a greasy bacon sandwich in a F8..... hated her...
Every individual is different and having been a sufferer in the past I'm super sympathetic... the folk I seriously hate are the Ar$*holes who think its funny to see how long it takes to make you puke...

[Factor]

Never sick on either mono or multi sail but do feel "off" on mono power boats.

[djmarchand]

I have owned and sailed many monohulls: Jeanneau 35, Island Packet 37, Saga 43. Some of these were light performance cruisers and some were heavy, full keel monohulls. But in all of them I sometimes feel a bit queezy in a rolling sea.

I now own and sail a heavy cat- an Island Packet Cat 35. I have never been queezy. And I have sailed in all of the same sea conditions that used to make me queezy in a monohull.

But cats often have very different sailing characteristics among the breed. Light, low bridgedeck cats can pound severely going to weather. Some will hobby horse.

I don't think there ever will be a consensus to this question because of cat design variability.

David

[cchesley]

My wife suffered much more on our 35' monohull. On the cat, she may get a bit 'off' but a few minutes on the bridgedeck will usually bring her around. Definitely better for her on a cat. Me? I don't last long on a powerboat punching into head seas....

[mikereed100]

Our time is split between sailing our mono and our cat. My wife is more susceptible to seasickness than I am, but I too am vulnerable. I have to be very careful on the mono and will sometimes take a Scopace, but have never felt seasick or used seasick meds on the cat. My wife takes seasick pills on the mono but is better on the cat, although she will still get slightly queasy for a time if it is rough. For me the jerky motion of a multi is more comfortable than the roll of a mono and was one of the deciding factors in moving to a cat.

Mike

[smj]

With the slower motion on the monos I would get vertigo. Not so on our cat.

[Bash]

I don't really get seasick, but I often get landsick after a passage when I find myself in an enclosed space like a shower on the hard.

I much prefer the motion of a mono to a multihull. It seems I'm more able to anticipate the boat's movements when there's only one hull to keep track of.

[capn_billl]

My wife used to get sick on our power boat, but now only gets sick if it's rough.

Now she gets sick on our monohull, didn't get sick on the two cats we sailed on. 1 was bigger a 40', and one was much smaller a hobie cat off of Florida.

I hope a few months of sailing this summer and she will get used to it.

The only time I have gotten sick is using the head in a major storm

[tamicatana]

I've never been puking sick, but I've been green a couple times on monohulled craft (power and sail). Nothing of the sort on any multihull.

[Cruising Couple]

Thank you all for posting. This is all so helpful to me and to others as well, I would imagine. To those of you who have experiences to share ... PLEASE keep it coming.

Thanks again,
Darby