Cat buying causing domestic strife!

[multihuler]

I just picked out the best boat for myself and the wife just agreed to a divorce, I love her dearly and will miss her. Stephen r2akteamgoldenoldies

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Renx

You're not wrong, but in this case it's the wife that wants to do the hardcore sailing in a mono - she's RNLI crew and a total thrill seeker - whereas I'm happy to watch the kids play on the trampoline from the hammock with a beer!

Well buy a mono then!

Women seem to be far more dogmatic about this stuff than men.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by Renx

SNIP

Maintenance: Which models have a good reputation for build quality and simple maintenance?



SNIP

Not seen these issues mentions in previous posts.

I have a Seawind with two 9.9 long shaft high thrust Yahama outboards. Much easier to maintain and work on than any inboard; not to mention for about $US3,000 I can completely replace the engine. Also have a composting head which is not only lighter but simpler to maintain than any other type of head. Both of these options allow me to have no thru hulls and eliminate the need for zinks; and the cost to maintain them.

A lot of your questions about heavy weather are more on the skipper/crew than the boat. A good skipper will get a bad boat through heavy weather much better than a bad skipper will get a good boat through heavy weather.

A bridle is almost a must for anchoring a cat for anything but a quick afternoon swim. Lots of information about how to use one but my experience has been that if set up well anchoring is much more comfortable. You may need to watch or chafe depending on the set up of the cleats on the bows; something to check for in any boat you are considering.

As you note cats are often viewed to have an advantage in the Caribbean. I would add a steel hull boat is often viewed to have an advantage in areas with ice bergs. Problem is there is no perfect boat for all people and all places. And that seems to be your problem. You are looking for a boat that will do everything; and that boat does not exist.

To make matters even worse not everyone has the same definition of "blue water cruising". There are a host of boats that have crossed the Atlantic and Pacific, but a much smaller number that have rounded the three great capes, especially at higher latitudes. I doubt you are considering taking three kids (even big ones) around the three great capes and am not sure you would want to take them to higher latitudes; which means you have a much wider choice of boats if that is true.

Bottom line is you need to provide more details about where you plan to cruise and just how much of it will be in blue water; along with just what you mean by blue water. That will help a lot with narrowing the boats that will best fit your needs.

[a64pilot]

I won't wade into the how many hulls debate, but cruising is my dream, one in truth that she does not share.
However WE bought the boat she picked out, and I make sure the kids refer to it as "Mamma's boat"
While that may sound silly, but I do think it has helped me in achieving my dream of cruising.
If you want to go, buy the boat she wants, and just be glad that she wants a boat, any boat and is willing to go with you, many do not and are not.

[KiminAK]

I would suggest buying a cat and then get something that's fast sailing to take along for the thrills. Good luck with your purchase!

[svrevelations]

Originally Posted by Renx

You're not wrong, but in this case it's the wife that wants to do the hardcore sailing in a mono - she's RNLI crew and a total thrill seeker - whereas I'm happy to watch the kids play on the trampoline from the hammock with a beer!

Give this thread half a chance and it will end up a full blown "us" against "them" mudslinging match.

Answers to your specific questions - Cotemar and akprb offer good information and advice.

To a great extend, it depends on your objectives and what you want to do with your boat - even what is it that excites you. We sailed both mono-hulls and catamarans before we made our choice.

For short course racing, we by far prefer a mono hull, even if much slower than catamarans, simply because it is action all the way through. The boat leans, it heaves, sways and surges, you have to fight the wheel, you and the deck are wet, you work, everybody else works - it's full of action and lots of fun. BUT .... only for so long and then it is not fun anymore.

But you might take your adrenaline rush from the sheer acceleration ability of catamarans. Modern cruising catamarans are generally faster than a mono hull of equal length - allowing you to cover more ground per 24 hours - which means get to anchor quicker and less time on the open ocean waiting for sh!t to come your way. Modern catamarans outpace, outrun and out perform mono hulls of equal size.

Yes, some diehard mono's take great pleasure in constantly knocking catamarans which is quite laughable as most of them have never been on a catamarans. Having done 1000's of miles in both mono and catamarans - for us, the choice was abundantly clear.

Oh .... by the way, completely ignore and forget the ancient "no feeling in the helm" argument waged against catamarans! When sailing for more than a couple of hours (or long distance), you are mostly on autopilot anyway and seldom do any hand steering.

We still sail mono hulls on occasion and whilst we find it a lot of fun - there is no way in hell we would trade our catamaran for a mono hull.

[fuentes]

You mentioned 3 kids. How much weight has been given to the comfort, well being and enjoyment of the kids. Three unhappy kids is a handful! Specially in the reduced and confined area of a boat. It is something I struggled with all of my life. How to balance and allocate resources can be difficult. Each kids likes and dislikes, ambitions, etc. is different. Then they change as they get older.
I just thought I would throw that in there to make things even more difficult.

[Tom and Maje]

I am the monohull person in our family, but my husband doesn't like to heel. That said, we've been cruising for 2.5 years now, and I can't tell you how many people living on monohalls just bring their stuff to our boat for sundowners because they like the space. If she likes performance, I've beat every monohull I've ever been up against in my catamaran. Go charter an older Leopard, not the ones with the front seating areas, and see how she likes it.

Maje

[tomfl]

Part of the reason posts like this one get bashed is it is so far off topic.

To me the most important part of the OP's post is this:

"We’ve done extensive reading and some limited sailing of Cats but not enough to answer the big questions.. see below. If you can keep it objective with QUALIFIED opinions and specific experiences and anecdotes with exact models it’d be much appreciated. Please consider our budget too!....."

The OP asked for "specific experiences ... with exact models"; something the response I quoted completely lacks. No doubt there are, as has often been posted at CF, cats that are dogs that don't sail well. But there are also cats that sail quite well and are very comfortable in a nasty seaway. What the OP was asking for was examples of cats that do sail well. As for monohulls being more comfortable than cats as the quotation claims that is just silly. There are monohulls that are quite uncomfortable in a seaway. I suspect the OP would be interested in that information as well if he winds up bowing to the wishes of his better half.

Simple name calling along the lines of my boat is best and other boats are bad add nothing to the thread and especially in a thread about the advantages of monos verses multis creates ill will as well.

With no specifics name calling like what is quoted above is basically a waste of zeros and ones.

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by Van Der Beek

SNIP

Edit.
Next time you could perhaps present some counter arguments to the 3 points I raised in my previous post, instead of calling it ignorant garbage.

See my post above. With no specifics your post was a waste of time to read.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Tom and Maje

I am the monohull person in our family, but my husband doesn't like to heel. That said, we've been cruising for 2.5 years now, and I can't tell you how many people living on monohalls just bring their stuff to our boat for sundowners because they like the space. If she likes performance, I've beat every monohull I've ever been up against in my catamaran. Go charter an older Leopard, not the ones with the front seating areas, and see how she likes it.

Maje

Ahh..!!! but the 'Buzz' is not quite the same somehow.. on a beat with all sail up, the vibration running through the boat when she take the bit between her teeth as the water washes along the gunnel is not the same as the feeling on a modern cat.. nearest I've got is 16kts on a Tiki 26 as I passed a freighter in the Channel.. we were both headed for Cherbourg.. and that was a wet but glorious ride..

[waterman46]

Get your wife into kite-boarding for a thrill. She could take off from the boat while you are sipping a cold one and playing with the kids. There really isn't much room for a thrill seeking experience in a reasonably safe and comfortable cruising situation, especially with the kids involved.

[neilpride]

Hummm, you probably save your marriage,, but is going to hurt your pocket....

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Renx

You're not wrong, but in this case it's the wife that wants to do the hardcore sailing in a mono - she's RNLI crew and a total thrill seeker - whereas I'm happy to watch the kids play on the trampoline from the hammock with a beer!

Well that settles it then...you'll be buying a mono.

[emoji30]

[jdazey]

Originally Posted by Renx

We’re both experienced offshore sailors (and instructors) familiar with mono sailing and build reputation of mono manufacturers. However, with our sail away budget of £170k / $200k (+ monthly budget of £1400 / $1700) we are looking for a long distance, blue water family cruiser for us and our 3 kids of 5,7,10 years.. and toying with getting a Cat.

Hi Renx,

Most of your questions have been addressed. Sometimes there are no definitive answers, but Cotemar, AKPRB, and MarkJ among others have given you some good pointers. For heavy weather, I suggest you look at Victor Shane's Drag Device Database as well.

For your purposes and with three kids, one of whom will soon be a TEENAGER, the 4 cabin ex-charter cat you mentioned seems like a good option.

And try to ignore the troll.

Cheers,