Catamaran or Trimaran

[Dreamsailoring]

Hello all
Please forgive me for I a still green. I have a six year plan to build a boat and then sail it around the world with y family (Me my wife and three kids).
So I want to know which is more forgiving as a boat. I love Woods Catamarans and Crosses Trimarans. I am Very Conserened with safty.
Thank you For any advice.

[Lajos]

Welcome to CF, what's your location?

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Dreamsailoring.

[Factor]

Originally Posted by Dreamsailoring

Hello all
Please forgive me for I a still green. I have a six year plan to build a boat and then sail it around the world with y family (Me my wife and three kids).
So I want to know which is more forgiving as a boat. I love Woods Catamarans and Crosses Trimarans. I am Very Conserened with safty.
Thank you For any advice.

Both are good boats, I really Like Norman Cross Tris, a good one is just a wonderful sea boat, but Richard Woods also has some really nice cats, find a good one of either and you will do okay.

[clockwork orange]

Either one would do the job very well, there are often nice examples of Cross trimarans for sale,at least in the US for very reasonable money,much less than you you can build for.

Steve.

[blubaju]

Google for Luc and Jackie of the Belgian vessel “Sloupmouche”, it is a 3 and Luc and Jackie are full time cruisers and live on it w their 2 Schepperkes. Luc was delivery captain before too and has a lot of experiance with cats and monos. when offered the 3 he was reluctant, but gave it a try, was very impressed and kept it. I am on my second cat, but never sailed a 3. According to Luc, their 3 is much more forgiving in short choppy seas, something cats hate, I have to admit.

After building 2 Cats (http://goo.gl/AKNW8 this is a sistership and a Schionning Wilderness) and observing the falling prices for used Catamarans nowadays, I strongly suggest, DO NOT BUILD your own, buy a used one and go sailing NOW and enjoy your children! Do not forget, a used yacht has all needed repairs done already, you got to find them out once under way!

[Dsanduril]

Welcome to CF.

As the owner of a Cross 40 I may be a little biased She was built by my family (WEST system, triple-diagonal 3mm mahogany ply) 38 years ago and is still going strong. When we started there were my parents and two kids, so pretty close to your situation.

I wouldn't have anything else, but I will say that unless you go up in size above ours you will find less privacy in a trimaran than in a similar sized catamaran. With the Cross' tris (up to the 40) the main cabin is off the main hull and the bunk areas are pretty much open to the public, whereas with a cat the bunk areas are usually in the hulls. I grew up in that environment and don't have any real issues with it, but sometimes being able to separate kids can be a good thing.

I think that you'll find that putting together a tri is probably a little more work than a cat. There are three hulls to build, join, etc. rather than two. The interiors probably take about the same amount of time, and are usually more than 50% of the project, so it may not be a big difference. I don't recall what Norm says, but I think we ended up with about 7,000+ hours in the construction of ours. It was a 2 1/2 year full-time effort for my Dad, with help from Mom and the kids on the weekends. It was the first major building or woodworking undertaking for anyone involved, so the learning curve was steep.

I do second what Orange had to say, it is probably far less expensive to let someone else do the building. Of course, one of the things my current family likes about sailing on our boat is that I know every single thing about her - every bolt, every wire, every piece of tubing - and that really comes from having gone through the building process. Some people enjoy the building (I still do), but it is not the least expensive way to get one of these boats.

[Factor]

Here is some photos of a Cross tri I sold last year, nice boat. Had just done 5 years in the south pacific.

[Dsanduril]

Factor,

Nice looking boat. Perfect example of the "openness" of the main cabin.

DreamSailor,

Assume you've already been there, but just in case, Jeff Turner still has all the plans and information here:

CROSS 40 (slightly self-serving choice of link)

If you get serious and have any trouble contacting Jeff PM me here and I'll get ahold of him.

[barnakiel]

Hi,

Talk to a multihull reputed boatyard to build your boat. Sound build is a large part of boat's safety.

I think stabilitywise cats seem to generally do better than tris (aote). But stability is only part of the package.

I like Newick's tris but have no idea if they are safe.

b.

[Dreamsailoring]

Thank you for all the help.
I plan to build for a few reasons
1 I am a carpenter and love to build things and love the challenge.
2. I want to know y boat inside and out.
3. I want to enjoy building with my kids. I think they will enjoy helping and they also will have the same feeling of accoplishment.
4. All my friends say I can't do it so I want to prove the wrong.

Some one asked were I live. Steeler Country aka Pittsburgh Pa (just outside).

Thanks again for all the help.

[bobconnie]

Ive deliverd both Tri's and Cat's both sail well, once ya learn what they like! I love tri's and have been looking for a GOOD One for a long time! So far ive been unable to find one in good enough shape to buy !! If there were some in Glass I propbly be sailing a tri instead of a big Mono LOL If your a good carpenter, Im sure you will have no problems bilding one ! Except for the Lofting when ya start ! If you can do that or get some help to do it, you should have no prob bilding a Tri or a Cat just my 2 cents

[Factor]

If you are determined to build then I am very glad, very few tris are custom built these days, lots of man hours, You might also want to consider a Simpson Liahona design. Great boats as well.

[FSMike]

Dreamsailoring -
Before you start, don't forget to factor in the possible difficulties of transporting the finished boat to the water. Sometimes things get built in your way before you finish.
Enjoy.

[44'cruisingcat]

I'd be allowing a bit more than six years to build and circumnavigate. You'd have to really rush either the build, or the trip, or most likely both. And even once you get the boat in the water, you'd be best to build some experience doing local trips before setting off on the big one.

If you want to save time, (but spend more money) A kit is a quicker way to get into a big boat. I built mine from a kit, still took about 6000 hours though. Some pics here: Member Galleries - Cruisers & Sailing Photo Gallery

As a carpenter, you might be interested in building one of these: Home The Sarah or Tracey would be the better suited.

Plenty of people will tell you it's not worth building a boat, and with used boat prices being what they are, it doesn't make a smuch financial sense as it used to. But you will know your boat far better than if you bought one, and it will be NEW.

There's also a good forum for cat (and one tri) builders here: DIY Yachts • Index page