Monohull converts to multihull sailing..........

[w32honu]

This old monohull sailor wants to hear from you.....

How have you been rewarded with the conversion to multihull sailing?

Any regrets with the switch? Any bias' been left behind?

Has the switch impacted your pleasure of cruising?

Any converts gone back to monohull sailing?

What have been your pros and cons?

Thinking about taking the plunge.........

Tx.

[Stumble]

I like them both. Currently we own a monohull (cruiser), a catamaran (racer), and a trimaran (daysailer). They are all great for different jobs, and I like them all.

The cat is the most fun to sail, but is also the smallest and is a one person very physical boat to sail. The trimaran is probably the ideal day sailer, fast, good in light air, can stack a lot of people on it, low loads, rewards trimming but doesn't demand it.

The monohull is great for weekending (and would be good for longer if I had the time). But I can't really say I love sailing it that much. It has its draw, but is by far the least rewarding to sail.

[w32honu]

Sounds like you have got all of the bases covered. Gotta like that!!!

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by Stumble

I like them both. Currently we own a monohull (cruiser), a catamaran (racer), and a trimaran (daysailer). They are all great for different jobs, and I like them all.

....

Many threads like this seem to assume you must do one OR the other. Why choose? Like Stumble, I own a Cat and a mono. The cat for cruising, hard to beat cats for that, and the mono (a Hobie 33) for fun fast day sailing. You dont have to actually own them either, I did LOT of sailing on a LOT of different boats (monos, cats, tris) long before I started buying boats.

If you feel you must own one, then pick your preference, but there is no reason to give up sailing on everything else.

[w32honu]

All true.........

But we are looking for a live aboard type boat for two. That with no land based responsibilities. At least for awhile.

Current mono may be a bit shy for that. But we have done it in the past. Have also done the two boat ownership thing. Not to keen on that scenario.

Leaning toward a nice tri along the Marples lines.

[Lizzy Belle]

Multi versus mono and when to opt for which doesn't get talked a lot on this forum ... Pffft

Just to read all the topics of the last 3 months would take you weeks.
Quick start:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ll-162932.html
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...le-159442.html

Hundreds more where those came from Tri's are posted about less, but do a search and you'll find quite a few threads.

The tri's I've seen offer less space then either mono or cat. But I've only been on very few as they are even more rare then cats in these parts. This is one I was on.

I live on a 29' boat and those tri's were well over 29' (Juniper was 52') but made me claustrophobic

[belizesailor]

Originally Posted by w32honu

All true.........

But we are looking for a live aboard type boat for two. That with no land based responsibilities. At least for awhile.

Current mono may be a bit shy for that. But we have done it in the past. Have also done the two boat ownership thing. Not to keen on that scenario.

Leaning toward a nice tri along the Marples lines.

Ive done the two cruising boat ownership thing too and hated it...always working on one or the other, but a second small boat with no systems is not so bad.

For liveaboard comfort for 2 a cat is hard to beat. And you get his & her hulls which every couple needs from time time.

[w32honu]

Sorry guys it was not meant to be the multi vs. mono gig.

Was just curious about experiences as a convert.......pro or con.

[belizesailor]

Mono vs cat debate is pretty common here, hard to avoid.

For a cruising boat I did the mono to cat switch 15 years ago. 37' mono was a great boat, but wife wanted a boat on which we could accomodate guests comfortably. I didnt want any deeper draft (about 5.5' already), so went wider rather than longer and got 3.5' draft to boot. 5.5' became an achorage...opened up a lot more cruising possibilites in SW FL. Very comfy for guests and liveaboard too.

Another related thread:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...d.php?t=163876

[w32honu]

Thanks for the links......

I had read some of the tit for tat some time ago. But not lately. Nice to get an update.

Had not read "Reasons to stay mono." Good stuff. Thanks again.

[44'cruisingcat]

Most people cruising on cat's have owned mono's.

The major downside to a cat is the cost, especially the up-front purchase price. I couldn't afford to buy the type of boat I wanted, so decided to build. I also had a list of things I didn't like about our old boat, so bulding gave me the opportunity to address these.

Benefits are: performance, (by a huge margin) space, comfort, draught, economy of operation, ease of maintenance (outboards vs diesel, fibreglass v steel), ease of handling (it's a far more easily driven boat, so loads are far less, also manoeuvring is easier)

Downsides: marina fees would be higher, but we stay away from marinas far more than we did with the mono, so it actually works out cheaper.....

You have to put up with reams of uninformed opinion on internet forums, and very occasionally in person.

[clockwork orange]

I also own both, actually 2 of each. Nothing beats a cat for living space and for a couple you don't need to go very big, mid 30s is plenty. On the other hand beach cats offer the most fun sailing imho. As far as Tris go nothing modern offers much cruising comfort but there were some very good older designs from Cross, Horstman, Brown, Kantola, and others which have very good interior space because they spread out into the wings for large rectangular berths. If you can find one built in composites one of these old boats would be good cruisers. There were Horstman and Cross tris built in foam/glass. I have sailed a little on tris by Piver, Horstman and a summer of racing on an F27 when it was new including a 360 mile offshore race. Obviously the Farrier was a lot better performer but even the 31 is tiny inside. The thing I don't care for with either Monos or tris is that you are living in the basement looking up at the glimmer of light coming though the tiny little window and with the monos of course that heeling thing and the largest berth is usually that stupid vee berth that's wide at the head and narrow at the foot. Of course larger modern monos have a lot better living space and light if not the view from the settee. Just my opinions of course.

Steve.

[maxingout]

I like both monohulls and catamarans.

If money was no object I would have the following:

Privilege 39 catamaran (which is what I own now)
Norsea 27 for trailering to special locations that I don't want to have to sail to get there.
Westsail 42 Ketch or Cutter for high latitude sailing.

I like the motion of a heavy displacement monohull at sea better than the snappy motion of a catamaran.

My wife wants a catamaran, so for the time being, that's my sailing machine.

[w32honu]

I agree it is all good. Nothing like a blue water passage on a classic gaff rigged schooner. Fast and what a great motion at sea.

I have been looking over a new Constant Camber Marples design for a 40 foot "Fast Cruiser." It is definitely a "cruising" trimaran and so sports plenty of room. Not to the extent of a big Cat.........but still plenty.

All the numbers seem to hit the sweet spot for a good ocean going tri.

[Lance]

We are definately Cat enthusiasts and now happily own a Whithaven 11.7.
I agree with my wife in this preferance and we hear this continually from the sailing ladies.
Sorry going a little off thread here.
You did not mention budget so you could be able to get a very nice Cat at the moment especially in Australia.
I built my last 12m Cat and with unlucky timing fell into a money trap .
I still think to build will tax your budget and likely produce something that your labours will create that is unable to return its value so look around ,lots out there.
I spent all of 2015 searching and visiting many multis throughout the world in my now reduced budget ,I finally found a properly built Western Red Cedar Epoxy ENCAPSULATED charmer which is a performance cruiser , plenty of space inside and out .
Some production glass foam boats are now showing their age and have structual weaknesses too thus my eventual preferance towards a very tough but light build technique.
Lance