Catamaran's for tall people

[Capt. Aubrey]

I am 6'4" and had the same issues with descriptions of "full headroom"! Found it in Leopards from 40' up. We happily ended up with a 46. Check them out. You'll be happy.

[Bulawayo]

Originally Posted by laser

Thanks for the Voyage suggestion.

Yes, I did look at the Voyage. It is a very nice boat and was on my short list when I went to the show. They had a Voyage 50 at the shoe and i had some headroom issues in parts of the saloon. My interest was in the Voyage 440 which I only assume would have more of a headroom problem. However, they did not have one at the show docks.

Odd, we have owned a V44 and V45 and at 6'6" I have found this to fit me better than most boats - the Leopard 45 is equal but the Leopard 46 is even better.

[TOT]

Several tall guests (over 6ft) have commented positively about the head room in our Lagoon 450


SV TOT
Wayne 😃

[Rezzy]

I'm 6'2", walking around anywhere inside my Lagoon 440 isn't a problem.

[Sail power sail]

I'm 6'5" and have crawled around a lot of boats. Seawind 1160 was comfortable everywhere.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[twohapence]

Standing headroom means more windage and / or more slamming because there's not enough clearance between the bridgedeck and the water.

I'm 6' 2". In my Iroquois I could stand in the hulls but was on hands and knees in the saloon or waddling between hulls in an undignified and highlu unflattering crouch. It was a delightful boat to sail and I could bring her alongside in most conditions using a single (steerable) outboard.

The Piana 30, my current boat, has standing headroom through most of the hulls, stooping headroom in the saloon walkway and sitting headroom at the table. It does snag the incautious toe on the bulkheads though. It is a fun boat to sail, a bit more windage than the Iroquois, a lot faster, but despite twin outboards it's more of a handful to dock in tight quarters.

My next boat, the PF Lucia, has standing headroom throughout. It has a lot more windage. It also has two big inboard diesel engines. That might be enough but some folks have gone as far as fitting bowthrusters on big windage cats. It will cost a lot ore in the Marina and to lift in/out.

The cost of comfort is extraordinary. The next boat will finish up costing thirty times more than the Iroquois. It's a lot. In his book "Multihull Voyaging" Tom Firth Jones stated that the only time he needed standing headroom was when he put his trousers on.

Were I not planning on enjoying the company of guests that expect more comfort and the ability to walk from hull to hull as if they were in a hotel I'd probably update the current boat. I did consider keeping the one I have and chartering a bigger cat when friends and family came to call. Still might! :-)

So: - If you want the freedom to walk about your boat without ducking your head be prepared to spend a lot of money unless you are either prepared to seriously compromise on handling or performance.

[Bulawayo]

At 6'6" I struggle on many cats as well as on half boats. The Voyage range just about accomodate me. Previously, on an Island Spirit 35 that we fitted out ourselves we had excellent headroom but I did lower the floors in the hulls and as we bought right at the beginning of the production we influenced Fortuna (the boat yard) to add a step in the bridgedeck design that is still there today that raised the entire bridgedeck pod. I could stand in the saloon until the roof line took a curve downwards half way forward. I smoothed the bridgedeck floor and glued our finish direct to it to ensure no head room was lost. The boat never did look right from the side until they extended the hulls.
I would eally not like to liveaboard for extended periods whereby I could not stand. I have to be able to stand in the galley, at the berth, at the helm & in the shower.

Originally Posted by twohapence

Standing headroom means more windage and / or more slamming because there's not enough clearance between the bridgedeck and the water.

I'm 6' 2". In my Iroquois I could stand in the hulls but was on hands and knees in the saloon or waddling between hulls in an undignified and highlu unflattering crouch. It was a delightful boat to sail and I could bring her alongside in most conditions using a single (steerable) outboard.

The Piana 30, my current boat, has standing headroom through most of the hulls, stooping headroom in the saloon walkway and sitting headroom at the table. It does snag the incautious toe on the bulkheads though. It is a fun boat to sail, a bit more windage than the Iroquois, a lot faster, but despite twin outboards it's more of a handful to dock in tight quarters.

My next boat, the PF Lucia, has standing headroom throughout. It has a lot more windage. It also has two big inboard diesel engines. That might be enough but some folks have gone as far as fitting bowthrusters on big windage cats. It will cost a lot ore in the Marina and to lift in/out.

The cost of comfort is extraordinary. The next boat will finish up costing thirty times more than the Iroquois. It's a lot. In his book "Multihull Voyaging" Tom Firth Jones stated that the only time he needed standing headroom was when he put his trousers on.

Were I not planning on enjoying the company of guests that expect more comfort and the ability to walk from hull to hull as if they were in a hotel I'd probably update the current boat. I did consider keeping the one I have and chartering a bigger cat when friends and family came to call. Still might! :-)

So: - If you want the freedom to walk about your boat without ducking your head be prepared to spend a lot of money unless you are either prepared to seriously compromise on handling or performance.

[Sail IC]

I'm 2 meters, just a tad over 6'6". In my FP Orana I can stand in the aft half of the saloon where the galley is, under the bimini, in the showers, and in some parts of the cabins. It works alright for me.

[twohapence]

Originally Posted by Bulawayo

I would eally not like to liveaboard for extended periods whereby I could not stand. I have to be able to stand in the galley, at the berth, at the helm & in the shower.

I always wanted to be 6' 6" tall when I was a kid. Now I'm really glad I'm not. Life does become just that touch harder, remembering to duck going through doors, sitting in cars and getting a good driving position, the list goes on. I lived in a house with 6' high doors once for six months. One day I forgot to duck and finished up on the floor hugging my head with the dogs eating my supper.

Both the Iroquois and the Piana have the galley in the hulls. I agree, stooping over a hot stove would be no fun. Helm is outside so no headroom issues there. We shower on deck and use a camping solar shower for hot water. Which is why we don't go to cold places! :-)

The Piana we bought had been modified by the builder so that there was an extra few inches in the walkway between the hulls. Bless the man that specified that change as it makes the space a lot more useable.

Best of luck finding a suitable cat.

[Roddu]

Hi, I was at the Paris boat show last weekend and am 1.97m (go metric!). I walked through the lagoon 40 and was impressed with free headroom in 90pct of where I walked. I could even stand up straight in the shower - blissful.
Then we went into the fountaine Astrea, again same story: good headroom almost everywhere. However, this boat is a bit too big for us and just out of budget. Unfortunately I haven't had a chance to go into a fp Lucia, which seems to win on the lagoon in weight, speed and overall cruising aspects (sail plan, liquid capacity fuel and water...)

[boatman61]

6ft 2in and fit any cat..

[smj]

Originally Posted by boatman61

6ft 2in and fit any cat..

6’4” and I fit any cat but don’t need the knee pads......permanent calluses help!