A Path to Multihulls

[Mr B]

I am a Motor boat man with 50 years Experience
I had a 14 foot paper Tiger for a short while,
Took it down to the local lake when the wind was screaming,
I was still working, so It wasnt very often,
Showed me how to sail using the wind only,

The best part about a 14 foot Paper Tiger,
I could put it in the water off a trailer on my own,
I could stand the mast on my own,
I could sail it on my own,
I could pull down the mast and put it back on the trailer on my own,
My Friends 14 foot Hobby Cat, Needed two people to get it in and out of the water,

I bought a 34 foot Cat in Fiji, Sailing Experience, Zilch,
Spent 6 weeks in Fiji learning how to sail it and all the systems on board,
It had all the Bells and Whistles, None of which I knew any thing about,
In the Pub at night, I asked the sailors there, What does this or that do,
I learnt fast,
Then sailed it back to Australia single handed, Approximately 2000 miles,

Plan B, Drive it back to Australia on the diesel at 7 knots. Island hopping for diesel,

Cheers, Brian,

[Carole ann]

I rented a few large Monos and then bought a 44 ft Cat. For 12 years had the best time. Never went to any schools. Read everything I could and had great insturments. Was able to fix everything that went wrong with the boat. That is a plus because there is always something that needs fixing. I always had a 18 ft Hobie and still have. Just go for it.

[joelhemington]

Originally Posted by Full

A romantic, newbie post here, independent from my other posts. This might help all the newbie dreamers out there.
A forty-something-year-old man stares at the endless ocean in a deep thought. He watches the various catamarans sailing to the Bahamas in envy. His ambitions in life changes all of a sudden. He knows there is no going back; now, he is totally a new person...
So what should he do to safely sail a 40 - 42 something ft catamaran one day? He has no sailing experience. What path does he have to take? Let's give him some advice without insulting him too much.

Step one: Join a local yacht club (preferably one with a lot of Cats)

Step two: Hang around and get to know some of the members who may need an extra hand to go sailing - find out if you even like sailing(some don't)

Step three: Showing up to help out when someone is doing some major boat work is usually a good "in" to get some good crewing opportunities (and will teach you a lot about your future boat ownership).

Step four: After about a year of crewing on other people's boats you'll be in a good position to know what it is you'd like to buy. For a 40' to 42' catamaran you should budget at least $200,000. Anything cheaper will probably be a project boat (which tend to get very expensive).

Step five: Now you're ready to push off and go!

[Franziska]

A project boat is not always and automatic a bad choice.

If I would have had the need to cough up 200000€ upfront I would not have had a boat and couple of nice sailing summers since 2012.

Instead I got a project boat in sailing condition and renovate it while money comes in.
It helps though to be knowledgeable when it comes to fixing things DIY style...
DIY renovations can be fun too.

[Jim Cate]

You don't need to mess with dinghy's and beach cats to learn how to sail. Sailing is piss easy.

If sailing is so damn easy, why do I see so many folks on boats doing it so poorly?

Jim

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Full

A romantic, newbie post here, independent from my other posts. This might help all the newbie dreamers out there.
A forty-something-year-old man stares at the endless ocean in a deep thought. He watches the various catamarans sailing to the Bahamas in envy. His ambitions in life changes all of a sudden. He knows there is no going back; now, he is totally a new person...
So what should he do to safely sail a 40 - 42 something ft catamaran one day? He has no sailing experience. What path does he have to take? Let's give him some advice without insulting him too much.

If you go the Lagoon route get the 380.. the owners version has one hull devoted to owners comfort and the other has two cabins and heads for guests or extra stowage space.
Plenty of room in the saloon/galley and a decent helm station.. also it's the best sailing boat of the lot.

[Yihang]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

If sailing is so damn easy, why do I see so many folks on boats doing it so poorly?



Jim

Hi Jim,

We all want different things from sailing. From following the OP on a few threads it seems the idea of sailing and the destination is more important than the love of tweaking lines and staring at tell tails. For him taking lessons on larger boats gets him to his goals faster.

If he then started another thread on which is the best beach cat he will never realise his dream.

From the other thread it also seems his wife is into comfort and big cats so asking her to go for a sail on a hobie cat doesnt seem likely.

Sailing is not hard. Doing anything well of course is a different story. But people with just their jibs out on the bay are still having heck of a lot more fun than people dreaming about it.

Learn how to tack and gybe safely, pick the right weather window and the OP will make it to the bahamas. All the anchoring, weather routing and other cruising skills can't be learnt on a hobie cat anyway.



Yihang

[Maple Leaf]

Dear Full, My situation is similar.

-I took a one week course on a 45 foot cat out of Red Hook, USVI and completed ASA 101,103,104 and 114. It was a great beginning. I was 45 years old. I spent the next 10 years chartering Different 38 to 45 foot Catamarans. I would charter them and invite my friends and family to contribute for the cost.

-10 years later , I just retired yesterday and and now searching for my own Cat. We learned a lot and made mistakes sailing from the BVIs to Grenada. I can’t wait to continue to lear and have more life altering memories. This site is a great resource with many years of experience. Thank you all.

-COVID has slowed my plans but they are still very much alive. Good luck and stay focused. It is possible.

Fair Winds

[lyl]

Originally Posted by Yihang

From the other thread it also seems his wife is into comfort and big cats...

As I said in the post, this one is independent from the earlier queries of mine, not necessarily about me. Meanwhile, my wife has very recently progressed her own research and decided that monohulls are safer, so no more swimming Ikeas in our future.

[SV_Sweet_Ruca]

I know this is the Multi forum, so at the risk of taking some heat, I am going to say don’t just be stuck on a cat. Go with what you can and what works for you.

We hunted for a catamaran for a long time, years! We couldn’t find the one that fit the matrix. We did find a monohull that fit though and we are glad we went for it.

The marketing forces are strong for cats these days, and don’t get me wrong, they are pretty awesome. They are lots of fun and the space is amazing! IMO waiting for the cat of my dreams would have been a mistake. Just food for thought.

Good luck and go for it!!!

[Palarran]

Originally Posted by Full

A romantic, newbie post here, independent from my other posts. This might help all the newbie dreamers out there.
A forty-something-year-old man stares at the endless ocean in a deep thought. He watches the various catamarans sailing to the Bahamas in envy. His ambitions in life changes all of a sudden. He knows there is no going back; now, he is totally a new person...
So what should he do to safely sail a 40 - 42 something ft catamaran one day? He has no sailing experience. What path does he have to take? Let's give him some advice without insulting him too much.

What an odd thread topic. Really, like for what purpose is the question asked? But since your asking a question about a situation that isn't real, or helpful, to pretty much anyone, I'd:

Sell everything. I mean, your over 40 so maybe there are some assets here and time is short - gotta hurry. Take the money, jump on a freighter heading to the South Pacific. Once there, abandon ship and get a job as a bar tender at a Ritz Carlton. Those dudes make some serious $$$. Make friends with the beach crew and get one to let you sail their boats on your off day. Keep waiting because someday a beautiful woman (or man) is going to show up with a boat in need of crew. If your lucky, it's a 40'ish catamaran and you can get the job because you've been training with the beach boats AND can make some kick ass drinks. Now, have you seen the movie Dead Calm with Nicole Kidman and Sam Neill? Your Billy Zane. Get to work and the boat is yours.

[Yihang]

Originally Posted by Full

As I said in the post, this one is independent from the earlier queries of mine, not necessarily about me. Meanwhile, my wife has very recently progressed her own research and decided that monohulls are safer, so no more swimming Ikeas in our future.

[lyl]

Originally Posted by Yihang

Yeah, so much has changed in between. She doesn't fancy multihulls anymore, and I started to dislike full keels. A modern monohull is where we're heading now...

[Yihang]

Originally Posted by Full

Yeah, so much has changed in between. She doesn't fancy multihulls anymore, and I started to dislike full keels. A modern monohull is where we're heading now...

Get a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 41/42/43 DS and call it a day.

[lyl]

Originally Posted by Yihang

Get a Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 41/42/43 DS and call it a day.

I think I'm setting with a Catalina 22 as the very first sailboat. I don't care if it'll be fin, wing, centerboard; I'll be fine as long as it's in good condition. I need hands on sailing experience. Buying it used, I cannot financially go wrong. After a few years of day sail experience on that and some charter fun, we'll have a better idea. Right now, I'm just learning the theory and gathering on paper info about various boats. So this post is still valuable to me. This is y I don't fancy telling my story and what I wanna do with a boat. After learning the ropes, I'll know what boat is right for me - I don't need somebody else's opinion on it. Right now, I'm just a romantic as Jim 'had to' point out earlier and daydreaming; I bet it's how plenty of good sailors started their journey. Learning from others' experiences does not mean I'll also initiate their path or something. I cannot put everything in my mind in a post, so don't worry about the inconsistency of the ideas. On another post, some 'experienced' folk told me that my mind was all over the place, because I was interested in full keels and a Catalina 315, as if I didn't know 315 not being a full keel. Don't be surprised if you find me wandering in powerboats section, talking about Trawlers these days...