(But there is not only the question of objective
safety, but also how safe it
feels.)
That is purely subjective depending on perception. Why USAIans are terrified of terrorists, despite a much greater likelihood in the States of being killed by a dairy cow.
Being trained in ship stability and engineering I prefer to go by the numbers.
(i have sailed a catamaran in heavy weather and it made me nervous. The thing is you can't feel the press of
canvas because of the lack of heeling, and the lack of heeling means there is no mechanism for dissipating the excess energy, so it just builds up until you go over.)
Similarly I feel nervous in a
keel boat going downwind, always on the verge of broaching. It is what you are used to. In your case you are probably safer in a
monohull as you haven't learnt what an overcanvassed
multihull feels like.
At least one of the large
multihull capsizes here was a bunch of experienced mono sailors first time cruising in a cat. They all survived unscathed, by the way, despite winds over 50 knots.
(In the latitudes where I sail presently, I would not like that. I really like the feeling that there is something to give, and that righting moment increases with heel, and the
sails are depowered as you heel. I like the feeling that if, God forbid, I get knocked down (as happened to me last year), I'll pop right back up. Although living on a heel in general sucks, these other things are very comforting in places like the North Sea, where if you're not willing to sail in a F8, you might have to wait weeks to go out.)
Having worked on a ship running from Bluff to Melbourne I am reluctant to go there in anything less than 40 000 tons. 8000 tons and 8000hp still had it's moments.
(But in more benign latitudes, and especially for something like a tradewinds
circumnavigation, involving long ocean crossings, I think I would prefer a catamaran. Something large, maybe a Chris White Atlantic 57. Maybe with a somewhat smaller, shorter rig to add safety margin and reduce windage. For me, cats start to become really interesting when they are big enough to have quite narrow hulls like that, and to still have decent waterlines. The result of all this plus the lack of ballast means fantastically easily driven hulls, which will make for wonderful sailing as well as wonderful motoring.)
I agree that Chris Whites design's, though nice
boats, were more towards the
racing end of the spectrum, in
power to weight ratio.
The gust that flipped Anna would probably not have flipped a
Lagoon.
(For cruising the
Med, I think I would also definitely prefer a cat. All the motoring you do there would be much more pleasant in a cat.[/QUOTE])
I
cruise a small cat on the NZ coast. Which is noted for it's variable weather.
Been very happy with it's rough weather capability.
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