GOD HELP ME, I'm in love with a CATAMARAN!!!

[H/V Vega]

Don't worry you will grow out of it just like you did the training wheels on your first push bike. All glitz and marketing hype with no windward at all. If you want two boats then buy two good boats and be done with it.

[Christian Van H]

OK James...I think you've finally gone off the deep end! Grab handle that would have taken me three weeks to make...IF I HAD THE SKILL!!! BTW, you'd better make xtras of all these parts. Should you ever sell the boat, NOBODY else could ever repair this stuff!

[James S]

Sell it!
My the time I'm done she's just gonna sink from all this heavy stuff I keep bolting on.

[superA]

So are multi-hulls actually considered unsafe for crossing oceans?

I sure hope not. After all the money I have spent building one for that purpose.

[slap]

I'll admit - I've been leaning over to the dark side. I've gone through all 50 some pages in this forum, reading most of the threads. I know that at the dock or anchor, cats rule. And on long trips, when you have a chance of fatigue, they rule. But one thing keeps coming back.

I like to sail with a tiller. I love it when the boat gets into its groove. You feel like the boat is part of you. It's alive and it talks to you. Going to a cat, how much of that will I loose?

[James S]

I would imagine that a clever guy could sort that out.
I know little about cats but there must be many linkage solutions to that.

The more I read and hear about cats the more intrigued I am with them.

I'm pretty sure that 98% of the time I'd be happy, but I'm not convinced yet about extreme weather/seas and I really, really don't like pounding.

[badlattitude]

Originally Posted by superA

So are multi-hulls actually considered unsafe for crossing oceans?

Only by the dogmatic and uneducated.

[sandy daugherty]

Tillers are still found on cats, and they do provide that feeling of direct control and feed back.

[Full Sail]

Originally Posted by slap

I like to sail with a tiller. I love it when the boat gets into its groove. You feel like the boat is part of you. It's alive and it talks to you. Going to a cat, how much of that will I loose?

Most production cats these days are equipped with hydraulic steering, which will give you a disconnect from the rudders. So unless you go for an older boat or a homebuilt boat, you may just have to appreciate all the other advantages of a catamaran.

[Jeannius]

Originally Posted by H/V Vega

Don't worry you will grow out of it just like you did the training wheels on your first push bike. All glitz and marketing hype with no windward at all. If you want two boats then buy two good boats and be done with it.

You haven't a clue what you are talking about. Come down here, charter any cruising monohull from any of the big charter companies and we'll have a race to windward. My cruising cat fully laden with generator, air con, wind generator, solar panels, beats the arse off every cruising monohull to windward down here, regularly. Not talking about racing boats, just regular cruising boats, in other words... like for like.

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by H/V Vega

Don't worry you will grow out of it just like you did the training wheels on your first push bike. All glitz and marketing hype with no windward at all. If you want two boats then buy two good boats and be done with it.

You haven't sailed on a Catana or similar with daggerboards.

[xxuxx]

Sic'em Jeannius!!! Attack!!!!!!!!!!!! It's your " privilege"...and you can attack.

[Full Sail]

James-

Cats are very safe in storm conditions. It has to do with the science of waves. Waves move across the water, but the water in them stays in the same place. So when you stick a deep keel down into the water a wave is going to move the boat, but the deep keel will try to keep the boat in the same place. Hence you gtet a knockdown. Now multis don't have the deep keel. When that same wave gets to the multihull, it justs pops around on top of water like a duck. There was an interesting book printed back in the 70's..Its out of print now, but I've seen in in libraries still. its called "Children of Cape Horn". Its about a couple who take their kids, 3 & 5 I believe ,from Australia and go around Cape horn in a 30 foot catamaran. Interesting reading. It got me seeing cats in a whole new light.

[Christian Van H]

Guys, I started this thread as a joke. I'm not really gonna buy a 2 million dollar cat. My refit monohull isnt even ready to splash. The video shows an absolutely beautiful boat, well built and well found. An aluminum cat. Any negative opinion on whether a cat can cross oceans safely is moot...THEY DO IT EVERY DAY, ALL OVER THE WORLD. Some cats are slugs. Some monohulls turn turtle. I have chartered several cats, and although I own a large mono, the cat is the nicest island exploring vehicle ever invented, IMHO. Please just enjoy the video and leave out the Religion...