I LOVE multi's but tempted to buy a mono. Change my mind.

[trifan]

Probably can't but will take a stab at it anyway:
1) Monos are bobbers and dick around with your inner ear far more than multis

2) with all that weight in the keel, if it gets a hole it will go right to the bottom
3) tris have less windage than cats and both keep your coffee on the table instead of in the floor when sailing into the wind.
4) multis are less claustrophobic down below


Having said that, most tris on the market are not what I consider live aboards or long range cruisers, more like optimized for racing. The older Horstman designs are hard to beat; their cabins extend to the outer edges of the amas and each of those has its own entrance. Lots of elbow room. There are still a few around. Not fond of the Searunners, too cramped for me. Cats (some, anyway) are generally ok but much more windage and the need for 2 drives for balance is a bother.



All my preferences and opinions, of course. YMMV

[valhalla360]

Odd, the usual complaint with multihulls is they have less feeling. Tris are a bit better if they are small and light but now your living space is equivilent to a very small monohull, unless you get a big heavy tri, which negates the "feeling" advantage.

A performance, comfortable liveaboard on a tight budget multihull...I believe the old saying is you can have any of the two.

[ghendoaus]

I really love the Grainger Spoonbay tri that I’m part owner of. Check out some videos here’s.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZY...O8xtni-qx5km7Q
Most recent racing video.
https://youtu.be/S9s9l-P1x20

[Nelsons]

You get what you pay for, isn’t it that simple?

[Marc1]

Originally Posted by ghendoaus

I really love the Grainger Spoonbay tri that I’m part owner of. Check out some videos here’s.

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZY...O8xtni-qx5km7Q
Most recent racing video.
https://youtu.be/S9s9l-P1x20

Interesting. So a trimaran is a mono with training wheels ...

[ghendoaus]

Originally Posted by Marc1

Interesting. So a trimaran is a mono with training wheels ...

Yeah pretty much that's what we tell all the mono sailors we race against. We are trying to get her to be a mono when the wind is strong enough

[44'cruisingcat]

TBH, if you can't find a suitable tri within your budget there's very little chance you'll find a cat, which leaves mono's. Or proas.

[daletournier]

Keep this in mind, people enjoy cruising in all sorts of vessels. I would buy the boat that's in the best condition for the money you have, mono or multi.

I want a big cat and are aiming for that BUT I know the extra happiness I will get from it will be minimal or none at all!

How do I know this? I cruised for 7-8 years fulltime on a Freedom 32, visited many places and a number of different countries, I had an incredible memorable time, I look back with a smile regularly. I'm now on a 47 ft Catalina, it's a palace compared to my old boat, it sails faster, it's more comfortable in so many ways and much more, am I any happier? no, I'm not ,I'm happy and having an adventure that most will never have, I like this boat more than my Freedom, I like this boat and I dont want to go back to a smaller boat ,I'm more comfortable BUT I'm no happier.

Because of this I know the cat wont make me any happier than my big mono did compared to my smaller mono, it will make me more comfortable, a little faster etc......its true when people say, we are all sharing the same Anchorages and enjoying the same sunsets.

Buy the boat that needs the least amount of work and go cruising, bang for buck is what I would be looking for.

[boatman61]

Quote...
My surfboards have suffered way less damage by storing them attaching them to the bottom of the bikini
End Quote...

Damn..!!!
What cup size are you.????

[Arthurwg]

Wouldn't it be great to build a new Searunner 37 using all the best stuff and techniques? Most of the older ones seem to be problematic at best.

And BTW, Jim Brown has a lengthy discussion of living in a capsized tri in his "Case for the Cruising Trimaran." Doesn't sound very attractive. Might be better off in a good life raft with a good EPIRB or two.

And while you are at it, have you considered a Wharram? A really nice modified 40 with solid beams and a wide deckhouse just sold with an asking price of $40,000.

[owly]

Originally Posted by Arthurwg

Wouldn't it be great to build a new Searunner 37 using all the best stuff and techniques? Most of the older ones seem to be problematic at best.

And BTW, Jim Brown has a lengthy discussion of living in a capsized tri in his "Case for the Cruising Trimaran." Doesn't sound very attractive. Might be better off in a good life raft with a good EPIRB or two.

And while you are at it, have you considered a Wharram? A really nice modified 40 with solid beams and a wide deckhouse just sold with an asking price of $40,000.

You might read about the experiences folks have living in a life raft......... again start with Fastnet '79. The saga of the Rose Noell is about a crew living months in an inverted trimaran. You can't live in an inverted cat realistically as once you cut an access for ventilation and getting in and out it's going to fill up with water.... You can live between the hulls in a life raft tethered to the hulls, which provides some protection, but tethers in life rafts are known for tearing out.
H.W.

[owly]

Single handing, the advantages of a catamaran beat everything else hands down. You have a safe protected and large cockpit, and the bridge deck cabin is level with it, so you are not climbing up and down the companion all the time. The ability to sleep in the bridge deck cabin protected, just a step from the cockpit, with windows to give all round view from inside is worth a great deal. The lack of constant rolling on downwind, the shallow draft, and beachability. The safety aspect of sailing a boat that is not constantly or unpredictably rolling from rail to rail, and where you are walking on the floor instead of the walls is not to be ignored. The risk of a galley accident, or of being pitched over the lifelines, or slammed into something, and sustaining a gash or a broken bone...The level of fatigue involved in a monohull. An exhausted sailor does not make good decisions. Then in a semi open anchorage, look at masts........... bobbing about is OK, but it's not uncommon to see the masts of monos at anchor scribing an arc of close to 90 degrees. It makes everything difficult. And then at anchor, you have the choice of the cockpit with a good view, and if it is driving rain, retreating into the cabin but still having a panoramic view...... depending on the design.



.................. I don't currently own a sailboat, but a catamaran is a no brainer for me.


H.W.

[longjonsilver]

Originally Posted by owly

Single handing, the advantages of a catamaran beat everything else hands down. You have a safe protected and large cockpit, and the bridge deck cabin is level with it, so you are not climbing up and down the companion all the time. The ability to sleep in the bridge deck cabin protected, just a step from the cockpit, with windows to give all round view from inside is worth a great deal. The lack of constant rolling on downwind, the shallow draft, and beachability. The safety aspect of sailing a boat that is not constantly or unpredictably rolling from rail to rail, and where you are walking on the floor instead of the walls is not to be ignored. The risk of a galley accident, or of being pitched over the lifelines, or slammed into something, and sustaining a gash or a broken bone...The level of fatigue involved in a monohull. An exhausted sailor does not make good decisions. Then in a semi open anchorage, look at masts........... bobbing about is OK, but it's not uncommon to see the masts of monos at anchor scribing an arc of close to 90 degrees. It makes everything difficult. And then at anchor, you have the choice of the cockpit with a good view, and if it is driving rain, retreating into the cabin but still having a panoramic view...... depending on the design.

Many of those characteristics are also present in Searunners, at least the traditional center cockpit ones.

jon

[owly]

Originally Posted by longjonsilver

Many of those characteristics are also present in Searunners, at least the traditional center cockpit ones.

jon

The only characteristics really lacking are the protected cabin with panoramic view, and of course you need to constantly use the companionway. On the plus side, you have a better forward view from the cockpit, and you also have a great deal of safety in the center cockpit. Also on the 34 and 37 and 40, the mast is in the cockpit, making reefing a process that does not require you to get up out of the safety of the cockpit. I've considered the possibility on these of having a plastic dome or a structure with windows like Roger Taylor has on MingMing II built over one berth, so you could sleep there, and sit up for a looksee any time, or sit on the bunk with a backrest and your heat up in the viewing dome.

In any case a good comfortable dodger with spray protection is worth a great deal. A trimaran heels much more than a cat, but they also tend to sail faster, and tack better (or so I've read). They unfortunately have about half the load capacity for a given LOA, and the wing decks or netting are not nearly secure at sea.

Personally I like an aft cockpit in many ways.



H.W.

[jerrypeters]

Originally Posted by owly

Single handing, the advantages of a catamaran beat everything else hands down. H.W.

I couldn't agree more. I sailed for 30 years on a variety of monohulls. Bought a cat and circumnavigated - 40,000 nautical miles - much of it solo.

I could never go back to a mono for cruising.