Monohull or Multihull Sailboat?

[schoonerdog]

I would think the motoring cheaper is held up. The PDQ 34 MV has the space of a 40' trawler and far more range and cheaper fuel consumption. With our twin 40 HP yanmars we do 8 knots cruising, 10.5 knots max.

[catty]

Ah some hard data, thanks Joli.


Friday Sat Sun

Swan 70 4h 5m 1h 7m 2h 51m
Gunboat 62 3h 45m 2h 8m 2h 45m
NM 68 3h 38m 1h 1m 2h 31m


So what does this show? All three boats had similar speeds on Friday and Sunday, but on Saturdays course with more windward work the two monohulls were twice as fast. Puts the utube gunboat pics in perspective.

Sure a 40 odd foot cruising cat can average 8 knots on free legs of the course (a fully crewed stripped out 15 m schionning averaged 9.6 darwin ambon), but race results with windward work included show averages of around 6 knots in a good sailing breeze (even cats have to tack) . Obviously cruisers are going to attempt to avoid as much windward work as possible and motor at times, hence averages over a cruising season will certainly be a little higher than this. To get a really good days run, so many things have got to go right for you, such as wind strength, direction ,tides, currents, seastate etc, that just having a fast boat is not enough. Nor are bloody great motors if its bumpy and on the nose.

[Tropic Cat]

Originally Posted by catty

Ah some hard data, thanks Joli.

So what does this show? .

Good question. What have racing results to do with cruising sail boats?

I may not be able to race around a course, but when I arrive, it will be with a drink in my hand and a relaxed smile.

[catty]

Catch-up Rickm, its a race involving at least one cruising boat. Something to do with speed comparisons maybe.

[Joli]

Originally Posted by rickm505

Good question. What have racing results to do with cruising sail boats?

I may not be able to race around a course, but when I arrive, it will be with a drink in my hand and a relaxed smile.

Just another data point. Lots of discussion about boat speed, mono versus multi. Only way I know to shed light on the subject is to look at data. The data might be race results or rally results, does it matter?

I'm curious as to why you can't arrive with a drink and a smile on any type of boat?

[Jmolan]

I have a 34' Searunner trimaran. As far as a capable cruising boat, I value the comfort (less heel) shallow draft (6'4" board down, 2'8" board up) and beaching ability...the forgiving draft is so nice..:-) Wide decks and plenty of room to store all the extras that go with cruising...buckets, sails, mops, gaffs, bumpers, fish net, skiffs (2) surfboards, gerry jugs...on and on...Where do you put this stuff? Compartmentised cabins that really work out at sea. BOmbing along at night with the knowledge if you hit something you will not sink.

Speed? How bout light air? To be able to ghost along LOADED for cruising is a good thing. We use the 9.9 long shaft Yamaha very little. This boat SAILS. That is why I chose a multi, and a tri and a Searunner. It speaks to me on an intellectual level and an emotional level.

[masalai]

All this "how many hulls" and "mine is faster" is only critical in running in fear - and good planning and watch-keeping can reduce that risk. In my view, when considering how many hulls, engine power and sailing rig - the cruising grounds and your style determine many factors... I am sure I do not to list in detail, as some will express disappointment that I missed this aspect or that... The ships master must be considered first - the lovely lady in your life - will determine certain aspects of your choice... Weather you are an "accumulator" or a "light traveller", stirred by the "romance of wind" or the convenience of "iron sails"

Do your "due diligence" and there is almost no option left...

Just to show my bias, my current favourite for next is the Bob Oram 44-C

[Mike Banks]

Well--my tri is overloaded much of the time and can do about half windspeed up to about fiteen knots with the wind in the right place. I am in no hurry, and it is comfortable under sail and at a mooring. There are advantages and disadvantages, but for coastal cruising a tri works very well indeed. They carry huge cruising loads. I do not know if the cats are any better in this regard--but some lightweight trimarans are very fast and some are not. Mine does about five or six knots with a nice breeze--but I have had ten when she is lightly loaded, at around twenty knots of wind. She points reasonably well for a multihull, but does have mods.

I would like an alloy mono of about forty five feet for offshore cruising work and a tri or cat for coastal cruising, with a tri having a slight edge as far as loads are concerned. Mine has a thirty horsepower diesel engine and is fairly thrifty with the fuel. I motor at about five knots, a bit less if trawling a lure.

When the wind really gets up the boat feels very safe--and that could be a trap for the unwary. I reef early. When things do go wrong in a trimaran they could go wrong very quickly, as she is unable to spill wind as easily as a mono. Very easy to sail and very forgiving of minor blunders.

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by masalai

Just to show my bias, my current favourite for next is the Bob Oram 44-C

Good choice!

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Joli

Just another data point. Lots of discussion about boat speed, mono versus multi. Only way I know to shed light on the subject is to look at data. The data might be race results or rally results, does it matter?

I'm curious as to why you can't arrive with a drink and a smile on any type of boat?

I'm curious about those results. Did all those boats sail the same course at the same time? For the Gunboat to have taken near enough to twice as long is hard to believe, unless they had a problem of some kind, or were sailing the same course in completely different conditions.

[catty]

Certainly a large difference in speed, at best one would have to assume conditions were light where mono's with their superior wetted surface ratios would be hard to beat, at worst who knows ,maybe joli can shed some light on them.

If you have any local round the bouys cruising mono/cat races with windward legs included, 44c, is it possible for you to post elapsed times , course lengths and conditions etc for analysis. The more data points the better.

[Ativa]

Currently living/Crusing for more than a year on a Cat and sailing central America..
We love the extra space our little Gemini Cat has, we love that it only takes minutes to pull out from the dock, we love that we only need 18 inches of water to float, we love having so many things on this boat.. We stop loving this boat every time we get into rough seas, (two hurricanes and so many tropical storms we can not count) We have sailed off and as usual pull far ahead of the monos we are cruising with, once the seas get rough or the wind speed too high we do not feel as safe as we do on mono hull boats.
I still would never give up my second hull, we just have to sail smart at all times and keep looking forward to getting a bigger boat

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Ativa

once the seas get rough or the wind speed too high we do not feel as safe as we do on mono hull boats.
I still would never give up my second hull, we just have to sail smart at all times and keep looking forward to getting a bigger boat

But you have been safe after all?

[BigCat]

Originally Posted by Therapy

But you have been safe after all?

I think Geminis have solid laminate hulls, though they have balsa-cored decks. Unless a lot of unicellular polyurethane foam has been added, it wouldn't float if flooded. Though I think many catamarans have only neutral buoyancy if they rely exclusively on the cores in their laminate for floatation.

[rexposeidon]

I have sailed several smal multi-hull and watched more than a few wrecked (flipped over). But never having cruised a multi-hull, I have to defer to literature and recommend Tristan Jones, Somewheres East of Suez. He had great adventures, and a few mishaps, which "IN MY HUMBLE OPINION" (for whatever that's worth) may have come out different if he had chosen a mono-hull. He did of course survive to write about his adventures...