Tri's or Cat's?

[s/v Beth]

A thread recently (off topic) compared tris and cats. There are a lot of cruising cats out there, but not as many tri's. I thought we could compare two perhaps and look at the advantages and disadvantages of both.
For a tri I would choose:Dragonfly Trimarans for Sale (and bits & pieces) - Dragonfly Trimarane zu Verkaufen / Gesucht
The DF 35 looks cruisable, and would be be enough to be stable in most oceans.
For a cat, let's look at this one:2002 Fountaine Pajot Belize 43 Maestro Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com
A condo cat for sure, but a nice and probably fast one.
Question:
Which boat is less likely to flip?
Which one would be more comfortable crossing the Atlantic?
Which boat would you rather own?
Which one would really do (when all things are considered) faster passage times?

[Training Wheels]

FP
FP
DF!!!
DF!!!


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[colemj]

FP by a large margin
FP by a large margin
Personal choice based on planned usage
DF by a large margin

There really isn't any question or discussion on these points - they are almost a tautology.

Mark

[2Hulls]

I've chartered a Belize 43 and sailed other FPs, but have never had the opportunity to sail a Dragonfly. I think I'll choose the DF for all.

2 Hulls Dave

[Training Wheels]

Basically comparing an SUV to a corvette.


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[FSMike]

And from the other end of the budget spectrum -

My 40' Norman Cross trimaran will out sail my 36' Solaris Sunstar cat.
The cat is much more comfortable than the tri.
Both can cross oceans safely.

By the way, the tri is for sale. $50,000 as is, will be more expensive the more I work on it. Click on my avatar for pictures, send me a pm if interested.

[Factor]

Buy the Cross NEWT - great design,

[Steamer]

Would never chose foldable (or other way collapsible) tri for cross-ocean sailing. Therefore You leave me no other choice, but FP, although I personally would prefer stronger built cat.

[Sand crab]

Dragonfly, Corsair and Farrier got the folding part down. No worries there for me.

[andreas.mehlin]

Originally Posted by FSMike

And from the other end of the budget spectrum -

My 40' Norman Cross trimaran will out sail my 36' Solaris Sunstar cat.
The cat is much more comfortable than the tri.
Both can cross oceans safely.

By the way, the tri is for sale. $50,000 as is, will be more expensive the more I work on it. Click on my avatar for pictures, send me a pm if interested.

In what way do you think the cat is more comfy than the tri? Motions or space?

[Roy M]

FSMike, When was your 40 launched, where built, original name, perhaps? I saw your pics of Mandolin. Nice boat. Hard to turn down a good Cross (unless a Searunner slipped to the front of the line).

[s/v Beth]

Wow, never thought there would be consensus, esp. where ocean motion is concerned. And why would a FP be less likely to flip? Just so much heavier?
And ownership- are the DF's just higher quality? What makes them so sought after? I tried to get two in the same price range.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by s/v Beth

Wow, never thought there would be consensus, esp. where ocean motion is concerned. And why would a FP be less likely to flip? Just so much heavier?
And ownership- are the DF's just higher quality? What makes them so sought after? I tried to get two in the same price range.

The FP is both heavier and has less relative sail area. The DF is definitely a higher-quality build.

Mark

[Dsanduril]

Monohull sailors tend to lump multihull sailors into one group, but as a trimaran sailor I can tell you that I see three completely different categories. And my preference falls squarely with the tri. For the same comfort level I feel the tri performs better and has a more comfortable motion.

There are lots of current production cats out there with much higher comfort levels than most tris, and they tend to be very popular and very nice for everything except the passage making. Take a much lighter, less condo cat and compare it with the less condo tri and I think the tri wins (although the cat may be faster in many conditions). It's an individual thing though, YMMV.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by Dsanduril

Monohull sailors tend to lump multihull sailors into one group, but as a trimaran sailor I can tell you that I see three completely different categories. And my preference falls squarely with the tri. For the same comfort level I feel the tri performs better and has a more comfortable motion.

There are lots of current production cats out there with much higher comfort levels than most tris, and they tend to be very popular and very nice for everything except the passage making. Take a much lighter, less condo cat and compare it with the less condo tri and I think the tri wins (although the cat may be faster in many conditions). It's an individual thing though, YMMV.

No argument, but the OP nailed down two specific boats. Generalities don't work there - the DF is no Cross and the FP is no Gunboat.

Mark