What is the Smallest Multihull You Can Take Blue Water Cruising ?

[tomfl]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

SNIP
I too would love a fast light boat (say a Multi50 tri) to make some fast passages, except IMHO it takes a relatively big light boat to do so safely.
SNIP
b.

Here is a link to a vid you may be interested in. At around the 5:30 mark the guy makes a very interesting point about light verses heavy boats. It changed my mind somewhat about the trade offs between the two.

Big cat sailing in a gale-Awesome waves, and sail control.avi - YouTube

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by tomfl

I am not so sure countless people round the Horn, even if the number is significant. Also not so sure how easy it is.(...)

Yes, my 'countless' was but a drama building verbal trick.

Cape Horn, the challenge and dream of many sailors,Tierra Del Fuego, at the tip of South America - VICTORY ADVENTURE TRAVEL
Pelagic Expeditions - Charter Options 2012 Cape Horn and Beagle Channel

etc etc etc

A guy we know runs charters there and in Svalbard - 8 clients in each turn, one week turns, the season is at least 10 weeks long at each end. His boat alone can turn out 50+ capehorners a year. There are a couple of such charter boats there every season.

You can safely stop counting in any case: same applies for climbing the Everest and other comercialized attractions of our world.

b.

[barnakiel]

Originally Posted by tomfl

Here is a link to a vid you may be interested in. At around the 5:30 mark the guy makes a very interesting point about light verses heavy boats. It changed my mind somewhat about the trade offs between the two.(...)

Yes. The only way round this point is by going bigger. An IMOCA is more comfortable than MINI if they both sail at same speed.

You want speed, go light, you want speed&comfort, go big and light.

b.

[David M]

Small boats can be very seaworthy. It depends on the design and not so much the length. But in general, the smaller they are, the more uncomfortable they are.

Those are the two factors for me. I would't want to cross an ocean on anything less than a 35 foot boat....just for comforts sake.

I have never been one to intentionally make myself uncomfortable just to prove to myself or to others that I can do it.

[barnakiel]

Me neither ... except that at times being able to cross oceans is directly related to choosing the smaller boat.

Even within the same LOA boats differ wildly in comfort - some are nice off the wind, others are comfortable on the wind, there may be some that sail comfortably on both legs but I am yet to find them.

It seems essential to try and get the boat that best fits her planned use, much as this is difficult in situation when many factors are involved and at times some of them are actually contradictory.

b.

[Rakuflames]

Originally Posted by Lt.

What is the smallest size and type cat you would go blue water cruising in? I wonder this because If i can get a smaller cat, then I will pay less for maintenance, fuel, marina fees and other things, won't I? Also it will cost me less to get a boat. But there are things I know I sacrifice. Like room for living and supplies. And others things. But I figure as Ive read this on the CF I will still have living space of about a mono roughly 10 feet longer than my cat so It cant be too bad a sacrifice with a cat, right? Or instead of saving the money then I could just get a really, REALLY good cat in a smaller size with some goodies. Right?

It isn't just about size for single-hulls, and I imagine not for cats either. I would take a 20' Flicka into blue water before I would take my 31' Hunter. That's an extreme example but makes the point.

[Boatguy30]

Hey, the hunter 31 is at least as good a bluewater boat as a Gemini cat!

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Sand crab

Gregor Tarjan makes the same statement in his book about speed equals safety as long as you aren't on the edge. They aren't talking about outrunning a storm (and we are talking typhoons, hurricanes, and cyclones) but getting out of the way. These faster multis and mono are capable of 200 mile days.
Hurricane Katrina was huge but hurricane force winds were only about 120 miles from the eye. That's only a little over a days sail to get from one side to the other BEFORE it reaches you. Most of the forecasts give you a much longer warning than this. Sometimes things just don't work out then you're screwed. But I'll bet you were wishing you had a faster boat by then.
I'll bet George's boat is really fast and could do the job.

Yet what people say after trying that is that it does not work that way and they will never ever try it again. (No I don't have thier quotes at hand, sorry).

The storms suck the wind up and it goes away. Motoring at 6knots is like 144miles. Not shabby but hard to do too. If there is wind you are close and it will be strong and probably gusty. Very uncomfortable. And if it is from ahead? Gonna really suck.

Like has been said. Thinking to buy a boat because you think it will sail you "out of the way" is wrong thinking. Just sayin.

[Dulcesuenos]

Originally Posted by Boatguy30

Hey, the hunter 31 is at least as good a bluewater boat as a Gemini cat!

You really think so???

[44'cruisingcat]

Originally Posted by Therapy

Yet what people say after trying that is that it does not work that way and they will never ever try it again. (No I don't have thier quotes at hand, sorry).

The storms suck the wind up and it goes away. Motoring at 6knots is like 144miles. Not shabby but hard to do too. If there is wind you are close and it will be strong and probably gusty. Very uncomfortable. And if it is from ahead? Gonna really suck.

Like has been said. Thinking to buy a boat because you think it will sail you "out of the way" is wrong thinking. Just sayin.

Really? Here's video of a cat sailing away from the forecast path of a cyclone:

Running From Cyclone Ului on Vimeo

It DID work.

[Tropic Cat]

A small boat can not outrun a hurricane. I tried outrunning hurricane Katrina in my Catalac. She caught me. I believe the story is in one of the sailing mags.

[44'cruisingcat]

Again, the idea is not to outrun it, but to dodge it.

[Talbot]

Back in the days when the Prout Snowgoose 37 was the most prolific multihull going around the world, the Heavenly Twins design at 27ft was nearly as popular for long distance blue water cruising.
Rosie Swale sailied around the world with her family in a 30ft cat in 1971, and if I remember correctly, David Lewis catamaran which did the the first modern multihull circum-navigation in about 1964 used a wooden Prout of about 34 ft.

[Sand crab]

This one ticks all the boxes especially price.
Catamaran 1989 Kennex 380 Catamaran For Sale

[Factor]

Originally Posted by Talbot

Back in the days when the Prout Snowgoose 37 was the most prolific multihull going around the world, the Heavenly Twins design at 27ft was nearly as popular for long distance blue water cruising.
Rosie Swale sailied around the world with her family in a 30ft cat in 1971, and if I remember correctly, David Lewis catamaran which did the the first modern multihull circum-navigation in about 1964 used a wooden Prout of about 34 ft.

He used a Colin Mudie designed cat. It was built by Prouts