Multihull or money aside

[Sea Wolf]

Everything is a trade-off. My husband and I have cruised on catamarans (30’ to 50’) on and off for almost 35 years. Personally, you couldn’t get me cruising on a monohull. Too slow and heeling is not my thing... especially when I’m cooking. We anchor out most of the time and I marvel at how monohulls roll in a wake while we lift up and down. I strongly suggest you charter both before you make any decisions

[tomtriad]

The voice of experience and reason above; charter both a cat and a mono and see which you prefer.

[Bon Temps]

I spent quite a bit of time thinking about this myself. However when I went to the Caribbean 10 years ago there was about 10% of the fleet were catamarans. Six years ago on my visit about 50% of the fleet were catamarans. I myself decided to buy a catamaran. "I estimated that the difference in a mortgage payment was around $200 a month. My reasoning was that my mental health and comfort was worth yhe $200 a month.

[Peeew]

Granted I have more experience in monofulls than in cats. But the reason for that is that I feel in many conditions the mono rides a lot better. Modern monohulls really have similar amount of room below decks as a similar priced cat, if not more. It is at course lower in the water which might account for the better feel when anchored in chop. And I find light color interiors don’t have the cave feel of traditional dark wood designs. But it seems that those that like cats just like them. So I bet the choice mainly depends on your preference for ride style and whether upwind sailing performance etc is important. I suspect that you will be happy with whtever you decide upon.

[dcruz99801]

Lot of fuss over math, when the issue is whether you will use and enjoy whatever you buy without breaking the bank. When I said "tri" my wife balked -- now she's a believer.

Plus:
* the motion in anchorages with roll/wakes
* fast level sailing, no bruises going below while underway.
* beat the herd to the next anchorage
* weigh her down and you sail no faster than a mono, but still level.
* Lots of space for lounging, entertaining or just getting away from each other.

Downside (mostly due to 26' beam):
* twice as long to scrub the bottom, ditto sand & paint.
* harder and costlier to find marina space, especially when you travel
* I had to travel 300 miles to the nearest 150-ton (27' wide) lift.
* hard to park, especially in a cross-wind. Twin-engine cats do much better
* the bigger it is the further you have to move from one task to the other; look at your layout
* yes, they're rough going upwind in 'big weather' -- I avoid it when I can


Good luck, good hunting, take your time and listen to yourself.

[Steamer]

Hi, chakil!

Seems You love travelling?!

Chose sharing NEW catamaran purchase with larger charter companies and You will benefit of visiting different spots at less money for a catamaran comfort!

Anyway good luck to You with Your any chouice!

[SV Lemonade]

We have a similar dilemma. We really like cats. We learned on cats. Cats are all we know. It seems like we can get a descent cat for 350-450ish. If we are willing to make some trade offs/sacrifices we have seen some really nice monos for 100-200ish. It feels like monos are around half the price. Not sure what boats folks claiming they’re the same price are looking at but I’d love to know.

Can you spend some time aboard each and make a more informed decision?

We are leaning towards the mono now thinking we are better off with the money in hand. Plus we can be in a newer boat which we hope would lead to less maintenance for a while.

There are some solutions to some of the mono things we dislike. For example there are devices for reducing rolling at anchor. There are monos with shallower draft which was one reason we wanted a cat. I have a bad back so heeling and climbing down a ladder seems awful for that but there are monos with deck saloons and I suppose you can always reduce the heeling a bit if need be. We like having two engines for redundancy/safety but there are ways to use your tender engine in an emergency.

We have been taking professional coaching from a family that has been circumnavigating and living aboard for like 11+ years. Their suggestion is to go for the mono and have more cash. They’ve been on several monos/use to race and feel like the trade offs aren’t as bad as some make them out to be and that some of the claims for cats aren’t always true. I think there are lots of gray areas. For example everyone says cats are faster. Maybe they generally are but not all cats are faster than all monos. Depending on the cat or mono you buy. Plenty of cats that won’t keep up with some monos and vice versa. The motion on some cats can be worse than the motion on some monos and vice versa depending on how well they’re designed etc. Some folks prefer the motion of cats and some prefer the motion on monos. Hard to tell if they’ve been on a good cat or bad mono and if the sea state/points of sail etc. were similar when folks make those comparisons. Lots of variables unless they’ve spent significant time on each and even then it’s not always a fair comparison. If they prefer monos it might be that they were on a really well designed mono with good sea manners and had a poorly designed cat that slams etc.

Lots to consider but it feels like if you’re able to make a short list and spend time on a cat or two and a mono or two that interests you... you should be able to make a more informed decision as to which is the best fit for you.

Best of luck!

[daveball]

Lived aboard 40' mono-hull for 16 years. Most of the waking time while aboard was spent in the cockpit. It doesn't get any better than that.

[chakil]

I will be a member of the liveaboards community in 2 years and I hope I will be able to share my experiences just like you do. Thank you all for sharing ideas on the topic.

As I mentioned we just went to see a 2014 Lagoon 38 , we really did not like it so much.
I have been in a 2014 Dufour 412 GL before and just felt much spacious. And you an buy a Dufour around 137.000€ and the lagoon was on sale for 175.000€, 40.000€ difference is not much but I would not go for the 38 ft Cat in any case.
If I can not find a Lagoon 400 owners version for 220€ maybe we can go for 400 4 cabins
for the same amount. But at the end of the day there is no way that I will pay more than 250.000€ for the mono or multihull.
I work in finance for over 25 years now and you can really see that the future in not bright for EUR and I would not buy a boat before eurusd is below 1.05 or I make my calculations on that.

[daletournier]

Originally Posted by SV Lemonade

We have a similar dilemma. We really like cats. We learned on cats. Cats are all we know. It seems like we can get a descent cat for 350-450ish. If we are willing to make some trade offs/sacrifices we have seen some really nice monos for 100-200ish. It feels like monos are around half the price. Not sure what boats folks claiming they’re the same price are looking at but I’d love to know.

Can you spend some time aboard each and make a more informed decision?

We are leaning towards the mono now thinking we are better off with the money in hand. Plus we can be in a newer boat which we hope would lead to less maintenance for a while.

There are some solutions to some of the mono things we dislike. For example there are devices for reducing rolling at anchor. There are monos with shallower draft which was one reason we wanted a cat. I have a bad back so heeling and climbing down a ladder seems awful for that but there are monos with deck saloons and I suppose you can always reduce the heeling a bit if need be. We like having two engines for redundancy/safety but there are ways to use your tender engine in an emergency.

We have been taking professional coaching from a family that has been circumnavigating and living aboard for like 11+ years. Their suggestion is to go for the mono and have more cash. They’ve been on several monos/use to race and feel like the trade offs aren’t as bad as some make them out to be and that some of the claims for cats aren’t always true. I think there are lots of gray areas. For example everyone says cats are faster. Maybe they generally are but not all cats are faster than all monos. Depending on the cat or mono you buy. Plenty of cats that won’t keep up with some monos and vice versa. The motion on some cats can be worse than the motion on some monos and vice versa depending on how well they’re designed etc. Some folks prefer the motion of cats and some prefer the motion on monos. Hard to tell if they’ve been on a good cat or bad mono and if the sea state/points of sail etc. were similar when folks make those comparisons. Lots of variables unless they’ve spent significant time on each and even then it’s not always a fair comparison. If they prefer monos it might be that they were on a really well designed mono with good sea manners and had a poorly designed cat that slams etc.

Lots to consider but it feels like if you’re able to make a short list and spend time on a cat or two and a mono or two that interests you... you should be able to make a more informed decision as to which is the best fit for you.

Best of luck!

I agree with you. I went a large mono because i believed (and still do) i can get more bang for my buck. The cats i wanted were in the $350- $450 range, i dont want that much tied up in a boat. My options were along the Iines of a lagoon 38 which i found didn't suit my needs, I chose a 47ft mono instead and are glad i did.

Rarely is rolling an issue and in the real world most cruising cats arent any faster. I prefer the motion of a bigger mono to cat.

Also a bigger mono (47ft and up) has a better motion both underway and at anchor than monos of shorter length in my experience.

I have a deep draft, rarely is this a problem, in fact i like the benefits that come with the deeper draft.

Ideally Id have 45-50ft performance cat but im not sure it would make my cruising experience much better....dimishing returns.

[sailingchiro]

We have a 37' multi hull. Plenty of boat for 4 people. After sailing her for several years, I can't or won't give up our space of the multihull. My wife insisted on a multihull.
I absolutely love sailing monohulls and beach cats. But at anchor (90% of the time) the space is amazing on a multihull. My teenage daughters can find alone time with this much space and the platform is more stable.
I would imagine my wife wouldn't last as long on a monohull versus a multihull. We chartered a 49' sunsail monohull in Antigua. I buried the rail on a tight run as she was cooking, never heard the end of it. She made the decision to purchase a multihull on that trip.

[chakil]

I dont think we can handle a 47ft mono.
And if we go for the mono I think we can choose;
41.1 beneteau
412 Dufour GL
449 Jeanneau

[nofacey]

If you’re going to stay close to the equator (Caribbean, Mediterranean, South Pacific) a good multihull is a great choice.....lots of space, level, good handling in close quarters.
If you’re planning to round the Horn or Africa, do the Northwest passage or get close to the poles - monos are more comfortable in big waves - and not aware of any ice rated production cats.

[dstraton]

I had a 40’ mono, and later a 38’ cat. The mono world stereotype owner was a bloke, divorced, bearded, with stories involving lawyers. The cat world stereotype owner was a couple, with active social organisation, and stories involving grandchildren.
CatNewBee has it right; ask the Admiral!

[bluenomads]

Originally Posted by nofacey

If you’re going to stay close to the equator (Caribbean, Mediterranean, South Pacific) a good multihull is a great choice.....lots of space, level, good handling in close quarters.
If you’re planning to round the Horn or Africa, do the Northwest passage or get close to the poles - monos are more comfortable in big waves - and not aware of any ice rated production cats.

Wow - which are the "ice rated" production monos?!