"Jeff Morris" jeffmo@NoSpam-sv-lokiDOTcom wrote in message
...
You will hear many things about cats and tris, mostly from people who
haven't been onboard
them.

Although its claimed that cruising cats will capsize in heavy weather, the
truth is that
there have been only a handful of real production cruising cats over 34
feet capsize while
cruising in the last 20 or 30 years. Most of the stories you hear about
are racing boats,
homemade boats, smaller cats plus maybe a few that were lost in
deliveries. One writer
claims that there have only been 4 capsizes in the last 50 years. And,
none of them sank.

Trimarans have a more checkered record, but most of them are built for
racing. There are
only a handful of cruising designs for tris. The Farrier class
association confesses to
a number of capsizes while racing (about 1 a year?) but has only had only
1 "cruising
capsize."

I will say that just like monohulls, there are some cats that are made for
coastal
cruising, others are suited for bluewater. I wouldn't be eager to try my
PDQ in a North
Atlantic Springtime crossing, but its been done, and a dozen or so have
been to Bermuda.
Prouts are better suited to nasty weather, but I'm not sure that being
able to carry full
sail in 30 knots is really an asset for coastal cruising.

I've my boat in winds to 45 knots and 10 foot steep seas, and never felt a
risk. And I've
sailed all day in 30 knots while wife & kid relaxed, cooked, played, etc.
So when you
mention "rough weather" just what are you really planning for? Are you
expecting to do
many ocean crossings, or are you just thinking it would be nice to have a
boat the could
do it?


When I say "rough weather", I am talking worst-case scenario, open ocean
conditions.
30+knot winds, high seas, something that can really take a beating.

What would be a good size for say trans-atlantic cruising, assuming that's
an option?
I'm expecting to make routine crossings, something in the 30 to 50 foot
range would be ideal.