Hi Chris.

I agree with Jeff.

I have sailed on all sorts of boats, from 14 foot cats to 80 foot maxi's and
the cruising boat of my choice is a 40+ foot catamaran.

Last year we sailed a 50 foot cat from Vanuatu to Australia and, just off
Observatory Cay we were hit with a huge storm which whipped the winds up to
45 knots and seas of 20+ feet.
It hit us after dark but we could see it coming on the radar and planned
ahead. We triple reefed the main and Genoa and travelled through it no
problems at all.

I wasn't at all concerned for our safety.

Had we still been in Vanuatu we would have not left port until the storm had
passed, but on a 10 day voyage you have to expect you may get some bad
weather.

I guess it all depends on where you are going to sail it too. I know a 40+
knot storm in these parts is considered a bad storm, but I also believe that
if the same storm hit in some places of the Atlantic they would consider it
a miner disturbance.

One brilliant cruising cat that is made in Australia is the Perry 43.
I have never seen a better cat in it's class yet. (And no I don't represent
the company!)

Have a look at their web site at
http://www.perrycatamarans.com.au/main.htm

--
Garry Beattie
Ocean Spirit Trailer Sailer &
Small Yacht Cruising Emagazine
www.ocean-spirit.com



"Chris" wrote in message
...

"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.