Here is irrefutable proof of the unsuitability of multihulls
for world cruising. This is proof even lubbers understand
because it involves insurance which is something all lubbers
know and apparently love.

**********************

". . . one can easily see why most experienced yachtsmen
have a rather low opinion of multi-hulls generally, and why
many members of Lloyd's Underwriters in particular have
a very dim view of insuring multi-hulls for offshore voyages.
It is worthy of note that as of this writing, we find Tom Follett,
certainly one of the more experienced multi-hull sailors still
with us, sitting up in Nova Scotia having a "lead mine"
(a mono-hull with an extremely heavy lead keel) built for
cruising.

". . . Many experienced multi-hull sailors today have a trapdoor
in the wing section underneath the liferaft so that they can launch
it even if the boat is completely upside down - not a bad idea,
but it says little of their confidence in their own craft.

" . . . Finally, for the last five years I have continually asked
offshore multi-hull enthusiasts to name five experienced offshore
cruisers with a fair amount of offfshore racing under their belts
who have switched permanently from mono-hulls to multi-hulls.
At this point I have yet to locate a single person with those qualifications,
much less five.

"It cannot be denied that the loss of life at sea on multi-hulls has
been horrendous. Two of the leading designers, Arthur Piver and
Hedley Nichols, went down with their own boats, and in one period
of eighteen months, seventeen people were killed in the waters
between Australia and New Zealand. No one really knows the total
number lost in multi-hulls over the years.

" . . . no one has ever heard of a single multi-hull that has capsized
180 degrees and come back up unaided. They have ultimate
stability when they are upside down.

"The (stability) curves of the catamaran and trimaran are wonderful
at low angles of heel, but drop off sharply as the critical point is
approached. Literally hundreds of mono-hulls have been knocked
flat to 90 degrees or slightly beyond and have come back up with
relatively little damage. Thousands of mono-hulls have taken 70
degree knockdowns and come back up with nothing worse than
a bad scare to the crew. But a catamaran or trimaran has little or
no chance of recovering from even a fifty degree knockdown."


--Donald M. Street

reproduced without permission of author from
"The Ocean Sailing Yacht II"