The reason my wife likes a catamarans is that she loves to sail 50% faster
than
all the lead draggers.


boy do you have her hoodwinked. the only time a cruising cat does 50% faster
than a mono is on a beam reach in 12 knot winds and no waves. upwind the cat's
VMG is worse, downwind no better.

Actually our VMG is better than most monohulls. Even pointing 50 degrees true
we'll pass most of them. At any other point of sail, in just about any sea
condition, its no contest. Of course, when your SA/Disp is over 20, and you
have very low wave making resistance, and you don't loose effective sail area to
heeling, you're going to blow away most other boats. Even running, we've been
over 12 knots without flying a chute.

You should try a cat sometime, jaxie, if you're not afraid of going too fast.

Of course, our boat is setup for long distance cruising - you can get the same
hull without the twin diesels and about 1000 pounds lighter in the classic
model; or if you want a real screamer, you can get it with 30% more sail, about
30% less weight, and daggerboards instead of fixed keels.



"JAXAshby" wrote in message
...
The reason my wife likes a catamarans is that she loves to sail 50% faster
than
all the lead draggers.


boy do you have her hoodwinked. the only time a cruising cat does 50% faster
than a mono is on a beam reach in 12 knot winds and no waves. upwind the
cat's
VMG is worse, downwind no better.

You should try a cat sometime, jaxie, if you're not afraid of going too fast.

I have seen many, many, many cruising cats on different waters. none were
going *too* fast for me. In fact, most weren't going any kind of fast at all.

Now, Stilletos and tri's -- like Corsairs -- do indeed go fast, but no one
calls them cruising boats.

Cruising cats are only marginally faster than cruising mono's, and cats are not
safe in stormy seas. cruising cats are better suited for coastal cruising, and
offshore work thoroughly planned around weather.

cats can be tipped over by wind. cruising mono's can't.

"JAXAshby" wrote in message
...
You should try a cat sometime, jaxie, if you're not afraid of going too fast.
....
Cruising cats are only marginally faster than cruising mono's,

Marginally? Perhaps - but its often a 25% margin. Sometimes 50%. If we're
talking "cruising boats" they tend to stay below about 8 knots, while I've been
above 12 knots a number of times.

and cats are not
safe in stormy seas.

How so? The record says otherwise.

cruising cats are better suited for coastal cruising, and
offshore work thoroughly planned around weather.

You can say that about lots of boats. The vast majority of mid-sized cruising
boats, both monos and cats, are designed as coastal cruisers because that's what
people actually do. That's what makes this argument particularly silly.

And if you really want a "blue water" catamaran you can get a Prout - 5000
built, hundreds circumnavigations, thousands of long distance passages, zero
capsizes.



cats can be tipped over by wind.

But, in fact, its only happened a few times to a modern cruising cat. I asked
you to provide a link to such an event - you provided a number of links, but
they were to the Iroquois, a small, 45 year old design that did indeed have
problems, several beach cats, and a Rout du Rhum extreme racing tri. We're
still waiting for you to prove your allegations.

Frankly, I've been searching for such events for about 10 years and the list is
pretty small. Most writers put the number at 3 or 4 in the last 20 years,
depending on how you define "modern cruising cat."


cruising mono's can't.

That isn't really so. But certainly any weather that has the capability to flip
a cat could also roll or sink a mono.

Cruising cats are only marginally faster than cruising mono's,

Marginally? Perhaps - but its often a 25% margin. Sometimes 50%.

and often it is -10% or -25%. cats point for squat, meaning they go best on a
beam reach.

On a beam reach, cats do fine. unless, they are loaded for cruising.

and cats are not
safe in stormy seas.

How so? The record says otherwise.

no, it doesn't. very few cats attempt to sail where storms might occur. there
is agood reason for this.

in sailing areas where storms are a potential, few cats sail. Off those that
do, a higher % turn upside down than mono's. which out number cats by two
orders of magnitude or great.

"JAXAshby" wrote in message
...
and cats are not
safe in stormy seas.

How so? The record says otherwise.

no, it doesn't. very few cats attempt to sail where storms might occur.
there
is agood reason for this.

in sailing areas where storms are a potential, few cats sail. Off those that
do, a higher % turn upside down than mono's. which out number cats by two
orders of magnitude or great.

Given that there's only been about 4 cruising cat capsizes in the last 20 years,
its a little hard to talk about "higher %"

How many monos have sunk in the last 20 years?

Given that there's only been about 4 cruising cat capsizes in the last 20
years,
its a little hard to talk about "higher %"

with only 30 cruising cats out there, that is about 14%

How many monos have sunk in the last 20 years?

From winds? with about 10,000 monos out there 2 is about 0.02%.

if you are thinking of boats sinking due to hitting the hits, there is no
difference between cats and mono's.

cruising cats are better suited for coastal cruising, and
offshore work thoroughly planned around weather.

You can say that about lots of boats

sure, hunters, coronado's, west wight potters, grampians, hobie cats,
macgregors (maybe), c&c's, etc.

a Prout - 5000
built, hundreds circumnavigations,

hundred's, eh?