BoatBanter.com - tri vs. cat for liveaboard headroom

While reading rec.boats.cruising, I noticed felt
compelled to write:

I'm looking for info on the interior headroom of cats and tris. I want
to find one that has a minimum of 6'6" but is still small enough to be
singlehanded. Designers and brokerages only seem to list "standing
headroom" which means absolutely nothing since I'm much taller than the
average person.

What you are looking for will necessitate some for of compromise in a
catamaran design, particularly bridge-deck cats. You are going to end
up with either a boxy, high-windage cabin, or low bridge-deck
clearance, neither of which would be features I would be seeking in a
cat.

You don't mention a budget, but one cat I can think of that might suit
would be the Atlantic 42 of Chris White:

http://www.chriswhitedesigns.com/atlantic42/index.php

For me, I'd be looking at a trimaran in the 10 - 12m range. Even then,
you are only likely to see max 6'6" headroom in the main saloon, and
even then only in a part of it, but at least you'll be able to dress
standing down below in inclement conditions. :-)

My current boat is a Farrier Command 10, an older design, but it has
over 6'5 of headroom in the saloon. I think the newer F-9; F32 and F36
all have similar headroom, depending on the builder. I do recall that
F-9's had an option to build with a 2" higher coach-roof, but I can't
recall the final dimensions.

You may find more info he

http://www.f-boat.com/pages/trimarans/index.html

In reality, you could well find yourself building, or buying a boat
that someone has already modified to suit your requirements, or,
spending a million dollars, in which case anything is possible :-)

I'm currently living in the DC/Virginia area and hoping to find one
that I can liveaboard and daysail without too much difficulty. I've
singlehanded many monohulls but I am looking to make the change to
multi. Anyone have specs or a location/books that have them?
Thanks.

brian

Regards,
Ian