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Why do people buy cruising catamarans ?
Most of your comments have been addressed by others, but I'll add a few:
sherwindu wrote: These comments about monohulls sinking is overstated. Sure they do, but not necesarily because of their basic design. The big lead keel has a lot to do with it. A serious breech will sink a monohull in a few minutes. Although it possible to build a monohull with positive flotation, only one builder does. Catamarans are made of fiberglass, etc., which last I heard is something that is heavier than water and will sink under certain circumstances. Actually, you're wrong on this. Many cats (most? all?) are made with a lot of structural foam (corecell, klegecell, etc.) such that the bare hull of a cat is often lighter that water. In addition, most have sealed compartments scattered around the hull, mine has six, four in the bows, and two by the engines. Further, the basic shape of a cat implies that leaking will be isolated to one hull. The net result is that a cat will survive leaks that will sink a monohull in a matter of minutes. There are a number of cases cats returning to port with serious leaks and only have the floorboards awash. When a monohull does survive serious breeches, it is often riding so low that the crew retreats to a liferaft. .... In the very extreme, one can take down all sails in a monohull, batten down the hatches, put out a sea anchor and ride things out. If for some reason the boat is rolled over, it will right itself. Can't say the same thing for a multihull. Granted this is an extreme case, but if I were planning an ocean crossing, Yes, it is a small possibility in extreme weather. Unfortunately, the possibilities for a monohull sinking are larger, and can happen anywhere. From previous post: Monohulls have windows, don't they? You have to be kidding with this one. Unless you have a pilothouse, you have almost no visibility from "down below" in most monohulls. Benches are below the waterline, side hatches are small and above your line of sight, and many cruisers have visibility impaired by gear on deck. Cats, on the other hand, have the saloon two feet above the waterline, and usually have full panoramic vision from the normal seating area. On the contrary, you get woken up when your keel starts bumping on the bottom, and you don't go over, you just sit where you are, aground. You don't cruise where there are tides, do you? Where I cruise if you don't get off within 10 minutes, you'll likely there for a while, probably on your side. (unless, of course, you have twin keels) You are in an anchorage where despite strong winds, you should not get big waves. You may not have big waves in the anchorage, but breakers on a beach can effectively trap a boat. There is a limit to how fast your catamaran will go. I have seen pictures of catamarans with one hull lifted out of the water. This probably wasn't a cruising cat; it certainly wasn't a conservative rig such as a Prout. |
#2
posted to rec.boats.cruising
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Why do people buy cruising catamarans ?
Jeff wrote: ... sherwindu wrote: These comments about monohulls sinking is overstated. Sure they do, but not necesarily because of their basic design. The big lead keel has a lot to do with it. A serious breech will sink a monohull in a few minutes. Although it possible to build a monohull with positive flotation, only one builder does. ... ETAP and MacGregor 26 :-) |
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