"Brian" wrote in message
...

[snip]

motorsailer as I got older but have seen several adds for cruising
catamans and think that might be a good solution to my needs. Also I
have heard about trimarans and have no idea of how they compare with a
cat. I am interested in any feedback about Cruising Catamarans in the
33 to 38 foot range. It looks like I can get a used one in good shape
for $120-150K. I would like to know how well they sail and point, how
they handle down wind and how well they would do in the blue water
between SF Bay and Mexico and how they do in heavy waves and wind as
well as the normal high winds in san Fran Bay.
Thanks for any advice you can offer.

Cats:
They vary, just as monohulls do. Most cruising cats won't point as well as
a good mono but similarly to heavy displacement overloaded cruising mono
boats. Downwind they will be generally more comfortable than most monos
because they won't roll. Heavy winds - upwind many will pound on the
bridgedeck, usually not a problem other than slowing the boat down & causing
a lot of noise.

Tris:
harder to find any production tris around, most will be older
plywood/fiberglass Searunners or similar. These are good boats but most
examples will be getting long in the tooth. They will point better than
most cats because many have centerboards instead of the shallow mini keels
that most cats have.

Some good reference books:

Chris Whites "The Cruising Multihull"
"Sailors Multihull Guide" 3rd edition
www.2hulls.com for a lot of good reading too


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Evan Gatehouse

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