 |
 |
|
|
 |
Cat vs. Monohull - CRUISING CATAMARANS – FACT AND FICTIONINTRODUCTIONThere are a lot of myths and misinformation out there about the differences between a catamaran and a monohull sailboat. After carefully analyzing my list, then sailing on several dozen different monohulls and cats of all sizes over the past 15 years, I chose a cat. There are myriad stories and photos describing and showing broken and capsized cats and trimarans far out at sea. Unfortunately people take this to mean that they are inherently unsafe. And yes, for those boats, that is the case, but those are not ‘cruising’ cats: they are extremely fragile, high-performance racing boats capable of incredible speeds (in excess of 30 knots) at the expense of strength. Unlike a cruising cat, they are designed not for reliability, comfort, safety and security, but rather for one thing: speed. The following is a comparison of the criteria commonly used in comparing different sailing vessels; it applies to cruising sailboats only (not boats specifically built for racing). SPEEDA modern cruising cat is faster on virtually every point of sail, and especially downwind where the difference can be significant. There is a myth that cats can’t go upwind. This is pure bunk; properly rigged, a cat can easily match a cruising monohull upwind. Some with daggerboards (such as a Catana) can actually point higher. Speed also contributes to an increased safety factor: adding an extra couple knots to boat speed might enable you to outrun bad weather. I have sailed at over 18 knots on a fully laden cruising cat and easily pointed upwind to 30 degrees. SAFETYFor a variety of reasons a cat is safer than a monohull in all but the most extreme situations when no boat can be considered safe. Again there is the often-repeated myth that cats can easily flip. This is pure bunk; flipping a modern cruising cat is virtually impossible in any conditions but those that would also flip a monohull. The fear that once a cat flips it will stay flipped is real. But think about it: when a monohull rolls, how many times does it come back up with the rig intact? Seldom. And a monohull without a mast or secure standing rigging is basically a death trap. If a cat flips it stays that way; it becomes a sturdy, secure safety platform on which to ride out any storm. There are very few reports of flipped cruising cats (I was only able to find 2 in the past 10 years, and these were both in enormous storms), yet there are hundreds of reports of knocked down, rolled or dismasted monohulls each year. To be fair, there are many more monohulls out there, but still the damage/sinking ratio is not even close. Since there is so much room on deck you can reasonably go out to trim sails or check things during a storm. Better yet, you can hunker down inside the salon, warm and dry and safe, and actually drive the boat with a complete 360º view of the ocean around you. Going below in a monohull means you are basically blind. It is virtually impossible to sink a cat unless it totally breaks apart (such as getting tossed into rocks in a huge storm so that both hulls get holed). If it flips or a hull gets holed, you simply climb into the other one and ride it out. The basic rule is to never leave the cat (unless it is on fire, like any boat); it is your safest refuge, indeed much safer and more comfortable than any liferaft. If a monohull gets holed, it usually sinks. Records seem to be scarce (or at least hard to find), but from what I have been able to uncover, the incidences of cats flipping are about the same as for monohulls sinking (on a percentage basis for the total number of monohulls and cats worldwide). However in virtually all cases there were lives lost in the sinking of monohulls with none reported for the flipped cats. REDUNDANT SYSTEMSA cat has two of many important items: engines, alternators, props, rudders, hulls. If the engine quits on a monohull, that’s that; on a cat, you have an extra one for maneuvering, power systems, and staying ahead of bad weather. If you somehow break a rudder, you have another one ready to go. Bend a prop? You’ve got a spare already in place. MANEUVERING UNDER POWERBecause a cat has two motors it can turn on a dime; a great asset in tight marinas. Also, if an engine quits as you are approaching the dock (of another boat!) you still have power. Not so with a monohull. COMFORTNo doubt about it, whether inside or out, a cat is far more comfortable to sail on, sleep on, eat on, and live on. You can have 8 people on a 40’ cat and not even see each other. There’s space on the trampolines, the foredeck, the upper salon deck, inside the salon, in the cockpit and on the aft deck and swim steps. I’ve seen 40’ cats with 20 people out for a day sail and no one seems cramped or uncomfortable. The salon is large and airy, light and roomy, with good access to the galley without having to play Twister® (on cats with ‘galley up’ only; some cats have the galley down in one hull – just like on a monohull). Perhaps the most significant difference between the two types of boats is that a cat does not heel. Sitting on the rail in heavy weather on a monohull can be very fun and exciting for a few hours; after two days it can get very old. Everything moves; change tacks, everything comes crashing down if not secured. There’s no comfortable place to sit, cook, eat, stand or sleep. Without side bunks and lee cloths/boards, sleep becomes impossible. STABILITYA cat rides over swells rather than plowing through them. Conversely, it won’t get easily caught by following seas since it can accelerate more than a monohull (which reaches terminal hull speed and broaches). Since a cat is always flat, you can put a cup of coffee on the table and it will still be there a day later (albeit cold). STORAGE SPACEActually there is so much storage on a cat that it can become a liability when you are tempted to bring too much gear on board. There is space in the forepeaks, under all the bunks, under the dinette seats, all around the salon, in and around the cockpit, in the aft hulls. Basically, a 40’ cat will have 2-3 times the storage space of a similar monohull. VALUE AND EXPENSECats are more expensive to buy (although considering the size and space they are not so). Because they are wider, with more hull space, they are also more expensive to paint, and (sometimes, but not always) moor, dock and haul out. Sometimes it is difficult to find dock space. Because there are two motors they consume more fuel (though not per horsepower) and require more maintenance. There are twice as many zincs, filters and belts to replace, and twice the oil to change. DOCKAGE AND HAULOUTNo doubt about it: in most cases a monohull is clearly better. Many marinas only have a few slips available for cats. In many cases these are on outside docks which are more exposed to the weather. Some marinas charge more for cat moorage. Same with hauling out for painting and repairs. Many yards are not equipped to haul out a boat wider than 20’. Some charge extra for storing a wide cat. But considering the extra space on board (a 40’ cat is easily equivalent to a 52’ monohull), the price difference is probably commensurate with the usable deck and cabin space. VISIBILITY FROM THE HELMMost (but not all) cats have the helm in the center or on one side of the cockpit meaning good visibility of the entire boat (especially important in docking and anchoring). As a good rule of thumb, you want to be able to see the bow and stern of both hulls from the helm. This is usually only possible on a center cockpit monohull (although not necessarily so – some of the newer monohulls have superb cockpit visibility). Visibility from the cockpit seats, however, can be compromised in a cat since the main salon is in the way (looking forward). In this regard visibility from the cockpit of a monohull is usually better. NOISEMost monohulls, at least those under 50’, have their engine in the center of the salon, right smack in the middle of everything. The are usually noisy and occasionally diesel fumes permeate the living spaces. I have been on boats where the noise is so loud you can hardly talk. Some cats with low wing deck clearance can produce an earth jarring bang in choppy seas, as well as loud noises from waves hitting the hulls. In these cats the noise can be considerably greater than in a monohull. WORKING ON THE MOTORSIf you are interested in a nasty job try working on the engine in a monohull. In many cases you have to take apart half of the interior just to check the oil. Sometimes the motor access is under the gangway steps, necessitating taking them apart (making access difficult and dangerous). Other times you must disassemble the galley or dinette. Working on a big, dirty diesel motor in a monohull is like working on your old car in your living room. That’s assuming you can even access the parts that need repair. Not a pretty picture. And what if you have to replace a motor in a monohull? In some cases this necessitates removing a large section of the deck over the salon! Obviously this is not always the case, and indeed the engine rooms in many fancy (and expensive!) yachts like a Swan are clean, well laid out and very spacious. But still, working on them is an ‘inside’ job. [To be fair, this can actually be an asset in bad weather!] A modern cruising cat has the motors in roomy engine compartments in the far aft of each hull. Most are easy to access and relatively easy to work on. [Some, unwisely, are accessed through the rear staterooms.] Motors with sail-drives can be located very far back in the hulls, meaning they are virtually noiseless. In addition, if you have to work on them they do not necessitate tearing apart the cabin or getting the entire boat dirty. SAIL HANDLINGBecause of the large deck area there is a much larger variety of potential ways to rig a cat than a monohull. Many of the primary lines for the main (main halyard, reefing lines) are at the mast but because of it’s position this is not a safety problem (and they can easily be lead back to the cockpit if preferred). A cat’s wide beam enables an extremely wide traveler, meaning lots more sail control positions, especially sailing close-hauled or broad reaching. The big cockpit means that people aren’t tripping over each other during a maneuver. Setting a spinnaker is safe and easy on a cat, again owing to the large, flat foredeck space. The only time all this space becomes a hindrance is in single-handing. In this case it helps if the lines are all lead to a central area on the boat (just like a monohull). SAILING PERFORMANCEDue to the inherent design of a cat there is usually (although not necessarily) more windage in a cruising cat than a similarly sized aft cockpit monohull. In addition, a single hulled boat is quicker to turn due to the smaller surface area. Tacking or jibing a monohull can usually be easily achieved when forward speed is as low as 1.5 to 2 knots. Not so in a cat which usually requires at least 3 knots of forward speed to tack or jibe, sometimes more. Tacking a large cat (over 40’) requires bearing off to gain speed before turning the boat; thus the total tacking angle that is needed to fully turn the boat can be as much as 120 degrees. Without enough speed the cat will stall. One other consideration is ‘helm response’. A tiller-steered monohull will give instant response with the skipperm ‘feeling’ the rudder in all conditions. A wheel-steered mono-hull still gives the driver a good feel for the rudder and sail pressure. Not so with a cat (unless there is too much sail up, in which case there is weather helm). The steering on a cruising cat is ‘power-steering’, comparable to power steering on a modern Mercedes vs. non-power steering on a large 1950s sedan. It is far easier and less tiring, but doesn’t yield the ‘feel’ of the forces. ANCHORINGAnchor handling on a monohull usually requires someone to be at the very bow of the boat, a narrow and precarious place in rough weather. Of course sleeping on a monohull in a rough anchorage is horrible anyway. Anchoring a cat is done from the comfort and safety of the center of a wide deck area where the anchor, chain, windlass and most important, the captain, can be easily seen. On anything but a small (under 30’) aft cockpit monohull, the person handling the anchor and the person at the helm have little or no communication with each other—a nice recipe for conflict, if not disaster. I have spent many nights in very rough anchorages in both monohulls and cats and I can only describe the difference as heaven and hell. A monohull gets its stability from the sails and the keel (with the pendulum point being the boat in the center). When there is no wind in the sails (or when there are no sails up), the boat tends to roll much more (this is why it is usually much more comfortable to motorsail with the main up on a monohull). TEMPORARY REPAIRWith its shallow draft and two hulls, you can run a cat right up on the beach for repairs (or even just inspection or cleaning!). It is quite common to ease a cat onto a nice beach during high tide, wait until the tide recedes and take a look at the bottom for inspection or quick repairs. Obviously this must be done very carefully, but with the right conditions it is quite safe and easy. SHALLOW DRAFTMost 40’ cats will have a 4’ draft at most and those with daggerboards often draw around 3’. This makes them great for easing through shallow channels and shoals, as well as getting much closer to the beach than any monohull. A shallow ‘shoal draft’ keel on a monohull generally means inferior upwind sailing performance; not so with a cat.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
CAT VS. MONOHULL POINT SYSTEM |
||
|
0 points: no difference or differences equal out |
||
|
1 point: significant superiority |
||
|
CAT |
MONO |
|
|
SHALLOW DRAFT. |
2 |
|
|
TEMPORARY REPAIR. |
1 |
|
|
ANCHORING. |
||
|
SAIL HANDLING. |
||
|
WORKING ON THE MOTORS. |
1 |
|
|
NOISE. |
1 |
|
|
VISIBILITY FROM THE HELM. |
||
|
VALUE & EXPENSE. |
1 |
|
|
STORAGE SPACE. |
1 |
|
|
STABILITY. |
2 |
|
|
COMFORT. |
2 |
|
|
MANEUVERING UNDER POWER. |
||
|
REDUNDANT SYSTEMS. |
1 |
|
|
SAFETY. |
||
|
SPEED. |
1 |
|
|
MOORAGE & HAULOUT |
1 |
|
|
TOTAL POINTS |
12 |
2 |
|
|
Home
Jangada
Info La
Paz Info Stories
Photos
Copyright 2008 © Eric Sanford. All Rights Reserved. Website by Digital Splash Media Sponsored by Shockles - For a shock-free boat! |