My first mate says size does matter, especially when it comes to looking at sailboats as a future home. After spending the morning looking at all the monohulls, we took a break from the heat (sorry Northerners, we know you are suffering this winter) and grabbed some lunch and a beer. It is amazing how tiring touring boats can be. After a dozen boats, it starts to feel like climbing around on the playground monkey bars. We decided to spend the afternoon looking at all the catamarans. Touring boats is similar to tasting wine or beer; it’s typically better to go from light to heavy. If you start with the catamarans, then every monohull following will feel like you are standing in a dark closet. Although, we did see monohulls trending toward deck salons, eye level windows, wide cockpits, and fold down transoms to give a similar feel to the multihulls.
After looking at monohulls all morning, even the smallest catamarans felt like small floating condos. But size is relative in all things, if you look at the picture of the three Privilege Catamarans above, what would you guess as the size of the smallest catamaran on the right? It is actually 50 ft.! The one on the left is 75 ft. The 50 footer is beautiful boat called Privileged One and it is headed to Caribbean for chartering. Check out the salon refrigeration island:
Privilege 50 refrigeration
Here is a great aerial of the same three boats:
Brandy continued her support of all things French and picked the Fountaine Pajot Helia 44 as her favorite catamaran at the show. The hotlink above has a great 360* tour of this amazing yacht, much better than we could capture in pictures. We liked sun deck viewing lounge so much that we were temped to ask for a cocktail and spend the afternoon watching the world pass by.
Fountaine Pajot Helia 44 sundeck
We also really liked the Knysna 500. It had a very comfortable and open layout.
Knysna 500
Kynsa 500 cockpit
It is easy to see the popularity of these catamarans. The extra space is very attractive. They are more stable underway and at anchor. They tend to sail and motor faster than comparable monohulls. The shallow draft expands anchorages and cruising areas. Dual engines provide redundancy and marina maneuverability. The downside is twice the maintenance of monohulls, higher slips fees, limited locations to haul out, occasional rough ride and noise from wave slap under the bridge deck. For those of us that grew up sailing monohulls, catamarans also lose the traditional feel of sailing. But if your budget can cover the cost, then they are a great choice for a live-aboard. Especially considering that most cruisers spend a lot of time motoring and at anchor.
Let us know your thoughts on multihulls vs monohulls. Has anyone gone from one to the other? We would love to get your input.
The catamaran platform is also becoming very popular in the motor yacht market. This 63 ft. Lagoon motor yacht blended into the Miami Strictly Sail (well almost) Show. Look Mom, no mast! The platform has proven seaworthy as M/Y Circumcat has done over 20,000 miles.
Lagoon 630 Motor Yacht
The Sailing Rode / The Sailing Road
Dear Steve and Brandy – thanks so much for the amazing update from the show as well as choosing the Knysna 500 as one of your favorites! Next best thing to do is to book a flight to South-Africa to come view this amazing country, all the fabulous boatyards and experience true SA hospitality – and – don’t forget to bring Mom with!
Till later – Rika Fouche – Knysna Yacht Company
Rika, Sounds great, we will make sure to put it on the list when we start seriously shopping for a new boat in a few years. I watched the Volvo race when they were in Cape Town. It looks like an amazing place.