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scruzin said..
On the subject of windward performance, there are good multis and bad multis, just like there are good monos and bad monos.

If proof is needed, the current world record for single-handed, non-stop circumnavigation of Australia was done in a cruising cat, specifically by Bruce Arms in his Chamberlin 14m "Big Wave Rider". Bruce describes many 200+ mile days hard on the wind in the Southern Ocean. He also describes sailing in 12+ metre waves in 60+ knots of wind.

brucearms.com/
www.brucearms.com/news/solo-around-australia-challenge-part-two
www.brucearms.com/blog

I'm not saying all cats are capable of that, but then again a lot of monos aren't either.

...and winning the solo trans-tasman twice.

The yacht is for sale by the way
www.boatsales.com.au/boats-for-sale/dealer/used/OAG-AD-489336/2006-CHAMBERLAIN-14M

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jev7337 said..

scruzin said..
On the subject of windward performance, there are good multis and bad multis, just like there are good monos and bad monos.

If proof is needed, the current world record for single-handed, non-stop circumnavigation of Australia was done in a cruising cat, specifically by Bruce Arms in his Chamberlin 14m "Big Wave Rider". Bruce describes many 200+ mile days hard on the wind in the Southern Ocean. He also describes sailing in 12+ metre waves in 60+ knots of wind.

brucearms.com/
www.brucearms.com/news/solo-around-australia-challenge-part-two
www.brucearms.com/blog

I'm not saying all cats are capable of that, but then again a lot of monos aren't either.

...and winning the solo trans-tasman twice.

The yacht is for sale by the way
www.boatsales.com.au/boats-for-sale/dealer/used/OAG-AD-489336/2006-CHAMBERLAIN-14M

If I had a spare $380,000 and had plenty of change left over Id buy one. But I don,t so I wont . To me I feel the hardest thing to manage would be in a very large storm on your own trying to slow her down. I guess its to large for a solo . When I charted the sea wind 40 ft it was a very enjoyable time with 7 of us on board plenty of room and once the land lovers realize you don't have long showers on a boat it was fine and you can tuck in very close and even beach for a scrub down
easily.
A friend of mine owned a ply wood cat around the 36/38 ft he had just about every thing you could image on board to much weight and didnt reduce his sail when he should have lost his mast because of it not really the boats fault .But if your new on a cat that large you need to realize when to reduce sail.

I recently (early december) saw a reasonable size cat at anchor at Coffs Harbour in quite some swell sitting beam on and that dididnt look too comfortable... Not that I the mono also anchored fared any better, just a little less jerky!

Unfortunately my botom line is driven by cost. Spend 100k on.a prime crusing mono and have $200k (theoretically only) for 10 years crusing kitty or spend $300k on a nice cat and have no money left for cruising....

At the end of the day on a beautiful anchorage in the middle of the pacific, it doesnt matter what boat you arrived in being out there is all that matters. If you don't have to work for any extra 5 years to be able to afford a second hull then a mono makes sense. Just get out there before you have teenagers on your hands!

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santanasaga said..
I recently (early december) saw a reasonable size cat at anchor at Coffs Harbour in quite some swell sitting beam on and that dididnt look too comfortable... Not that I the mono also anchored fared any better, just a little less jerky!

Unfortunately my botom line is driven by cost. Spend 100k on.a prime crusing mono and have $200k (theoretically only) for 10 years crusing kitty or spend $300k on a nice cat and have no money left for cruising....

At the end of the day on a beautiful anchorage in the middle of the pacific, it doesnt matter what boat you arrived in being out there is all that matters. If you don't have to work for any extra 5 years to be able to afford a second hull then a mono makes sense. Just get out there before you have teenagers on your hands!

Santanasaga, I think you may be on the money (no pun intended) here. Thanks for all the opinions. I really need to get myself on one for the day and see how it feels. I should be able to talk the missus round to a monohull if need be....

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jev7337 said..

scruzin said..
On the subject of windward performance, there are good multis and bad multis, just like there are good monos and bad monos.

If proof is needed, the current world record for single-handed, non-stop circumnavigation of Australia was done in a cruising cat, specifically by Bruce Arms in his Chamberlin 14m "Big Wave Rider". Bruce describes many 200+ mile days hard on the wind in the Southern Ocean. He also describes sailing in 12+ metre waves in 60+ knots of wind.

brucearms.com/
www.brucearms.com/news/solo-around-australia-challenge-part-two
www.brucearms.com/blog

I'm not saying all cats are capable of that, but then again a lot of monos aren't either.

...and winning the solo trans-tasman twice.

The yacht is for sale by the way
www.boatsales.com.au/boats-for-sale/dealer/used/OAG-AD-489336/2006-CHAMBERLAIN-14M

Extremely well equipped too. I'd say "Big Wave Rider" is good value for $380,000.

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santanasaga said..

At the end of the day on a beautiful anchorage in the middle of the pacific, it doesnt matter what boat you arrived in being out there is all that matters. If you don't have to work for any extra 5 years to be able to afford a second hull then a mono makes sense. Just get out there before you have teenagers on your hands!

Absolutely right.
There are fantastic monos and multis, and we can sit here all day long arguing which one is better in specific conditions. But all that matters is having a yacht - a seaworthy yacht - in the first place and getting out there.
...and I guess if you have teenagers on your hands you may as well work an extra 5 years before you head off, except if you have to sell the house and boat to send them to private school.

@scruzin, agree, compared to a lot of others on the market it is good value.

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jev7337 said..

But all that matters is having a yacht - a seaworthy yacht - in the first place and getting out there.

And I totally agree....... To a point. If it was just me single handed, I would. As long as it was safe....
However I have a young family and I enjoy boating with them, and at the moment they enjoy boating with me. But my wife enjoys boating because of the family time it offers. She personally couldn't care less about boats of any kind. So if I am going to ask them to spend six months on a boat, away from friends and family, ask her to home school the kids, take the kids away from a season of their beloved footy, the least I can do is ensure they are not only safe, but comfortable as well to enjoy the experience as much as possible...

Just my opinion

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Toph said..

jev7337 said..

But all that matters is having a yacht - a seaworthy yacht - in the first place and getting out there.

And I totally agree....... To a point. If it was just me single handed, I would. As long as it was safe....
However I have a young family and I enjoy boating with them, and at the moment they enjoy boating with me. But my wife enjoys boating because of the family time it offers. She personally couldn't care less about boats of any kind. So if I am going to ask them to spend six months on a boat, away from friends and family, ask her to home school the kids, take the kids away from a season of their beloved footy, the least I can do is ensure they are not only safe, but comfortable as well to enjoy the experience as much as possible...

Just my opinion

OK, I've already declared my cat bias but, IMO, a 35' to 40' cat is an excellent way to get the space you'll need for extended living aboard with your family.

I say this because you'll probably want a separate cabin for each of the kids, plus a cabin for you and your wife, so 3 cabins. Plus the kids are going to be doing school work on the boat so they'll need space to spread out, even in inclement weather. Many cats have additional workspaces down in the hulls, in addition to the extensive saloon area. Having an extra head is really nice too when you're living in close confinement; many cats have one head per hull, even if there is only one full bathroom.

Also, there's no reason why a cat of that size cannot be sailed completely single handed, i.e., by you, if the rest of family is busy

To get comparable space in a mono probably means a vessel that is at least 10' longer.

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Toph said..

jev7337 said..

But all that matters is having a yacht - a seaworthy yacht - in the first place and getting out there.

And I totally agree....... To a point. If it was just me single handed, I would. As long as it was safe....
However I have a young family and I enjoy boating with them, and at the moment they enjoy boating with me. But my wife enjoys boating because of the family time it offers. She personally couldn't care less about boats of any kind. So if I am going to ask them to spend six months on a boat, away from friends and family, ask her to home school the kids, take the kids away from a season of their beloved footy, the least I can do is ensure they are not only safe, but comfortable as well to enjoy the experience as much as possible...

Just my opinion

Seems to me the decision is simple - given the additional budget for 2 hulls is available. Performance oriented cruising cat with daggerboards would be my pick.

Ive been eyeing of Cats also especially since a mate just bought a 45 Lagoon in the States. So much space and the perfect family cruiser IMHO. For me though most of my trips would be to Rotto and i really like the idea of cheap running. Having said that i was quickly reminded by my wife that the pen fees for a multi hull is 50% more. SO straight up in Mindarie I'm up for an extra $4000 a year..

Just stumbled across article on Cruising World written by experienced mono cruisers that switched to a 46' cat. It's a few years' old, but the points are still valid.

www.cruisingworld.com/sailboats/why-cat/

Thanks scruzin, that article started to get down to the nuts and bolts of my original post, rather than at the writer says are "the obvious matters".

what a great artical that is to read
some old sea salts around here say the same thing
they are not real boats and its not real sailing
all I can say is unbelievable

Nice read thanks Scruzin
I throughly enjoyed my 40 ft Sea wind charter in 2013 so did my kids. Just out of my buying budget and also my cruising budget and feel more comfortable in my little H28 as a solo sailer

We swapped from a yankee clipper to a Lagoon 38 and never looked back.

The Lagoon took us all through the Med, across the Atlantic and all the way down to the bottom of South America without a complaint.

Sure, she was a bit slow, but well over 3000nm @ 6.2kt average and only needing to not fill my coffee cup to brim in more than 40kt of wind more than made up for it.

Kids on board were a doddle on coastal trips, never had them on for longer runs of more than 2 nights. Did have guests on board for up to six weeks stretches, and as many guests disembarked via the gangway as embarked, and we were still friends!!! Hard to do on a mono....

Only reason we are not still on her is upgrading / lazy-grading? to a larger mutil power cat, and no value in bringing an EU VAT paid boat here and paying GST for the privilege :-)

Do what we did, go bare boat a few, worse that can happen is you enjoy yourselves for a week or two.