Hi All

I am planning a sailing trip and boat charter to the Whitsundays.
my question is, are cats more suitable for the conditions than monohulls? I'm thinking of depths and access and not comfort or speed.

Wrong question, power or sail!

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I am planning a motor boating trip

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jrworthopod said..
Hi All

I am planning a sailing trip and boat charter to the Whitsundays.
my question is, are cats more suitable for the conditions than monohulls? I'm thinking of depths and access and not comfort or speed.

As to depths & access, most of the really good spots are moorings only, perhaps a multi will get you in a bit closer at Whitehaven or cid but not that much closer and the tenders have outboards so it no problem cruising a 2m draft in that area.

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jrworthopod said..
Hi All

I am planning a sailing trip and boat charter to the Whitsundays.
my question is, are cats more suitable for the conditions than monohulls? I'm thinking of depths and access and not comfort or speed.

If you are chartering, you will likely get better value for money on a cat than a monohull.

In 2022, we chartered a monohull for a Whitsunday Holiday and hired a skipper, who had all the local knowledge. I thought the mono would be better fun to sail, but the sails were knackered. My conversations with the charter company reps went along the lines of this; me "what condition are the sails in?" charter rep "yes the boat has sails".

The economics for the charter companies and boat owners are that sails are expensive, are usually abused by novices who don't know how to sail, and are never replaced for chartering (because the charterer is likely to abuse them by continuously winding on the sheets too hard). The sails are also deliberately under-powered for the same reason.

What has this got to do with cats v monos, I hear you ask?

The same economics is driving the charter fleet to motorized cats. No sails at all. This actually suits most holidays, which comprise short hops from bay to bay for a couple of hours, dropping the anchor and messing about for the rest of the time. The cats have a shallower draft (not having a keel), but that only really matters if you want to get up the creek at Whitehaven Bay. No sails means the owners don't have to pay for sails, and the charterers pay a few more dollars for diesel.

The question of what type of boat will get to better places might not be the right question. Our skipper got us to some really good places we had not thought of going to, even though we had a deeper keel. Another issue was timing - he knew when the tourist boats would come and go, and also that we would get a safe anchorage at the southern end of Whitehaven Bay when it blew up to 40 knots, when all the other charter boats were directed to anchor in Nara Inlet (which he thought was not very interesting). So, the real answer is to try to do your homework before you go, which might mean talking to locals more than internet searches.

Whether cat or mono, I hope you enjoy your holiday.

ach, either you had a dodgy episode or I have been extremely lucky, out of 4 different charters I've had two with new sails & have had no complaints about the vessels in anyway at all, btw we don't hire the most expensive vessels. I agree do your own research, buy a chart and study it and a copy of 100 magic mile's, both will be onboard but it's nice to familiarise yourself with them. The charterers will make sure you understand vessel procedures, nav etc. enjoy

What I'm seeing at the moment in far North Queensland is A LOT of catamarans, they take up A LOT of room in anchorages , and being double the price in marina berths they tend to try and anchor out more taking A LOT of room. When the wind gets up they try and enter the rivers and creeks where it's already tight with a mixture of uninsured liveaboard non cruises and perhaps cruisers that have insurance but don't want to spend $500 per week in a berth. I honestly don't know how these big condo Catamaran owners afford to liveaboard and the stress of finding a safe spot must be a little scary at times.

It seems to me that the cost of catamarans is only justified if you have a number of adults that corresponds with the number of bunks/ cabins. When I check it seems that mum and dad or mum and dad and one kid or even two pay much less for a monohull. This obviously makes sense given the value of the boats.

I have been sailing almost weekly somewhere between Bne. and the GC for 7 years now and from what I have observed if you have no interest in racing and only intend to cruise in Northern waters you would be nuts not to have a multi or ( cringe) a motor yacht . More room above and below, faster ( no breeze forward of beam please) , Anchor closer in , No spilling the chardonney, hell whats not to like. I see four multis for every one mono passing through this time of year. Of course either money is secondary to boating pleasure or you live on water frontage with own pontoon.

I have skin in the game but a few points as an owner, builder and cruiser of cats.

They shouldn't take up much more room in an anchorage. Your room is pretty much defined by the swinging radius - I haven't been worried much about the extra beam of our boat unless it is getting really tight, and we don't go there so this aint an issue for us.

As for going up creeks - guilty as charged. Last big cruise we spent 10 days in North Zoe creek - it was a beautiful spot, truly magical. You can't do that with a keel, you could do it with a centreboard mono. The creeks can be lovely. We spent the same amount of time in the lagoon at Percy. Again magical - we were there so long the owners asked if we wanted the tree house and move in. The poor guys in the anchorage rolled their guts out whilst we slept like babes flat as a tack every night. Two months ago we took the trailer cat to Keppel - when it got too windy we went into Leekes Creek - saw raptors and stingrays and bream and stuff - magical. There is a pattern emerging. Need I tell you about times going to Hill inlet for a week - magical! Creeks and lagoons are the best when the wind blows up because the sand flies are blown away. Creeks are the best!

As for anchoring out - one reason may be that cats are nice at anchor - they can have really easy to use large and speedy dinghies that easily get pulled onto large davits, they can get lots of wind through them when you stay head to wind with hatches in the bridgedeck and with lots of divided accommodation you don't get cabin fever or get tired of looking at your partner as quickly. Also they don't roll in swell, although cats can be brutal in speed boat and stink boat chop near the Gold Coast - cats are great in swell, less so in side chop.

Cost is a thing, but my cat has lost value over its 24 years and is now a much better buy than when new. Economical performance cat technology has not gone anywhere in the last 28 years or so. The new boats are bit faster but SO expensive - you don't need an Outremer or Balance - don't watch Youtubes from bikini clad influencers. Get a nice 20 year old Schionning, Pescott, Chamberlin, Crowther etc and you will have a boat that loves going to windward, is super fun downwind and has enough room for any normal couple with friends fine for staying for a fortnight or two. But don't try to slip it in Sydney and think it will be easy.

The downsides for me are issues with slipping near Sydney but things get really easy up north - we keep on losing slipways where you can work on your cat in NSW but a mate pulled his 10 metre cat out in Maryborough for seriously cheap rates - about $120 a week. Also racing is not much of a thing, but racing is better on monos anyway. probably always will be. Cats are great fun boats for kids - lots of room for toys and nets to jump off and bows to jump off and easy swim steps, a whole hull to mess up and not have parents to trip over. I loved the years on our cat with our kids.

Okay just one anecdote - CT249 is my brother. Decades ago we picked him up at Ballina and headed north with his son and our two sons. We are rollicking along in a breezy westerly just off Byron. It's getting up and the boat starts humming on a beam reach in super flat water. He heads into the starboard hull from the bridgedeck as we are just sitting on about 12-14 knots. He gets whinged at by the kids because he is getting in the way and they are building card houses - yep card houses whilst the boat just rolls along in the mid teens - best of both worlds that day. And hey don't challenge a good daggerboard cat to race to windward - they can do very well. Race a minikeel Lagoon, they are a totally different kettle of fish.

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Bananabender said..
I have been sailing almost weekly somewhere between Bne. and the GC for 7 years now and from what I have observed if you have no interest in racing and only intend to cruise in Northern waters you would be nuts not to have a multi or ( cringe) a motor yacht . More room above and below, faster ( no breeze forward of beam please) , Anchor closer in , No spilling the chardonney, hell whats not to like. I see four multis for every one mono passing through this time of year. Of course either money is secondary to boating pleasure or you live on water frontage with own pontoon.

According to friends who have switched to catamarans it's the very large cockpit living area. Especially in Queensland the mono hulls are too stuffy for the better half's.