03-05-2007
I'm thinking about cats
3 months has passed since I last wrote. Much has happened since then. I spent February and March planning like normal: talking back and forth with Hans Lange at Lange Maritime, working out the details for the brand new Ovni 395 I wanted to buy. The plan was to spend this year working out the details and buy it next year. Sounds simple? … It could have been, but then I wouldn’t have been doing my preparations like I should. The first ripple in the pond was caused when Steffi came visiting bringing with her Beth A. Leonard’s book: The Voyagers Handbook. The book got me thinking that buying new perhaps wasn’t the best way to go. Buying a used boat would allow me to buy an Ovni 435, a boat I wanted more than the 395, and still have change left.
The pivotal change happened when Steffi and I were sailing in Thailand. We chartered a boat and when the fuel filter got clogged the charter company sailed out on a cat to fix it. While they were trouble shooting and changing the filter, Steffi and I had a look at the cat. I was thoroughly impressed by what I saw. Steffi immediately fell for the idea as well, so my research when I came back took a drastic change. Instead of looking at mono-hulls I was digging up everything I could find on catamarans.
I had to work my way through my normal prejudices:
1. They are not made for offshore sailing.
2. Once they flip, they stay flipped, unlike a mono-hull, which will roll back again.
3. You can’t add any weight to them without seeing a very detrimental effect on sailing performance.
4. They have terrible windward performance
I’ve had to moderate my views. They are definitely safe for offshore passages, as long as you’re not over-canvassed. The modern cruising cats I’m considering are very wide and it would take a Hell of a lot of wind to flip it. If you sail a little on the conservative side, then it’s not a problem. Though you can add weight to a catamaran, you need to keep a closer eye on it than you do on a mono-hull. I see it as an advantage, because it forces me to be more selective with what I want to bring. In terms of terrible windward performance, then it’s not as bad as I thought and in some cases a LOT better than I thought possible.
The good things about a catamaran:
1. Space. It’s going to be our floating home for 3+ years. It’s nice to have some space, both for the things we want, but also for visitors. There is also a lot more deck space to enjoy life on. (This also means more space to maintain, wash, polish, etc)
2. No more sailing on an angle. On a cat you always sail flat, so you can actually have a normal life onboard, even when you’re sailing. It’s also much better when you anchor. No more rolling from gunwale to gunwale.
3. Speed. The cat is faster than a mono-hull and even a slow one will put in daily averages of 170 nm without any effort (with a little extra effort it’s no problem to put in 200+ nm days). By comparison I could never calculate more than 120 nm per day on my old boat.
4. Shallow draft. Most stick less than 1.2 meters, opening up many harbors and areas you won’t get to with a deep keel. (Granted this wouldn’t have been a problem on the Ovni with its centerboard).
4. Redundancy. You have two engines, two bathrooms, etc. If one breaks, you still have another one. (It also means more maintenance, but all in all it’s worth it.)
5. Maneuverability. With two engines it’s easy to maneuver around in harbors.
6. Unsinkable. They don’t have a few tons of lead onboard, so even if you crash into a container or flip, you won’t sink. Needless to say this is something I’m not planning to test.
I’m in the process of making a short list of features I’m looking for on a catamaran. Likewise I’m also compiling a list of extras I want: watermaker, autopilot, etc.
I’ll probably post it soon.
The problem with buying a catamaran is that it is quite expensive. Luckily my original plan was to buy a new Ovni, so I was expecting to spend a solid amount change. We’ll see how far my money reaches, while still giving me cash to sail for at least 4 years. I’m also re-evaluating my original thought of buying an Ovni, to see if there are other mono-hulls I’d be happier with. When I find a catamaran I really like, I’ll see how it measures up to the best mono-hull I can find. … Right now I’m really leaning towards a catamaran.
The hunt continues for the perfect boat to sail around the World on.
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