We want a boat!

[Joshuanorrisnz 0]

My wife and I are seriously looking for a boat to live on and cruise away. We are now considering a catamaran. What's best? What is a practical length?

[Kevin McCready 83]

I met a guy who cruised for 10 years with his wife on a Cav32. I met another guy who's sailed to Fiji and back in a modern open-transom design! I still incline to the solid older design. I would steer well clear of multi-hulls for bad weather. You flip them and call for help.

[ScottiE 174]

Kevin - you cited two examples of people you've met sailing lead swingers, none sailing multis, yet still feel compelled to trot out the classic poorly educated misconception regarding multis. However u are indeed factually correct - if you flip a multi you'll probably still get to call for help. However if you drop a keel - well. . . BTW - what ever did happen to the Nina?

[Brendon 0]

It is impossible to answer your question for you. Everyone has different needs, expectations, and budgets.

 

Some people sail around the world in boats not much bigger than a spa pool, while others wont leave the dock in anything less than 60 feet.

 

I have always been a mono man, but last year sailed from Tonga to NZ in a cat and can see that they have many advantages, Heaps of room, upright sailing, speed , and easy to beach and scrape the growth off between high tides. But they also cost twice as much,

 

You really have to work out what you want in a yacht - and to do that you need to sail in a variety of yachts. Get some experience.

How fast do you want to go, how comfortable, how well equipped. What budget. How many people will you be cruising with, a bigger boat will need more people to handle.

[Tim C 23]

As a multihull designer I would say the minimum size for a comfortable bridge deck cat is 12m. Unless you get very lucky in the market you'd need NZ$500 000 to get something close to ready to go. But it is likely you'd need to budget further for Category 1 offshore gear. 

As a general rule of thumb the European multihulls have lots of room and payload, but with limited speed and windward ability. The NZ and Aussie designers typically have much more performance orientation in their designs, which means quicker passage times potentially...

[Dambo 44]

12m,.. 12m,..  what's that in feet Tim?

[Island Time 1,235]

I agree Tim, and 12m (40Ft) was what Chris White says in his book "The Cruising Multihull" but not for the space, for the stability to make it safe for cruising. IIRC.

[Steve Pope 243]

Remember  a light cat / tri is a fast cat / tri, loaded with all the "necessary" cruising gear they just become a displacement yachts. some folk find the slap / bang of waves on the floor of the bridge deck unpleasant. berthage in marinas is double that of a mono. there are some fast mono's (not racers) out there that can do 150 to 200+ mile days, think Birdsal / Spencer, just 2 NZ designers, or if you have the bickies a McGregor 65 for an American example.

[Tim C 23]

12m,.. 12m,..  what's that in feet Tim?

Absolutely no idea. I moved on with the rest of NZ 40 years ago, Did you? Now we enjoy modern composites, carbon masts, foiling catamarans and all sorts of innovations. Not sure why anyone would refer to the length of a vessel in the shoe length of a King from three centuries ago?

 

Or maybe you are just trying to wind me up???

[Island Time 1,235]

Remember  a light cat / tri is a fast cat / tri, loaded with all the "necessary" cruising gear they just become a displacement yachts. some folk find the slap / bang of waves on the floor of the bridge deck unpleasant. berthage in marinas is double that of a mono. there are some fast mono's (not racers) out there that can do 150 to 200+ mile days, think Birdsal / Spencer, just 2 NZ designers, or if you have the bickies a McGregor 65 for an American example.

Agreed Steve. But you forgot Farr! We have actually passed some multihulls at sea! That should not happen really, but if you load them full of crap, and sail badly, anything is possible!

There are still relatively few cruisers out there that regularly do 200 mile days, multi or mono. Some of the newer ones can, but there are not many as yet...

[Freedom GBE 27]

Multihull is the way to go.

 

I did see one today in Gulf Harbour with pot plants on the deck. Made me cry, what a waste.

 

 Buy a light multi and an epirb and drive it like you stole it.

[Island Time 1,235]

Multihull is the way to go.

 

I did see one today in Gulf Harbour with pot plants on the deck. Made me cry, what a waste.

 

 Buy a light multi and an epirb and drive it like you stole it.

Maybe - IMO a multi is good if you can afford the running costs, and are headed for the tropics. If your headed for the southern ocean, then its a mono for me thanks! Like everything boating, boat choices depend on your plans.

[Freedom GBE 27]

Agreed. Like other things in life. A Ferari costs a lot more than a Corola.  A descent 12m Multihull will cost a lot but will be a lot more fun.

 

The title did say "We want a boat"  the other half may even want to put pot plants on the boat.

 

May need to change the title to 'I want a boat" assuming you have plenty of spare cash hidden away to buy a multihull and large gift for the other half..