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Sailing Multihulls Part 2: The Disadvantages
Sailing Multihulls Part 2: The Disadvantages by Linda Cullum
Disadvantages-- In serious wind and seas, a monohull sailor can, if
absolutely exhausted and no longer able to steer, strike all sail, lock all
hatches, and go below to wait it out and hope for the best. A well-found boat
will most likely allow this. The boat will roll around like a cork, and even if
it rolls 360 degrees it should be ok, as long as the mast doesn't break off and
put a hole in the boat. A Multihull in huge seas, however, must always have a
helmsman, or some other way to keep the boat pointed into the waves. Without
this, the boat will end up in the wave troughs, with the waves beam on; this is
an invitation to capsize. Knowing this, the ocean going sailor should be
prepared with a parachute sea anchor and with attachment points for it on the
boat that are absolutely bombproof. Properly deployed, a parachute anchor will
allow a multihull to ride out a hurricane in near comfort, as it keeps the bows
pointed into the wind and waves and with several hundred feet of line led out to
the sea anchor, there is no jerking or lunging on the line. Once the sea anchor
is properly set, the crew can go below and safely wait out the storm. This
assumes that there are no dangers, such as a landmass or reef systems, lying in
wait downwind. Plenty of sea room is needed for these
manuevers.
Marinas-- Finding space in a marina for a multihull is not
nearly as easy as it is for a monohull. They require either an end space or a
double berth, which will likely cost more than a single.
Weight
constraints -- Since a multihull sits on the water instead of in it, unlike a
keel boat, the payload, or weight carrying capacity of the boat, can not safely
be exceeded. A catamaran, with essentially two full boats in the water, can
carry more weight than a trimaran of the same length, which consists of one full
hull and two floats. A 35 foot monohull can carry much more weight in stores and
equipment than a 35 foot trimaran, and this is a consideration when provisioning
a boat for cruising. The cruiser in a small multihull may find himself
reprovisioning along the way more often than the cruiser in a small
monohull.
Trailerability-- Large multihulls cannot be shipped over the
road, due to their wide beam. Only some of the smaller, folding designs will
allow trailering.
Haulouts also can be more complicated for multihulls.
There are yards that have travelifts wide enough for them, or cranes to lift
them, or railways to pull them out of the water on tracks, but these yards are
fewer and farther between than those that can't handle the extra wide
beam.
Conclusions -- It seems that outside of a couple of minor
inconveniences, a multihull is the only boat that makes any sense. If this is
the case, why doesn't everyone have one? There are a couple of reasons. One is
the unfortunate reputation they earned early on in their evolution. The other is
the expense involved in achieving ownership of a quality cat or tri. These boats
are expensive to build, whether as one offs or as production models. With a
trimaran, 3 hulls (amas) and crossarms (akas) to connect them all together are
needed. For production this requires expensive tooling up for a company to
invest in even before they ever get a boat on line. There are also a lot more
materials needed to build two or three hulls than are needed for the one
finished hull of a keel boat.
Other than a production model the buyer
has the option of having one custom built by a reputable yard or of building it
himself. Neither of these options is cheap, fast, or easy.
There are
used multihulls on the market, and there are a lot of good ones out there. There
are also a lot of not so good ones. It's critical to hire an experienced
multihull surveyor to be assured that the boat was built and maintained properly
and is sound.
About the Author
Linda Cullum is from Cape Cod, MA, with a second home in Vermont. She is the author of Learn to Sail! with Multimedia! a Sailing training CDROM/DVD which teaches all aspects of Sailing including Knots, Piloting, Rules of the Road, Weather with digital video from Sail Magazine, narration, animation and quizzes.
Click here to visit her site! Happy Sailing_/)__
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Added: Tue Nov 07 2006
