There are many characteristics of catamarans that make them desirable. A catamaran has all of the characteristics of a two canoes and an outrigger combined. That may not sound like much. Take a closer look. A catamaran is one very ingenious vessel. Both hulls together make up less volume than a one hulled sailboat and twice the stability.
The top characteristics of catamarans, in my own personal experience, are: faster speed, better performance, more room, more views, more privacy, more stability, more flexible, more versatile, more economical, has less rocking, less bouncing, less seasick, much lighter, can go more places, last longer, is more adaptable, easier to convert to electric and hold their value better than one-hulled sailboats. Besides, they are more fun!
Catamaran hulls put together are still less wide than a monohull. This makes them much less volume on or in the water. Catamarans are lighter boats, so these hulls are lifting less weight. The narrow hulls make the catamaran faster in the water, and therefore less expensive to push. The broad spacing of the two hulls gives the boat it’s remarkable stability and high resistance to capsizing.
Catamarans vs. One-hulled Sailboats
A catamaran has less total hull volume than a monohull of equal size. Catamaran hulls are recognized for their lighter water displacement and shallower draft depth when compared to boats with only one hull of the same length. As a result, catamarans can be used in very shallow waters as well as faster in deeper water. These features make catamarans extremely flexible and versatile.
The Top Characteristics of Catamarans
A catamaran is considered one of the most stable and secure vessels for traveling with family and friends. In addition, catamarans offer extra space for relaxation whether on the deck or below. There is extra capacity for a few rooms and guests in the hulls below. Here are some top characteristics of catamaran you ought to know about in order to appreciate these magnificent boats. Here they are.
Faster Speed
One of the first characteristics a catamaran has to do with performance. This was their intention of using two hulls and it was wildly successful from the very beginning. The Prout brothers, Roland and Francis, wanted to win sailboat races. Their idea was to use something similar to a pair of faster, thinner canoes. And, they did. In fact, they went on to found a whole industry.
Top Characteristic: Better Performance
The Prout brothers won their sailboat race handily. The first catamarans were racing boats. They went on to retool their father’s boat-building shop into the world’s first catamaran manufacturing business with clients world-wide. The two-hull design is what clearly identifies a catamaran. It is also what makes catamarans much more reliable than boats with only one hull.
Catamarans have a lower overall resistance when moving through water. This makes catamarans much faster. Therefore catamarans are more efficient, reliable and deliver better performance. Performance becomes important when you consider that normal sailing speeds are similar to walking. Besides, faster on the water is more fun.
More Room
Top characteristic: More Views
Another top characteristic of a catamaran is their roominess. Because catamarans have two hulls, their deck capacity is almost doubled. The catamaran design is a stable wide platform on top of two smaller boats. This means there is much more room above the waterline. As a result, catamarans have a much larger space and room to walk around on. A catamaran feels more familiar than a sailboat. As a result, people immediately feel more comfortable on a catamaran.
Top characteristic: Greater Privacy
The racing catamarans have spawned cruising cousins. These catamarans have evolved in ways the Prout brothers probably couldn’t have imagined. The catamaran deck is different in a profound way. It provides a flat platform to make a more familiar-looking space, like a house. Use it like you would your own home.
Modern catamarans can have regular doors and normal house windows. As a result, people feel comfortable and “at home” on a catamaran.
Most Stable
A catamaran two-hull design offers greater stability. When it comes to rough weather, the catamaran has a much higher resistance to capsize. You can capsize your catamaran, but that would be difficult to do, even if you wanted to do it. Cats don’t capsize very easily and when they do, it’s rare. Cats have much greater stability.
Top Characteristic: Greater Stability
Another top characteristic of a catamaran is their stability. This stability has an important side effect: you have a house on the water. You can stand up and walk around the boat. You can leave your coffee cup on the table, unlike a sailboat, while you stretch your legs. The deck is flat. You can’t even think of doing this in a single hulled sailboat – even in calm water. You have windows surrounding you great views are in nearly every direction.
In a one-hulled sailboat, the wind is always blowing the boat from side to side, called heeling. It’s not fun if you are moving in the water and the waves are bouncing your bow up and down. You are living inside the hull, which is slanted toward the bow and toward the keel. But nearly anywhere you stand on a sailboat is windage slanted. You don’t have a very good view unless you are out on the deck. You can only do this in good weather.
More Flexible
Top Characteristic: Great Flexibility
Another top characteristic of a catamaran is their flexibility. A catamaran has a smaller footprint on the water than a single hulled boat of equal size, yet the catamaran has almost double the floor space. Catamaran hulls are unique because they have less water displacement and have a shallower draft when compared to monohulls of the same length. As a result, catamarans can be sailed into much shallower waters than boats with only one hull. This feature, alone makes catamarans especially flexible.
Cats of adequate size can cross any ocean, in almost any weather and can also get close to shore in shallow water. This is handy because this is close to the beach and protected mooring. This is especially useful in The Bahamas, where the ocean water is relatively very shallow for very long distances. Besides, it can protect your boat if there is an obstruction, such as a rock in your path. This is a good thing!
More Versatile
Catamarans are versatile. Their flat decks can hold more of the things you want in your life, without having to put it inside a cramped boat. You can store sports equipment like scuba, snorkeling, fishing easily. You can have all the sports things you like onboard your catamaran.
Top characteristic: Great Versatility
This versatility is something you will grow to appreciate. You will be able to enjoy your sailing much more when you know where everything is and know that it’s easily accessible. I can tell you, it’s a good feeling to be able to enjoy your trip.
More Economical
Another top characteristic of a catamaran is their economical cost of ownership. Both hulls of a catamaran work together to achieve a very slight resistance to movement on the water. Catamarans have a great advantage over monohulls in this department. This means that catamarans demand less power for propulsion, whether from sails or engines. This makes them catamarans more economical.
Top Characteristic: Lower Total Cost of Operation
All in all, what this means is that a catamaran is a more efficient boat. The Yamaha company did research that showed that catamarans are consistent in matching speed to fuel burn. This translates to less spikes of wasted fuel and makes catamarans more efficient and dependable. As a result, cats are a perfect boat for upgrading to electric motors.
Less Heeling
One hulled sailboats heel, that is, they rock back and forth from the force of the wind. This is what it was designed to do, but too much will blow the boat over. To counter this, ballast is added at the bottom of the keel attached to the bottom of the sailboat. Cats don’t need ballast.
Top Characteristic: Less Rocking and Rolling
Another characteristic of a catamaran is a reduced wave-induced motion which makes the boat more comfortable. This is because it diminishes wakes. These two hulls produce the stability that the boat needs without the ballast.
Less Bow Bouncing
The very narrow cat hulls slice through the waves instead of riding on top of them. This makes for fewer wakes and less disturbance. This means that the bows don’t bounce up and down on a catamaran as much as the single hulled sailboats do. Cats are less bouncy.
Top characteristic: Smooth Sailing
All of this adds up to smooth sailing for catamarans. One of the best reasons for choosing a catamaran is their peaceful ride. Undoubtedly this is near the top of the list for many people. Some people like racing, with the wind – and water – in their faces, and some don’t. Fortunately, there are racing and cruising catamarans, and people get to choose their ride.
More Quiet
Another top characteristic of a catamaran is their quiet operation. The smooth sailing – and motoring (more on that a bit later) – results in a quieter ride. Smooth and quiet kinda go together. It’s a way to say that you can have your cake and eat it, too. Well, it means that you can relish the swells and waves of the ocean, without actually being immersed in it. You can have the view up close without actually getting wet.
Top characteristic: Cats are Quieter
Sailboats are often quiet, but catamarans are quieter. And, even the motor cats are quieter. This is because the engines are separated from the living areas. The engine compartments are insulated, the exhaust is sent outside and are often quite a distance from the living and eating areas of the boat.
Less Seasick
Less heeling means more stability. More stability means less seasickness. This means less seasickness and more comfort. Plus you can walk around the deck and get some fresh air, look out at the horizon from almost anywhere on the upper deck and all of these have been shown to reduce being sick while at sea.
Top characteristic: Happier Tummies
Everyone enjoys a quiet ride. Having a smoother, quiet and comfortable ride makes your tummies happier and less seasickness. Sometimes there are big waves, but cats enjoy peaceful water and smooth trips which makes for happier tummies and happier people.
More Adaptable
Catamarans have a much wider range of uses. They can be used for sailing, cruising, cargo and charter. In fact, they are most used for charters because they can sleep many people comfortably and feed them easily. Plus, most people feel comfortable on a catamaran. I am going to list the many sports activities that are possible next.
Top characteristic: More Fun
Catamarans are fun. They can be used for sports, scuba and snorkeling and swimming and diving. Plus you have a water-level deck at the aft end of the boat that is convenient for getting into and out of the water. They have shallow a draft and that allows cats to sail or cruise close to the shore and into shallow water with sandy bottoms.
Top characteristic: More Activities
Another top characteristic of a catamaran is all of the things you can do on one. Catamarans give people many ideas for extra activities. The wide deck is great for partying and entertaining at night. The aft deck is great for dining together. The rear platform is great for getting into the water for swimming and diving. You can go diving right from the boat.
Can Go More Places
Being able to sail to an area you want to explore is one thing. Actually exploring these areas can be another, which is what you want to do. The shallow draft of a catamaran is a real asset when it comes to accessing the places you want to explore. This makes the catamaran a very versatile, adaptable and extremely valuable vehicle. You can get up the rivers or into the bays or around the corners that you want to see.
Top characteristic: More Exploring
A shallower drafts means you get to see these areas up front and personal. This close views can be breathtaking and you don’t even have to get wet. No wonder cats are valued. You can get right up to the things you want to see.
Last Longer
Catamarans last longer. They are made of thick foam that is sandwiched between two fiberglass hulls. This material is waterproof, stain resistant, mold resistant and floats by itself. Catamarans are stylish and popular and versatile. This will give you better value for your money over a regular sailboat.
Top characteristic: Long-term Value
Cats are almost unsinkable, and therefore safer. They have a wider base, supported by not one, but two hulls. These hulls are made of material that inherently floats! This is a far cry from the metal hulls that sailboats used to be made out of. In the rare event that a catamaran overturns, the safest place for you is inside the boat!
Much Lighter
Another of the top characteristics of a catamaran is their light footprint. One hulled sailboats require added stability. Without added stability, they are blown over by the wind on their sails. To counter this, they use a long keel, which is a wing-shaped blade that is deep below the sailboat. Added to this, there are literally pounds of lead weight, called “ballast”, added to the keel to keep the mast and sails upright. The sailboat must carry this “dead weight” around all the time. This can’t be efficient.
Top characteristic: Get the Lead Out
A catamaran gets it’s well-deserved stability from having two hulls. There’s no need to carry extra lead ballast weight. This makes the boat lighter, and much more efficient. Catamarans are light on their “feet”! This is a good thing. Get the lead out! Therefore, easier to push by electric motors. And, the lighter the boats, the lighter the motors will be.
Hold Their Value Better
Boats are not a great investment. In fact, many people know the adage that a boat is a place in the ocean where you put your money. Maintenance is a constant requirement and salt water is relentless. However, compared to one-hulled sailboats, catamarans much do better than to hold their own value. Every year more and more people are purchasing catamarans over traditional sailboats.
Top characteristic: Better Investment
Catamarans are now searched more than single hulled boats for the first time in the history of Google trends. Purchases of catamarans will soon follow. Cats are built of fiberglass, which gives them a life of approximately 15 to 20 years. However, refitting gives older catamarans a new life. There are catamarans around, even today, that were built in the 1970’s.
Easier to Convert to Electric
Another of the top characteristics of a catamaran is their adaptability for converting to solar electric power. Many sailboats carry solar panels for their electric devices. However, that is already eclipsed. The world is converting to electric and there’s only a few ways to get electric on a boat. Solar is the most powerful of the three. Besides, there’s plenty of solar on the open ocean.
The electric future is already here. We see this same transformation that is transforming cars. Electric cars are already replacing gas- and even the diesel-powered autos. Volkswagen is getting into the electric car market, and even into the electric catamaran market!
Catamarans are lighter boats and pushing lighter boats is much easier for a pair of highly efficient electric motors. The newer maintenance-free batteries make battery power practical and there are already some excellent electric motors.
There are about three ways to get electric on your boat: Solar, wind and regen (using wind power to run a propeller as a generator). Getting electric power while at sea requires solar. Solar panels have been dropping in price for some time. Added to the smarter voltage regulators and the almost maintenance-free lithium batteries, the time is now.
Top characteristic: Electric Future
Catamarans are horizontal, spread over two hulls, and therefore offer a flatter roof for solar panels. This makes catamarans much easier to completely convert to electric power. This will require regulators for the different levels of power and inverters for 120 VAC that you will need.
A little history lesson will illustrate where we are going. Kodak invented digital photography, yet completely lost control of their own invention. Once the world got a hold of it, there was no way to slow the transition to digital. As a result, going from 99 percent chemical photography to 99 percent digital photography took only 7 years!
The world is already well past one percent electric vehicles. Electric boats are not far behind. In fact, there is a line of solar electric catamarans made in Singapore that you can buy right now. Besides, the solar panels are cheap and already, Tesla batteries are available. It’s only a matter of time before the world, cars and boats, converts to solar.
Besides, there are already air conditioners and dehumidifiers that run on DC power. It won’t be long before they are the norm and standard for comfort on a solar electric catamaran. The higher power available with solar powered catamarans will mean more comforts and better appliances.
Those first digital photos were terrible, but people wanted them because they were instant and they could share by email and websites. The widespread adoption caused competition and many improvements. The first solar electric boats will also probably be less than perfect, but the more boats are electric, the bigger the market and the better they will be.
Conclusions
There are many top characteristics of catamarans. From this list, you can tell I like catamarans. Despite their being more expensive to buy and more expensive to spend a night in a marina, catamarans have many advantages to offer. I have listed all of the advantages that I know on this post.
Catamarans are lots more fun, they have more elbow room, move quicker on the water, offer extra advantages and in many ways. Besides, they tend to hold their value over one hulled sailboats. Moreover, they are fun.
Thanks for reading. Did I miss anything important? I hope not. I hope I have answered your questions. If not, please leave me some feedback and I will update this post, and get back to you with what I found. I’m also happy to hear a different point of view.
Sources:
https://www.canveyisland.org/people-2/6-wellknown/prout-brothers/the-prout-story
https://www.forbes.com/sites/chunkamui/2012/01/18/how-kodak-failed/