What kind of catamaran should I look to buy for solo living, sailing? The kinds of catamaran you want to look to buy for solo living and sailing will depend upon several factors. Some of these factors are where you want to sail, your moorage options, and your budget.
The catamaran for solo liveaboard lifestyle is going to be different than the catamaran you sail. Choose one of these goals. Take a clear look at your budget. After choosing, sit in a cat for a week. Chartering a cat for a week is a small cost compared to a purchase and it will tell you lots about your boat.
In this article, I will address the particular catamarans suited for solo living and the liveaboard lifestyle. What kind of catamaran should I look to buy for solo living, sailing? There are several costs associated with catamarans in general, and liveaboard housing situations in particular. I will list these and then cover them in more detail below.

What kind of catamaran should I look to buy for solo living, sailing?
What kind of catamaran should I look to buy for solo living, sailing? The biggest costs associated with catamarans and indeed, all sailboats, is maintenance. Along with that are insurance and special fees and licenses associated with having a boat.
The costs associated with livaboards is the humidity and the lack of fresh water, electric power and some other used items commonly readily available on hard land, like getting food. See my article about humidity on livaboard catamarans.

The Price of the Boat is Only the Beginning
The price of the boat is only the beginning of the cost of boat ownership.
Catamarans won’t fit in most marina slips because they’re so wide. They have have a special space to fit their width, or be on a long dock next to a wide channel. Alternatively, in some cases, you may have to pay for two slips.
First, living on a catamaran and sailing a catamaran are not entirely compatible. In other words, an excellent liveaboard catamaran may perform rather poorly at sea, or vice versa.
In other words, the liveaboard and traveling issues are generally not well-aligned. At this point, it would be a good idea to decide what is your primary focus. If your main purpose is to live on the catamaran and don’t care as much about sailing, then choose a boat for size and comfort.

On the other hand, if your main focus is on the traveling or solo sailing to a destination, then choose a boat that has more speed in the water and a low profile for less wind resistance.
In this case, the cat you finally choose has drawn the lines drown to the cockpit. This way you are all over the boat managing your sails. Get yourself an autopilot and set it up correctly so it will help you stay on course. A good size catamaran for this is about 40 feet (12.19 meters).
Once you have these issues sorted, the next step is price. Look at is what you will be able to afford, this includes the hidden costs, like marina fees, yearly haul out, maintenance cost, etc.
Sit On A Cat
This question sounds like a long-term commitment. If this is, I recommend that you spend some time on different cats. You can do this on charter boats, either in Tortola or possibly Split, Croatia.
Try each one for a week and see what you think. I think you’ll find that some of the most comfortable models sail rather poorly. In fact, they may not be suitable at all for longer distances for your purposes.
Likewise, the lower, sleeker models may sail much better but have far less space for your living. This can be especially true for headroom if you are taller than the average.

Specific Model Recommendations
As far as recommendations of specific models goes. You might consider one of these. Consider at the Fisher Cat. Fisher cats have some of the best of both worlds. They have proved themselves in Atlantic crossings. They have a lot of room for their size. Fisher cats are well built. There are used ones available from time to time, tho the price is not low. Besides, older cats are actually stronger. They were built when oil products were cheaper. Below 100K USD, I would start looking at a Gemini or a Catalac.
When you can afford something between 100 and 200 thousand, I would start looking into Lagoon 380 or something similar. If your budget is 200 thousand or above, then you are basically good to go.
A Word of Advice
Catamarans are surprisingly higher priced than monohulls. Do not cut corners without understanding the risks. Hobby boats built in sheds can be ok if you look closely.
Don’t buy plexiglass over plywood boats without a survey, and a second opinion. There are many good ones and there are some bad ones. Even the experts miss some of the bad ones and surveyors have missed major problems.
Structural defects are serious and you will be the one sitting on the water without recourse if there is a problem. Surveyors took no responsibility for past failures, so the burden could be entirely on you and your legal efforts.
Conclusions
There are lots of liveaboard catamarans available and many sailing catamarans to choose from. Most will fit into one camp or the other. Few will fit into both camps. I went out on a limb and made a few recommendations, but the choice is really up to you. I hope this help you. Please leave me feedback if you want further information and I will try to help find what you need.
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cII-V0H2fv4