Articles about Catamaran Handling

Featured in Blue Water Sailing By now most monohull sailors have chartered a catamaran in the Caribbean or the Mediterranean and have come to appreciate the many virtues cats have to offer for cruising, including stable sailing with fewer seasick guests, faster off wind speeds, little or no rocking at anchor, a large aft cockpit for lounging and dining, privacy for each guest in suites that are far apart, and galley up cooking in a saloon bathed with light. Yet these traditional monohull sailors, while appreciative of the catamaran's strengths, also come back from their charter experi.....

With their high roach, the mainsails on multihulls require the helmsman to be perfectly head to wind before hoisting. 1 Untie the lazy-bag or remove the boom cover. 2 If necessary, unfasten the short ropes holding the sail. 3 Connect the halyard snapshackle to the mainsail headboard; check the passage of the halyard through the lazy-jacks. 4 Remember to tie the top of the lazy-bag to avoid it getting caught in a rope. 5 If necessary, release and slack the reefing lines. 6 Release the main sheet. 7 Check that the main sheet has enough slack. 8 Bring your boat head to wind;.....

Featured in Blue Water SailingThe importance of helm location on a cruising cat. There are several discussion points nearly all serious catamaran buyers and owners eventually come back to. We hear about bridge deck clearance, daggerboards versus keels, galley up versus galley down, foam core versus balsa core, etc. The placement of helms on catamarans is another of these often-debated issues. While there is no one “right” way to design a catamaran’s helm station, it is vital to understand the pros and cons of each to settle on the design that best serves one’s needs. There are dual aft.....