Story by Andrew Holland / July 18, 2018
It’s not unfamiliar for anyone working in the yachting industry to run into the question of what generator size is required on a particular boat. An answer will depend on a few variables, such as the boat’s size, where the boat will be spending most of its time, and whether there will be access to shore power. However, the most telling question a sailor can ask is how often air conditioning is needed.
In our client’s experiences, they often over-power their boats—meaning they will equip their boat with a generator more powerful than is actually required. This results in a more costly and unnecessary expense for an owner. But how can one determine which size is right?
The first question we ask clients is how many evenings per year they think they will need to run a generator for air conditioning while they are at anchor. The answer is often when clients are stuck in windless marinas where there isn’t the necessary airflow into the boat to cool it down that one resorts to turn the A/C on, not just anchoring in a place known to be hot and humid.
However, while dockside you’ll have the ability to plug your boat into shore power, so you will not be dependent on your generator. To bring your boat to a frigid chill, you may need as much as 15 amps of power, all depending on how large your boat is.
The best piece of advice we can give to those in the market to buy a boat is to get sufficient air conditioning to completely chill the boat dockside and get a smaller generator to run one or two of the air conditioning units for the rare days that are uncontrollably hot or humid at anchor.
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Helped me through the process.
I would go through them again in a future purchase.
The Multihull Company made the process of buying our boat easy and predictable. Both our agent (Francisco Montaner) and Andrew Holland communicated well and educated/informed us of each step in the process. I highly recommend The Multihull Company for those shopping for a catamaran!
Chuck at The Multihull Company is the real deal.
He helped us find our Lagoon 40 after genuinely listening to what we needed, not just what he had to sell. He let us visit the boat multiple times, answered every question honestly, and helped us make a confident decision on a major purchase.
What impressed us most was the post-sale support. Once the paperwork was signed, Chuck was still picking up the phone, offering referrals, and helping us work through the early stages of liveaboard life. That kind of follow-through is rare.
If you are looking for a multihull and want someone who knows the boats and actually cares about the outcome, Chuck is the person to call.
We just purchased a 2025 Nautitech 44 Open with The Multihull Company. The process of getting here has been great, and we could not have asked for a better agent. We worked with Conor, whom we met at the 2025 Cannes Boat Show. We started our search for a cruising catamaran in Florida at the beginning of the year. We spent a couple of months looking at different boats/models within our price range and quickly narrowed it down to what really mattered to us, in part thanks to the wealth of knowledge and expertise our broker provided. When we found a perfect match in Montenegro, Conor and The Multihull Company did not hesitate to continue supporting us and to lead the efforts from start to finish with great care and transparency. Communication and support have been outstanding throughout this entire process. Conor, in particular, showed great compassion and care, going above and beyond to ensure that no stone was left unturned and that we would be able to safely and happily sail off into our big adventure.
A sale well handled. No inflated expectations and an honest opinion throughout. Highly recommended.
Successful relationships cannot exist without it. At The Multihull Company we base every relationship on a firm commitment to earning and retaining our client’s trust.
Advice of any kind is valuable only when grounded in hard-won expertise. It too, must be trustworthy. Trust and expertise define the heart and soul of The Multihull Company. We are a team of skilled professionals who thrive on providing expert, trustworthy advice and service to catamaran and trimaran sailors around the globe.
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