In this day where multihulls are cleary the fastest boats on the ocean, why do we even care about huge monohulls anymore?" Bob Perry,

[ricwoz]

I read this quote on another topic: about the death of James Wharram, the pioneering catamaran designer. 

Well, there are a lot of reasons, I suppose.  And I say this as someone who loves multihulls.  

It seemed like a good question, intended as rhetorical by one of the most esteemed members of SA, but still deserving a response.   And I'm sure others can do a much better job than I can responding, so here it is. 

 

[Rain Man]

Try to find a marina that accepts multihulls.  Given that coastal cruisers spend 90% of their lives tied to the dock, if there isn't anywhere to the your boat up you aren't going to buy it.  Those marinas that do accept multis have limited space for them

 

[mathystuff]

And at least around here a same length multihull berth will cost ~5x as much.

 

[Voiled]

With the added drag of all that structure a multihull has to haul through the air it's very debatable if they are "cleary the fastest boats on the ocean".

This presents a very much more clean aerodynamic package

View attachment 325262

than this:

Also, not "this day" but looking into the future:

 

[Ajax]

• Speed does not necessarily equal comfort
  
• Speed does not necessarily equal living space for cruising
  
• Speed is expensive
  
• Dockage for multihulls is expensive and less plentiful
  
• More hulls, more rigging etc equals higher maintenance costs
  

Don't get me wrong, I'm not anti-multi at all, I'm just saying "horses for courses"....and also budgets matter.

 

[tane]

as the only parameter to compare boats at is cost & as we need a certain payload to go cruising:

for the same outlay (in $$ & labor) & with the same payload I am still waiting to be shown the multihull faster than a monohull (of course given that age, standard of build, upkeep & equipment,...is the same)

 

[TwoLegged]

Try to find a marina that accepts multihulls.  Given that coastal cruisers spend 90% of their lives tied to the dock, if there isn't anywhere to the your boat up you aren't going to buy it.  Those marinas that do accept multis have limited space for them

There are no marinas around my way, so the average costal cruiser spends 0% of their lives tied to the dock.

Don't assume that the whole world is like your little chunk of it.

 

[ChuteFirst]

You misquoted Bob Perry.

He was referring to grand prix mono hull race boats like Comanche vs multis. Not cruising boats.

Racing and cruising is a poor comparison.

 

[DDW]

Motorboats are much faster than sailing mulithulls. Planes are much faster still. Speed is relative, and not why many of us are on the water. 

 

[floater]

There are no marinas around my way, so the average costal cruiser spends 0% of their lives tied to the dock.

and what % drying out on the mud?

 

[DDW]

There are no marinas around my way, so the average costal cruiser spends 0% of their lives tied to the dock.

Don't assume that the whole world is like your little chunk of it.

Being able to leave it on a mooring mitigates the storage issue. There is still the maintenance issue. In my area, there is really only one boatyard that can/will haul a multihull for bottom paint or whatever. Another issue is transport. Most of the boats I have owned have been moved overland at one time or another. This is pretty much impossible with (at least larger) multihulls. They can be moved by ship, but the charge is by area occupied, so very expensive. 

 

[Mizzmo]

I think there is a little case for HUGE monohulls. I don't think moorage for a 100ft mono would be much more than for a 70ft cat. Neither are going in a standard slip. Im a huge Multihull proponent, but even at that size I can imagine reasons why a monohull might be better. Sailing feel and aesthetics being probably the best reasons. 

 

[European Bloke]

One day when I don't have to go to work for approximately 48 weeks a year I hope to sail to many interesting places. I think that if I can afford a decent one a multi hull may be the best boat for that. 

For my current weekend and the odd week sailing in a busy area it would be a fucking nuisance.

 

[TwoLegged]

There are no marinas around my way, so the average costal cruiser spends 0% of their lives tied to the dock.

and what % drying out on the mud?

There is one area where I nearby know a cluster of boats on tidal moorings.  The monohull sailboats all have to be bilge-keelers, but I don't see any reason why a multi couldn't dry out too.

 

[floater]

I think they might be good at that.

 

[Veeger]

I was pretty much set to get a monohull for my next boat, largely due to the challenge of finding slips both for a home port as well as while out cruising.  In reality, while I frequently got a "no, we don't have room for a multihull", I really never actually got aced out completely.  Might have paid more than I wanted but, in the scheme of things, it wasn't the end of the world.  Currently, I'm back to planning for another cat and taking my chances.  The benefits/attributes of a cat are, for me, just too compelling in a number of ways.  If my current Plan A doesn't work, there could still be a monohull in my future.

 

[cianclarke]

Lack of a handicap / offshore racing scene would make me a sad panda - but I suppose anywhere a "large" monohull is participating, there's probably the multihull Gunboat class. 

If it was in the budget I'd have a TS 42 in the morning - but I'd sure miss rocking up to a Weds night. 

 

[J_Grove]

One day when I don't have to go to work for approximately 48 weeks a year I hope to sail to many interesting places. I think that if I can afford a decent one a multi hull may be the best boat for that. 

For my current weekend and the odd week sailing in a busy area it would be a fucking nuisance.

I'm in the same boat, and I'm not. One day when I get to count my time onboard in weeks and months instead of days and hours, the questions of one hull vs two vs three will have a different answer. 

For now, as a family weekend cruiser, sailing with a lead keel would be a fucking nuisance. Most weekends we criss-cross Biscayne Bay in our multi, while the monohulls are forced to stick to the channel on their way to the Keys. When we have enough time off to go to the Keys, we blow past them on the way, and have not just the channels but all of of Florida Bay as our playground. Being able to safely sail with speed in 4 ft of water is an advantage.

My pocket cruiser also folds up and lives on a trailer at a marina. Can't imagine regularly trailer launching a 27 ft monohull.

But these are local advantages. Horse for courses, as said. 

 

[Bull City]

If Bob Perry was misquoted, why are we talking about this? But since we are... Multi-hulls have a higher incidence of ugly boats that do monohulls.