A Message from Tom
We build high tech catamarans for cruising, using vacuum infusion. This method yields hulls that are extremely strong and at the same time, very light. The lighter you are, the faster you can go. The faster you can sail, the safer you will be at sea and you will have a lot more fun going fast. In one of our cats, you can easily out run a storm instead of trying to survive it. One of the most important factors that determine how fast a boat can go is the length of the boat. The longer a boat is, the faster it can go, period. Our 32 foot cat in a 15 knot wind on a broad reach will sail at 15 knots. Almost all of the 45 footer’s on the market that are loaded with every comfort known to man, will only do about 6 knots!! What is wrong here??? The 45 should be much faster than the 32. The difference is in the weight (drag), typically about 4000 pounds against 30,000 pounds.
Most people that want to buy a big cat know very little about stability. There is a simple formula you can use to determine how stable a cat is. Just divide the length by the beam. If the answer is greater than 1.5, the boat is not very stable and will capsize much easier than a boat with a smaller number. We have checked many, many, many designs and we have only found one designer that consistently passes that test. It is John Shuttleworth in England. We knew twenty years ago he was the best naval architect on the planet and finally, this year (2013) in Europe, he won the award for best "Naval Architecture" of the year and best "Exterior Design and Styling" of the year.
You should go to his website and read “Heavy Weather Sailing In A Multihull.” It will explain how rolling, pitching, yawing, surfing, swaying, heaving, wind and wave action, windward ability and drag effect the seaworthiness of multihulls. In the article, notice that our 32 is a Type 6.
If you go to the Chat n’Chill in the Exumas in a big fat slow 45, you will have to anchor down offshore and take the dinghy to the beach. In our 32 you don’t need an anchor or a dinghy, just park it on the beach and tie it to a tree.