Originally Posted by
JungleBus
I think sailingfun is possibly the guy you're looking for. Just got back from chartering a 46' Leopard cat in the Abacos (have a friend who is a Moorings owner, used his points), have also done both cats & monos in BVI, USVI, & St Maarten. If you're looking to bareboat, I'd recommend BVI as an excellent place for your first charter - fairly easy conditions, lots of fun and beautiful places to visit. As a sailor, I prefer monohulls (sorry Timbo!), but for groups you simply cannot beat the layout and space of a cat. We had 11 people on the 46' and it still didn't feel crowded, whereas 6 people on a 43' mono will be tripping over each other with some regularity.
What are you sorry about? You did choose a cat after all!
If I'm cruising, I want comfort, space, and shallow water ability, that means a cat.
If I'm racing, I want speed, which also means a cat.
I started sailing in Portsmouth, NH in the mid 1970's as a kid on a Laser, moved up through the 505, Flying Scott, J24, and crewed on a J35, J41, E22. I never thought much of cats, they looked silly to me, and wet, as the only ones I'd ever seen back then were Hobie 16's, usually laying on their side with people in the water trying to right it. And you KNOW the water is cold up there, even in August! I spent the better part of 20 years racing monohulls before I went over to the dark side!
But when I moved to Florida 17 years ago, I met a guy with a new type of catamaran, the Hobie 20. He took me for a ride in a good breeze and the speed blew my mind. I started looking around and found a beater Hobie 18 for $500, learned how to sail a catamaran, traded it for a faster cat, traded that for an even faster cat, been through about 7 of them since then, and I've never missed the slowness of a monohull.
Oh, and the water here is much warmer, so I don't mind flipping over once in a while.
It's a lot more physical work racing the cats than any monohull (except the 505), but that keeps me young too!
Here you go, a 62' cruising cat vs. an 80' racing monohull, tell me who's not spilling their margaritas:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz_KvZs_qhY
Here's what I'm saving my money for:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jjxnCVI67O0