CATAMARAN vs MONOHULL

[nabeelah]

I am sure that this topic has been debated over & over BUT i need to refresh my views on this!! Could someone shed a comprehensive list on the pros & cons please!!

[AlloyToy]

From the research I've done thus far

Catamaran

PROS:
shallow draft
lowers hp requirement
more use able deck space
stability

Cons
requires 2 motors, rigging ect...
larger/special trailer req'd
tuna door between motors
higher center of gravity

There's a start

[Gundog]

It makes it harder to have a cuddy if that is important on smaller size hulls. I came really close to having Maxweld build me a 25'er and Andy had plans for a 23'er that I have a drawing for that he shared with me. Maxweld is no longer in business but I am sure you could have a marine architect draw up some plans and have one of the builders build it for you.

Mike

[AlloyToy]

Here is a 22' (which is 24') built by Armstrong....I like the looks of their Cat's

What happened with Maxweld???

[Gundog]

I forgot Armstrong made a small cat. They are very nice looking when I was in the market for a cat I talked to them and they seemed to be very good to deal with. In the end I chose to go with Maxwweld but I never had it built.

Maxweld closed after being sued by a customer in AK. I can't remember all the particulars but if you go to the Hull Truth and do a search for Maxweld you will get more of the sorted details.

Mike

[ruggit]

I think you will find Armstrong and Moose to be on the cutting edge of aluminum cats. Anyone shopping for an alloy cat should give them a call and talk about it with them. They have built enough cats for the government, lodges and private individuals to have pretty well refined their designs.

I have owned a few of the Armstrong mono hulls, and feel very comfortable doing business with them.


Came close to having them build a cat for me last year, but the sinking economy nixed that idea for now.

[CTMD]

How long do you have?

We do both so I'm relatively neutral.

Below 5.5m (18') a cat can't be built light enough and you get a better cabin on a mono.
5.5-7.5m (24.5') a cat will offer superior performance, stability and space. (we do a 7.5m cat that sleeps 4 without anyone sleeping in the saloon).
7.5-9m (31') cats of this size don't fit on a trailer so that is a plus for monos.
9-12.5m (43') a cat wins for all the reasons quoted in 5.5-7.5m. Up to this size either can be driven by outboards. The only reason to go monohull is if you want outboard engines but require in excess of 700hp to achieve your speeds (ie need three engines)
12.5-16m (55') Its pretty even here and depends a little on your priorities. The cat will be faster/ more stable and more efficient as well as having more deck space. The Monohull will have more accommodation by being able to use the space lost in the cat's tunnel.
16m+ the only real reason to go with a monohull is style or premade prejudice. The cat will be a better boat but when the majority of the population think boats they think monohulls.

Generally speaking a cat will cost quite a bit more to buy / build, but length for length you also get more boat for you money Our 7.5m cat sleeps four without any bunks and without sleeping on couches or tables and has a fully enclosed bathroom, our 8.5m mono achieves the same but one person is on a fold up bunk and another is on the couch in the saloon. The cat would be almost 5 knots faster with the same HP.

[akcat]

Give Josh or Corey Armstrong a call. I have nothing but good things to say about them with my cat build last year. They are coming up to Anchorage to take care of a couple issues for me here this month. I love the boat and outperforms my old boat ( 2007 30' SeaSport Offshore with twin D-4) in almost all aspects. One of the reason we sold the mono hull was because my dad get vertigo and is getting old:) ( sorry not sure bout that spelling) and the rolling on anchor while fishing for halibut wasn't a good thing. With a the cat there is a minimal roll and makes for a much more stable platform for my dad. I think mono hulls handle 5'-7' waves head on better then my cat does but if can quarter them I'll do 33 knts all day long. I also love the cat in a following because of the predictability of the hull.

[AlloyToy]

CTMD can you post some pix of that 7.5m cat

[M1911]

What happened with Maxweld???

Maxweld went bankrupt and there are a number of lawsuits pending as a result.

[CTMD]

This lovely design was modified and bastardized from the lovely boat you see here to the overly tall 8m that I've posted photos of before, due to client requirements and requests.

[AlloyToy]

Why do so many of the boats down your way Chris have an aft sloping windshield, and so many in the North Pacific have forward facing windshields? Just an observation

[CTMD]

Its a marketing thing. In the US ali boats have a lot less market share and what market there is are chasing the perception of a go anywhere rugged boat. This is supported by the workboat style fwd sloping window. In Australia and New Zealand where ali boats are accepted in their own right they need to compete aesthetically as well as functionally. Forward sloping windows were originally developed to reduce the impact of green water hitting the window, the reduced glare aspects are a added advantage that can be achieved in other ways. With modern materials (toughened glass) and appropriate engineering the windscreen is far more capable of surviving wave impacts which are very rare on a planing power cat anyway so the forward sloping window gets sacrificed to the gods of style.

[AlloyToy]

Les thanks for that link on the other site....I knew there were more Cat builders out there

[JETTYWOLF]

Many are just butt azz ugly is one down side.......



VERSUS:

http://www.billmunsonboats.com/ - these.

[mojomizer]

Cmtd that 7.5 meter Alloy Cat is beautiful Soooooo AT buddy when you going to get one?????


Cmtd do you make custom trailer's for your designs.


Pure alloy magic, Thanks for sharing

Mark
2325 Wa Pacificskiff

[CTMD]

Mark we let the trailer experts worry about that. But we are always happy to work with them and provide any info they need.

[Jay Perrotta]

An experienced alloy builder once said something to me that has always stuck...

"Every line on an aluminum boat drawing is money"

he meant that everywhere you see a line there is either a bend or a weld in metal boat building and in NON ALLOY they can inexpensively put lines everywhere!

Cats usually have lots of lines on their drawings....

Personally (and maybe this is simply my New England upbringing) I can't get used to them. My favorites are the Moose Boats - somehow they look correct when many do not look "right".

I've only driven one cat and found unsettling/odd the outboard roll during a turn. Its like someone who is used to driving motorcycles and then gets on a bike with a sidecar. That upright posture in a turn is equally disconcerting.

[CTMD]

Yes the "lines" are a killer. when helping experienced ali builders quote on their first cat I usually advise them to base the labour price on 1.5 monohulls of a similar size. It's always interesting to get the priorities off builder's, when we were designing the first boat for Alloy Cats the owner prioritized labour way over materials so wherever possible frames etc where left in one piece which resulted in a much higher material usage than we were used to. Those boats (the 10-11m) on their web site also feature a lot of bent/folded plates creating a ready made radius corner with much less work. When working with the Chinese who actually pay more for ali than we do here in Aus but obviously much less for labour, the reverse applies so their kits are absolutely shredded to get as much yield from the metal as possible.

In Australia there are an increasing number of powercat tinnies (pressed soft metal boats) which muddy the waters quite a bit market wise and result in a lot of long conversations about the difference between a plate boat and a tinny.

For those interested in more catamaran propaganda there is a lot of info here. Roger's new 14m is definitely worth taking the time to click on.