What do I need to know before buying a sailing Catamaran ?

How likely your crew will want to come back & sail with you? Easier to single-hand trimarans, but less internal space.

 

Just chiming in to the discussion, I've been sailing for 45+ years. Learned on a Sabot 8' dinghy. Sailed and owned Hobie cats, sailed tri s, Eventually landed with Cal 2-27 monohull. My experience you will really learn sailing on a smaller boat then gradually increase size, rent, borrow etc before buying. A boat no matter how much u use it is a money pit.

 

Agree - started with sailfish, then sunfish, then Ensign, then F-27 trimaran, then F-31 trimaran, then Arrow iceboat (60mph), then Nite iceboat (70 mph), then Standart Landyacht (70 mph), then E-skeeter bubble iceboat (90 mph). Get the dingy first....
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1)The main question I would have is do you a mooring for a cat? You limit yourself with a cat.
2) Do the charter thing a few times before you buy. You may find boating is not for you.

3) Take classes.

4) Go to boat shows. Check them all out.

There is nothing like sleeping on a boat with the waves slapping against the hull.

 

That is very cool

 

Thanks! At least I get to sit inside...
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I think the Ferrari forum is not the best place to learn about sailing.

I had plenty of dinghy sailing experience from my youth, didn't sail for 20 years, then bought a 38ft Baltic monohull in 2011. It took me a couple of years of reading up and some courses to get comfortable with the boat. And I'm still learning tonnes. There is a massive difference between dinghy/hobie and yachts (mono/multi) because there are so many systems on board and you need to know them all. Sailing 1hr away from the dock is a lot different from being 300 miles off shore, too far from helicopter rescue. If you are looking for a 40ft cat, you will be going offshore (presumably), and you need to know a lot more than just the basics.

To see how to prepare your boat, the requirements for the ARC (Welcome to World Cruising Club), are an excellent start.

Our crossing of the Bay of Biscay last June - our first crossing of over 24hrs - was a bit of a baptism of fire, had water in the boat (leak), 8BF, 18ft waves, 160 miles offshore. But we were very well prepared to deal with emergencies, and we controlled the situation and the emotions to arrive safely.

Do NOT underestimate sailing.

But it is worth all the expense and tribulations. A true adventure, still available in the modern world.


Onno
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Great thread. My wife and I have been introduced to sailing recently and there seems to be some very sage advice here.

 

learning to sail is not all that difficult, it's the PROFICIENCY that takes big bites out of your backside ( include the wallet and credit cards when things go wrong.

a 40ft ( 50 is better ) cat is about the right size to start with, if one wants to have creature features... your budget is a bit tight for something new... how much are you planning for operating expenses... boats require constant supervision and maintenance...
getting dock space gets interesting with a catamaran... since they take up 2 spaces, the slip fees are automatically double ( if the marina will accommodate cats ) and the meter keeps on running

licensed captains are everywhere, hire one, he will be there to be your personal instructor / coach, his duties include maintaining the boat... you arrive to a clean provisioned boat and when the outing is over you just leave the boat to be prepped for the next time...

the hardest paid crew to find is an excellent chef, someone needs to cook and clean especially if entertaining guests... never leave shore without a first class chef... there is nothing worse that spending time in the galley while the guests are on deck enjoying themselves...

DIY boating sucks if the object is to have fun friends / entertain... a $10,000 per month all in budget would be a comfortable amount to have play time on demand and no work

 

My FIL has a ~45ft catamaran. I don't own a 355, but I think i'd rather buy a 355 with lots of problems than deal with the headaches he's had to deal with. With that being said I love riding on his boat.

 

YachtSalvage.com - Executive Yacht 72' 2007 for sale

I was looking at this , lovely