On July 31 2010 the Atlantic 57 Catamaran Anna with a crew of two was capsized by a violent squall 125nm from Tonga in the South Pacific.

How often do catamarans capsize. This lesson can be advanced further as shown below. The truth is a well-designed catamaran behaves much like a light displacement monohull. By burying a bow and tripping over it and the vast majority of these are racing catamarans.

This technique is called heeling and requires careful training on how to hike out and. But it does happen from time to time. This news came as a shock to me and most of the owners of Atlantic Catamarans as well as sailors of other cruising catamarans.

They may be far apart but theyre out there and many big ships have been lost to them. Why do catamarans capsize. One of the exciting sailing features of mini catamarans is that they can lift off one hull and ride on the other.

This is why catamarans are often the ship type of choice for long sea voyages due to their stability. Cruising catamarans have two diesel engines and an engine failure on a catamaran is not a catastrophe like it could be on a. The larger vessels that is anyway.

Most racing catamarans are built with very slender hulls to reduce the wetted surface area which reduces drag which in turn increases speed. Whether a boat capsizes or not has a lot to do with something called its centre of gravity. Catamarans are known for their stability so typically if a capsize event should occur it is typical for them to be extreme circumstances.

If you have raced planing dinghies or catamarans you know that when the wind is puffy and you are occasionally overpowered on a reach pulling up the centerboard leeward fin on a cat allows the boat to skid sideways with the puffs dissipating the wind energy. Racing Catamarans often capsize because they are little more than Hobie Cats driven to the edge under extreme conditions so it really should not be in this discussion. Smaller catamarans are often raced and pushed beyond safety limits.