Speed Its often said that a catamaran is usually faster than a monohull of similar size but even on our old heavy displacement monohull a Tayana 37 weve overtaken modern bigger cruising catamarans.

Monohull vs catamaran speed. Its less tiring to sail a catamaran than it is to sail a monohull. While you can get away with a cruising load on a monohull the same weight has the tendency to slow a catamaran. Generally cats slide sideways leeway a lot more when sailing into the wind than monohulls meaning that you will travel further on an upwind leg in order to get where you are going than on a single hulled.

Why does this performance discussion persist. On some catamarans you get an irritating slapping of water on the bridge decks in rougher seas. Catamarans will generally have a jerky fast motion while monohulls tend to be more gentle and slow.

Speed difference Catamarans are in most of the sailing conditions faster than monohulls because of their hulls which are less immersed in the water and have a smaller area in the water to create drag. Personally I find the most important benefit of speed of a multihull is the ability to outrun bad weather. Logs for deliveries for monohulls and catamarans from the Chesapeake to the Virgin Islands about a 1500 mile trip with varying conditions we find that the catamarans of the same size average about 20 better passage speeds.

The only downside is that multihull vessels are only this fast if the load is relatively light. Your speed is very dependent on the point of sail and the particular designs strength. Being able to average 9- 10 knots on a catamaran rather than 6-7 knots on a monohull will give you more options in your strategy to avoid bad weather.

The movement is very different in itself. This is because they face less water resistance and their narrow hulls dont have to deal with their own bow waves as a monohull does. Catamaran speed is relative.

Monohull debate see here. Sailing flat has definite advantages. Catamarans are usually faster than monohulls particularly on downwind runs reaches and broad reaches.