catamaran heart

Our Cruises

Set sail for spectacular gulf coast adventure.

Wild Hearts catamaran sails Orange Beach, Perdido Key and Gulf Shores daily with cruises on our inshore waters and the Gulf of Mexico. From intimate sunset sails to fun-filled family adventures, we offer cruises to suit crowds of all shapes, sizes and styles.

For private charters and discount requests, call Sail Wild Hearts at 251-981-6700.

Sunset Cruise

There’s no better way to end an exciting day in Gulf Shores or Orange Beach than with a sunset cruise. Our stunning sunsets are made to soothe the soul, and Wild Hearts creates a relaxing atmosphere where the colorful horizon feels close enough to touch. You’ll never view a sunset the same way!

Your 1.5 to 2-hour Sunset Cruise in Orange Beach, Gulf Shores and Perdido Key includes complimentary ice water, soft drinks and light hors d’oeuvres. Adult passengers may bring a small cooler with beverages of their choice.

Dolphin & Angels Sailing Adventure

The Dolphins & Blue Angels sail mixes gravity-defying aerial stunts with smooth sailing on Wild Hearts for a match made in coastal paradise. Board our spacious 53-foot, open-ocean catamaran on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during the spring and summer for an adventure of epic proportions. Make priceless memories with your family and friends as you witness breathtaking aerial displays performed by the Blue Angels, the U.S. Navy’s precision flying team.

Wild Hearts will try to attend all Blue Angels practice dates subject to weather and our 15-passenger minimum booking requirement.

2024 Dolphins & Angels Sailing Dates

March  26, 27

April  2, 3, 9, 10, 16, 17, 23, 24, 30

May  1, 7, 8, 14, 15, 28, 29

June  4, 5, 11, 12, 18, 25, 26

July  16, 17, 23

August  21, 27

September  4, 10, 11, 17, 24

October  16, 22, 23

This six-hour sail includes breakfast and lunch for all passengers, as well as complimentary ice water, soft drinks, and fruit platters. There is no additional charge for kayaks or paddleboards. Life jackets are always included!

The Flight Plan

Your six-hour sail begins in Orange Beach, where you’ll board your morning dolphin cruise for a picturesque sail to Pensacola, Florida waters. On the way, bask in the sun or relax in the shade while watching for dolphins and other wildlife in the warm gulf waters. Complimentary beverages and fresh fruit will be available throughout the sail to keep you cool and refreshed.

Upon our arrival to Pensacola, we’ll find the best front-row seat for watching the fantastic flights as they soar overhead. A light lunch is served at anchor while you are entertained by the mind-bending displays of flight precision. After the show, a stunning sail back to Orange Beach is the only way to end your outstanding adventure with the Blue Angels.

About The Blues

An estimated 11 million spectators view the squadron each year in air shows. Throughout the life of the program, there have been 251 demonstration pilots and 35 flight leaders. Each pilot must complete 120 training flights during winter training to perform a public demonstration. Among their formations is the amazing Diamond 360 maneuver, in which the pilots will fly their planes within 18 inches of one another.

Kayak Adventure Sail

This thrilling three-hour adventure begins with a stunning sail through picturesque Perdido Pass and into the Gulf of Mexico. After spending the morning at sea, Wild Hearts will moor on Robinson Island in Orange Beach where you can spend the afternoon kayaking, paddle boarding, and sunning. You can even bring your own equipment for snorkeling. When you need a rest, recline, and relax in the shallow waters as you watch the boats come and go from the Gulf. Our drop-down staircase provides easy access from the boat to the water below, making this a great choice for adventurers of all ages.

The Kayak Adventure Sail is a three-hour sail that includes all of your kayaking and paddle boarding equipment and complimentary ice water. Soft drinks and snacks are also available onboard for purchase. Life jackets are always included!

Family Adventure Sail

This enjoyable nature cruise in Orange Beach provides fantastic fun for the whole family. Sailors of all ages will love navigating our nature scenes as you watch for wildlife and learn about our waterways. There’s always catch-and-release fishing, and swimming is available at your Captain’s discretion (sea state permitting).

The Family Adventure Sail is a two-hour sail that includes complimentary ice water. Soft drinks and snacks are available onboard for purchase. Of course, life jackets and corny jokes are always included!

Morning Dolphin Cruise

This fun expedition sets sail bright and early so you can meet the day with dolphins. Morning waters are calm and serene, creating a comfortable sail that’s perfect for watching pods at play. As we cruise, soak up the scenes – just remember to keep a watch on the waves for our fun-loving friends!

The Morning Dolphin Cruise is a 1.5-hour sail that includes complimentary ice water. Soft drinks and snacks are available onboard for purchase. Of course, life jackets and a good time is always included!

Afternoon Dolphin Cruise

Hop aboard one of our most popular tours to experience nature at its best. As we sail through gorgeous Gulf Coast scenery on our comfortable catamaran, keep your eyes peeled for playful dolphins swimming in the waves near our spacious viewing deck. You may even see a sea turtle! Our experienced crew knows just where to go to find our marine friends, so all you have to do is sit back and enjoy the ride.

The Afternoon Dolphin Cruise is a 1.5-hour sail that includes complimentary ice water. Soft drinks and snacks are available onboard for purchase. Life jackets and memories are always included!

Fireworks Sail

Set sail for a once-a-year experience with our Fireworks Sail on July 4! After we set sail at about 8 p.m., enjoy a relaxing cruise to our designated observation spot and get ready for a thrilling fireworks display.

Your 1.5-hour Fireworks Cruise includes complimentary ice water, soft drinks, and light hors d’oeuvres. Adult passengers may bring a small cooler with beverages of their choice.

eGift Cards

Give the gift of adventure with our personalized eGift cards for use on a future sailing.

Available in the following increments: $50 $100 $150 $200 Other – Your Choice!

Celebration of Life

Sailing offers a unique and personal setting to celebrate the life of a loved one. Gather with your family and friends aboard Wild Hearts as we sail into stunning scenes that soothe the soul and bring peace to your mind. Our compassionate crew will ensure you have everything you need for a memorable memorial at sea, from space to share stories and pour over photos to areas of quiet solitude where you can reflect and remember.  The quiet beauty of nature will bring a breath of fresh air to your fond memories as you memorialize the one you’re missing with the people that loved them the most.

Call 251-981-6700 for details.

RESERVATIONS

251-981-6700.

WILD HEARTS is located in Orange Beach, Alabama directly across the street from the PERDIDO BEACH RESORT 27101 Perdido Beach Blvd. (Hwy 182) Latitude: 30.278934 Longitude: -87.561368

Welcome to Perdido Key

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Sail Wild Hearts offers a variety of daily options to the general public. We offer Family Adventure sails, Kayak Adventure sail, Afternoon Dolphin sail, Dolphins and Blue Angels sail, Sunset Dolphin cruise, and custom private charters are offered, as well. Departs from the Perdido Beach Resort dock on the north side of Perdido Beach Blvd.

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We Never Underestimate Your Dreams

Stern styles and transom types – sugar scoop, reverse, wineglass, heartshaped, canoe, double ended, ducktail.

Some main types are the raked, flat, canoe, and reverse.

Raked The raked stern is typified by the elongated overhangs of the CCA rules. The Cruising Club of America (CCA) put down rules about the water line length of racing vessels. To increase speed, racers would have long overhangs which when heeled increased LWL and speed. A raked stern combines usually with a long overhang bow. Some examples are the Bermuda 40 and Countess 44.

Flat The flat transom can be plain or lovingly shaped like a wineglass or heart. The stern can be slightly raked but more often slightly reversed. From behind, the transom generally looks like a semi circle. The style traverses all eras. Examples include Herreshof’s Bounty and the Hylas 44.

Canoe Canoe or double enders have a spherical stern. The boat ends in an aerodynamic way. They are standard for cruisers boats for traditional reasons and some say stability issues. The spherical stern smooth edyies away the flow of water. Examples include Bob Perry designs like the V-40 and Harris designs like the Vancouver 42.

Reverse A reverse transom angles backwards from the waterline to the deck. A great example is the sugar scoop variety. A sugar scoop stern is a reverse transom which flexes inwardly, usually with swim steps. The easiest explanation is the picture to the right. You see the Hylas 49 which has such a stern. It gets its name from of course the actual sugar scoop, pictured later in this post. The boats stern is then not the end of the cockpit but actually a molded part of the hull. The cockpit end is set invisibly inside the hull going straight down from the sugar scoop’s upper lip. A sugar scoop stern is the most popular type nowadays.

Sugar scoop sterns provide easy access to the water. The crew can easily slip off and on sternwise to take a swim, launch the dinghy, or just drag their feet along lazily. Traditional sterns, especially a boat with high freeboard, are harder to climb. With a sugar scoop, the stern opens straight from the cockpit to the ocean.

Reverse transom yachts like sugar scoops effectively compare best to slightly smaller traditional models. A 45′ yacht with a sugar scoop compares more with a 40′ traditional transom. The reverse transom effectively adds an extra platform. The deck and storage space is about the same in 45′ reverse transom and 40′ traditional. The backwards slanted and stepped stern is only slightly volumnous. You can fit a little more junk into the aft of the boat or have a slightly larger aft cabin. The stern’s upper lip is more accurately the LOA than the lower lip. Therefore, the stern’s plus is the platform.

Conclusion Stern styles include the raked, flat, canoe, and reverse. The choice is all about what appeals to you.

6 Replies to “Stern Styles and Transom Types – Sugar Scoop, Reverse, Wineglass, Heartshaped, Canoe, Double Ended, Ducktail”

Don’t forget there is both a canoe and a vanishing point stern.  These are not the same stern.

Description of the Endeavour having ‘CCA’ overhangs.

The Endeavour was designed under Nathanael Herreshoff’s Universal Rule.

Not a lot mentioned of modern stern styles, like the plumb racing stern?

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2002 PERFORMANCE CRUISING Gemini 105Mc

Vessel summary, sold catamaran angel heart 2002 performance cruising gemini 105mc.

"angel-heart"

Basic summary.

DIMENSIONS & SPECIFICATIONS

HULL AND DECK CONFIGURATION

ENGINE DETAILS

GENERATOR DETAILS

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Boat Description

The Company offers the details of this vessel in good faith but cannot guarantee or warrant the accuracy of this information nor warrant the condition of the vessel. A buyer should instruct his agents, or his surveyors to investigate such details as the buyer desired validated. This vessel is offered subject to prior sale, price change, or withdrawal without notice. Photos may not properly reflect the current condition of the actual vessel offered for sale. In some cases stock photographs may have been used.

Mechanical Disclaimer

Engine and generator hours are as of the date of the original listing and are a representation of what the listing broker is told by the owner and/or actual reading of the engine hour meters. The broker cannot guarantee the true hours. It is the responsibility of the purchaser and/or his agent to verify engine hours, warranties implied or otherwise and major overhauls as well as all other representations noted on the listing.

Dinghy Disclaimer

All dinghies are considered separate vessels and should have separate titles and documents. There is no guarantee as to the title of the dinghy on this vessel so Buyer accepts that while he may receive the dinghy included in the transaction, he may not receive the proper title to it.

12 Best Catamaran Sailboats

Last Updated by

Daniel Wade

December 28, 2023

The appeal of the catamaran sailboats in terms of speed , stability, and the ability to embark on long-range cruising has made them hugely popular with today's sailors. But what are the best catamaran sailboats?

Even though catamaran sailboats have become increasingly popular in the last few years, they have a truly rich legacy as one of the most sought after vessels for bluewater cruising.

Thanks to their incredibly wide beams and bigger daft, catamarans have become remarkably favorable for sailors looking to go for long-distance voyages, overnight cruising, and day sailing.

And if space is paramount for you when out there on the water, a catamaran sailboat is the only way to go as they offer extraordinary space to allow you to spend more time on the water with friends and family.

But even with all these amazing features, you're probably still wondering; what are the best catamaran sailboats?

Like their monohull counterparts, choosing the best catamaran sailboat can be quite overwhelming since there are lots of them out there. They come in a wide variety of designs and sizes ranging from small catamarans to huge ones.

The best catamaran sailboats can easily clock 250-mile voyages, offer incredible performance, and have layouts that can be easily optimized for individuals, charter markets, and great accommodation. In essence, the best catamaran sailboats offer respectable performance and offer good load-carrying ability.

That being said, here are some of the best catamaran sailboats that you can get your hands on.

Table of contents

Best Catamarans

{{boat-info="/boats/manta-42"}}

Even though many multihulls are no longer built in the United States these days, the Manta 42 is a true American-built catamaran that brings good living and good value into one package. Designed cleverly for easy handling, this American built catamaran is a great choice for a liveaboard cruiser for sailors looking to go for long-distance voyages. Thanks to its trademark high bows and an enormously curved incorporated forward crossbeam, this catamaran is easily recognizable even from a distance.

It is designed with a uniquely fixed crossbeam, which is very different from conventional aluminum cross beams that support the tension of the forestay. This fixed crossbeam allows for a little bit of movement thereby helping in absorbing enormous twisting forces of the bows. As such, you have to keep in mind that there may be resultant stress crack particularly in the bow area of the vessel.

All in all, the Manta 42 is a superb offshore cruising catamaran that offers a good sail-area-to-displacement ratio as well as plenty of space and accommodation. The cockpit area is refined, luxurious, and is designed with additional stainless pushpit contraptions to help in holding objects such as wind vanes, dinghies, and solar panels. The boat's quality in terms of performance and stability is the benchmark of what a catamaran should be.

Fountaine Pajot Elba 45

{{boat-info="/boats/fountaine-pajot-elba-45"}}

Recently named the "Boat of the Year" for 2019 by Cruising World Magazine and Sail Magazine, the Elba 45 is the latest model in the incredible line of Fountaine Pajot catamarans. This boat was designed to replace the outgoing Helia 44 and stands to be one of the most popular catamarans with Fountain Pajot having sold over 100 Elba 45 hulls long before even the first one emerged from production.

This French-built cat brings to the fore a well-thought-out, safe, and dependable features with 10% less drag, efficient motoring, top-notch performance, and high speeds. It's also designed with fixed stub keels and slightly aft-raked bows, which are all essential in enhancing windward performance; something that most catamarans struggle with.

To improve on safety, the keels of this amazing catamaran sailboat are glued into a particularly designed recess in the hulls. This is to ensure that there are no keel bolts that can rip out and put the boat in danger if the boat gets grounded or in the event of a collision. The rig is also ICW friendly and is a true representation of a standard catamaran setup.

This is, without a doubt, a modern-looking cruising catamaran that has a low-profile lounging space on its deck, high topsides and bows as well as a more pronounced reverse sheer that's essential in minimizing the bulk of the windows while creating additional and useful volume below. This is a true catamaran that occupies a sweet spot for those looking to sail along the bay or for those adventurous sailors looking to set sail for more ambitious offshore cruising plans.

{{boat-info="/boats/leopard-48"}}

With its fine design, straightforward systems, and easy handling, the Leopard 48 has everything it needs to be ranked among the distinguished category of the best catamaran sailboats. This is an excellent multihull that is structured with advanced materials, designs, and innovations that are meant to be fun, spacious, and comfortable.

Designed in South Africa by Simonis-Voogd, is probably the best design in the Leopard family of catamarans. Its two hulls are vacuum-bagged using balsa core to offer maximum firmness while ensuring that the weight is on the minimum. This is done by articulately regulating the level of resin in the layup. With such types of hull shapes, this catamaran sailboat is very fast and can consistently clock 12 knots of speed against the currents.

The boat is also designed with shallow keels as they're filled with closed-cell polyurethane foam that's of great importance in increasing buoyancy and preventing water ingress. To enhance the safety of the vessel, the stern and bow both have bulkheads that are essential in keeping out that water if the sailboat is involved in a collision.

The hulls of this boat are deep and narrow, particularly below the waterline. They also curve higher up to practically reduce the wetted surface area while offering enough deck space and plenty of room for accommodations. Its cockpit is another excellent feature thanks to its lavish spaces that give you the chance of kicking back and relaxing.

This boat is designed to offer superior livability, quick and easy to handle features, as well as enough space for friends and family. It is designed with beautiful lines and immense practicality for those who want to go on long cruising voyages.

Antares 44i

While many people often believe that voluminous cruising catamarans should be used as charter boats, the Antares 44i brings a very different perspective altogether. Designed in Argentina as a complete bluewater catamaran, this is a boat that's specifically built for private boat owners looking for a sturdy and well-equipped bluewater cruiser. This is an absolutely gorgeous catamaran that has a fully-equipped cockpit just to ensure that you can safely operate it even when shorthanded.

Like most catamarans, the Antares 44i is designed with features that allow for long-distance voyages. It comes with a minimum bridge deck clearance of 30 inches, which is essential in mitigating bridge deck slap. The helm station is designed to offer excellent visibility over the coach roof without having to perch the helmsman high above the cockpit.

If you're planning to make those long-distance cruising to exotic places, you'll appreciate this boat's layout. The galley is put down in the port hull so that it doesn't compromise the size of the galley and the saloon. The forward-facing navigation station is up there with the best and is up to offshore standards. And that's not all; the Antares 44i comes with good mounting points for electronics, a large table, comfortable seats, and provides brilliant visibility outside.

This boat is perfectly suited for extended offshore cruising and is a great reminder for anyone who thinks that all catamarans are charter boats and all offshore boats are monohulls.

{{boat-info="/boats/dolphin-ocema-42"}}

Designed by Philipe Pouvreau in northern Brazil, the Dolphin Ocema 42 is a truly unique catamaran sailboat that goes against the conventional norm of catamarans. It is equipped with daggerboards, which are essential in enabling it to point higher on the wind while reducing the wetted surface when running or anchoring in shallow surfaces. This, however, requires a higher level of expertise in sailing. This is because lifting the daggerboards higher up will expose the rudders while the daggerboards can also interfere with the hulls in the event that the vessel runs aground.

But even with that, the Dolphin 42 balances incredible performance and cruising comfort in a very compact package; something that is not very easy in bluewater cruising. That's why it's designed using a foam core to make it lightweight by reducing weight wherever possible. This vessel will most likely never let you down if you want to circumnavigate the bluewater on a high-performance boat that is safe and comfortable.

So if you've been looking for a real sailing catamaran that doubles up as a very comfortable liveaboard sailboat , look no further than the Dolphin 42.

{{boat-info="/boats/catana-50"}}

Regarded as the best built and most stylish cruising multihull, the Catana 50 is a very huge catamaran sailboat. Measuring about 50 feet long with a beam of about 26 feet, this is an amazing catamaran that will test your sailing skills as a single sailor or if you're planning to sail shorthanded.

This boat is designed with a rig that gives you the option of using either a screecher or a self-tending jib. This may seem complex since the sheets are led to winches near each wheel while all other controls lead to a centerline winch that's located in the cockpit. But even with that, this sailboat can be easily tacked once on the course.

This is a real performance-oriented catamaran with efficient hulls and rigs allowing for top speed. This vessel is also designed with a long waterline and a subtle underwater shape at the bow to help in increasing volume while minimizing wave drag. The stern platforms can help in stretching the waterline length while also providing easy access from a dock or a dinghy. The board trunks are also very strong and sturdy to protect the integrity of the hulls if a collision occurs.

In essence, this is a very modern catamaran that's designed to safely make long-distance passages with ease. It is subdued in terms of styling but this doesn't mean that it falls short as far as performance is concerned.

Atlantic 42

{{boat-info="/boats/atlantic-42"}}

Designed in 1993, the A42 has cultivated a legion of fiercely loyal fans thanks to its efficiency and aesthetic. This is the smallest of the Atlantic cruising catamaran line and is hugely popular with sailors thanks to its ease of handling, ocean-going capabilities, and superb use of space. From the forward cockpit, pilothouse to the sleeping cabins, and brilliant galleys everything about this cat is a true classic.

Unlike most catamarans, the Atlantic 42 is designed with a waist-high cockpit that's located forward of the pilothouse just behind the mast. It brings forth a solid construction thanks to the large metal girder-like bearers that run across the bulkheads. This helps the vessel in having the utmost strength, better air circulation under the engine, and a high level of flexibility as far as the size of the engine and its positioning is concerned.

Initially, the boat's style and its outlook were considered conservative but it soon became clear that it is built of high-quality materials and to last. The internal construction of the boat is impressive, to say the least. The exterior looks very beautiful and perhaps much more beautiful than most boats today. Its large aft cabin accommodation is a top drawer while the space separating en suite heads and shower compartments are considered a bonus.

{{boat-info="/boats/fountaine-pajot-bahia-46"}}

If you were to board the French-built Fountaine Pajot Bahia 46, you'll agree that the high-quality of workmanship, layout, and efficient use of space is quite exciting, to say the least. This cat remains very popular among sailors thanks to its easy handling features and incredible performance under the sails. Well, this may not come as a surprise to many of us given that the Fountain Pajot is known for building some of the most remarkable cruising catamarans out there that it can be quite overwhelming to narrow down to a single vessel, but the Bahia 46 simply stands out.

This vessel is designed with hulls that are broader than those of many other catamarans. It's also designed with centerboards and daggerboards that are meant to enhance its performance. These are essential in minimizing draft while ensuring reliability, generous bilge, and in helping to protect the rudders and propellers.

This boat is big enough to manage any type of serious offshore sailing. This is one of the best cruising catamarans for anyone looking for the right vessel for long-distance sailing. This vessel has a very more generous rig than most cruising catamarans, which is essential in enhancing its performance. The six-post Bimini is very strong and clean and can perfectly hold dinghies.

In terms of its look, the Bahia 36 is designed with gorgeous lines with the deck and hulls sculpted with lines that add a touch of elegance to the overall look of an already excellent catamaran sailboat.

Gemini 105MC

{{boat-info="/boats/gemini-105mc"}}

Whether you're looking for a comfortable catamaran vessel to take you for a weekend sailing trip or a long sabbatical vacation on the oceans, the Gemini 105MC is a very satisfactory liveaboard catamaran vessel that offers spacious accommodation, thoughtful design, and a stable cruising platform for anyone who wants to have some good time on the water.

Designed by the legendary Tony Smith, this is somewhat a sailing cottage. Like a land cottage, it is cozy, comfortable, and very safe. This is essentially a 35 feet catamaran that offers great value for any sailing looking for a reasonably-priced catamaran sailboat for the weekend or holiday cruising.

This boat is designed with incredibly slim hulls, which are teardrop-shaped with flat bottoms and smaller wetted surface area. This is to ensure that drag is minimized and to lead to more leeway under sail. Each of the boat's hull is designed with a kick-up centerboard is of great importance in enhancing the vessel's windward pointing capability. This boat also has its rudders raised to enable it to seamlessly cruise in shallow waters where most vessels would otherwise run aground.

The eccentric narrow beam, which measures about 40% of the boat's length, is very different from today's 50%. However, its low center helps in keeping its stable, upright, and of course, safe.

Lagoon 450 F

{{boat-info="/boats/lagoon-450-f"}}

If you're looking for a catamaran sailboat that offers prestige at its peak, look no further than the Lagoon 450. This cat is widely known for offering an all-around comfort without compromising its beauty, spaciousness, class, and elegance. This is an elaborate French catamaran that brings to the table fantastic craftsmanship while leaving nothing to chance.

This is a very safe 45 feet catamaran that's not just comfortable but also very luxurious. The deck layout is centered on an amazing flybridge, which has been redesigned and redefined to offer both the traditional and modern outlook. You can very easily access the bridge, engine controls, steering station in a matter of seconds. As a result, this boat is efficiently designed to give you the ultimate control of almost every situation while on the water.

The spacious and luxurious interior of this boat is worth experiencing. The cabins and saloons are perfectly lit. We're talking about four to six cabins, eight to twelve berths, and up to four bathrooms. In essence, this boat can comfortably sleep eight to twelve people. This boat is designed to offer ultra-modern accommodations and amenities that come with little but amazing touches; all designed to make your life inside the catamaran enjoyable.

{{boat-info="/boats/gunboat-62"}}

An original performance catamaran cruiser from the iconic Gunboat manufacturer, the Gunboat 62 has truly cemented its place as one of the best catamaran sailboats to ever grace the oceans. Honestly speaking, this cat-inspired a whole range of other incredible boats including HH66 Catamaran and the Balance 526.

This is a boat that can perform admirably well in storms with a speed of over 35 knots despite being built using epoxy and E-glass with carbon-fiber structural components. It's designed with a distinct angular outline than most catamaran sailboats of its size and category. This is a vessel that was built for people looking to add more stuff and more gear for their voyages. In other words, you can have all the gear and equipment on this boat and still outperform a racing monohull of the same size.

Thanks to its lightweight feature, this vessel can sail upwind at speeds of over 17 knots and pinch up to 30 degrees. Just for comparison, the Gunboat 62 can tack through 95 degrees and still outperform the best racing monohulls. This boat is designed with a comfortable helm seat that offers 360-degree visibility as well as plenty of storage space, a functional working surface, and a luxurious cabin. Like many performance catamarans, the Gunboat 62 can attain about 20 knots if the conditions are right.

Privilege 615

{{boat-info="/boats/privilege-615"}}

Combining elegance, comfort, and style, the Privilege 615 is a lovely catamaran sailboat that seems to be always ready for a long offshore voyage. The roots of this incredible cat can be traced back to the 1980s when Philippe Jeantot opened up a boat-building company in France. As one of the best productions from the company, the privilege 615 sports a flybridge that comes complete with twin wheels, a sprawling sunbed, and other excellent features that will make your bluewater cruising a breeze.

Whether you want the charter version or a privately-owned version, the Privilege 615 is one of the most versatile catamaran sailboats. Step inside this vessel and you'll instantly notice the quality of the wood finish and the elegance of design. The advanced navigation station is not only ultra-modern but is perfectly stationed at a dedicated corner where you can control everything while still having a conversation with your friends and family.

This boat comes with multiple sleeping configurations to ensure that you and your guests can live aboard the boat for months on end. Although the boat appears like some sort of maze on the inside, you'll easily get used to it when you enter the forward section. That's not all; this boat has gorgeous lines that make the exterior beautiful just like the interior. Its sleek profile, incredible volume, and versatile interior make it one of the best catamaran sailboats out there.

There you have it; these are the best catamaran sailboats out there. It doesn't matter the one you choose, these cats will make your day out on the water and will serve you just right for your offshore voyages or for day sailing along the bays.

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I've personally had thousands of questions about sailing and sailboats over the years. As I learn and experience sailing, and the community, I share the answers that work and make sense to me, here on Life of Sailing.

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Catamaran Racing In Paradise

• By Todd Riccardi
• April 1, 2022

With St. Barts’ Gustavia Harbor disappearing behind us and the island’s mountainous terrain towering to our right, it feels so good to be sailing into the beautiful Caribbean Sea with a gusty 15-knot breeze and calm seas. Wind and spray rid us of three days of the sweaty boatwork we’ve put in to get our Formula 18 catamaran out of the shipping container, to the beach and meticulously rigged for the St. Barth Cata Cup.

We cruise the coast for a few miles and take in the sights, and suddenly find ourselves in the hard-hitting Atlantic Ocean. We’ve never sailed an F18 in anything like this, with 15-foot whitecapped rollers all around us. Launching off the crest and back down into the troughs of these giants is thrilling, but in the back of my mind, I’m starting to wonder how competitive we’ll be in these crazy conditions. As first-timers to this Cata Cup thing, we might just be out of our league.

The time comes for our first tack. My crew Matt Keenan, who I had pulled back into catamaran sailing after a hiatus, was rediscovering his trapeze skills when he swings into the boat, catches his foot in the hiking strap and tears it right off the trampoline. After a deep breath, I say aloud, “Well, we are going to have to do better than that.”

Keenan agrees, and a few heart-racing miles later we turn it into St. Jean Bay, point our bows toward the white, sandy strip, and run it up like a real beach-cat landing. We’ve arrived in the epicenter of the Cata Cup. It’s 2012, and I’m about to begin a 10-year run of participating in the best catamaran regatta in the world.

A truly one-of-a-kind event, the St. Barth Cata Cup began as a competition between Caribbean-based ­catamaran teams, but was reborn in 2008 as an open catamaran regatta. The switch to Formula 18s came a year later. This “modern version,” as sailors and organizers call it, is the brainchild of a group of locals who formed St. Barth Multihulls. This was the group with a vision to bring professional and amateur cat sailors from around the world to their island. But they didn’t just create another buoy-racing regatta. Their idea of fun is four days of exhilarating distance races, or “raids,” in big winds and big waves matched onshore by world-class social activities.

Competitive racing in a legit, high-caliber international class—in an exotic location and for an absurdly low entry fee—is too good to be true. For the roughly $1,200 entry fee, organizers house us, feed us, provide a rental car, and even ship our boat from Miami.

The hype surrounding the event is noticeable everywhere on the island: Local sponsors go all in, and the community ensures everyone has an amazing time, welcoming the sailors as if they were family. It’s been this way right on up to the 2021 edition, which hosted 62 teams, myself included for the fifth time since 2012. In 2017, only two months after a direct hit from Hurricane Irma, which destroyed buildings and stripped nearly every tree bare of its leaves, organizers made the event happen without missing a beat. Every year, they come back with surprises and changes—from the parties to the racecourses. The event is never exactly the same, and every competitor leaves wanting to come back for more. And it’s also why entry is a lottery, which opens seven months out from the regatta, with many teams not making the cut.

On the morning of my first Cata Cup race back in 2012, I recall the regatta’s principal race officer sounding a horn to gather the competitors around an easel with a big chart and an outline of the course explained in French. Our interpretation of the course is a bit confused, but given our rough delivery sail the day before, we agree to approach the first race conservatively. We have no expectations of actually leading, so our strategy is to follow the boats ahead of us. The only thing we’re certain of is that the windward mark will be set off La Tortue, an aptly named turtle-shaped rock. We’ll just sail in that general direction.

At the start, the wind peaks at 15 knots, and the waves are down to 10 feet. These are new conditions for us, and after sailing upwind for 20 minutes, we stare at a giant pile of rocks awash in the big waves. We realize then that there is no mark. The rocks are the mark. There is no one in front of us.

So much for following the boats ahead of us.

We forge on between La Tortue and the rock pile, oblivious to how close we can go before we have to tack. In this harried moment of uncertainty, Olympian and Volvo Ocean Race veteran Carolijn Brouwer is closing in fast. I’m pretty sure she’s telling us to tack, and I respond, “You first!”

It was a great lesson to learn the adrenaline and skill it takes to navigate the courses at this event, and that you can sail quite close to most of the rocks.

The local sponsorship works by partnering with a team and putting signage on the boats. As luck would have it, we scored the famous and posh Nikki Beach Club, which is right next door to the regatta headquarters, where the majority of the boats sail from. With one or two raids per day, all the competitors return to shore in between races for a satisfying supplied lunch, some beach recovery, and even a nap if needed.

It’s all very civilized, but well-deserved after beating up our bodies every race. Each year, the round-the-island race serves as the pinnacle of the event. Weaving in and out of bays and tearing out into the big seas, there’s a magical mixture of upwind crashing through waves, blast jib reaching, and cruising through pristine waters on the south side of the island. While an opportunity to take in the beautiful scenery, the competitive spirit remains tense to keep racing until the end. On this particular race around, we enjoy a tight battle with Olympian and catamaran legend Enrique Figueroa. Trust me, we’re more than ecstatic to place second to “Quique.” And to top it off, as soon as our bows tap the powder-soft sand, hostesses from our boat sponsor Nikki Beach serve us chilled Champagne. It’s all a bit surreal and unexpected, the overall theme of this event that you must learn to embrace.

While many regattas have a party, the Cata Cup sets a new bar after each day of sailing, with dinner served and followed by a concert from top entertainers. Daily winners are called on stage and given a bottle of fine local rum. And after the prizes are doled out, the band that’s been jetted in for the night ignites the dance floor. During their set break, a slick, professionally edited video projects onto an oversize inflatable screen on the beach. It’s a visual feast of tropical high- performance cat sailing—as if we need to be reminded how lucky we are.

Every time I go and as soon as I step on the island, the smile on my face is permanent for days—no, weeks—afterward. All of us have regatta memories, but this has become a dream I want to relive every year. Thankfully, there are plenty of event videos to hold me over until next year.

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9 Reasons Why You Should Buy a Catamaran

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Whether you’re a monohull enthusiast curious about the advantages of multi-hull boats, or you’re set to invest in your next boat and are debating monohull versus multi-hull, there are plenty of reasons to opt for a catamaran. 

Reasons why you should buy a catamaran include the quality of space you gain, speed of performance, handling and stability, and affordable cruising costs. Opt for a catamaran if you value exploring coastlines close-up, peaceful anchorages, and a life at sea with enhanced comfort.

In the following article, I list why boat buyers make the switch to catamarans, ditching monohull’s ballast and confined spaces for a spacious boat that produces exhilarating speeds. I also breakdown tips on selecting the right catamaran for you. Read on to discover everything your future catamaran holds in store for you.

Table of Contents

The History of Catamaran: Distinct Advantages Over Monohull

Etymologically, the word catamaran derives from the Tamil word ‘kattumaram,’ which translates roughly as ‘logs bound together.’ When you think about a catamaran’s structure—its resemblance to two logs bound together—you see how a catamaran’s parallel hulls and its inherent geometry give the boat stability. The design also offers unique advantages to its crew, which we unpack later on.

By the nature of their design, a catamaran has less hull volume than a monohull craft. They also have smaller displacement and a shallower draft compared to similar length monohulls. Even with the two hulls’ surface combined, a catamaran has less hydrodynamic resistance, which means a catamaran demands less propulsive power.

Here’s a quick summary of the advantages so far:

• Greater stability 
• 25-30% faster than a monohull
• Better heeling characteristics
• Better seakeeping characteristics, specifically with a heave, pitch, and roll motions.

Now let’s take a deep dive into why you should buy a catamaran.

Abundant Interior Space and Comfort

When you examine the design layout, one element becomes abundantly clear—catamarans promise more comfort and space than monohulls. A quick look at the Lagoon 450 S Sports Top , for example, presents an abundance of living areas that are pleasantly distributed throughout. 

The cockpit and living space make for extremely comfortable living conditions, vital if you’re to enjoy a long voyage. The galley and saloon on a catamaran are situated on the same level as the deck and helm, making for ease of transition between the two areas. 

Food preparation and social occasions can take place in a shared area, no longer divided by awkward design conventions. Then there’s the matter of bedroom space evenly distributed across the boat in private areas, affording crew members separate areas to recharge and recalibrate. 

Going beyond the aesthetic appeal of space and creature comforts that catamarans can accommodate, let’s return to catamarans’ proven stability. Stability refers to how a boat tends to return to its original state after a disturbance (i.e., being struck by a wave). 

Anyone who’s ever rolled around below deck in a monohull and suffered seasickness will appreciate that a catamaran’s stability and reduced heeling instill more impressive below deck comfort—you’re far less likely to suffer the blows of waves or to find yourself suddenly off-balance. 

What is seasickness?

The Sensation and Advantage of Speed

At 20-25% faster than a monohull of like size, while you may not be looking to out clip your sea-faring monohull colleagues when it comes to the need to outrun inclement weather, a cat, as they’re affectionately called, will ensure fast performance. Even if you’re sailing upwind at an angle greater to the wind than a monohull, which would mean covering a longer distance, you’ll still arrive at your destination ahead of your monohull bound colleagues.

In the context of bad weather, speed is paramount for dodging an incoming storm or rolling waves. Combined with an onboard weather station that will keep you abreast of weather reports, your catamaran’s speed, maneuverability, and ease of handling will put you ahead of changes as they occur at sea. 

And speed is more than keeping ahead of bad weather situations; sometimes, you want to let your cat loose on the open water and feel her run. With a cat’s layout optimizing vision from the helm, combined with the feeling of an unfettered blast of the wind in your sails, a cat’s speed is an unbridled pleasure to experience from the comfort of a spacious deck that offers incredible views and sensations.

If you’re investing in a high-end boat, why not combine speed with luxury? Catamarans are known to be the ideal mix of both features. Speed is a limiting factor for monohulls, but that’s not the case with catamarans. They’re designed for optimal aerodynamics and sailing unlike anything you’ve tried.

Stability Equals Safety

Catamarans have no ballast stored within their keels , their stability derives from the beam and buoyancy. Suppose you have a 45-foot catamaran. Its beam is likely to be close to 50% of the length, making a 22-ft wide, stable platform. 

The result of extra width is more desirable seakeeping and reduced healing effects. The total effect of these desirable qualities is a boat that’s safe to maneuver about, either above deck, amongst the rigging, or within the living quarters. 

Let’s add to a catamaran’s advantages the comfort and confidence it lends to those within your crew susceptible to motion sickness —two elements of a catamaran combine that diminish the impact of motion at sea. Anyone predisposed to seasickness, a catamaran’s stability, and above sea-level galley and saloon will ensure that person never loses sight of the horizon nor experiences the swelling motion that brings on nausea. 

The level sailing of a catamaran also increases the likelihood of never losing a crew member overboard in adverse conditions. The possibility of a disaster is significantly reduced. Add to this the amount of ballast locked into the boat’s closed-cell foam construction; you gain substantial additional buoyancy, always a must when afloat. 

Whether you’re a beginner or a lifetime sailor, safety is a top concern for most people. Boat enthusiasts will be impressed by the style and previously mentioned aero and hydrodynamics, and anyone who wants to own one of these top-of-the-line boats will enjoy the peace of mind with the catamarans very stabile design.

Shallow Draft, Blissful Anchorages

A prime reason for selecting a catamaran must also be the availability of sublime anchorage sites . Monohulls sit significantly lower in the water than a catamaran. Suppose your 40-50ft catamaran has a draft ranging between 3-ft to 4.5-ft; in that case, shallow waters become a haven to drop anchor, so you can expect to anchor your cat close to a beach . 

Having a shallow draft on your cat means you can get closer to exploring with minimized chances for running aground. While anchored, you once more benefit from your cat’s inherent stability. Forget about endless bucking rodeo pitching and rolling, as catamaran’s have significantly reduced pitching, making for a more comfortable anchorage despite off-shore rollers. 

The shallow resting position is created by the widely separated hulls, low weight, and high buoyancy. Catamarans can go much closer to docks and shallow water than most boats. They won’t scrape the bottom or cause anchoring issues. Instead, you can get close to sea caves, coral reefs, and other natural features without damaging your boat or nature.

However, shallow cruising isn’t the only advantage of the catamaran’s unique design. The low-profile construction makes these boats much easier to anchor than most others. For more information, proceed to the next section.

Why you should use a catamaran bridle when anchoring!

Low Profile: An Awesome Anchorage Experience

Assisting a cat’s stability is the bridle set-up option for dropping anchor and attaching that anchor to your cat. A bridle (system of ropes) is attached to both bows and the anchor chain, which has an even distribution of force pulling both bows. It’s a case of two stabilizing forces across the boat’s geometry is better than one stabilizing force. 

So once more, you’re looking at a boat that’s going to give you a significantly more pleasant anchorage experience than a monohull would provide.

Last, the cat’s shallow draft means you can access your boat’s hull for shallow-water repairs . It’s unlikely you’ll need to do such a repair, but it’s good to know that once the tide’s out, your boat will rest upon her keels as you go about performing any have-to jobs on the exterior hulls.

Learn how to beach your catamaran

Maneuver and Explore

Along with the two hulls, your catamaran comes equipped with two engines. First, an extra engine lends your experience peace of mind. Should one engine fail, you’ve another in reserve. But we’re talking about the power and maneuverability you get with a catamaran, which comes from two engines placed within each hull. 

With two engines set on either side of your catamaran, you gain agility and precision steering. Once you add bow-thrusters to the equation, you’ll be chartering unchartered waters and exploring to your heart’s content. In case you moor your catamaran at a marina, precision steering comes into its own, adding a keen advantage to even an unseasoned helmsman. 

With precision steering coupled with shallow draft and the extra space you have on deck, you’ll be able to squeeze your cat into the most private and secluded of bays.

Sail through shallow water with complete control. There’s no scraping, crashing, or excess rocking. It’s as easy as it gets with a luxury boat.

Why do Catamarans have engines?

Powered by Your Environment 

For some seafarers, the romance of traveling by the power of wind and sail alone is a draw that’s especially resonant for eco-conscious souls. But what if you need to rely upon those motors to drive your cat when the wind leaves you wanting?

Catamarans, by the nature of their design, have exponentially larger flat surface areas than any monohull. This large surface area is a perfect catchment area for sun rays, which solar panels can capture and convert to electricity.  

Take the likes of catamaran like the spectacular Silent 80 or the Sunreef Power Eco . Admittedly, catamaran of this caliber is currently very pricey, so they remain affordable only by the elite few. However, these crafts allude to the future of catamarans. If this is the case, expect endless cruising opportunities devoid of reliance upon fossil fuels, thereby putting man and boat once more in sync with nature.

If you don’t want to spend a little extra on these high-end models, you can install solar panels on any catamaran. Hire a professional to wire a few 100W panels from the deck to the engines. You might not get the same amount of power as you would with the Silent 80 or Sunreef Power Eco, but you’ll cut back on the boat’s power consumption.

Check out the solar panels that we used on our boat in the bahamas!

Cost Efficiency

Returning once more to the advantages of two slim hulls with less hydrostatic resistance than one large monohull, catamaran’s double hull means more than greater speed; it makes greater efficiency. These boats, with their shallow draft, demand less from their engines and sails. The consequence of a catamaran owner? A substantial saving in operational costs accrued over distances. 

The measurable improvement in catamarans’ efficiency compared to monohull counterparts gives catamaran the edge over seafarers who prioritize sustainability alongside performance. Additionally, these beautiful crafts, thanks to their superior ease of management, require fewer crew members. Combine this with greater fuel efficiency, and you find yourself gazing upon a boat that has lower running costs and the cache of being greener.

If you add the aforementioned solar panels, you’ll increase the cost efficiency even more. You’ll use much less diesel, especially on sunny, windy days.

Save fuel and money with these tips!

According to The Multihull Company , catamarans hold their value much better than most boats. They typically don’t depreciate beyond 60% of their original value, regardless of their age (assuming they’re kept in good condition).

It’s no secret that catamarans are luxury boats, but that doesn’t mean you have to lose the investment right away. Keep it updated and upgraded, then sell it for a hefty price when you’re ready to get another (or maintain it for many decades to come).

Best catamarans under 200k

Board With Ease

When was the last time you boarded a monohull? Depending on the design of a monohull, boarding these vessels can be a challenging task. Then you have to maneuver about your boat, from deck to saloon, from prow to stern. Monohulls have high-sides and obstacles. In contrast, catamarans are easy to access, either from a dinghy or coming out of the water.

When you’re investing in such a high-end boat, ease of access and comfort should be at the front of your concerns. Fortunately, catamarans provide everything you need to board them easily. Water access provides a new layer of excitement. You can dive into the water, swim around, fish, and enjoy the scenery.

With this summary of a catamaran’s advantages spelled out, let’s take a look at how to choose the best catamaran for your sailing style and which cats would be optimum. 

What to Look for When Buying the Best Catamaran 

Choosing the optimum catamaran for your sailing preferences is paramount. Supposing you’re tempted to invest in or charter a catamaran, we’ve set out some tips to help you select the right catamaran for you. In the end, you’ll find information and resources for marine surveyors since you should never invest in a second-hand boat without a survey.

Establish Your Sailing Preferences

Are you a weekend cruiser or a long-distance, all-year-round sailor? Do you prefer performance or value space and comfort? Luxury boats like Lagoon make for a luxurious life at sea, but they’re slower, which could be a drawback to your long-distance dreams.

Take the time to define what you want from your boat and be honest with how you intend to use it. List the factors that are important to you and set those against your sailing habits. Once you appreciate your needs, you’ll be able to work out the criteria your cat must deliver.

Which Hull Type: Daggerboard or Fixed Keel?

Catamarans have two hull types to choose from, which is another factor you must consider since it will affect how your boat handles. But which should you choose for your catamaran, daggerboard or a fixed keel ?

Advantages and Drawbacks of a Catamaran With Fixed Keels 

Advantages and Drawbacks of a Catamaran With Daggerboards

Catamarans are sensitive to the weight or payload they carry. Therefore, how much gear do you plan to take onto your cat? What’s its payload? A regular production cat will be more forgiving than a fast cruising multihull. Add this information to your criteria when shopping for your cat: do you value speed and performance more or less than what you plan to carry with you?

Bridgedeck Clearance

The space between the hulls up to the underside of the cat’s cross-section, or saloon, is called the bridgedeck. This is the part of your cat that will slap the waves and create noise. Catamarans that have higher bridge decks make for a quieter cruise as you gain less sound from waves slapping the underside of your bridgedeck. The benefit of a higher bridgedeck is also a smoother sailing experience with reduced jarring from each wave strike. 

Research Catamaran Brokers and Users

We value word of mouth recommendations and genuine user experience to compile facts and opinions, so we encourage you to talk with boat brokerages and boat users across a broad area to glean first-hand information on boats. Share your criteria for a catamaran and a broker worth their sales percentage should freely offer their expertise to steer you towards a boat that’s an excellent fit. And be sure to inspect as many boats as you can that fall within your budget.

Charter a Trial in All Weather Conditions

It’s the old ‘try before you buy’ trick that’s tried and tested. Whether you are opting for a brand new luxury catamaran or purchasing a second-hand catamaran, don’t be hasty. If you can, charter the vessel so that you can put it through its paces, realize its perks and pitfalls—before you part with your money. 

In case you plan on buying a second-hand catamaran, talk with the vendor, and arrange to trial the boat in various conditions to see how it handles. Where you can, look through maintenance records to discover any past faults or times that it’s been docked. The better sense you have of a boat’s history and handling, the better chance you have of selecting your ideal catamaran. 

Should You Have a Marine Surveyor Assess Your Boat Pre-Purchase?

Investing in a complete marine survey prior to purchase is the best thing you do—and it will save you from expensive nightmares further down the line. In the same way, you’d not buy a house without a surveyor’s report, pay a boat surveyor to assess your boat to ensure you purchase a boat that’s in top condition. 

A boat surveyor will measure aspects such as hull condition; consider the AC and DC circuits, outboard motors, onboard safety features, and other elements of your boat you’d not even consider. They’ll notice elements an untrained eye would miss; and, their assessment can give you leverage when it comes to bargaining on price also.

For a comprehensive list of accredited marine surveyors, check out the following organizations:

• The National Association of Marine Surveyors
• The Society of Accredited Marine Surveyors

The website of each organization contains information on marine surveys. Most significantly, marine insurance underwriters accept value surveys or pre-purchase surveys from surveyors registered to either organization.

Final Thoughts

Catamarans are in a league of their own in terms of the advantages they offer to sailors, and depending upon your preferences for sailing, there’s a rig that’ll suit you. Whether you plan to buy a luxury liveaboard catamaran or a catamaran for short weekend trips, we’re convinced that catamarans are the boat of the future. 

Check out the best Catamarans under 200k

Owner of CatamaranFreedom.com. A minimalist that has lived in a caravan in Sweden, 35ft Monohull in the Bahamas, and right now in his self-built Van. He just started the next adventure, to circumnavigate the world on a Catamaran!

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Braveheart Charter Information

Charter Yacht Braveheart is an all-inclusive, luxuriously appointed, well equipped, modern 58ft performance catamaran, accommodating 2 to 9 guests in fully air conditioned comfort. Spend a week diving and relaxing aboard Braveheart, in the Virgin Islands or Grenadines. Our chef tailors the gourmet menu to your personal choices of cuisine. Relax with a Caribbean cocktail and enjoy the sunset in the spacious cockpit. Learn to scuba, windsurf, kayak, or fish, right off the boat surrounded by breath-taking scenery. Braveheart has all of the modern conveniences, such as scuba compressors, watermaker, en-suite a/c with separate controls, and in room entertainment systems. The four private staterooms, each with en-suite dry head and separate shower, accommodate up to eight guests. There is a single for the ninth guest. The 4 staterooms and single bunk make Braveheart perfect for 4 couples or 2 families with children to enjoy in spacious comfort. Crew quarters are to starboard midships with their own head & shower and 2 forward bunks with a separate deck entrance. There is an additional hot and cold water transom shower on the aft deck. Relax on the trampoline gazing at the stars and enjoy the vacation of a lifetime.

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Running expenses of the yacht Cruising permits and B.V.I. Taxes All food drinks and reasonable bar Capt and Chef Snorkel gear Use of watersports equipment Dive tanks and weights for certified divers are included

Nov 2016 - Aug 2017 Rates based on 7 night stay

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How We Chose the Best Liveaboard Catamaran

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It was eye-opening when we began our preparation to shop for a cruising catamaran. We didn’t have many clues as to what to look for. We did know that we needed to research (a lot) and rely on others’ knowledge and experience.

We listened and learned throughout our six-month process of buying a sailing catamaran. We also figured out which advice to take to heart.

Here are the five important things to look for and take into account when choosing the best liveaboard catamaran and the perfect boat for you and your crew.

1. What Size Catamaran Do You Need?

The most common advice we found was to buy the smallest sailing cat we could comfortably live aboard.

Here are a few tips for deciding on your catamaran’s length.

• The smaller the boat, the less boat to maneuver, dock and maintain. As new boat owners, this didn’t go unnoticed. We would pay for any gluttonous purchase with more sweat, tears, and cash later.
• The layout of the saloon and galley can play a part in how big a boat feels. Getting inside different catamarans, whether at a boat show or by other means, will give you more knowledge of your preferred interior space layout.
• Sailing on a catamaran generally becomes more comfortable on larger models. If you are planning to do a lot of offshore sailing, things like bridge deck clearance, beam-to-length ratio, and other performance indicators will become drastically more of a priority when purchasing your boat.
• Another significant factor for us was the ceiling height of the boat. At 6’3, Ross could step on a boat and know almost immediately if it was a contender. (Ceiling height can vary in different models and isn’t always correlated with the length or size of the catamaran.)

Ross still has to watch his head, but he’s getting better at subconsciously ducking.

WHAT WORKED FOR US: As a two-human, one-feline family that was planning to do mostly coastal cruising, the ideal catamaran length for us turned out to be in the 37-40 foot range for most production catamaran lines.

2. the fixer-upper catamaran sailboat.

Learning the ins and outs of our first boat, including learning to sail a catamaran, was already overwhelming.

Considering also needing to fix many major working parts made my eyes cross. We would have our hands full even with almost everything in working order.

Replacing rigging right away? No, thank you.

We found other experienced sailors agreed, at least for our first boat.

Yes, we’d miss out on the attractive cost savings. But we would be able to spend our precious time getting to know the boat, its systems, and this new lifestyle.

NOTE: There are a lot of opinions about purchasing a charter boat (a boat that has been retired from the charter market). These can be good sailboats, and the average price is often lower than a boat that hasn’t been chartered. Just be aware there could be additional wear and tear, and of course, hire a reputable surveyor.

What worked for us: there will always be things that need to be fixed when you buy a boat, even a new catamaran. we found a pre-owned catamaran that needed minor repairs but was overall ready to set sail., 3. what systems do you need onboard.

At first, we found ourselves looking for a catamaran with all the systems (we thought) we needed. Insert watermaker, generator, air conditioning, etc., here.

There is a wide range of what is said you “need” on a boat. Every sailor is different. Some people live without refrigeration; some consider a washing machine essential.

The only way to know what sacrifices and trade-offs you’re willing to make is to live the sailing life. Cruise how you plan to in the future, and see what works. Then you can start answering questions.

How frugal do you want to be with water? How conservative with energy? How do you want to handle the heat?

Changing your mindset to buy a boat capable of living off the grid but without all the additional comforts can be a good idea.

When you start cruising more remotely, you can decide if you want the convenience of a watermaker, more solar, or a generator for backup power.

Sailing legends Lin and Larry Pardey are famous for their sailing quote , “Go small, go simple, go now.” And although I don’t believe they were referring to a 40-foot cat, I still think we can take away a reminder to keep things simple and get on the water – especially newbie sailors.

WHAT WORKED FOR US: We landed on the most important system to us – solar, and went from there. We found that by getting started cruising, we could live without many of the conveniences we thought we needed. In the meantime, we were able to enjoy not having an overabundance of systems to learn and maintain.

4. owners’ version catamaran.

Whether you choose a charter version or an owners’ version catamaran will have a big impact on the boat’s cabin layout and purchase price.

What is an owners’ version catamaran? This desirable catamaran layout has three cabins instead of four cabins (referred to as a charter version because this layout is the standard for charter companies). Meaning there is a spacious bathroom (head) in the place of the fourth cabin in the owners’ hull.

These sailing catamarans are a little scarce and come at a premium, but it’s one a lot of folks are willing to pay an additional cost to have, including us.

In one hull, the forward cabin is replaced by an expanded bathroom. This allows for a more open layout and storage space. On catamarans under 40 feet, the 2-cabin, 1-bath hulls can be especially tight.

WHAT WORKED FOR US: This was our most inflexible condition. If we were going to live in this tiny floating home, we wanted to maximize the hull’s limited living space better. A larger bathroom, a more open layout in the hull, and more storage space would let us do that.

Also, I can’t imagine the fiasco of Ross trying to shower in a wet bath where you shower with the toilet. I would most likely end up living with a very smelly guy! Lucky for my nose, with a little patience and persistence, we were able to find our three-cabin home.

5. Choosing a Catamaran Manufacturer

One of the big questions I find future cruisers have is, ‘What is the best cruising catamaran?’ There are a ton of opinions out there about the right catamaran to purchase. Remember, the answer will depend on your cruising style and the price range of your budget.

How much offshore cruising do you want to do? Will you be sailing single-handed? Balancing your needs and budget will be a big part of the process.

Production Sailing Catamarans

Many people asked if we were looking for a Lagoon catamaran when we were shopping.

The truth is, we didn’t know what we wanted, so we looked at as many boats as we could. From the popular South African-built Leopard Catamarans to the smaller U.S.-manufactured Gemini, we looked at various makes, models, and years of catamarans on the used market.

In the end, we found purchasing a highly-produced boat would make our lives easier as new sailors.

Catamaran sailboats are not cars. They are made on demand. For many models, 100 (or fewer) boats might be manufactured.

However, catamaran manufacturers, such as Lagoon , Leopard, and Fountaine Pajot, may design and produce quite a few more.

Our Lagoon 380 is hull number 322, which was a lot when it was built in 2005. I recently saw in a Facebook group that the tally is creeping up to 900.

Whoa, that’s a lot of boats. Or, as I like to call them, my newfound sailing friends whom we can inquire about how to fix this or get to that.

From forums and Facebook groups to people we meet, someone out there has already done what we are trying to do on our model boat.

WHAT WORKED FOR US: For us rookies, access to more information and the comfort of knowing a certain model production boat had been tested could save us oodles of time and money. Ultimately, the Lagoon 380 layout and availability of a boat that ticked all our other boxes made this the right choice for us.

Buying the best liveaboard catamaran.

Buying a catamaran came with many hard decisions because, let’s face it, it’s a lot of money for something you keep putting money into.

Things like how you want to cruise, how long you want to cruise, and other circumstances will help you decide what catamaran is best for you.

Ultimately, given our knowledge, personal preferences, market climate, and many other factors, we sought to make the most informed decision possible.

Our Lagoon might not be the biggest or fastest boat out there. But so far, Sunnyside has been the right boat for us. She got us out cruising and living this sailing lifestyle, which makes her the best sailboat we could ask for.

YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE: Our post featuring 5 Important Tips to Remember When Buying a Catamaran .

For more about our Lagoon 380 catamaran, check out the link below.

Want more tips on how to start cruising on a boat?

View our guide to get a real look at life on a boat, including the cost of cruising and priceless tips for learning how to live aboard.

Like this post? Save it on Pinterest for later.

Morgan, the founder of The Home That Roams, has been living nomadically for over five years. She began her journey traveling across the U.S. in a motorhome and cruising on a liveaboard sailing catamaran. Currently, she lives full-time in a travel trailer, sharing resources on RV living and boat life to help others downsize their lives and thrive in an alternative lifestyle.

That’s really nice post. I appreciate your skills, Thanks for sharing.

Thanks so much!

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How is Catamaran Sailing Different from Monohull Sailing?

Sailing a catamaran is very similar to sailing a monohull in most aspects. If you learn to sail on a monohull, most of the skills are easily transferable. However, there are a couple of subtle differences that one has to be aware of:

• When tacking, you must work hard to maintain your speed throughout the tack and often need to ease your mainsheet to prevent “windvaning”. Windvaning is when the larger mainsail on a catamaran tries to turn the boat back into the wind.
• When gybing on a monohull, you must be very careful of an accidental gybe, and so you gybe much more slowly. On a catamaran, you can use the increased speed to your advantage and maintain speed while gybing to help depower the main.
• On a monohull, as winds increase, the boat starts heeling which lets you know that you have too much sail up and it’s time to reef. On a catamaran, because they do not heel, you have to be very careful in terms of when to reef the massive main. Typically, you will throw in the first reef at 18-20 knots of wind speed (depending on the size of your vessel) and put in a second reef as the wind gets closer to 23-25 kts)

Most aspects of sailing a catamaran are very similar to a monohull, so making the transition to a sailing catamaran is usually not that challenging of a process!

Why are Catamarans Popular?

Catamarans have exploded in popularity in the last 5 years! There are many advantages to catamarans over monohulls.

• Much more space on a catamaran!
• Catamarans are far more stable than monohulls so they do not heel when sailing, and are less prone to rocking when at anchor. Making for a much more comfortable boat!
• Catamarans have a shallow draft which allows them to enter shallower areas. In the South Pacific, most lagoons are 6-8 feet deep. This is too shallow for monohulls to enter, but a catamaran can easily enter these lagoons.
• Speed: Often, especially downwind, catamarans are faster than monohulls
• More light and airy living area. On a catamaran, the living space is usually up in the middle of the boat, built on the bridge deck whereas in a monohull you go down into the hull where it is darker and feels less open.
• More storage space and room for extra systems like air conditioning, water makers, generators, larger fridges and freezers, etc… Again, having room for all these amenities makes for more comfortable living.

What is a Catamaran?

A catamaran is a sailboat with two hulls. These two hulls are connected by a bridge deck. Many people will be familiar with Hobie cats, small catamarans that are popular for sailing on lakes and in calmer waters. Cruising catamarans are based on this same principle but have large hulls that can fit many cabins inside, and house large structures on the bridge deck (like a galley, salon and living area).

Are catamarans safer than monohull sailboats?

Great question! Catamarans are much more stable than monohulls, and so people are less likely to fall overboard, which does make them safer in this aspect. They are larger, more stable boats, and so in most situations, this will make them a “safer” sailboat than a comparably sized monohull.

Catamarans also have the advantage of having 2 engines, which makes them “safer” when it comes to engine problems. On a monohull sailboat , if you have major engine problems you only have the option of sailing. On a catamaran, you always have a second motor ready to help out in an emergency!

Are catamarans easier to sail?

What makes monohulls harder to sail is heeling and more confined spaces. In stronger winds monohulls heel, making most tasks a little more difficult to manage. Whether you are going forward to reef, trying to winch in a sail or moving about the boat, sailing on a heeling boat is more challenging. Catamarans, however, because of their extra stability and room, allow for much easier movement around the boat as they do not heel. For this reason, catamarans are often considered “easier” to sail.

Can a catamaran cross the Atlantic?

Definitely! Early on many catamarans and trimarans were home-built from kits, and many of these boats gave catamarans a bad rap for offshore sailing. For decades now the major catamaran manufacturers have been improving these amazing vessels, and now catamarans are safe, stable and fast on offshore passages. In 2020 we completed an Atlantic crossing in our very own Never Say Never Lagoon 400S2 catamaran.

How fast does a catamaran sail?

Not all catamarans are created equal. Many of the production catamarans like Lagoon, Fountaine Pajot and Leopard are designed for cruising. This means that they are willing to sacrifice some performance in the interest of comfort for their owners and crew. These boats still are often faster than a monohull of comparable size when on a beam reach or downwind point of sail, often seeing speeds in the double digits. Upwind, catamarans do not usually have the same ability to point into the wind (as they have shorter, stubbier keels) and do not travel as quickly.

Some high-performance catamarans from manufacturers like Outremer, Gunboat and HH, make incredibly fast catamarans that can achieve speeds in the high teens and low 20s under ideal conditions.

Want to learn more?

Learning to sail a catamaran has it’s differences from monohulls. If you are planning on sailing catamarans, then it’s best to spend a week onboard one learning how to sail and operate these vessels. We offer catamaran sailing courses in the Grenadines (Caribbean), Sea of Cortez (Mexico), Mallorca (Spain) and Tahiti (South Pacific).

Our week-long live aboard courses truly are an incredible experience! You will spend the week learning over 100 different skills and learn to comfortably sail and operate the vessel. Upon successful completion of the course, you will earn ASA certification 101, 103, 104 and 114 (up to Cruising Catamaran certification) which allows you to charter catamarans internationally.

This intensive course will give you the knowledge, skills and experience to charter catamarans, or help you set sail on your vessel! All while having a blast, snorkelling, hiking and exploring exclusive bays.

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Bold and the beautiful: Exciting new catamaran designs

• June 23, 2022

Yacht Style showcases a varied selection of catamaran designs and concepts – some in build, some in negotiation and some that could stay on the drawing board.

50M Sunreef Explorer

Sunreef may be leading the way in production of large luxury powercats, yet it’s determined to go bigger still and recently added to its portfolio of designs with the 50M Sunreef Explorer.

Designed to “go anywhere, from lush tropical islands to the most extreme latitudes”, the Polish builder’s latest Explorer design follows the 40M version and is designed to be “self-sufficient for months and offer all the autonomy needed for worldwide exploration in ultimate comfort, safety and luxury”.

The 50M Sunreef Explorer has a huge aft platform that makes the most of its 14.3m beam and the superyacht is fitted with tender cranes, garages and windlasses to help store and deploy a fleet of water toys including dive compressors, Seabobs, e-bikes, e-foils, sailing dinghies and tenders.

The yacht can be tailored for divers, adrenaline-seekers or fishing enthusiasts, while onboard areas can include a private spa, gym and an outdoor cinema with a bar, with accommodation customised for up to 12 guests.

Sunreef believes catamarans are the safest platforms for extended navigation as all essential systems on board are doubled, with two engines, two fuel tanks, multiple generators and two water tanks ensuring redundancy and reliability in critical areas.

In this vein, the 50M Sunreef Explorer includes impressive storage capacities for provisioning and a smart waste management system.

Rossinavi Sea Cat 40

Rossinavi has revealed an all-aluminium Sea Cat 40 concept, the first catamaran proposed by the Italian superyacht builder. Featuring exterior and interior design by Fulvio de Simoni, the sub-500GT motor yacht has an overall length of 42.75m (140ft 3in) and a beam of 13.75m (45ft 1in), with a 100sqm saloon and dining area plus accommodation for 10 guests and seven crew.

The Viareggio yard says the solar panels are designed to produce enough electricity to supply the daily consumption of 5-6 average American households, so can power the onboard services and propulsion at low speeds.

In daily use, the catamaran can operate 100 per cent in full-electric mode. In the case of an Atlantic crossing, it can cruise continuously for 20 days, covering 3,850nm at eight knots.

To extend battery life, Sea Cat 40 can maintain the batteries’ charge status at 40-80 per cent and be programmed to navigate for 80 per cent of an ocean crossing in full-electric mode and 20 per cent in diesel-electric mode.

Widercat 92

Fellow Italian shipyard Wider has begun building the first units of the Widercat 92, a hybrid model designed with Luca Dini and expected to launch in 2023.

The 92ft powercat has a beam of over 39ft and this extends when the side platforms drop, offering direct access to both VIP cabins and potentially linking with the fold-down garage door to form a 720sqft, three-sided beach club.

Solar panels covering 1,830sqft deliver self-sufficiency at anchor, with unused energy stored in the lithium batteries to power systems at night. Wider’s serial hybrid system enables a cruising speed of 12 knots and a range over 1,600nm at eight knots or up to 2,400nm at six knots, while in zero-emission mode, the yacht can travel 27nm at six knots in silence.

StellarPM has announced the aluminium StellarCAT AL25-3, a towering tri-deck version of the AL25-2 measuring 82ft in length and 38ft wide, and offering four-six guest cabins and one or two crew cabins.

StellarCAT AL25-3

The main deck includes an aft cockpit, a 635sqft saloon and either a full-beam master suite or two VIP cabins forward.

The upper deck can be configured with a wheelhouse and skylounge or a master suite with private verandah, while above is an open sun deck. Depending on engine options, the yacht has a top speed of 19 or 24 knots and a range of 1,700nm or 2,400nm.

Cosmopolitan 66

Ivan Salas of Spain’s Iddes Yachts and German entrepreneur Christian Braun are behind Cosmopolitan Yachts, whose first model is the aluminium, solar-electric Cosmopolitan 66, which can house up to six guest cabins.

Featuring a beam of 35ft, the yacht has a 1m-plus bridgedeck clearance and a foil below the aft end of both hulls, while solar panel coverage is designed to generate 17kWp.

Soel Senses 62

Dutch-owned Soel Yachts has designed and engineered the Senses 48 and Senses 62 solar-electric catamarans for private use.

The company has previous built several passenger vessels including the SoelCat 12 in 2017 and two units of the Shuttle 14 recently delivered to Bora Bora, and built a custom-designed 10m carbon-fibre speedboat for private use.

Pininfarina De Simoni catamaran

Meanwhile, naval architect Fulvio De Simoni – designer of the Rossinavi Sea Cat 40 – has collaborated with Pininfarina Nautical on a 48ft powercat for Turkey-based Epsilon, a specialist in composite materials for aviation and boating.

SAILING CATAMARANS

On the sailing side, Sunreef’s larger designs have included a Sunreef 100 and an MM 460 Cat designed with Malcolm McKeon. More recently, the shipyard announced the Sunreef 43M, a ‘sailing super-catamaran’ initially known as the Sunreef 140 and featuring a 50ft 6in beam.

Sunreef 43M Eco

The highlight is a spectacular beach club, a three sided, walkaround waterside arena once the hydraulic swim platform and two side terraces are lowered. Fully customisable, the beach club connects with a sea-view gym as well as a storage room for diving gear and water toys. Beneath the aft cockpit, a garage accommodates two large jet-skis, a refuelling station and launching system.

Accommodation for up to 12 guests includes a spectacular full-beam owner’s suite with panoramic views and private access to the lounging area and spa pool on the foredeck.

Sunreef 43M/43M Eco

The 43M is also available in an Eco version that features Sunreef’s innovative ‘solar skin’ integrated into the bodywork, mast and boom, generating green energy for twin 200kW engines.

Smart-power and water-management systems optimise energy consumption, while an optional hydro-generation system is another power source.

Eco Yacht 88’ by Pajot Custom Yachts

Marc Pajot of Pajot Custom Yachts and Wider recently revealed the Eco Yacht 88’, which features a full-width superstructure and a boomless rig, which also featured on Pajot’s Eco Yacht 110’ concept revealed in 2020.

Made of aluminium and carbon, the new 88-footer with a 39ft-plus beam has 540sqft of solar panels, hybrid sail/diesel-electric propulsion, and two or three electrically assisted interior and exterior helm stations.

Inside, the main saloon is flanked by a semi-open galley to port and a home cinema to starboard, while the forward area includes a master suite or two VIPs. There are also two 220sqft beach club cabins in the aft part of the hulls that have direct door access to the sugarscoops.

German-owned Mavea Yachts has revealed the solar-electric Slyder 80, a Café Racer-styled carbon cat designed with Matthias Krenz.

Slyder 80 by Mavea Yachts

For sale with Ocean Independence and expected to launch in 2024, the 80-footer has a 35ft 5in beam and a flat superstructure with ‘sports-fly’ helm stations on either side.

Armed with a 215sqm mainsail with three reefs, the Slyder 80 also has a serial hybrid drive (twin 70 100kW electric motors) and PLC electrics. The interior offers headroom up to 2.2m and includes a 410sqft saloon and accommodation for up to eight guests in the tall hulls.

Meanwhile, the solar-electric Zen50 has been promoted as the world’s first production yacht equipped with a wingsail. The first unit is sold and expected to be launched in early 2023 by Zen, which stands for Zero Emission Nautic and recently opened a showroom in Barcelona’s Marina Vela, close to where the first hull is being built.

Designed by Julien Mélot, the 51ft 6in cat has a 27ft 7in beam, lightweight carbon hulls and a semi rigid Oceanwings32 wingsail designed by Paris-based Ayro (a spin-off of VPLP) that can be controlled at upper and lower helm stations.

A huge flat roof and a hardtop above the 365sqft flybridge enable extensive solar panel coverage that can generate 16kW.

The first unit won’t have a generator and won’t carry any fossil fuel, with the electric tender recharged by the mother vessel. The yacht can also be equipped with a dive compressor, e-water scooter, e-foil, electric jet boards and electric water maker.

Note: The original article appeared in Yacht Style Issue 65. For the magazine article, click on ‘Catamarans Special 2022’ at: www. yachtstyle.co/specials

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August 9, 2017

Review: 41317 sunshine catamaran.

5 comments:

Wow! Great review. I've mostly ignored the Friends line but my daughter likes them. I might actually get this one since I also love tiny houses, tree houses, campers, etc. Also...I LOVE that you actually tried it to see if it would float...haha :)

Hi, Dani! Glad you liked the review. I do recommend you consider getting this set. Also check out the Friends hospital – it's craaaazy-amazing! There's a review of that one here as well. As for the sink-test... Haha.. To be fair, it *did* float for a few seconds (like three). But then water rushed in the back and it dropped like a brick. LOL. Don't try it at home, you may harm your stickers!

What a great review!! Your pictures are so fun to look at! I especially love the one with all the interior details. And I also like the one from the lounge where the girls can see Liam underwater with the dolphins! I'm embarrassed to admit that I didn't really know what exactly catamarans were, but thanks to your review, I learned something about them!! :)

@Suzanne Eaton: I also LOVE the Hospital!!! It's perfect detailed.

Love it! I'm thinking sunglasses or a bow in the blow hole might not be very comfortable for the dolphins though. ;-) ~Xyra

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Catamaran Corfu Hotel

Stylish relaxation.

Catamaran Corfu hotel in the heart of Acharavi offers panoramic views for all guests. Fully equipped accomodation with a swimming pool, bbq area, private parking and a table tennis table.  Enjoy your holiday with all the comforts of the hotel.  During the day you can enjoy the long sandy beaches, at night the colourful cocktails and endless parties. The use of air conditioner is included in the price.

Acharavi is the centre of North-Corfu with supermarkets, shops, bars restaurants, a busy main road and a 10 km long sandy/pebbly beach with clear waters.

beach 850 metres, centre 350 metres, Sidari 13 km, Kassiopi 14 km, airport 36 km

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Donald Trump Says Bullet Pierced His Ear: I Felt It ‘Ripping Through the Skin’

By Jazz Tangcay

Jazz Tangcay

Artisans Editor

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Former President Donald Trump released a statement via his social media platform Truth Social after the shooting at his Pennsylvania rally on Saturday.

He described feeling “a bullet that pierced the upper part of my right ear.”

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Trump was escorted off stage at a rally in Butler, Pa., on Saturday after gunshots rang through the crowd. Secret Service agents covered Trump, who appeared to have blood on his face, as they headed to his motorcade and left the venue.

Butler County district attorney told the  Associated Press that the shooter is dead and a rally attendee has been killed at the Trump event in Pennsylvania.

President Joe Biden addressed the shooting, saying he had tried to connect with Trump, who was receiving treatment. Biden said he would try to talk with him later on in the evening.

“There’s no place in America for this kind of violence — it’s sick, it’s sick. The bottom line is, the Trump rally is a rally that should have been able to have been conducted peacefully without any problem.” Biden said in a statement. “The idea – the idea – that there’s political violence or violence in America like this is just unheard of, it’s not appropriate. Everybody – everybody – must condemn it. Everybody.”

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Horses, guns and swords: How cumbersome equipment gets to the Olympics

Athletes are responsible for getting their stuff to the Paris Games. That’s more complicated for some sports than for others.

Key takeaways

Summary is AI-generated, newsroom-reviewed.

• Athletes face challenges transporting specialized Olympic gear.
• Equipment ranges from horses to kayaks, requiring unique logistics.
• Costs, customs, and airline policies add to the complexity.

For every athlete, the road to the Olympics is filled with twists, turns and obstacles. But those journeys can be even more complicated for their equipment.

While Olympic organizers provide the basic staging and infrastructure for each event, athletes compete with their own gear. It’s highly customized, costly and irreplaceable — and often also large, cumbersome and maddening to transport.

While swimmers can shove a Speedo in a back pocket and runners can stash a pair of track spikes in a backpack, other Paris-bound athletes face an Olympian challenge in getting their equipment — from boats to guns to horses — to these Summer Games.

Here’s a look at some of the most challenging items to transport and how the athletes manage them.

There is no shortage of precautions or red tape when Mary Tucker travels to a competition. The competitive shooter follows Transportation Security Administration rules to a T, of course, which can be costly and tedious.

Her rifle travels in a hard case, and Tucker makes certain the air cylinder is empty so it doesn’t pressurize midflight. The ammunition travels in a separate container, and every box must be locked.

“We have lots of problems with the locks,” said Tucker, 22, who will be competing in her second Olympics. “… TSA has a tendency to cut our locks off. I’ve gone through about 30 locks this year just because they either can’t get into the case or they want to see what’s in it.”

She has to make sure the airline, the TSA and customs agents know she’s traveling with weapons and ammunition, and she’s extra careful with her forms and licenses. She can’t clear customs unless the serial numbers on the guns match those on her paperwork.

Tucker is usually traveling with four or more heavy bags, which isn’t cheap. One recent flight to England cost about $700 for the bags alone.

“But there’s nothing I can do about it,” she said.

No single piece of sporting equipment is quite like a 17-foot piece of carbon-fiber composite that is long and flexible. If pole vaulting requires discipline and mental fortitude, traveling with poles requires patience and charm.

Veteran competitors know which airlines consider poles to be acceptable sporting equipment and which ones can be finicky. At last year’s world championships in Eugene, Ore., one airline changed its policy in the middle of the competition, which left the athletes scrambling.

Mondo Duplantis, the world record holder and defending Olympic champion, learned at the ticket counter that his poles couldn’t fly with him.

“And we said, ‘You do because we’ve flown with you, like, 20 times in the last year,’” said Greg Duplantis, the athlete’s father and longtime coach. “… And she said: ‘No, you don’t understand. We don’t take poles anymore.’ And I said, ‘As of when?’ She said, ‘Today.’”

Duplantis walked to another airline counter that would accept the poles and bought last-minute tickets for the next flight to Oregon.

This dance can get even more delicate when flying internationally and navigating a language barrier. Matt Ludwig, who competed at the Tokyo Games, knows how to say “pole vault” in five or six languages. He makes sure to travel in his Team USA gear and is quick to pull out his phone to share videos and photos that might help explain why his long bag, stuffed with seven or eight poles, must fly with him.

“It takes a ton of patience and a little bit of navigating with some charisma and speaking skills,” Ludwig said. “I say: ‘I understand these look incredibly cumbersome and it looks like there’s no way that this is possible. But I assure you, we do it all the time.’”

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From there, he just hopes the poles make it to the cargo hold and don’t get damaged in transit.

“I usually have at least one competition a year where I have to borrow poles because mine don’t make it,” he said. “Last year it was Slovakia.”

Some athletes explore other options. Trains aren’t as amenable as they used to be, so Duplantis’s mom once drove 30 hours from Sweden to Monaco to deliver his poles for a competition.

Once athletes reach their destination, they still have to get their poles to the hotel or competition venue. If the rental car doesn’t have a luggage rack, they’ll get creative, using ropes, pillows — anything really — to strap their poles to the roof of a car. Most have experience sticking an arm out the window in an effort to keep the poles steady atop the vehicle.

“We have to get pretty handy, pretty creative sometimes,” Ludwig said.

Evita Griskenas prefers to take all of her equipment on the plane, which means the TSA screeners see an unusual assortment of items pass through the X-ray machines: a ball, clubs, ribbon, a hoop, rope. And that’s not even counting the bejeweled spandex.

These are the tools of the trade for a rhythmic gymnast, but they tend to raise eyebrows and draw questions from the uninitiated.

“Everyone in the airport’s just kind of like, ‘Hmm, what’s going on?’” Griskenas said.

The carry-on bag can get heavy. In addition to each apparatus, Griskenas, 23, travels with four leotards, each covered in hefty rhinestones and weighing about four pounds.

While the clubs are certainly an atypical travel accessory — “You have to explain what it’s for and that it’s rubber and you’re not going to actually whack anyone,” Griskenas said — the hoop tends to baffle people.

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It measures about three feet in diameter and looks even more peculiar in its special case. Griskenas has heard it all: Is that a satellite dish? A trampoline? A bicycle tire? She hates checking the hoop as luggage because she has heard horror stories. “People have gotten them back as triangles,” she said.

After clearing security, she crosses her fingers that the flight crew is friendly and will allow her to stash the hoop in the coat closet or behind the last row of seats. Occasionally, airline employees will take it out for further inspection.

“And then they’re like, ‘Oh, do you hula hoop?’ And you’re like, ‘Yeah, I hula hoop.’ And then they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s so awesome,’” Griskenas said. “… And then someone will tell you a story about when they were like 15 and they were hula hooping because that was like a new invention. And you’re just like, ‘Oh, cool.’”

Every now and then, Sarah Newberry Moore finds herself explaining the complexities and nuances of sailing. For Newberry Moore and her sailing partner, David Liebenberg, the work starts long before the boat touches the water.

“When I explain to them the setup and the breakdown and the tuning and the boat work, they go, ‘Wait, you’re actually a mechanic also?’” she said.

The logistics that the duo must navigate are unlike anything else on the Olympic stage. The two sail aboard a Nacra 17 catamaran, a multihull vessel that is more than 17 feet long, weighs more than 300 pounds and has a mast that stretches 30 feet into the air. Getting the boat to France for the mixed-gender Olympic race took nearly two years of planning.

The boats are disassembled stateside, loaded into cargo containers and shipped overseas. On the other side of the Atlantic, the sailors must reconstruct the boat, carefully piecing together the hulls, beams, mast, three sails, two rudders, two daggerboards and all the lines that constitute the Nacra 17’s complicated rigging system.

“It can take hours,” Newberry Moore said. “It’s a day of work to get a boat from nothing into racing condition.”

But the slow travel time — up to four weeks via cargo ship — and tight competition schedule mean teams often have two or three boats in rotation, ensuring one is available for racing even as another might be in transit or in storage. For example, Newberry Moore and Liebenberg had to ship a boat — the Isabella Bird, named after the 19th-century explorer — to Chile last year for the Pan American Games.

They then flew to Europe, where another boat was waiting, to continue the race season. That boat — Lozen, named after an Apache warrior — is the one they’ll race in the Olympics. It was purchased in the summer of 2022 and shipped overseas in early 2023. It sailed in a handful of events, including the world championships in May, and mostly has been stored in Europe, awaiting the Paris Games.

The American sailors use a shared spreadsheet to keep track of the logistics for all three boats — everything from the ATA Carnet information, which is essentially a passport for goods, to the details for the handmade sails they’ll pick up in the Netherlands, including the U.S.-themed spinnakers that had to be ordered more than a year ago.

“It was kind of weird and stressful to be buying Olympic sails before even knowing we were going to the Games,” Newberry Moore said. “But I’m glad it all worked out.”

Equestrian events are among the most quintessential of team sports on the Olympic menu. “We have the human athlete and then the equine athlete,” said Hallye Griffin, the chef de mission for U.S. Equestrian who coordinates Olympic logistics.

And, notably, the two don’t travel together.

Equestrian athletes will fly commercial to France while their four-legged teammates will fly on special cargo jets operated by the Dutta Corporation that are specifically outfitted for horse travel, with stalls, hay, grooms and everything needed to make a horse comfortable for an overseas journey.

“They’re not actually very stressed in there,” said Beatrice de Lavalette, a member of the U.S. dressage team who will be competing in her second Paralympics. “They have their food, their water, their snacks. They’re being checked on relatively often. All of my horses are veterans with this. They’re used to flying all over the place.”

Griffin began working on the logistics for the Paris Games right around the time the Tokyo Games were wrapping up nearly three years ago. Just getting to the Olympics is costly — well into the six figures for the U.S. team, Griffin said — and the checklist includes health certificates, equine medicine, water buckets, shoes and tools, plus food and vitamins.

The equestrian team shipped a 20-foot container via boat in June. It was filled with everything both horses and riders might need during their Olympic stay, including a veterinary trunk, a coffee machine and a panini maker. The container is air-conditioned and will serve as a workspace for the team at the competition site in Versailles.

Everything has to be timed out perfectly. Horses can get jet lag, just like humans, as well as “shipping fever,” a common bacterial infection that can affect their lungs. Some horses traveled overseas three to four months early, but the whole American team — riders and horses alike — planned to be in France by early July for a training camp before heading to the competition venue July 24.

“Many horses really enjoy it,” Griffin said of the journey. “They know they’re going on an adventure.”

Wheelchairs

For many athletes at the Paralympics, regardless of sport, the one essential piece of equipment is the competition wheelchair. These high-performance wheelchairs are different from what the athletes roll through the airport or around the Paris streets. They are faster, lighter and capable of making tight turns and cost several thousand dollars.

“In the abled-body world, you get a chance to lace up your sneakers and lace up your cleats and just go on and play the sports that you love,” said Steve Serio, a member of the U.S. wheelchair basketball team. “For us as Paralympic athletes, we have to use a brand new wheelchair. And my basketball chair costs in the realm of, like, $7,500. So it’s not just something that we can kind of lace up.”

How do they get to Paris? Serio said they’re “treated like strollers” — meaning they’re checked and stored under the plane with the rest of the cargo.

Brian Bell, another wheelchair basketball player, said he takes the wheels off the chair frame and checks them in separate bags, which means he’s doubly anxious about loss or damage. The chairs are too big and too costly to travel with a spare.

“It's always on my mind,” he said.

Kayaks and canoes

Evy Leibfarth has shown up at airports around the world with two or three kayaks in tow, meaning she is well accustomed to the same skeptical looks. The boats are light but long, skinny and cumbersome.

“The airlines were never happy about that,” she said. “We’d always show up and be like, ‘Hey, sorry.’”

Friendly agents might let them pass, especially on shorter flights. Other times, Leibfarth, who will be competing in her second Olympics, had to plea or simply rebook her flight with another airline.

These days, she has at least one kayak stored in several central locations across the world. She flies in, picks up the boat and drives it to the competition.

Some are simply too big to fit on a plane and have to go on a cargo ship weeks ahead of time. While a single-person kayak can be up to 17 feet long, the four-person boat can be 36 feet.

Many of the top competitors have sponsorship deals with boat companies that make travel infinitely easier. Nevin Harrison, who won a gold medal in sprint canoe at the Tokyo Games, will have a new boat waiting at each big competition. The manufacturer then will sell off that boat and get a new one ready for the next race.

“I’ll be getting a custom one for the Olympics,” Harrison said. “That boat is only going to touch Olympic water, and then I’ll never use it again.”

Athletes without sponsors often have to rent boats at competitions or rely on secondhand boats that are unfamiliar and uncomfortable.

“My first world championships, they gave me the worst boat they had,” Harrison said, “and my coach even went up and was like, ‘You’re giving her this ?’ They were like, ‘All we have, sorry.’ Then in that boat, I won the world championships. They came up apologizing and offering me any boat that I wanted from their fleet.”

Hadley Husisian concedes she has a Type A personality and knows other world-class fencers might travel differently. Her packing list is stored in a Google Doc; it’s two full pages with nearly 50 items on it — everything from her passport to Benadryl to her fanny pack. And, of course, her array of weapons.

Sure, Husisian might need just two épée swords at a competition, but she typically travels with 13 to 14 — “just to be enormously safe.”

“So it’s a bit cumbersome,” she said.

The swords are 3½ feet long — too big to carry on a plane — so those get checked as oversized luggage. Like many athletes, she travels in constant fear of luggage mishaps, so she tries to keep most of her equipment on her at all times. Much of her essential gear gets crammed into a carry-on bag for the overhead bin, including her uniform, mask, gloves, shoes, at least four body cords used for the electric scoring system and, of course, a lucky T-shirt she wears under her fencing jacket. It has served as Husisian’s secret weapon since she was 11.

“It glows in the dark, and it definitely needs to be retired soon because it’s getting pretty small on me,” said the 20-year-old native of Oakton, Va. “But I can be pretty superstitious about these things. I bring it even though it’s a bit embarrassing. It has a soft spot in my heart.”

Nikita Ducarroz at times finds herself envious of other Olympic athletes.

“Sometimes I just wish I was a skateboarder,” she said, “and you can just skateboard through the airport.”

Ducarroz, 27, probably would meet airport security if she tried pedaling her BMX bike up to the gate. Riders used to stash bikes in golf bags to avoid steep airline fees for bicycles, but Ducarroz, who was raised in California but competes for Switzerland, said she can now take both wheels off the bike frame and fit all of the pieces into a large suitcase.

She usually travels with two bikes to a competition, so she rolls through an airport pulling two 70-pound suitcases, her clothes and other essentials shoved between the frame and under wheels.

The bikes are so specialized — from grips to pedals — that she can’t bear the thought of competing on anything else. Along with many other Olympic athletes, she now tosses AirTags in her luggage so she can track the equipment that is essential to her Olympic journey.

Bonnie Berkowitz and Jessica Koscielniak contributed to this report.