Catamaran Sailing

A catamaran sailing charter is the best option to choose when you want to take a sailing vacation. This is because this type of boat has the most room of all so that you can enjoy your sailing experience to the fullest. A typical catamaran sailing yacht has 4 private double cabins, plus 2 more for the captain and the crew. If you are chartering the catamaran and handling the sailing yourself, these extra cabins could be for the children. A catamaran sailing charter is an excellent idea for a family vacation where all the family can be together all the time.

Some of the amenities you can enjoy with a catamaran sailing charter include cooling fans in the cabin and the salon. There are also fresh water transom showers so you won't have to bathe in salt water on your catamaran sailing vacation. The electronics on board the catamaran include a GPS, a CD player and a VHF radio. You don't have to do without cold food because catamaran sailing vacations have a refrigerator and beverage cooler on the yachts, as well as a barbeque and a microwave. Enjoy all the comforts of home as you are sailing along.

When you choose a catamaran sailing vacation, you will have a spacious deck where you can sunbathe, use as a diving platform or just sit and chat. The cockpit of the catamaran sailing charter is also quite spacious and has a table where you can sit and enjoy the scenery on days when the weather doesn't allow you to spend time outdoors. From the seat on the helm you have a view of all parts of the deck when you are docking if you are operating the catamaran on your own.

The oversized main salon of a catamaran has ample room for all members of your group to be seated comfortably. There are huge windows that give you a 360° view to help you make the most of a catamaran sailing vacation. If there is a lot of sun, you don't have to be uncomfortable inside, because with a catamaran sailing charter the overhanging top of the cabin provides shade from the sun as well as cooling down the interior. When you book one of the catamaran sailing vacations, the charter company will make sure you understand how to use the navigation charts before you depart.

When it is your turn to cook on your catamaran sailing charter, you can still be part of all the action with the way the galley is desi

Although the principles of sailing are the same for both catamarans and monohulls, there are some "peculiarities"to sailing catamarans. For example:

* Catamarans can be harder to tack (turn through the wind). All sailboats must resist lateral movement in order to sail in directions other than downwind. A catamaran does this by the design of the hull giving comparatively little resistance to forward motion and much resistance to lateral motion. This lateral resistance is all along the hull, as opposed to most sailboats having a central keel projecting deep into the water from the center of the boat. While the catamaran's method allows it to sail into shallower waters, it has the negative effect of placing lateral resistance at the bow and stern, far from turning axis of the boat, where the intended lateral resistance becomes a turning resistance due to the distance the bow and stern have to move in order to complete a turn. Regular sailboats with their deep lateral resistance occurring near the turning axis of the boat, there is much less turning resistance. Also, because catamarans are lighter in proportion to their sail size, they have less momentum to carry them through the turn when they are head to wind. Correct use of the jib sail is often essential in successfully completing a tack without ending up stuck in irons (pointing dead into the wind and sailing backwards, see: No Go Zone).
* They have a higher average speed.
* Catamarans are less likely to capsize in the classic 'beam-wise' manner but often have a tendency to 'pole-axe' (or 'pitchpole') instead - where the leeward (downwind) bow sinks into the water and the boat 'trips' over forward, leading to a capsize.

Teaching for new sailors is usually carried out in monohulls as they are thought easier to learn to sail, a mixture of all the differences mentioned probably contributes to this.

Catamarans, and multihulls in general, are normally faster than single-hull boats for four reasons:

* each hull of a catamaran is (typically) thinner in cross section than those of monohulls;
* catamarans are lighter due to the fact there is no keel counterweight.
* catamarans have a wider beam (the distance from one side of the boat to the other), which makes them more stable and therefore able t