Why so many sailors are making the switch to multihulls

Comfort and space continue to convince many new to sailing to choose catamarans, while monohull owners are increasingly making the switch. But there are some downsides to weigh up, as Elaine Bunting reports

Would you like a drink?” asks Fiona, one of the crew of Outremer 52 Inez V. Even if you’ve only just stepped aboard, as I have, you know you could probably ask for a cappuccino or a mojito jangling with ice, and it would be no problem. The enormous freezer and shiny coffee machine are right there in the saloon.

The galley opens to the cockpit, there are seating areas inside and outside, a cooling breeze comes through the forward saloon windows. Inez V is as spacious and comfortable as a small apartment, but one with a permanent view of the harbour, the sea or a tropical anchorage. The question I’ve come to ask – why a multihull? – simply answers itself.

Richard Border and his partner Alex Mathisen from Vancouver took delivery of their new Outremer 52 in 2023. They are long-time sailors and have a Mark Mills-designed C&C 30 racer they keep at home. Border’s plan to exit his business in actuarial consulting included buying a boat they could cruise and live aboard afterwards, and for that they chose a catamaran.

Four years ago, to test the concept, they chartered a Lagoon 45 in Greece and helped deliver a Lagoon 42 from Les Sables d’Olonne to Gibraltar. “We had 20-30 knots off the Portuguese coast and we were able to sit down to a meal of roast lamb and red wine in our T-shirts, where in a monohull we’d have had foul weather gear on,” says Border. That convinced them.

After a year in the Med getting familiar with Inez V, I met them at the start of the 2024 ARC transatlantic rally. Next they plan to join the Grand Large World Rally, spending three-and-a-half years circumnavigating, “and then we will sell the boat,” Border says.

Nearby is Petr Deuchner, the professional skipper of an enormous-looking Australian-flagged Fountaine Pajot Samana 59. It is Deucher’s second Atlantic crossing in this model of catamaran.

“If you want adventure or speed, or are racing, buy a monohull,” he says. “If you want comfort and safety and a boat for different ages on board, get a multihull. For this [kind of sailing], I really like a multihull,” he says.

Having conquered the realm of yacht charter, catamarans are transforming the experience of ocean voyaging. This has been accelerated by the reach of YouTubers selling the lifestyle, such as ex-monohullers Sailing La Vagabonde and others.

The case that catamarans are inherently less safe for ocean crossings and round the world voyages has been comprehensively scotched by their testimonies. Places they aren’t suited to, such as high latitudes and regions with cold, rough or volatile weather, are not that high on most families’ sailing agenda anyway.

The rise and rise of multihulls, mostly French- or South African-built catamarans, is well reflected by entries in rallies. For many new owners, the ARC transatlantic is the first step away from the Mediterranean. This year, over a third of the rally boats were multihulls.

“I get the impression that the owners are younger and a bit more family friendly,” says Paul Tetlow, managing director of World Cruising Club. Overall the ARC appears to be attracting more mid-life sailors in their 40s or early 50s – a sign of increasing affluence and earlier financial independence.

Plenty of room

Professional navigator and racing sailor Mike Broughton is at the end of the same dock, about to go transatlantic with a charter group in Jack, a highly desirable looking carbon composite McConaghy MC75 catamaran. A Royal Yacht Squadron ensign flutters at the stern.

With its huge saloon and flybridge helm stations with race car-style seats, this is a sailing superyacht experience in a sub-24m package. “The rules are so much less restrictive, and you have much more living space than with a 30m boat,” Broughton points out.

The downsides? “It doesn’t do such deep downwind angles, doesn’t go upwind so well and is a bit slower in light winds, but in 16-17 knots [of apparent wind] we’re much faster, and as soon as you reach 18, we are doing 20 knots.

“The sail plan is very, very good: a big square top main, big Code 0 and a genoa and staysail. We have amazing line speed [on the winches] at the push of a button. We have a lot of privacy in the two hulls and lots of little areas to read, write, talk to people.” With plenty of room for the 12 crew, they are also about to have “a very cushty watch system,” he smiles.

By offering life at less of an angle than a monohull, multihulls are particularly ideal for families with small children, friends not so at ease on boats, or anyone with a mobility issue or a disability. Toronto businessman Axel Doerwald has a spinal cord injury, so a multihull was the only practical option. He’d begun looking into buying a cruising yacht in 2016, having done “a little local sailing with friends on Lake Ontario. But I didn’t know a lot, and I didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” he says.

He began looking at new build options but found that either the helm positions of production designs were inaccessible to him and/or the builders were unable to modify moulds to make access through the cockpit wide enough for a wheelchair. A chance meeting with a US broker linked him up with South African builders Vision. They were trying to sell hull No1 of their 444 model and were happy to accommodate modifications.

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Doerwald has since sailed 25,000 miles – his maiden voyage was the 6,500 from South Africa to Grenada via St Helena and Ascension islands. He requires crew with practical skills to go sailing. He took on two German sailors for the transatlantic crossing and pays for this.

“Trying to manage on my own is not realistic or safe. I can helm and I can trim sails, but I can’t lower the dinghy, I can’t go to the gooseneck or cope if something goes wrong. I need crew to fix things. That comes down to money. Buying a boat is only one part of the equation.”

Costs of ownership

Multihull manufacturers are building boats at a rate that a global marina infrastructure historically configured for monohulls is struggling to adapt to and accommodate. To take the example of the ARC again, a decade ago it was full at 225 boats. Now the rally is maxed out at 175 because multis need either two finger pontoon berths, stern-to space with ground lines, or a hammerhead.

“Exponential supply is out of kilter with the present berthing mix, especially in the western Med,” says Paul Tetlow.

Richard Border couldn’t take his Outremer 52 back to Vancouver even if he wanted to. “There’s no place we could berth it, as far as I’m aware,” he says. “The waiting list [for a suitable berth] is years long.” In the Med, there is a race for stern-to moorings, and in Greece the Borders had to anchor near popular harbours so they could grab a spot the next morning as soon as the occupants left.

Then there’s the expense. “A lot of places you’re paying by the square metre, superyacht prices on the basis of beam, and it varies a lot. In Croatia, we were paying €300 a night. In Turkey it was more expensive for a month than in La Grande Motte [France] for four months. Prices ranged from €60 a night to €290.

“We were quoted €790 for a night in a marina in Barcelona during the America’s Cup,” he recalls. “We didn’t take it!”

Multihulls also face restricted yard and haul out facilities. The investment needed for a big lift is massive. There was nowhere suitable in the Canary Islands until this autumn when Rolnautic Varadero in Las Palmas opened a new 8,500 tonne hoist, at a cost of €6m. Further afield on the ‘milk run’, options for wide beam haul outs are sparse. Paul Tetlow points out: “It is definitely a problem above 45ft. Facilities are few and far between and this would need careful investigation.”

For all these reasons, multihulls must spend a majority of their time actively cruising or at anchor, and be self-sufficient to do so.

Owners need to factor some extra costs, such as servicing and maintaining two engines. Mark Billings does not see this as an outright downside. He bought his Fountaine Pajot Elba 45 earlier this year and his ultimate aim is to go through the Panama Canal to the Sea of Cortez.

“If you are doing a service on one engine, doing the second is trivial,” he argues, “and the thing is we have redundancy of engines and rudders.”

Axel Doerwald says he budgets $200,000 annually to cover maintenance, insurance, marina fees, crew fees, spares, fuel and provisioning.

“Maybe it could be $150,000 or less if you’re able-bodied and handy, but if you need people with experience to help, it’s expensive. Casual crew won’t be able to fix things and the quality of crew is something I’m happy to pay for and it gives me peace of mind.”

Doerwald has had good experiences getting crew through FindaCrew.net, selecting people following video calls.

The costs of new boats have risen sharply in the last few years. There is uncertainty among owners about what they will get back when they sell. “We won’t know the actual ownership cost until we sell it,” says Richard Border. “Since we ordered, the same boat is 30-35% more, and if you order an Outremer now, you won’t get it until 2028. I’m hoping that will keep demand up. But it all depends on the state of the economy.”

“You have to accept that if you think you’re getting into this as an investment, it’s a pipe dream. And you’re on the hook to maintain it,” says Axel Doerwald. “I think potentially you will spend more than with a monohull and you’re paying twice the mooring fees, the insurance costs are higher, the ongoing maintenance is somewhat higher.”

Where next?

Based on World Cruising’s data, Paul Tetlow estimates that, after crossing the Atlantic, “25% will go through the Panama canal, 25% or more will remain in the Caribbean for more than a season (staying south), under 25% will go north to the US, and the balance will return to Europe.”

Sailing back to Europe is often done by owners with delivery crews, or by a delivery skipper. Shipping back is very expensive – supposing owners can get a place on a ship. “I’ve looked at shipping back [from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean],” says Billings, “and it would cost $40,000. Which is actually cheaper than preparing for this,” he adds, “when you account for all the extra equipment for this, flights for crew, etc. But that’s if we can find a ship; there can be years of a wait. It will be years before we can go back.”

These practical and financial considerations are some of the issues would-be owners need to weigh up. Yet for more and more buyers, the stability of a multihull, the space and the privacy win out many times over. It is easy to see yourself there, kicking back in Virgin Gorda with that galley-made mojito or cappuccino.

Invested in their own choice, the owners we spoke to are enthusiastic advocates. “You can’t argue the greater comfort,” Axel Doerwald concludes, “and if you have sufficient discretionary income, it’s a no-brainer.”

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