Admiral 38 Catamaran
s/v 'Afloat'

by Terry Loat
(Edmonton, Alberta, Canada)

My 2005 Admiral 38 catamaran Afloat is a 38 foot long, 23 foot beam, owner's version (3 stateroom) beauty.

Admiral cats were manufactured in South Africa - I say "were" because production was halted a year or two ago. I understand that the molds have been purchased so that production will hopefully continue; or perhaps it already has recommenced.

The 2005 Admiral was beautifully appointed in its interior with excellent woodwork and meticulous joinery. She offers a king sized bed in the master cabin in the starboard hull; a queen size bed and double bed in the two port guest cabins; and two heads with electric toilets. Her galley is the envy of other 38 foot catamarans in terms of its liveaboard spaciousness.

She has twin Yanmars (3YM30) which always afford ample power when required and, of course, supreme manouverability in tight spaces.

Afloat has proved to be an extremely capable and comfortable blue water vessel. She was sailed easily across the Atlantic from South Africa to the U.S. by the original owner. She then spent almost two continuous years circumnavigating the Caribbean from the U.S. to the Bahamas, down the Leeward and Windward Islands; westward to the islands off Venezuela, Columbia and into Panama and then up through Central America and back to the U.S.

I then acquired this dependable catamaran and have sailed her for 5-6 months every winter/spring for the last five years - the first year in the Bahamas and then subsequent years in the Caribbean islands, predominantly between the Virgin Islands and down to Trinidad.

The Admiral 38 is a very enjoyable and dependable catamaran that sails easily (I single-hand at least half the time in between family and guest visits). Common to catamarans without dagger boards, she is a typical catamaran in that she will not point comparably to a monohull - but that has never been an issue for the liveaboard luxury of a non-heeling vessel that is also a stable dream at anchorage.

I've had years of experience on monohulls and now I NEVER miss the heeling and discomfort both underway and rocking at anchorage associated with a monohull. Stability = comfort for long term cruisers aboard a catamaran! And, yes, rather common to catamarans, there is occasional slamming under the bridgedeck, particularly in choppy, confused seas, but again, that is a totally acceptable trade-off to me for the no-heeling and lateral rocking associated with a monohull.

And let me emphasize the seaworthiness of my Admiral catamaran. Several cruising seasons ago, while underway on a long passage, I encountered winds that peaked at 58 kts (honestly!)accompanied by violent rain, thunder and lightning. The boat handled those conditions admirably and while there was some minor damage (two slats on the walkway between the tramps came off; my Canadian flag astern was totally shredded; the Sunbrella cover on my jib was in pieces and a jib sheet flew loose as a result of a released knot), the boat got me to a safe and protected anchorage at the end of the trip.

I realized that voyage would have been so much more difficult single handing aboard a monohull' It was that trip and experience in that unforgettable storm that cemented my love affair with my Admiral 38!

As mentioned, the Admiral is easy to single-hand and in my extensive Caribbean sailing experiences, in the favourable trade winds she readily achieves an 8 knot average cruising speed under sail.

G-Force High Tec 44' Trimaran

by Ed Hileman
(Valdosta,Ga.)

Designed by Glenn Henderson and built in 1992 by Hans Geissler of G-force and G-Cat catamaran fame, this G-Force High Tec 44' Trimaran is 44' long by 27' wide but will fold to 15'6" wide for trailering. The mast can be raised and lowered manually for clearing overhead bridges.

She weighs in at 8,600 lbs to 11,000 lbs in original trim. New Yanmar YM30 fitted this spring will run out to 10 mph when clean.

We sailed from Pompano beach loaded heavy, with a RIB and a 4KW Gen Set in Port AMAS, fully provisioned for 4 souls. We had 19 mph winds out of the east together with foot seas, and sailed north at over 14 mph, flat and smooth as could be.

She's equipped with a new auto pilot and a 740S Plotter/Radar/Sounder. New window improvements, along with Davits for RIB to keep it off the tramps, can launch and retrieve dinghy on the move ....kind of cool!

Lots of pictures on Facebook ...Ed Hileman Valdosta, Ga.

47' Ferrel Custom Catamaran

by Clint Bush
(Key Biscayne, FL)

Having sailed many ocean miles in both monohulls and catamarans, the catamaran is without a doubt the right choice. Having recently completed a world circumnavigation in a catamaran, I speak from some experience.

Stability is key to comfort and therefore to the overall experience, especially during the time at anchor, which is usually about 85% of your cruising schedule. (Monohulls roll at anchor, even the big expensive ones.) But under sail, a well-designed catamaran is a delight as well: stability (again), reliable speed - even upwind - without crowding on sail, space to live in and to carry plenty of spare equipment.

And there are safety issues:
* Going to the foredeck when the boat is heeled 40 degrees is unnecessarily risky.
* Coming on watch after a good sleep in a horizontal bunk is far preferable to arriving fatigued after being awakened by varying degrees of heel or worse, several upwind tacks.
* Cooking a meal in a level galley, or using a head that allows you to sit or stand comfortably is a huge advantage.
* Sitting at a horizontal navigation station allows one to focus on the important decisions at hand and not the struggle of just staying put.

A crew on an ocean passage which is sleep deprived, hasn't had a hot meal in days, is making distracted navigation decisions, has to maneuver on sloping decks, and prefers to urinate from the lee side is far more likely to make a bad mistake.

I agree with most of the comments above regarding bridgedeck height, interior layout, marina expense, sliding glass doors, dagger boards, etc. There are good designs out there, and even 41-42 feet of LOA probably makes sense for blue water passages.

Think before you buy. And don't settle for a monohull if you are planning any serious long-term cruising.

Aristocat 1973 30ft British built cruising catamaran

by PBird
(Suffolk, England)

I prefer sailing upright. To me it's less twist on ankles and other limbs and much less likely to slip over or be thrown sideways. I was also limited by budget. My old style 30 catamaran is a big boat inside with standing headroom along both hulls, a generous saloon, and an even more generous cockpit. But with a 14ft beam and 34" draft I can go through the French Canals, or gunk hole (dry out on the level) in many a river or estuary. Because the boat is relatively low displacement (no heavyweight lump of metal to drag around the world) then the sail plan is easy to handle, even single handed.

The motor is an 4-stroke outboard made by Yamaha which if needed I can take off and take ashore for repair. The exhaust and drive shaft are integral so there are less systems to maintain on the boat. It's electrics & fuel are very simple plug connections. The fuel tank is polyprop and I can wheel this to the local garage for filling up. The outboard steers with the rudder (or can be set straight ahead) and so close quarter maneuvering is excellent even at almost zero knots.

The boat was built as a weekend cruiser with 5 fixed berths + 2 saloon settees. I'm converting it to have a king size centreline berth on the bridge-deck forward of the mast, and to have a 4ft aft-quarter berth. One of the saloon settees will retain its lee cloths for when I sail single handed.

I'm 6'5" tall and I can stand upright to pee in the other after quarter heads, and for the full length of the almost 10ft galley. Opposite hull is as big and now used as the ships workshop and stores. A nice feature is when sailing with family or friends is that the saloon is on the same level as the cockpit sole, so the on-watch crew are still part of the in-house activities. This model of catamaran has an exceptionally wide companionway hatch, which I've now made to tilt open (across it front edge) so the saloon is still sheltered but wonderfully open to the cockpit, night sky and ventilation.

But.. I recognize that my cruising will be mainly inshore and a lifestyle of living on the boat, rather than constantly being on the move across expanses of open seas. I'm working towards using the boat as a self-sufficient traveling home and workshop so that I might serve communities in the 3rd world.

Accordingly space, stability and also not so glamorous looks are important in the vessel of my choice. Having said that I like sailing and the performance of the Catamaran is really very good.. comparable to a monohull half as long again. Because the boat sails well even to wind the apparent wind increases and so one has to flatten the sails so much that you bare-away to restore their shape. VMG overall though wins through.

The underside of the bridge-deck on the old boats is a little low for short seas, so keep the vessel's weight down and sail diagonally across the waves. Keeping the weight down for long duration travels is not so easy. It necessitates a change of mindset/lifestyle to a much simpler way - which takes some getting used to - but in the long run means less maintenance and a more leisure...

BTW the Aristocat is the predecessor of the Gemini Catamaran. Moulds were bought & shipped to the US, then re-badged as the (old model) Gemini. The boat sails well on all points of sail and was strongly built with good quality materials (but watch out for water ingress into the bridgedeck's and deck's balsa core).

Aristocats (designed in the late 1960's) are still good boats, and I'm pleased to have bought a catamaran to convert to a liveaboard.

Lagoon 42 by TPI (1993)

by Doris
(Saint Augustine, FL)

Ours is one of the early Lagoon 42's built by TPI in Rhode Island. My husband and I have lived aboard for 6 to 9 months per year, cruising from Connecticut to South America and back and many months playing in between. We've been doing this for 13 years. And we love our boat for this purpose.

The older Lagoon cats like ours are great sail boats. They have sloped cabin windows instead of the current vertical ones and the hulls and underbody offer lovely lines, high bridge deck clearance, good load bearing capacity, comfortable motion and Very Little Slamming. It's a quiet boat, which I can't say for many other catamarans I've been aboard. And the sails are fairly easy to handle.

We lived aboard and cruised in Monohulls years ago. They drew over 6 feet and were slow. When we made a list of what we wanted in our next boat, we knew we wanted to sail in shallow areas such as the Chesapeake Bay and the Bahamas. So we wanted a maximum draft of 5 feet. The boat need to be fun to sail. And we wanted to be fairly comfortable. It was also important to have a comfortable space up high enough to enjoy the view at anchor. And a helm protected from the elements (sun as well as spray) was important since we are frequently there for many hours at a time for several days in a row. It turned out that this described a catamaran!

Being an avid monohull sailor, I was hard to convince. So we delivered a number of different cats and I was sold. Now, though I still like to sail monohulls around the cans, I think catamarans are the perfect boat for sailing the southern U.S., the Bahamas, and the Caribbean. Anywhere you can live at anchor is good.

As much as we've enjoyed this lifestyle, we have reason to make some changes at this time, so our boat is now for sale. We have bought a house in the states and will be looking for a smaller sailboat to enjoy for shorter jaunts about. The boat name is Exit Strategy. You may have seen us around....

Reynolds 21 Catamaran

by Cap JP
(Pa.)

This is my first boat to own. I've sailed on other monohulls and raced on them and also sailed on trimarans which has turned me away from monohull sailing!

The R21 is about 700lbs heavier then a Hobie 16! It is 12.3ft wide and lots of places to sit with opene areas and is not cramped.

When the wind hits 10 knots and above she is a machine, a blast to sail! She will give you a scare and a tickle of laughs! Once the hull starts coming out of the water you know you are screaming across the water!

She will pass just about anything on the water in high winds, in light air she moves very well and still can pass other boats. Having a boat that in the same wind as others will sail 3 times faster in the same winds.

The nice thing is she is beach-able and really easy to sail, and she can be sailed by one person. She allows 4 people to sleep if needed. Mostly like camping but not having to sleep on the ground!

As long as you are an active person this is a physical boat but not a lot of work to do either.

I sail at a lake that is 45 minutes from home, makes it easy to go every weekend. For the most part everyone sails for the day and goes home, so why not have a boat that can sail around the whole lake in one day rather then having a boat that normally can only go to one end of the lake and back by the time the sun's down!

Sailboat Cruising adds:~

You're right Capt JP, the R21 is a highly regarded catamaran. It was designed by Randy Reynolds back in 1978 when he was just 22 years old!

Apparently, a R21 was clocked at 12 knots in 15 knots of wind at the PMA Worlds in 1978. Pretty good for a 21ft cat with sleeping accommodations for 4 adults.

They're seaworthy little boats too. Many R21 owners have sailed hundreds of miles down the coast of Southern California and deep into Baja.