The overabundance of opinion and baloney proliferating on the web makes me reluctant to participate in the melee but some limited commentary may assist our customers in assessing the true relevance to their own cruising catamaran experience.
If you want a boat with extended term cruising in mind, the galley requirements are a most serious issue. Ideally it should be a size to store not only a number of provisions but all of the utensils we expect to find in a modern home.
As a prospective live-aboard catamaran buyer, you have to make sure that the design you select is consistent with your particular cruising requirements. The tempered opinion that is frequently espoused in magazine articles intended to offend no advertiser may suggest that there is no particular right design for your usage, this isn’t true, and there is a variety of definitely wrong ones.
You really ought to get the steps right. We have personally witnessed three incidents of would-be boaters falling down the stairs of various creampuffs, not underway but at the boat show docks.
At what point did the design consensus decide that a truly enormous cockpit, originally designed to seat eight people for a cocktail/dinner party and fully open to the stern is suitable for an ocean voyaging vessel?
I can see how a deliberate ignorance of the first principles of marine design will get you noticed, but I always presumed that tarring and feathering would follow; Apparently not, nowadays you just get a prestigious Design Award.
Powered davits make it easy to raise the dingy, something that you must do on a daily basis.
Larger portlights provide better ventilation, something that is especially important in tropical environments.
A fully protected helm provides a warm, comfortable, dry environment no matter what the weather conditions are outside.
Corecell foam is a premium coring product we use on every Antares catamaran. It is far superior to balsa core used on most production boats.
