trimaran capsizes

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Multihull Capsize Risk Check

Waves, squalls, and inattention to trim and helm contribute to instability..

In recent years we’ve seen a surge in interest in multihulls. Thirty years ago, when my experience with cruising multihulls began, nearly all of the skippers served an apprenticeship with beach cats, learning their quirks by the seat of their pants. They hiked out on trapezes and flew head-over-heels past their pitch-pole prone Hobie 16s, until they learned the importance of keeping weight way aft on a reach and bearing off when the lee bow began to porpoise.

By contrast, the new generation of big cat buyers skipped this learning process, learning on monohulls or even choosing a big stable cat as their first boat. Heck, nobody even builds real beach cats anymore, only pumped up racing machines and rotomolded resort toys. So we’re guessing there are a few things these first-time cruising multihull sailors don’t know, even if they have sailed cruising cats before.

It is extremely hard to capsize a modern cruising cat. Either a basic disregard for seamanship or extreme weather is required. But no matter what the salesman tells you (“none of our boats have ever …”), it can happen. A strong gust with sail up or a breaking wave in a survival storm can do it. And when a multihull goes over, they don’t come back.

Trimarans tend to be more performance oriented than catamarans. In part, this is because it’s easier to design a folding trimaran, and as a result Farrier, Corsair, and Dragonfly trimarans had a disproportionate share of the market.

In spite of this and in spite of the fact that many are raced aggressively in windy conditions, capsizes are few, certainly fewer than in equivalent performance catamaran classes.  But when they do go over, they do so in different ways.

Trimarans have greater beam than catamarans, making them considerably more resistant to capsize by wind alone, whether gusts or sustained wind. They heel sooner and more than catamaran, giving more warning that they are over powered. 

Waves are a different matter. The amas are generally much finer, designed for low resistance when sailing deeply immersed to windward. As a result, trimarans are more susceptible to broach and capsize when broad reaching at high speed or when caught on the beam by a large breaking wave.

In the first case, the boat is sailing fast and overtaking waves. You surf down a nice steep one, into the backside of the next one, the ama buries up to the beam and the boat slows down. The apparent wind increases, the following wave lifts the transom, and the boat slews into a broach. If all sail is instantly eased, the boat will generally come back down, even from scary levels of heel, but not always.

In the second case a large wave breaks under the boat, pulling the leeward ama down and rolling the boat. Catamarans, on the other hand, are more likely to slide sideways when hit by a breaking wave, particularly if the keels are shallow (or raised in the case of daggerboards), because the hulls are too big to be forced under. They simply get dragged to leeward, alerting the crew that it is time to start bearing off the wind.

Another place the numbers leave us short is ama design. In the 70s and 80s, most catamarans were designed with considerable flare in the bow, like other boats of the period. This will keep the bow from burying, right? Nope. When a hull is skinny it can always be driven through a wave, and wide flare causes a rapid increase in drag once submerged, causing the boat to slow and possibly pitchpole.

Hobie Cat sailors know this well. More modern designs either eliminate or minimize this flare, making for more predictable behavior in rough conditions. A classic case is the evolution of Ian Farrier’s designs from bows that flare above the waterline to a wave-piercing shape with little flare, no deck flange, increased forward volume, and reduced rocker (see photos page 18). After more than two decades of designing multihulls, Farrier saw clear advantages of the new bow form. The F-22 is a little faster, but more importantly, it is less prone to broach or pitchpole, allowing it to be driven harder.

Beam and Stability

The stability index goes up with beam. Why isn’t more beam always better? Because as beam increases, a pitchpole off the wind becomes more likely, both under sail and under bare poles. (The optimum length-to-beam ratios is 1.7:1 – 2.2:1 for cats and 1.2:1-1.8:1 for trimarans.) Again, hull shape and buoyancy also play critical roles in averting a pitchpole, so beam alone shouldn’t be regarded as a determining factor.

Drogues and Chutes

While monohull sailors circle the globe without ever needing their drogues and sea anchors, multihulls are more likely to use them. In part, this is because strategies such as heaving to and lying a hull don’t work for multihulls. Moderate beam seas cause an uncomfortable snap-roll, and sailing or laying ahull in a multihull is poor seamanship in beam seas.

Fortunately, drogues work better with multihulls. The boats are lighter, reducing loads. They rise over the waves, like a raft. Dangerous surfing, and the risk of pitchpole and broach that comes with it, is eliminated.  There’s no deep keel to trip over to the side and the broad beam increases the lever arm, reducing yawing to a bare minimum. 

Speed-limiting drogues are often used by delivery skippers simply to ease the motion and take some work off the autopilot. By keeping her head down, a wind-only capsize becomes extremely unlikely, and rolling stops, making for an easy ride. A properly sized drogue will keep her moving at 4-6 knots, but will not allow surfing, and by extension, pitch poling. 

For more information on speed limiting drogues, see “ How Much Drag is a Drogue? ” PS , September 2016.

Capsize Case Studies

Knock wood, we’ve never capsized a cruising multihull (beach cat—plenty of times), but we have pushed them to the edge of the envelope, watched bows bury, and flown multi-ton hulls to see just how the boat liked it and how fast she would go. We’re going to tell you about these experiences and what can be learned from them, so you don’t have to try it.

First, it helps to examine a few examples of some big multihull capsizes.

Techtronics 35 catamaran, John Shuttleworth design

This dramatic pitchpole occurred in a strong breeze some 30 years ago. In order to combine both great speed and reasonable accommodation, the designer incorporated considerable flare just above the waterline, resulting in hulls that were skinny and efficient in most conditions, but wide when driven under water in steep chop.

The boat was sailing fast near Nova Scotia, regularly overtaking waves.  The bows plowed into a backside of a particularly steep wave, the submerged drag was huge, and the boat stopped on a dime. At the same time, the apparent wind went from about 15 knots into the high 20s, tripling the force on the sails and rapidly lifting the stern over the bow. Some crew were injured, but they all survived.

PDQ 32 Catamaran

On July 4, 2010, the boat’s new owners had scheduled time to deliver their new-to-them boat up the northern California coast. A strong gale was predicted, but against all advice, they left anyway. The boat turned sideways to the confused seas and a breaking wave on the beam capsized the boat. There were no injuries, and the boat was recovered with only moderate damage a few weeks later. Repaired, she is still sailing.

Another PDQ 32 was capsized in the Virgin Islands when a solo sailor went below to tend to something and sailed out of the lee of the island and into a reinforced trade wind.

Sustaining speed with wider tacking angles will help overcome leeway.

Cruising cats can’t go to windward. That’s the rumor, and there’s a kernel of truth to it. Most lack deep keels or dagger boards and ex-charter cats are tragically under canvassed for lighter wind areas, a nod to near universal lack of multihull experience among charter skippers. Gotta keep them safe.  But there are a few tricks that make the worst pig passable and the better cats downright weatherly. Those of you that learned your craft racing Hobies and Prindles know most of this stuff, but for the rest of you cruising cat sailors, there’s some stuff the owner’s manual leaves out.

“Tune” the Mast

Having no backstay means that the forestay cannot be kept tight unless you want to turn your boat into a banana and over stress the cap shrouds. Although the spreaders are swept back, they are designed primarily for side force with just a bit of pull on the forestay. The real forestay tension comes from mainsheet tension.

Why is it so important to keep the forestay stay tight? Leeward sag forces cloth into the luff of the genoa, making it fuller and blunting the entry into the wind. The draft moves aft, the slot is pinched, and aerodynamic drag increases. Even worse, leeway (sideslip) increases, further increasing drag and sliding you away from your destination. Sailing a cruising cat to windward is about fine tuning the lift to drag ratio, not just finding more power.

How do you avoid easing the mainsheet in strong winds? First, ease the traveler instead. To avoid pinching the slot, keep the main outhaul tight to flatten the lower portion of the main. Use a smaller jib or roll up some genoa; overlap closes the slot. Reef if need be; it is better to keep a smaller mainsail tight than to drag a loose mainsail upwind, with the resultant loose forestay and clogged slot. You will see monos with the main twisted off in a blow. Ignore them, they are not cruising cats. It is also physically much easier to play the traveler than the main sheet. Be glad you have a wide one.

Check Sheeting Angles

Very likely you do not have enough keel area to support large headsails. As a result, you don’t want the tight genoa lead angles of a deep keeled monohull. All you’ll do is sail sideways. Too loose, on the other hand, and you can’t point. In general, 7-10 degrees is discussed for monos that want to pinch up to 40 degrees true, but 14-16 degrees makes more sense for cruising cats that will sail at no less than 50 degrees true. Rig up some temporary barber haulers and experiment. Then install a permanent Barber-hauler; see “ Try a Barber Hauler for Better Sail Trim ,” Practical Sailor , September 2019.

The result will be slightly wider tacking angles, perhaps 105 degrees including leeway, but this will be faster for you. You don’t have the same hull speed limit, so let that work for you. Just don’t get tempted off onto a reach; you need to steer with the jib not far from luffing.

Watch the fore/aft lead position as well. You want the jib to twist off to match the main. Typically it should be right on the spreaders, but that depends on the spreaders. If you have aft swept shrouds, you may need to roll up a little genoa, to 110% max.

Use your Tell-Tales

On the jib there can be tell-tale ribbons all over, but on the main the only ones that count are on the leech. Keep all but the top one streaming aft. Telltales on the body of sail are confused by either mast turbulence (windward side) or pasted down by jib flow (leeward side) and won’t tell you much. But if the leach telltales suck around to leeward you are over sheeted.

Keep Your Bottom Clean

 It’s not just about speed, it’s also pointing angle. Anything that robs speed also makes you go sideways, since with less flow over the foil there will be less lift. Flow over the foils themselves will be turbulent. Nothing slows you down like a dirty bottom.

Reef Wisdom

Push hard, but reef when you need to. You will have the greatest lift vs. windage ratio when you are driving hard. That said, it’s smart to reef most cruising cats well before they lift a hull to avoid overloading the keels. If you are feathering in the lulls or allowing sails to twist off, it’s time to reef.

Don’t Pinch

Pinching (pointing to high) doesn’t work for cats. Get them moving, let the helm get a little lighter (the result of good flow over the rudder and keel), and then head up until the feeling begins to falter. How do you know when it’s right? Experiment with tacking angles (GPS not compass, because you want to include leeway in your figuring) and speed until the pair feel optimized. With a genoa and full main trimmed in well, inside tracks and modified keels, and relatively smooth water, our test PDQ can tack through 100 degrees with the boat on autopilot. Hand steering can do a little better, though it’s not actually faster to windward. If we reef or use the self-tacking jib, that might open up to 110-115 degrees, depending on wave conditions. Reefing the main works better than rolling up jib.

Boats with daggerboards or centerboards.  The comments about keeping a tight forestay and importance of a clean bottom are universal. But the reduction in leeway will allow you to point up a little higher, as high as monohulls if you want to. But if you point as high as you can, you won’t go any faster than similar monohulls, and quite probably slower. As a general rule, tacking through less than 90 degrees, even though possible, is not the best strategy. A slightly wider angle, such as 100 degrees, will give a big jump in boat speed with very little leeway.

Chris White Custom 57

In November 2016, winds had been blowing 25-30 knots in stormy conditions about 400 miles north of the Dominican Republic. The main had two reefs in, and the boat was reaching under control at moderate speed when a microburst hit, causing the boat to capsize on its beam. There were no serious injuries.

Another Chris White 57 capsized on July 31, 2010. It had been blowing 18-20 knots and the main had a single reef. The autopilot steered. The wind jumped to 62 knots in a squall and changed direction so quickly that no autopilot could be expected to correct in time.

Gemini 105mC

In 2018, the 34-foot catamaran was sailing in the Gulf of Mexico under full sail at about 6 knots in a 10-15 knot breeze. Squalls had been reported on the VHF. The crew could see a squall line, and decided to run for cover. Before they could get the sails down, the gust front hit, the wind shifted 180 degrees, and the boat quickly went over.

38-foot Roger Simpson Design

The catamaran Ramtha was hit head-on by the infamous Queen’s Birthday storm in 1994. The mainsail was blown out, and steering was lost. Lacking any control the crew was taken off the boat, and the boat was recovered basically unharmed 2 weeks later. A Catalac catamaran caught in the same storm trailed a drogue and came through unharmed. Of the eight vessels that called for help, two were multihulls. Twenty-one sailors were rescued, three aboard the monohull Quartermaster were lost at sea.

15 meter Marsaudon Ts

Hallucine capsized off Portugal on November 11 of this year. This is a high performance cat, in the same general category as the familiar Gunboat series. It was well reefed and the winds were only 16-20 knots. According to crew, it struck a submerged object, and the sudden deceleration caused the boat to capsize.

Multihulls We’ve Sailed

Clearly seamanship is a factor in all of our the previous examples. The watch needs to be vigilant and active. Keeping up any sail during squally weather can be risky. Even in the generally benign tropics, nature quickly can whip up a fury. But it is also true that design choices can impact risk of capsize. Let’s see what the numbers can tell us, and what requires a deeper look.

Stiletto Catamaran

We’ve experienced a number of capsizes both racing and while driving hard in these popular 23-foot catamarans. The combination of light displacement and full bow sections make pitchpoling unlikely, and the result is very high speed potential when broad reaching. Unfortunately, a narrow beam, light weight, and powerful rig result in a low stability factor. The potential for capsize is real when too much sail is up and apparent wind is directly on the beam. The boat can lift a hull in 12 knots true. This makes for exciting sailing when you bring your A-game, but limits the boat to coastal sailing.

Corsair F-24 MK I trimaran

Small and well canvased, these boats can capsize if driven hard (which they often are), but they are broad beamed, short-masted, and designed for windy sailing areas. F-24s are slower off wind than the Stiletto, in part because of greater weight and reduced sail area, but also because the main hull has more rocker and does not plane as well. They are faster to weather and point considerably higher than a Stiletto (90-degree tacking angle vs. 110 degrees). This is the result of greater beam, a more efficient centerboard design, and slender amas that are easily driven in displacement mode. The boat is quite forgiving if reefed.

Going purely by the numbers, this boat seems nearly identical to the F-24. In practice, they sail quite differently. The Dash uses a dagger board instead of centerboard, which is both more hydrodynamic and faster, but more vulnerable to damage if grounded at high speed.

The rotating mast adds power that is not reflected in the numbers. The bridgedeck clearance is higher above the waterline, reducing water drag from wave strikes. The wave-piercing amas create greater stability up wind and off the wind. The result is a boat that is slightly faster than the original F-24 and can be driven much harder off the wind without fear of pitchpole or broach.

Without proper testing, calculating stability yields only a rough picture.

Evaluating multihull performance based on design numbers is a bit more complicated than it is with ballasted, displacement monohulls, whose speed is generally limited by hull form. [Editor’s note: The formula for Performance Index, PI has been updated from the one that originally appeared in the February 2021 issue of Practical Sailor.

The following definitions of units apply to the adjacent table:

SA = sail area in square feet

D (displacement) = weight in pounds

LWL = length of waterline in feet

HCOE = height of sail center of effort above the waterline in feet

B = beam in feet

BCL = beam at the centerline of the hulls in feet.

Since a multihull pivots around the centerline beam, the overall beam is off the point and is not used in formulas. Calculate by subtracting the individual hull beam from the overall beam.

SD ratio = SA/(D/64)^0.66

This ratio gives a measure of relative speed potential on flat water for monohulls, but it doesn’t really work for multihulls.

Bruce number = (SA)^0.5/(D)^0.333

Basically this is the SD ratio for multihulls, it gives a better fit.

Performance index = (SA/HCOE)^0.5 x (D/1000)^0.166

By including the height of the COE and displacement, this ratio reflects the ability of the boat to use that power to sail fast, but it understates the importance of stability to the cruiser.

Stability factor = 9.8*((0.5*BCL*D)/(SA*HCOE))^0.5

This approximates the wind strength in knots required to lift a hull and includes a 40% gust factor. In the adjacent data sheet, we compare the formula’s predicted stability to observed behavior. Based on our experience on the boats represented, the results are roughly accurate.

Ama buoyancy = expressed as a % of total displacement.

Look for ama buoyancy greater than 150% of displacement, and 200 is better.  Some early trimaran designs had less than 100 percent buoyancy and would capsize well before flying the center hull. They exhibited high submerged drag when pressed hard and were prone to capsize in breaking waves.

Modern tris have ama buoyancy between 150 and 200 percent of displacement and can fly the center hull, though even racing boats try to keep the center hull still touching. In addition, as a trimaran heels, the downward pressure of wind on the sail increases, increasing the risk of capsize. The initial heel on a trimaran is more than it is on catamarans, and all of that downward force pushes the ama even deeper in the water. Thus, like monohulls, it usually makes sense to keep heel moderate.

These numbers can only be used to predict the rough characteristics of a boat and must be supplemented by experience.

This is the first real cruising multihull in our lineup. A few have capsized. One was the result of the skipper pushing too hard in very gusty conditions with no one on watch. The other occurred when a crew unfamiliar with the boat ignored local wisdom and set sail into near gale conditions.

Although the speed potential of the PDQ 32 and the F-24 are very similar, and the stability index is not very different, the feel in rough conditions is more stable, the result of much greater weight and fuller hull sections.

Like most cruising cats, the PDQs hulls are relatively full in order to provide accommodation space, and as a result, driving them under is difficult. The increased weight slows the motion and damps the impact of gusts. Yes, you can fly a hull in about 25 knots apparent wind (we proved this during testing on flat water with steady winds), and she’ll go 8-9 knots to weather doing it, but this is not something you should ever do with a cruising cat.

Stability by the Numbers

The “stability factor” in the table above (row 14) is based on flatwater conditions, and ignores two additional factors. Unlike monohulls, the wind will press on the underside of the bridgedeck of a multihull once it passes about 25 degrees of heel, pushing it up and over. This can happen quite suddenly when the boat flies off a wave and the underside is suddenly exposed to wind blowing up the slope of the wave. A breaking wave also adds rotational momentum, pitching the windward hull upwards.

Multihulls by the Numbers

Autopilot is a common thread in many capsizes. The gust “came out of no place…” No it didn’t. A beach cat sailor never trusts gusty winds. The autopilot should be disengaged windspeeds and a constant sheet watch is mandatory when gusts reach 30-40 percent of those required to fly a hull, and even sooner if there are tall clouds in the neighborhood. Reef early if a helm watch is too much trouble.

“But surely the sails will blow first, before the boat can capsize?” That would be an expensive lesson, but more to the point, history tells us that well-built sails won’t blow.

“Surely the rig will fail before I can lift a hull?” Again, that could only be the result of appallingly poor design, since a rig that weak will not last offshore and could not be depended on in a storm. Furthermore, good seamanship requires that you be able to put the full power of the rig to work if beating off a lee shore becomes necessary.

Keeping both hulls in the water is up to you. Fortunately, under bare poles and on relatively flat water even smaller cruising cats can take 70 knots on the beam without lifting … but we don’t set out to test that theory, because once it blows for a while over even 40 knots, the real risk is waves.

Everything critical to safety in a blow we learned on beach cats. Like riding a bike, or—better yet—riding a bike off-road, there are lessons learned the hard way, and those lessons stay learned. If you’ve been launched into a pitchpole a few times, the feeling you get just before things go wrong becomes ingrained.

Perhaps you are of a mature age and believe you monohull skills are more than enough to see you through. If you never sail aggressively or get caught in serious weather, you’re probably right.

However, if there’s a cruising cat in your future, a season spent dialing in a beach cat will be time well spent. Certainly, such experience should be a prerequisite for anyone buying a performance multihull. The statement might be a little pointed, but it just makes sense.

Capsize by Wind Alone

Capsizing by wind alone is uncommon on cruising multihulls. Occasionally a performance boat will go over in squally weather. The crew could easily have reefed down or gone to bare poles, but they clung to the idea that they are a sail boat, and a big cat feels so stable under sail—right up until a hull lifts.

Because a multihull cannot risk a knockdown (since that is a capsize), if a squall line is tall and dark, the smart multihull sailors drops all sail. Yes, you could feather up wind, but if the wind shifts suddenly, as gusts often do, the boat may not turn fast enough. Off the wind, few multihulls that can take a violent microburst and not risk a pitchpole. When a squall threatens, why risk a torn sail for a few moments of fast sailing?

You can’t go by angle of heel alone because of wave action. Cat instability begins with the position of the windward hull. Is it flying off waves?

A trimaran’s telltale is submersion of leeward ama. Is the leeward ama more than 30-40 percent under water? The maximum righting angles is a 12-15 degrees for cats and 25-30 degrees for trimarans, but that is on flat water. Once the weather is up, observation of motion becomes far more important. Is the boat falling into a deep trough, or is at about to launch off a steep wave and fly?

Just as monohulls can surprise a new sailor by rounding up and broaching in a breeze, multihulls have a few odd habits that only present themselves just before things go wrong. Excuse the repetition, but the best way to learn to instinctively recognize these signs is by sailing small multihulls.

Sailing Windward

Because of the great beam, instead of developing weather helm as they begin to fly a hull, multihulls can suddenly develop lee helm, causing the boat to bear away and power up at the worst possible moment. This is because the center of drag moves to the lee hull, while the center of drive remains in the center, causing the boat to bear away.

If the boat is a trimaran, with only a center rudder, this rounding up occurs just as steering goes away. This  video of a MOD 70 capsize shows how subtle the early warning signs can be ( www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI2iIY61Lc8 ).

Sailing Downwind

Off the wind, the effect can be the reverse. The lee hull begins to bury, and you decide it is time to bear off, but the submerged lee bow acts like a forward rudder. It moves the center of effort far forward and prevents any turn to leeward.  Nearly all trimarans will do this, because the amas are so fine. The solution is to bear away early, before the ama buries­—or better yet, to reef.

Conclusions

We’re not trying to scare you off multi-hulls. Far from it. As you can probably tell, I am truly addicted. Modern designs have well-established reputation seaworthiness.

But multihull seaworthiness and seamanship are different from monohulls, and some of those differences are only apparent when you press the boat very hard, harder than will ever experience in normal weather and outside of hard racing. These subtle differences have caught experienced sailors by surprise, especially if their prior experience involved only monohulls or cruising multihulls that were never pressed to the limit.

Although the numbers only tell part of the story, pay attention to a boat’s stability index. You really don’t want an offshore cruising boat that needs to be reefed below 22-25 knots apparent. Faster boats can be enjoyable, but they require earlier reefing and a more active sailing style.

When squalls threaten or the waves get big, take the appropriate actions and take them early, understanding that things happen faster. And don’t forget: knockdowns are not recoverable. It is satisfying to have a boat that has a liferaft-like stability, as long as you understand how to use it.

Technical Editor Drew Frye is the author of “Rigging Modern Anchors.” He blogs at www.blogspot/sail-delmarva.com

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22 comments.

It’s interesting to read the report of the Multihull Symposium (Toronto, 1976) regarding the issues of multihull capsize in the formative years of commercial multihull design. There were so many theories based around hull shape, wing shape, submersible or non submersibe floats, sail area and maximum load carrying rules. My father, Nobby Clarke, of the very successful UK firm Cox Marine, fought many a battle in the early Sixties with the yachting establishment regarding the safety of trimarans, and I am glad that in this modern world technolgy answers the questions rather than the surmises of some establishment yachting magazines of the time.

Thank You Mr.Nicholson and Thank You to Practical Sailor for this great read superbly shared by Mr.Nicholson God bless you and our great Sailing Family.

Great read! Multi hulls are great party vessels which is why companies like Moorings and Sunsail have larger and larger numbers in their fleets. More and more multihulls are joining the offshore sailing fleets. Dismasting and capsizes do happen. Compared to mono hulls I know of no comparative statistics but off shore and bluewater, give me a mono hull. That is probably because I took one around with zero stability issues and only minor rig few issues. Slowly though; ten years.

Great read! Multi hulls are great party vessels which is why companies like Moorings and Sunsail have larger and larger numbers in their fleets. More and more multihulls are joining the offshore sailing fleets. Dismasting and capsizes do happen. Compared to mono hulls I know of no comparative statistics but off shore and bluewater, give me a mono hull. That is probably because I took one around with zero stability issues and only minor rig issues. Slowly though; ten years.

What’s an ama? Those who are new to sailing or even veteran sailors who have never been exposed to a lot of the terms simply get lost in an article with too many of those terms. I would suggest putting definitions in parentheses after an unfamiliar term to promote better understanding.

Vaka is the central, main hull, in a trimaran.

Ama is the “pontoon” hull at the end of the aka, or “crossbeam”, on each side of a trimaran.

I’m a geek, and therefore live in a dang *ocean* of the Jargonian & Acronese languages, and agree with you:

presuming 100% of audience is understanding each Jargonian term, and each Acronese term, is pushing credulity…

( and how in the hell “composition” means completely different things in object-oriented languages as compared with Haskell?? Bah. : )

As I understand it: Cats have an advantage in big beam seas because they will straddle a steep wave whereas a Tri can have its main hull on the wave crest with the windward ama’s bottom very high off the water and acting as another sail. Also, rig loads on a mono hull are calculated to be 2.5-3x the righting moment at a 45 deg heal; the reason being at 45 degrees the boat will still be making headway and feeling the dynamic loads in the seaway but beyond 45 degrees is a knockdown condition without seaway shock loads. A multihull rig on the other-hand can experience very high dynamic shock loads that are too short in duration to raise a hull.

Though I agree with much of the article content, the statement: “… this is because strategies such as heaving to and lying a hull don’t work for multihulls.” does not ring true in my experience. I have sailed about 70,000nm on cruising catamarans, a Canadian built Manta 38 (1992, 39ft x 21ft) with fixed keels and my present boat, a Walter Greene Evenkeel 38 (1997, 38ft x 19ft 6″) with daggerboards. I came from a monohull background, having circumnavigated the world and other international sailing (60,000nm) on a mono before purchasing the Manta cat. I owned that catamaran for 16 years and full time cruised for seven of those years, including crossing the Arctic Circle north of Iceland and rounding Cape Horn. I usually keep sailing until the wind is over 40knots, then the first tactic is to heave-to, and have lain hove-to for up to three days with the boat lying comfortably, pointing at about 50 to 60degrees from the wind and fore-reaching and side-slipping at about 1.5 to 2knots. Usually once hove-to I wait until the wind has reduced to 20knots or less before getting underway again. Lying ahull also works, though I have only used that in high winds without big breaking waves, as in the South Atlantic in the lee of South America with strong westerlies. I have lain to a parachute sea anchor and it is very comfortable, though lots of work handling all that gear and retrieving it and was glad to have deployed it when I did. I heave-to first, then deploy the sea anchor from the windward bow while in the hove-to position. The daggerboard cat will also heave-to well, though takes some adjusting of the boards to get her to lay just right, though I have not experience being at sea on this boat in as high of winds as with the Manta (over 60 knots). Catamaran bows have lots of windage and have little depth of hull forward. Thus you need mostly mainsail and little jib to keep her pointing into the wind. I aim for the wind to blow diagonally across the boat, with a line from the lee transom to the windward bow pointing into the wind as an optimum angle. As per taking the boat off autopilot when the wind gets near 20 knots is just not practical. The longest passage I have made on my catamarans has been from Fortaleza, Brazil, to Bermuda, nearly 3,000nm and across the squall prone doldrums and horse latitudes, taking 20 days. The autopilot steered the whole distance. I have never lifted a hull nor felt the boat was out of control despite having sailed in some of the most dangerous waters of the world.

I believe that your Techtronics 35 should be Tektron 35 (Shuttleworth) and as far as I know the capsize that occurred off Nova Scotia was, in fact, a Tektron 50 (Neptune’s Car I believe) sailed by the Canadian builder Eugene Tekatch and was reported as being off PEI. This capsize was well documented under a thread in “Steamradio” that I can no longer find. It appears that Steamradio is now, unfortunately, no longer operating. The report of the capsize was along the lines of the boat being sailed off wind with all sail in a gale. I think Shuttleworth indicated that they would have been doing about 30 knots. They then hit standing waves off PEI, the boat came to a standstill and with the change in apparent wind to the beam, over they went. Reading between the lines, Shuttleworth was pretty unhappy that one of his designs had been capsized in this manner, unhappier yet that some of the findings of I believe an american committee/ board were that the design was somehow at fault. Given Shuttleworth’s rep it seems unlikely. As I say these are recollections only.

Shortly afterwards Neptune’s Car was up for sale for a steal price.

I think Jim Brown (Trimaran Jim) when speaking of the Tektron 50 referred to it as weighing less than similarly sized blocks of Styrofoam. Admittedly, blocks of solid foam weigh more than one might imagine, but still a vivid point. Though Tektron 50 was light, we have far more options to build lighter boats today, than in the past.

Good that Practical Sailor is looking at this issue and I agree with much of it, so thanks PS for that. Also fun to see Nobby Clark’s son chip in …. I met Nobby at the ’76 World Symposium in Toronto, when I was just starting to get interested in Trimarans. I have since owned 4 and as a naval architect, builder and sailor, now specialize in their design and ‘all things related’, with a quasi-encyclopedic website at: http://www.smalltridesign.com . So as a trimaran guru, I’d like to add a few things here. In my experience (now 45 years with multis) there is really too much difference between catamarans and trimarans to compare them on the basis of the same formulas. For example, lifting a hull on a cat brings about a major reduction in reserve stability ….. lifting an ama on a trimaran, certainly does not. Using 30-40% immersion of an ama is hardly a guide to limit or prevent a capsize on a trimaran as that’s not even close to normal operating immersion . I would recommend a reduction of ama bow freeboard to about 1-2% of the boat length (depending on a few size factors) is a better guide as the ‘time to really ease up’. This visual indicator is great on my boats but is very hard to judge on hulls with reverse bows where there is no deck up forward. For a number of reasons, I am against this shape but as I’ve already made my case on line about this, I’ll not repeat it here. Over 80% of the capsizes we see on line, show that mainsails were never released .. and that includes the capsize of the MOD70 in the YouTube referenced in the PS article. As several trimaran owners I deal with have also capsized or near-capsized their boats (particularly those between 22 and 40ft that ‘feel’ more stable than they really are, I am developing a few models of EMRs to help solve their issue, (EMR=Emergency Mainsheet Release) and these will be operated wirelessly by punching a large button under the skippers vest, as I am not in favor of any fully automatic release. This HAS to be a skippers decision in my opinion for numerous reasons. The first two units of this EMR dubbed ‘Thump’R, will be installed this Spring … one in Europe and the other in Australia, but one day, perhaps Practical Sailor will get to see and test one for you 😉 In a few words, my advice to all multihull sailors is to be very aware of the way your stability works on your specific boat and sail accordingly. We learn this instinctively with small beach boats, but is harder to ‘sense’ as boats get heavier and larger. I have sailed cats from a 60ft Greene cat to a 12ft trimaran and although some basics apply they are of course very different. But you still need to ‘learn the early signs’ of your boat, as these must be your guide. IMHO a good multihull design will be fairly light and easily driven which means that it will still sail well with less sail. This means that the use of a storm mainsail in potentially high wind can add much reserve stability and safety to your voyage. To give an example from my small W17 design that sets a rotating wingmast, the boats top speed to date is 15kts with 200 sqft, but with the storm mainsail and a partly-furled jib I can get the area down under 100sqft without losing rig efficiency. In fact, the tall narrow storm main with a 5.5:1 aspect ratio is now even MORE efficient as the wingmast is now doing a higher percentage of the work. In 25-30t storm conditions, I have now sailed 8kts upwind and 14.4kts down, and feel very dry and comfortable doing so … even at 80+. So get the right sails, and change down to small more efficient ones when it pipes up. A multihull storm sail should look nothing like a mono’s trysail … with our narrow hulls, we are sailing in a very different way. Happy sailing Mike

In the old days, low displacement, short and narrowly spaced amas were the design of choice. One was supposed to back off when they started to submerge. It was a visual indicator. Modern amas are huge. If a 24 foot tri like the Tremolino could be designed to use Hobie 16 hulls in the 70s, today it would carry Tornado hulls. The slippery shape of designs catches the eye, and their supposed less grabby when submerged decks, but these amas also carry 1.5-2x main hull displacement. The chance of burying them is significantly reduced.

The original intent of these slippery ama designs was to shake off wind. Though low drag shapes for reducing pitch pole risk are a consideration, it should be balanced against maintaining ama deck walkability. This is important in allowing one to service the boat or rig drogues or anchors, not to mention to position live ballast. I am thinking here of the smaller club and light crusing tris. You aren’t going to be able to do a lot of these things on monster luxury boats that are a different scale entirely. But they mater on the kinds of boat most people are likely to own.

Poring over tri design books, one will notice that the silhouette of, say, a 40 foot tri, and the smaller 20 foot design are very similar This yields a doubling of the power to weight ratio on the smaller boat. This difference can even be greater as the smaller boats are often nothing more than empty shells, yet may carry higher performance rig features like rotating masts. Smaller tris are often handicapped by the requirements of being folded for trailering which both limits beam and ama displacement, though it may tend to increase weight. On top of that, mainsail efficiency is much higher, these days, with squared shapes, and less yielding frabrics. And, of course, much larger sail plans. All the better, just so long as people realize what they have by the tail.

Excellent article…thank you!!!!!!!!!

Good article. One thing that concerns me about modern cruising cat is how far above water level the boom is. I first noticed this looking at Catana 47’s for hire in New Caledonia and recently saw large Leopards 48 & 50 footers visiting Fremantle Sailing Club, here in Australia, and in all cases the boom seems to be at least 20 feet (6 metres) above the water. This seems to greatly increase the heeling moment and reduce the amount of wind required to capsize the vessel. Mind you at 20+ tons, the weight of the Leopards probably makes them a bit more resistant to capsize. But why does the rig need to be so far off the water?

Notice to Moderator After having read this article a couple or days back, I emailed naval architect mike waters, author of the specialist website SmallTriDesign to read the article and perhaps comment. Nearly a day ago, he emailed me back to say that he had, yet there’s been nothing posted from him and now I see a post with todays date. With his extensive knowledge and experience I would have thought his insight to be valuable to your readers and I was certainly looking forward to seeing his input. What happened?

Yes, PS .. what’s cookin ? Thought readers would be interested to know that capsize control help maybe on the way 😉

Yes PS, what’s cookin’ ? Thought your readers would like to know that some anti-capsize help maybe on the way 😉

Great article! I’ve read it twice so far. Recently in Tampa Bay I sailed my Dragonfly 28 in 25 knots breeze and found that speed was increased (drag reduced?) after I put in one reef in the main. I think I should have reefed the Genoa first?

Absolutely Tim. Slim hulls, as for most trimarans and the finer, lighter catamarans will often sail more efficiently with less sail .., especially if with a rotating mast, and you can indeed get proportionally better performance. The boat sails more upright for one thing, giving more sail drive from improved lift/drag and less hull resistance .. and its certainly safer and more comfortable and can also be drier, as an upright boat tends to keep wavetops passing underneath more effectively. Even my W17 design has been shown to achieve over 90% of its top speed with only 1/2 the sail area, by switching to a more efficient, high-aspect ratio ‘storm mainsail’ set behind its rotating wingmast …, a far cry from a monohulls storm trysail in terms of upwind efficiency. Yes, wind speed was higher, but the boat sailed far easier and its definitely something that slim hulled multihulls should explore more, as they will then also be less likely to capsize. More here if interested http://www.smalltridesign.com

Darrell, is there some reason for blocking replies that hold opinions contrary to those of PS ? I am still hoping to read the expertise of those who actually study design and sail multihulls. The written target of PS is to accurately present facts and that implies the input of experts. Over the last 10 years, I have come to appreciate a few experts in the field of multihulls and right now, I see at least one of them is not being given a voice here. Your article made a lot of fine points but there are some issues needing to be addressed if PS it to remain a trusted source for accurate information. First, I have been told by a reliable source, you need to separate trimarans from catamarans and use different criteria to compare their stability as they do not respond the same and neither can you judge their reserve stability in the same way. I would also like to know what NA Mike Waters was hinting at when he said “capsize control help may be on the way” .. would you know anything about that? If not, then please invite or allow him space or the promise of PS fact-finding accuracy is heading down the drain for me. thanks

As a new subscriber to PS, it is a little disquieting to see no response to the two comments above by Tom Hampton.

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A Guide to Recovering from a Sailboat Capsize

Sailboat capsizing can be a frightening experience, especially for inexperienced sailors. But understanding how to recover from a capsized boat is part and parcel of sailing. This guide will walk you through the steps of recovering from a sailboat capsize, as well as some tips to ward off such an incident.

Why Capsizes Occur

Capsizing can take place for different reasons, including sudden gusts of wind, choppy seas, or when the captain loses command of the boat. Most often capsizes result from several factors combining forces, like abrupt changes in wind direction, unequal weight distribution among crew members, or improper sail trimming. It’s essential to remember that capsizing is typical when navigating small boats or while learning to sail. Knowing the proper techniques for recovery is integral to your growth as a sailor.

Principles of Survival After Capsizing

If you capsize, don’t panic. This is only a bad thing if it delays your decision-making and preparation, or makes you entirely unprepared for what is to come. Here are some principles to follow that will ensure your survival

Remain Collected

Fear is a natural response to being thrown into the sea, but it’s essential that you keep your composure. Panic will cloud judgement and make it more difficult to think rationally.

Check for Survivors

The most pressing task after a capsized boat is to guarantee everyone has returned to safety. Take count and make sure everyone has something to cling onto or can be hoisted onto the hull of the boat.

Treat Injuries

Examine the scene to look for any injuries that may have occurred. Provide the necessary medical attention. Ask for help if you need to. 

Don Life Jackets

Everyone should don their life jackets if they haven’t already done so. Securely attach them, ensuring they are adequately fitted and provide enough buoyancy.

Stay with the Boat

Unless the boat is sinking or irreparably damaged, stay with the vessel as opposed to attempting to swim to land or another vessel. Rescuers can much easier spot a capsized boat than separate swimmers.

Rescuing the sailboat

Make sure everyone is medically treated and cared for, prepare the boat for rescue. Ensure that everyone is securely positioned. Watch for your belongings as you get the boat ready.

Unfurl the Sails

Release and slacken all sails to prevent a recurrence of capsizing while raising the boat. Keep your head low!

Climb Aboard

Taking position on the leeward side of the sailboat, locate the centerboard or dagger board. Depending on the boat, it might need to be pulled out manually. Climb onto and use your body weight to leverage your craft back up.

Lift Her Up

Lean back against the board and aim to bring the top of the mast from beneath the raging waves. Kick your legs in an effort to generate additional force as you slowly raise her into a standing position. Hurry aboard afterward.

Bail Out All Water

Boats tend to accumulate water in their cockpit after capsize. Utilize a bucket or manual pump to remove as much of this liquid as possible for stability and control. Ready yourself for reclaiming what was once yours: The sea.

Avoiding Disaster

To ensure your thrilling sailing adventures remain safe, remember these tips:

Master Your Art

Savage the elements with skill and finesse. Enhancing your knowledge of how your boat performs in different winds and waves will equip you to handle tricky situations and dodge capsizing.

Keep Watch for Wind Shifts

Anything from a light breeze to a fierce gust can change the course of events in an instant. Monitor the wind direction and speed, being wary when turbulence increases.

Distribute Weight Wisely

The right balance of crew weight is key for steering clear of disaster. Keep it low and centered inside the vessel and be on the ready, able to shift when necessary.

Equip Yourself for Safety

Invest in flotation devices like masthead balloons and righting lines, so if the worst happens, you can count on them to help restore control fast.

When the waves churn and your vessel is overturned, you can take comfort in knowing that the art of recovery is a skill that comes with practice. Don’t let panic overtake you; view every capsizing as an opportunity to hone your abilities on the open seas. With bravery and ambition, you can make the most of any sailing voyage.

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Accidents : How capsize-proof are cruising catamarans?

Johannes Erdmann

 ·  20.09.2023

When monohull yachts reach their stability limits, their crews can clearly feel it. The heeling increases sharply, often accompanied by a brilliant sun shot and loudly rattling sails. If there is too much cloth, the boat can overtake so far that it is difficult to hold on to the cockpit, let alone furl the genoa and tie in a reef. In other words: orange alert!

If you have already reduced the sail area with foresight, you will only be noticeably laid on your side in a gust. This reduces the wind pressure in the rig, and as soon as it eases, the ship rights itself again. This self-regulation and the ability to communicate at the limit makes keel yachts comparatively easy to handle. This is another reason why they are considered by many to be more seaworthy and safer.

Ride-on cats react differently to monohulls

A heavy, seven or even eight metre wide twin hull hardly heels. Thanks to its dimensional stability, its rig can withstand the force of the gust for much longer. This characteristic is particularly appreciated by beginners and occasional sailors, who often feel uneasy when sailing monohulls.

Static stability in comparison

The righting moment (RM) defines how much resistance a yacht has to lateral forces. It is calculated from the product of the weight of the ship and the distance (d) between the centre of gravity (CG) and the centre of buoyancy (CB). In a monohull, both centres of gravity are close together even when heeled. Although the cat hardly heels when sailing, the empty hull is pushed slightly under water by the wind and the centre of buoyancy also moves to leeward. Due to the greater distance between the two centres of gravity, the righting moment of a catamaran is many times that of a monohull.

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Stability curves

However, the advantage of greater initial stability does not override physics, nor does it replace the need for good seamanship. If the force applied is too great, even multihulls can tip over - not with long notice, but suddenly.

Even if the circumstances and the boats were very different and require a differentiated analysis, the overall picture nevertheless raises fundamental questions:

• Under what conditions can it become critical on catamarans?
• What safety reserves do they offer?
• And how has their design changed in recent years?

Firstly, it is important to categorise the accidents. The catamaran off Corsica, for example, was not an ordinary cruising catamaran, but an extremely lightweight construction from the 1990s. According to the shipyard, the Outremer 43 had an unladen weight of less than four tonnes. By comparison, a Lagoon 42 designed for cruising weighs a good three times as much today. Furthermore, the boat did not capsize while sailing, but at anchor after the wind had reached under the bridge deck with peaks of up to 90 knots.

The cat that capsized off Vlieland was also a lightweight construction, and an extremely compact one at that, with a hull length of just eight metres. The French-built Rackham 26, which was available in a basic and a regatta version until it was discontinued, is more of a sports catamaran than a touring catamaran and does not fulfil the CE requirements for offshore use. In the stormy conditions that were its undoing, it simply had no place in the choppy North Sea.

When does a catamaran capsize?

How much wind or wave does it take to exceed the stability limit? The physical background to stability is quite simple to outline: A boat that experiences a lateral force in the rig due to wind pressure always has a tendency to lean to one side. To prevent it from capsizing, it needs a righting moment (RM) that is stronger than the force applied. It can be understood as a kind of built-in static resistance to tipping and describes the product of the ship's weight and the distance (d) between the centre of gravity (CG ) and the centre of buoyancy (CB). Drift also plays a role, i.e. the tendency to counteract the wind pressure by pushing it away.

For those switching from a keelboat, this "sailing by the chart" is unfamiliar. But on a catamaran, there is no feedback for reefing by feel. Even more so than with a monohull: if in doubt, it is better to reduce the sail area too early than too late. A reefed cat sails better than an over-rigged one anyway.

The reaction to gusts also differs. If the wind suddenly picks up or there is more wind in a cloud than expected, there are two ways to temporarily compensate for the overclocking: When sailing courses from half to room wind, it helps to drop as far as possible without risking a gybe. Under no circumstances, however, should you jibe under pressure, otherwise the apparent wind will increase even more.

To quickly take pressure out of the sail, luff up on upwind courses, drop in half to full breeze

On an upwind course, on the other hand, it helps to lean a little, because usually only a few degrees are needed to reduce the pressure. The headsail and main may invert noticeably in the luff, i.e. show a counter-belly. On all courses, reef immediately after the gust has passed!

Bruno Belmont recommends always keeping an eye on the boat's speed in heavy weather and not surfing too fast into the valleys in big waves, otherwise capsizing over the bow is possible, especially with light trimarans.

Capsizing over the bow

With heavy cruising catamarans, there is hardly any risk of being undercut by the waves with the bows and going upside down when surfing. Today's boats have sufficient buoyancy in the bridge deck and in the area of the bows to quickly pull the bow tips back to the water surface when undercut. Capsizes over the bow happen more frequently on trimarans, such as the Dragonfly 28 on the Silverrudder 2015, on fast beach cats or extreme vessels such as the 72-foot America's Cupper from Oracle (see gallery above).

In a storm, Belmont advises setting a small storm jib when running off the waves and slowing the boat down with trailing lines, which he usually lays in long loops from stern cleat to stern cleat. If this is no longer sufficient, he recommends turning under a drift anchor.

He himself has only been scared once on a cruising catamaran, and that was decades ago. Back then, he was testing the prototype of the Lagoon 37 TPI in a severe winter storm. The problem: "The keels were still far too long back then, and we always had the feeling that we were about to capsize sideways." Keels that were too deep were a common problem with the cruising cats of the first generations because they had too much resistance leeward and caused the boats to stumble. For this reason, the windward centreboard is used at most on cats with centreboards in storms.

According to Belmont, capsizes are generally very rare. "We may have missed a few cases," he says, "but to my knowledge, only a handful of the 6,400 ships built have capsized."

So something must have gone wrong in Croatia when the Outremer 45 of a Berlin family capsized during a storm in mid-July. "In the storm, it only took a moment for the boat to capsize," the Croatian rescue team announced on its Facebook page. "But it took four long and labour-intensive days to turn the boat back around."

A well-built catamaran is extremely safe. Only a fire or a cargo ship can sink it

Once a cat is upside down, it is difficult to turn it back again. "One of the most fundamental laws of physics is that everything in nature seeks its most stable position," writes American blogger and catamaran fan David Crawford on his website. And admits: "Once a catamaran is upside down in the ocean, it has found its most stable position." As unfortunate as this is, Crawford also sees the good in it: "For a monohull, the most stable position is at the bottom of the ocean." In his opinion, there is no safer ship than a catamaran. "The most that can sink a well-built cat is a fire or a cargo ship."

Unsinkable life raft

Wow, that was fast! Why trimarans are SO much fun to sail – and how to do it

• Theo Stocker
• February 13, 2024

For their size, trimarans can punch well above their weight in speed, cruising potential and fun. Monohull sailor Theo Stocker gets to grips with how to handle one

Humans tend to gravitate into tribes of like-minded enthusiasts, enjoying the encouragement, support and sense of identity, while often looking askance at others; sailors at motorboaters, cruising sailors at racers, monohull sailors at raft, I mean, multihull sailors, and everyone looks askance at jet-skiers.

Large cruising catamarans (40ft now counts as a small one) are a world apart from monohull sailing, but there’s a sub-tribe of sailors dedicated to life on three hulls and builders such as Dragonfly, Corsair, Farrier, and Astus give them plenty of choice.

I’ve been sailing a 22ft (7m) Astus 22.5 this season, with just enough space for a family of four and a minimum of creature comforts. Thanks to her VPLP-designed hulls and 650kg all-up weight, we can sail upwind at 7-plus knots and downwind at over 10 knots with ease, all on a roughly even keel, while the kids play Duplo down below. It can also be beached and is towable behind a car.

Having, it seems, caught the trimaran bug, I wanted to get better at sailing and handling the boat, but my monohull sailing experience and habits were proving something of a hindrance, so we sought advice from some existing trimaran owners, and well as the UK’s top multihull sailors.

Much of the advice will apply to all multihulls , whether two or three-hulled, while other parts are just for small trimarans. I also found that brushing-up some of my rusty dinghy sailing skills helped get my head around what we were trying to do.

To try out our expert tips we went out sailing to see what difference they made. On the day, we got a solid Force 4-5 southwesterly, averaging 16 knots, but fluctuating between 12 and 20 knots true.

Blasting about on a sporty trimaran is a whole world of fun, but is much calmer than it looks

Trimaran sail trim

One of the biggest differences between a cruising monohull and a multihull is how the mainsail is trimmed. Leech tension on a yacht is often largely controlled by the kicker and the backstay, while the mainsheet sheets the mainsail in and out, predominantly controlling the angle of the boom to the centreline, and there may be a short traveller.

On a mulithull, however, there’s more than enough space for a good, wide traveller. Those who sail on performance monohulls will also be used to this. The sail shape is mainly controlled by the mainsheet, and the traveller then moves the boom towards or away from the centreline.

This is exaggerated on a multihull which has wide shrouds, swept well aft with no backstay, making space for a powerful square-top mainsail with full-length battens. There’s no backstay to bend the mast and flatten what is anyway a pretty rigid mainsail.

The mainsheet purchase creates enough power to control the leech of the square-top mainsail

Depowering a trimaran

Sailing on a monohull, heel and weatherhelm and eventually a broach give loads of warning that you’re pushing too hard. With straight hulls and little heel, those warning signs don’t really apply to multihulls.

In reality, however, there are a host of warning signals that it’s time to back-off; they’re just a bit different. Even then, there’s still a large safety margin before you get close to danger.

By way of reassurance, with the boat powered up on a beat, Hein, from Boats on Wheels, the boat’s owner, stood on the leeward hull and lent on the shrouds. Even as his feet got wet and the wind gusted at the top of Force 4, the boat didn’t bat an eyelid, thanks to the huge buoyancy of the floats.

Even with a person on the leeward float the boat was extremely stable

On the water – sail trim

My first inclination was to point the boat as high upwind as possible, pin the sails in and go for height. Doing that resulted in a not-terrible boat speed of 5-6 knots and a good pointing angle.

Free off by a handful of degrees however, and ease the sails just a smidge, and the speed leapt up to 8-9 knots – over 50% more; a huge increase. So, don’t pinch. If you had a decent chartplotter on board, you could find your optimum speed to angle using velocity made good (VMG).

I was also tempted to pinch in the gusts, but it’s better to hold your course and let the speed increase until the main needs easing.

On the wind, it’s time to get the boat fully powered up

If that’s the case, drop the main down the traveller an inch or two or ease some twist into the mainsail and it makes all the difference in the world, but not so far that the top battens fall away and invert – that really isn’t fast. Push too hard and the boat will slow down, largely from the drag of submerging the leeward float and crossbeams. If you’re still overpowered and the main is luffing, it’s time to reef. Downwind is different, but we’ll get onto that later.

After we put a reef in the main, our boat speeds upwind remained largely the same, and the boat was much happier. I came away feeling reassured that even a little trimaran like this would be pretty difficult to capsize, and there were always plenty of warning signs telling me to take my foot off the pedal a little.

Article continues below…

Catamaran sailing skills: Mooring and anchoring a multihull

How do you make an average passage speed of 7 knots, fit in three double cabins and a huge saloon…

Monohull or multihull: which is best for blue water?

As former editor of Yachting World, David Glenn has plenty of experience of both monohull and multihull cruising. Here he…

Tacking and gybing a trimaran

Everyone knows that multihulls don’t tack as well as monohulls. Straight hulls and wide beam don’t lend themselves to turning, especially when coupled with the displacement and fixed keels of big cats. Trimarans are a little easier, with a single central daggerboard to act as a pivot, and one or other of the floats will generally be clear of the water. On the downside, light displacement means that there isn’t much momentum to keep you going through the turn and plenty of windage to stop you.

On a trimaran the central daggerboard helps the boat to turn by providing a central pivot point that catamarans lack

Speed is your friend. Build speed up before the tack to give you as much momentum as possible. The helm needs to steer positively into and through the turn, and if necessary, keep the jib backed on the new windward side to help the bow through the wind. Don’t worry about scrubbing speed off, but you don’t want to get stuck in irons.

When it comes to gybing, speed is again key. The turning bit isn’t going to be an issue as you’ll be scooting along, but the faster you’re going, the less load there will be on the sails. The more you slow down, the more the true wind will pile up.

Trimaran sailing skills

Tacks took a bit of practice. It felt plain wrong to jab the tiller across the boat, slamming a big break on in the water but I ended up putting us through the tacks far too slowly, losing a lot of speed. A more aggressive approach worked better. On the Astus, the traveller was between me and the tiller, so the tiller extension needed to be swung around the stern behind the mainsheet onto the new side.

Similarly, old habits of controlling a gybe needed to be modified. With the asymmetric set, we were planing at well over 10 knots, and the ideal is to stay on the plane. Heading dead downwind and centring the main lead to a more violent manoeuvre than flying into the gybe as fast as possible and, as the boom was never that far out thanks to the apparent wind angle, it didn’t need much extra controlling.

Coming up onto the wind after the gybe helped the asymmetric around the front of the jib and to fill on the new side. Stay too deep and it’ll get blanketed by the main. Once we had built up some apparent wind, we could bear away again.

You’ll be on a course deep downwind before you know it, hitting speeds in the double digits

Downwind in a trimaran

Upwind cruising may be fun in a multihull, but bearing away and going with the wind is what it’s all about. Easily-driven hulls, a generous sailplan and light weight mean you can be up and planing, leaving displacement boats wallowing in your wake.

The big difference comes from apparent wind. If you’re in a boat that can do 15 knots downwind in 20 knots of true wind, the resulting wind angles can really mess with your head.

To get going then, says Brian Thompson, ‘Use those leech tell-tales again when sailing downwind and reaching to set the correct twist through the mainsheet, and use the traveller to set the correct angle of the whole sail to the wind.’

As the wind and your speed builds, bear away and trim the main accordingly.

In theory, you shouldn’t need to ease the traveller at all, but you may need to if you want to sail deep downwind. As the gust fades, you’ll find the boat slows down, so you can come back up towards the wind a little to pick up some more breeze, and then bear away as you accelerate again.

Bear away as the boat accelerates. Your course will be something of a slalom as you look to keep a consistent wind angle

This results in something of a ‘slalom’ course, and will also be accentuated if you’re sailing down waves, but that’s all quite normal for apparent wind sailing. Ultimately, you’re looking for a consistent apparent wind angle, even if the resulting wake isn’t straight.

It’s worth remembering that apparent wind reduces the felt effect of the wind, so you need a sailplan to suit the true, not apparent wind speed.

I found that the boat was more sensitive to having a balanced sailplan and trim downwind than upwind, largely because you’ve got almost double the canvas up, with the bowsprit as an extra lever. When weather helm built, I needed to ease the mainsheet to increase twist to depower so that I could bear away. I must admit, getting the boat balanced, sailing fast and light on the helm at 15 knots was something I came away feeling I needed more practice at.

Reviewing the images, I suspect the asymmetric was sheeted in too hard, with too much twist in the main.

Getting a float fully submerged is when it’s time to back off

On the water

Unfurling the gennaker worked best on a beam reach, giving plenty of airflow over the sail to help it fully unfurl. This was also roughly the fastest point of sail, ideal for getting up some speed for apparent wind sailing. We mostly had the sails set for a close reach, even when we were beyond 120º off the true wind on a broad reach.

It was possible to soak deeper downwind, but lose the apparent wind benefit downwind and our speed dropped off dramatically, prompting us to point a bit higher to find some more speed.

As the boat powered up, it paid to hold a slightly higher angle than I would have done in a monohull for the boat to properly take off and get up into double digit speeds – topping out at 15 knots. Lymington to Cowes would have taken us just half an hour at that speed. It’s easy to give yourself a heck of a beat back!

We were sailing on a pretty flat day, so didn’t have to contend with any waves to speak of. On the recent RTI this is what caused the capsizes of at least two multis, a sobering reminder that you need to sail much more conservatively in lumpier conditions.

The bows want to point downwind, so a stern-first approach works with rather than against the boat

Coming alongside

A 650kg boat with no draught and plenty of windage feels dreadfully skittish when manoeuvring in confined spaces. Straight hulls with no forgiving curves and fragile-looking sharp bows make berthing tricky. You’ve got a couple of advantages on your side, however. In the Astus, the floats are at pontoon height making stepping off easy.

Whether you have an engine in each hull of a cat, or one in the central hull of a tri, there’s also a lot more leverage to play with to turn the boat and drive her on or off the pontoon. A steerable outboard gives you even more options.

If the boat has a lifting keel or daggerboards, put them down if there’s enough depth to give you a pivot and to resist drifting. Think about getting corners onto the pontoon, rather than putting the boat alongside. On tris, you won’t be able to get to the bow to fend off as it’s too narrow. You can rig a fender up forwards on a line, and two fenders are enough on the flat sides.

Steering with the outboard towards the pontoon will drive the stern in more; steer away to drive the bow in more

Offshore wind

Coming onto the pontoon with wind blowing off, it worked well coming in stern first. If there’s a tide running, you’ll want to be heading into the tide, so find a spot down wind and down tide to start your approach so you come in at an angle.

On our first attempt we had a bit of tide under us to start with so we came in at a much steeper angle, almost 90º, although this worked out OK in the end.

The crew could then step ashore, taking a line from the stern quarter round a cleat.

Drive forwards against the line and the bow will obediently drive up towards the pontoon, bringing you flat alongside. Getting off was simple, releasing the bowline, and allowing the bow to swing out the before slipping the stern line.

Coming in astern and stopping upwind of the berth meant the bows blew towards the pontoon far to quickly

Onshore wind

Getting onto and off a pontoon with onshore wind proved rather trickier. On our first attempt we came in stern first. The issue was that once we were just upwind of our desired berth and stopped, we lost steerage and the bow immediately blew off with alarming speed towards the pontoon.

Going ahead would only increase the force of the impact, while going astern only increased the bow’s sideways drift. I managed to back out without smashing the bow, but only just, and ended up awkwardly stern to the wind with the bows pointing at the pontoon.

On our second attempt we came in bows first but having aimed at the berth, I had to motor the stern to leeward to stop the bow hitting, making for a rather forceful coming alongside.

On take three, I came in forwards and began ferry gliding towards the berth early, keeping the bows to windward of the stern. Being able to steer with the outboard meant I could go ahead to keep the bow up, and go astern with the engine pulling the stern down toward the pontoon. In this way, it was possible to come in pretty well controlled and parallel to the berth.

To get out, motoring astern against a bow line pulled the entire boat clear before slipping the line

Leaving was a different proposition all together, as I didn’t want to drag the bow along the pontoon, or to drive hard onto it to spring off. Instead, we rigged a slip-line from the forward cross beam. Going astern against this, and then turning the engine towards the wind, I could pull the stern, and the rest of the boat, out and away from the pontoon.

Keeping power on astern, once we’d reached a decent angle, we slipped the line and went astern, finding steerage way almost at once, with the bow following obediently in our wake with more control than I had anticipated.

Whether the wind is blowing onto, or off the pontoon, you want the engine to be driving or pulling the boat off the pontoon with a line on the corner you are going away from. That way you avoid point-loading fine ends where it’s hard to fender.

You’ll want a bridle to reduce swinging, but keep the pick up lines on the bow as backup

Anchoring and mooring a trimaran

While mooring a catamaran is complicated by the lack of a central bow, things should be simpler on a trimaran, and they are, mostly. Picking up a mooring buoy from the main hull bow with a low freeboard and dropping the pick-up line onto a cleat is easier even than a monohull.

The bow may be narrow, but for any lines that pass through a ring on the buoy, you still need to take it back to the same cleat to avoid chafe. That should be it, but windage from the two extra bows and the lack of keel mean the boat can dance merrily around the mooring buoy in a breeze.

Rig the bridle so the buoy sits to one side to stabilise the boat

In practice, we found that a trimaran benefits from a mooring bridle in the same way that a catamaran does. It can’t be rigged from the floats’ bows, as there are no mooring cleats, so a line passed around the outboard ends of the forward beams gave a pretty good angle, again with long lines passed through the mooring and back to the same side. The main pick-up lines stay as a safety backup.

The other trick is to rig the bridle asymmetrically so that the buoy sits to one side or the other, just enough to not be dead head to wind, making it much more stable in the wind.

On the plus side, the lack of draught or keel means that you’ll nearly always be lying head to wind, so the cockpit remains nice and sheltered whatever the tide’s doing.

We ran out of time on the day to try anchoring, but rigging a bridle, effectively a long snubber to a point on the anchor chain in a similar way wouldn’t be tricky.

If you needed not to swing, or to behave more like deeper boats nearby, hanging a bucket over the stern can help, or there’s always anchoring with a kedge, either out ahead in a V, or in line astern.

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Better Sailing

How to Right a Capsized Sailboat

Capsize is the term used when a Sailboat is tilted at a 90º angle or turned over in the water. It has something to do with the movement of the crew weight or excess weight concentrated on the wrong side of the boat. It can also be due to too much power in the Sail.

In this section, learn how to avoid capsizing or deal with a small capsized sailing Dinghy :

How to Avoid Capsizing

• Familiarize yourself. Keep in mind that Capsizing is very common when sailing a small boat. This fact can make you prepared. Know the different situations where Capsizing becomes inevitable. Getting familiar with the causes can help you in avoiding them as you go afloat. It is wise to know the things you need to do if the boat capsizes. In protected waters with good conditions, practice dealing with a capsized boat. Get familiar with the steps to do to make the boat upright again. Make sure that you wear a Life Jacket. It will be better if you have someone on another boat to give assistance when necessary.
• Know your limitations. Sail within the limits of your skills and ability to respond to situations. Knowing how to make the boat upright when sailing a Dinghy or small boat is very crucial. If you do not know how to deal with a capsized boat, sail on a more stable one. Small Keelboats and other types of Dinghies are more stable and less likely to capsize. For obvious reasons, do not go afloat if the conditions are not favorable for Dinghy Sailing.
• Know how to reef a Dinghy. A Dinghy becomes easier to handle in strong Winds if it is reefed. Reefing, or reducing the Sail Area, is an important skill to learn. Knowing how to properly adjust the Sail area of a Dinghy while on the water can help you in keeping it upright.
• When Sailing Downwind Place crew weight astern and keep the boom down.
• When Sailing Upwind Place crew weight to windward. Slightly raise the Centerboard or Daggerboard to decrease the Heeling effect. Take control of the speed of the boat. It is more likely to capsize if it heels and slows down.

Knowing the causes of Capsizing will help you in avoiding it. In the event that your boat capsizes, do not get embarrassed. Having a capsized boat is not something to be ashamed of. Many sailors have their own share of experiences in getting their Dinghy capsized. The important thing is that you learn from the experience.

Methods of Righting a Capsized Boat

Dealing with a Capsized boat generally depends on the size of the Sailboat and on what circumstances you are sailing in. Wind and wave conditions at that particular time should be taken into consideration.

Here are some Techniques in Righting a Capsized Boat:

• Release the mainsheet and tiller and climb towards the opposite side.
• Climb over the top gunwale (top edge of the side of the Hull). Step over the sidedeck to reach the Daggerboard.
• Stand on the part of the Daggerboard nearest to the Hull and hold the gunwale.
• Pull the boat upright. Climb back to the boat as soon as it is upright again.
• Scoop Method The heavier person rights the boat by standing on the part of the Centerboard nearest to the Hull to pull the boat upright. The other person is scooped aboard. His weight will prevent the boat from another Capsizing once it is upright. In this method, release the mainsheet and jib sheets in order for the Mainsail to wave loosely when the boat is upright again.
• Walkover Method As the boat capsizes, you and your crew member should climb over the opposite side of the boat to reach the Centerboard. Climb back into the boat as soon as it is righted.
• Traditional Method Turn the boat in such a way that the Mast is downwind or the bow is pointed into the Wind. The first person should stand on the Centerboard, while the second crew member keeps the boat into the Wind. From the Stern, the first person boards the boat and helps the other crew member onboard.
• Righting an Inverted Boat The buoyancy distributed on the bottom and sides of the Hull makes a lot of Dinghies more at risk to turtle (turn completely upside down). In this situation, the Centerboard will likely to slip back into its case. When this happens, stand on the opposite gunwale and pull on a jib sheet or fixed righting line and lean out. Bring the boat to its horizontal or capsized position. Do the suitable Righting Technique to make the boat upright.

In recovering a Capsized boat, ensure that you and your crew (if you are sailing with another person) are safe at all times. Wear a Life Jacket afloat and remember to stay with or near the boat when it capsizes.

How to Right a Capsized Sailboat – Conclusion

Do not be embarrassed if your boat capsizes. In general, getting wet because your boat capsized is both a learning and fun experience. This is actually a good way to teach you several important skills in boat handling and techniques on how to deal with different situations.

Peter is the editor of Better Sailing. He has sailed for countless hours and has maintained his own boats and sailboats for years. After years of trial and error, he decided to start this website to share the knowledge.

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• Digital Edition

Catamaran Sailing Techniques Part 7: should the worst happen – with Nigel Irens

• Belinda Bird
• October 1, 2015

Capsize is very unlikely in most modern catamarans, but should the worst happen it is as well to be prepared, says Nigel Irens

Photo: David Harding

The first thing to say is that as a general rule floating home-type catamarans are, in principle, less likely to be at risk than those designed with performance in mind.

That said, before making such a sweeping statement it’s important to mention that the level of risk involved is much more about the skill and experience of the skipper than about the qualities of the boat on which he or she goes to sea.

Over the years buyers of catamarans have tended to go more and more for the model with enhanced accommodation space (and de facto diminished performance). The bottom line is that in sailing on most ‘charter spec’ catamarans you’d have to be trying hard to win a bet to bring about a capsize.

Building catamarans down to a budget often seems to result in under-sizing of deck gear so that powering up the rig is not really possible. This really is not intended as a criticism – just a reflection on the real-life economics of this market.

If these factors combine make such a catamaran very hard to capsize then this could surely be perceived as a positive result.

Once the discussion turns from the prevention of capsize to the reality of it information and advice is not readily available. There are two different areas that need to be addressed.

The first is about actually surviving the incident in the short term. The second assumes you have managed to do that and is about surviving life on an upturned boat while summoning some help as soon as possible.

Rule one is that if you are on the inside of the boat you should immediately get away from the bridgedeck and head for one or other of the hulls as fast as possible. That’s easier said than done because you’ll be disorientated – especially if it’s dark outside and any lights inside won’t last long.

At the very least if sailing in challenging conditions (especially on a performance boat) it makes sense to bed down between watches in a hull rather than in the central saloon.

Not likely in a cruising cat!

The reasoning is that the boat is unlikely to be supported by the roof for very long when inverted and as she settles down in the water the bridgedeck will soon be close to the water, making an exit attempt risky – especially if there are warps washing around the cockpit.

Stay below if possible

As the hulls themselves are by definition watertight the boat will be buoyant enough to float with (at worst) the threshold of the companionways into the hulls at the surface.

It’s important not to rush for the escape hatch (fitted to the inboard side of each hull) because, although it provides a useful source of light, opening it will let some of the air that’s supporting the boat out of the hull, causing it to float lower in the water.

It is probably best to wait and take stock of the situation – together with anyone else who is in the same hull – and maybe wait for daylight if the capsize has happened at night. Try to find out if others are outside – or perhaps in the other hull.

If, on balance, the decision is taken to leave the hull then it is important to make a plan that results in the hatch being open for as short a time as possible.

Catamaran escape hatch

Clearly if the level of seawater inside the hull is high it is not going to provide a suitable environment for survival while waiting for assistance, so exit is the only option. If on the other hand it is only knee deep then the hull may be the place to stay.

Once again good planning for the worst before going to sea is the way to go and there is plenty of information available about that.

Discussion and planning

As part of the preparation for these dire circumstances it is important to have had a frank discussion about this whole scenario with the supplier of the boat. Has anyone ever capsized this particular design before, and what was learned from that?

Comparing the relative dangers of being at sea in a catamaran that could capsize with those of being in a monohull that could sink has always been a source of lively debate.

The truth is that there are now (and there have always been) risks in going to sea in any vessel. Our best hope in minimising that risk is to face the subject full-on and become as well informed as possible.

Man overboard

While discussing safety issues in the context of catamaran sailing we should take a brief look at that other seafarer’s nightmare – losing a man overboard.

All the normal recovery procedures apply to a catamaran with regard to the all-important location of the casualty, but there are some important differences in the way the approach is made for the recovery.

Because of the high windage of a catamaran and relatively small amount of lateral resistance under the water you can assume that, as you slow the boat down to attempt the pick-up, you’ll make a huge amount of leeway. As a result if you approach to windward of the casualty there is a real danger that the casualty’s legs will be carried under the leeward hull – with a real risk of serious injury from the propeller.

Because of high windage it can be a problem approaching a casualty in the water

To be absolutely safe from this peril just keep to leeward of the casualty. Of course this means that, despite you best efforts, you could pass too far to leeward and won’t be able to get a line to them.

A good way to avoid this problem is to motor at maybe two to three knots across the wind trailing a long line behind the boat (from the leeward stern). You should aim to pass at least 10m to windward of the casualty – which should be easy to judge because you have enough speed to have good steerage way.

Because the casualty will need to hang onto this line it should be easy in the hands – a 14-16mm 8 plait nylon mooring line or similar would be ideal.

When the casualty is directly to leeward of you turn sharply downwind, making a 180° turn that leaves you passing safely to leeward. Slow down at this point, being careful not actually to go astern and risk getting the line around the leeward propeller.

If all goes well the bight of the rope will now be encircling the casualty and at some point he or she will be able to grab hold of it.

From now on you shouldn’t need to engage the drive to either propeller. Keep the helm to leeward and the boat should lie with the wind somewhere on the quarter. If you’re moving too fast – making things difficult for the casualty – you could transfer the line to the bow so that the drag of towing will tend to make the boat round up somewhat – you should be able to control the angle at which the boat lies to the wind by moving the attachment point of the rescue line to different points along the sheer.

If all goes according to plan you should be able to haul the casualty in to the windward quarter of the boat, where they can use the emergency boarding ladder.

If they are not up to that then it should be possible to pass them another rope with a bight in the end of it big enough for them to pass it over their shoulders and under their arms so that they can be hauled aboard.

Do’s and don’ts

• DO take positive action to wise up on the risk of capsize on the catamaran you sail. Asking difficult questions of boat suppliers and collecting opinions from other owners are all valid.
• DO develop some kind of basic plan for the worst case – such as impressing on crew that if below in high-risk conditions then being in the hulls is much safer than being on the bridgedeck. In the case of a man overboard do always make the pick-up from a position downwind of the casualty.
• DON’T take the word of some designer who’s never capsized as gospel – ferret around online and find out what conclusions people who have actually been there have drawn from their experience.
• DON’T risk sailing in bad weather until you have plenty of experience with the boat in more moderate conditions.
• DON’T even think of steering by autopilot when in potentially dangerous conditions. Many accounts of capsize reveal that there was no one on the helm at the critical moment.
• DON’T make a meal of all this. Capsize is very unlikely in most cruising catamarans, but it does happen occasionally so, as with most seamanship issues, the smart move is to be on top of the subject and prepared for the worst.

Our eight-part Catamaran Sailing Skills series by Nigel Irens, in association with Pantaenius , is essential reading for anyone considering a catamaran after being more familiar with handling a monohull.

Part 8: the future of catamaran cruising

Series author: Nigel Irens

One name stands out when you think of multihull design: the British designer Nigel Irens.

His career began when he studied Boatyard Management at what is now Solent University before opening a sailing school in Bristol and later moving to a multihull yard. He and a friend, Mark Pridie, won their class in the 1978 Round Britain race in a salvaged Dick Newick-designed 31-footer. Later, in 1985, he won the Round Britain Race with Tony Bullimore with whom he was jointly awarded Yachtsman of the Year.

His first major design success came in 1984 when his 80ft LOA catamaran Formule Tag set a new 24-hour run, clocking 518 miles. During the 1990s it was his designs that were dominant on the racecourse: Mike Birch’s Fujicolour , Philippe Poupon’s Fleury Michon VIII , Tony Bullimore’s Apricot . Most famous of all was Ellen MacArthur’s 75ft trimaran B&Q, which beat the solo round the world record in 2005.

His designs have included cruising and racing boats, powerboats and monohulls, but it is multis he is best known for.

See the full series here

A special thanks to The Moorings, which supplied a 4800 cat out of their base in Tortola, BVI. www.moorings.com

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