Talk:Catamaran

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Surprised about the POV near the start of the article- especially the idea that monohull sailors are 'jealous' of multihulls and thus spurn them. AFAIK, monohulls continue to be popular for many very good reasons, not all of which are reflected in the article: they can be self-righting, whereas a cat cannot; the popular <25ft models can provide good acomodation, whereas a cat cannot; they can have much lower windage above the waterline than a cat; their lower windage and greater keel area confer benefits when sailing to windwards; finally, a multihull is inherently a more fragile design (Team Philips anybody?). 81.158.162.233 (talk) 19:38, 11 June 2008 (UTC)

This is a ridiculous article. Catamaran is very generic term for a type of boat and the exact history of the type is not comletely known. The Tamil claim is a very weak one, however. Catamarans are known as Polynesian craft, and the Polyneasian made great voyages on them.

The picture the typify what a "catamaran" is, is a joke. It doesn't even appear to have two hulls.

I subscribed to Mutihulls magazine for a decade and never saw anything like that in the many article on catamarans I read.

In summary this page appears to have been taken over by and ethnic group with a weird agenda to drive to the detriment of people seeking information.

If you want the most typical catamaran to picture it would be a Hobie 16". I would venture to guess that over a million have been made at this point. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.20.177.193 (talk) 21:08, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

While I might agree that we could have better photos of cats, I completely disagree that Hobie Alter's design typifies the cat (it doesn't). If anyone wants better photos then they can very well contribute them. This also aside from the fact that people who spout off like this anonymously carry a lot less weight with me and some others. Slamlander (talk) 10:22, 11 March 2008 (UTC)


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I hope that people find this addition helpful. Dinghy racing in Britain is among the fastest growing sports, and the multihull/ monohull deabte is very topical. The situation may not be the same in the States or elsewhere, comments welcome. Great idea, this open source encyclopeia. Wow, yesterday I didn't know I would be a contributor to an encyclopedia! Double wow!! Me

An excellent start. Since this is an encyclopedia for the rest of the world too, I am somwehat at a loss wrt these models:
Are they Britain-only? I've certainly never heard of them
Egil 13:52 Mar 14, 2003 (UTC)


I deleted this fragment: the sails don't loose power due to the hull and mastno over because I have no idea what it means. charlieF 16:55 Mar 14, 2003 (UTC)

Sorry for clumsy language and typo: A rig (i.e. sail) that is upright will have more area exposed to the wind than a rig and sail that is exposed to the wind at an angle. A cat will keep the mast essentially upright, while a mono will lean over and loose power.

Thanks for the comments and amendments, Egil, the page looks a lot better. I've added "European" at the end as most of the boats are popular in Europe as well as Britain. Tony

On the other hand, the latter feature also gives the mono a greater degree of "forgiveness", because in a gust, if a monohull skipper does not ease the sheets, the boat will lean over even more, and thus loose power "automatically" (it may broach though, and thus loose control). On a cat, it is more important to be observant and adjust the sheets, since the boat will be less forgiving.
If you could formulate this better and put it back in the article, I'd be happy -- Egil 17:35 Mar 14, 2003 (UTC)

Lately the sails on cat's have changed a lot. The new sails love's that gust of wind! The so called "Fathead" sails do the sheets adjustments. Pieni.nl Mar 22, 2006 (UTC)


Why in Europe? The Hobie surely is American, the Tornado is international olympic, and the Catapult, Stealth, Spitfire, Hurricane, as far as I am concerned I'm guessing they are UK only. -- Egil 04:31 Mar 17, 2003 (UTC)

I think the others are popular in Europe as well, I agree about Hobies and Tornados. How about a list of popular cats ascribing to each the area/country where it is popular? Or a list of continents showing what the popular cats are.. Tony

I've put in the bit about heeling and sail power. Good job. Tony.

Could someone add where the name comes from and what it means? Alter Ego 16:56, 24 Mar 2004 (UTC)

With respect to popular racing catamarans, it would be a good idea to explain that Tornados are popular because they are an Olympic class, which in my book is favoritism! Hobie Cats are extreemly popular. There is the Hobi Cat 16 which does not have any dagger boards and can be "beached", hence very popular around sandy beach areas. The Hobi Cat 18 is a huge race class. However, the ebst catamaran I have sailed are from Performance catamaran who make the Prindle and Nacra models, with the Nacra being the higher performance ones. One of the particularities of the Nacra are the shape of the front of the hulls, they are designed to litterally go through waves. In comparisson with a Hobi Cat 18 that have some form of a cap that when you hit big waves, or when you downwind hull goes deep in the water, the hull design will slow you down, while the Nacra is designed to go thorugh that. The end result is that Nacras are much fatser and safer.

Contents

[edit] Catamaran - my first impression

Being a Filipino (a citizen of the Philippines, on the west Pacific Ocean in Southeast Asia), my first impression of the Catamaran is that it was Filipino in origin. Catamaran is actually a Filipino word that means "laziness," thinking that it was named so because it could get you farther with less effort than the usual sea vessels. I also wondered how come most of the native fisherman's boats here have narrow bodies with outriggers on each side if indeed the Catamaran was Filipino. Thus in my search for the true origins of Catamaran the boat, I have come to realize that it is a good thing that it is not actually Filipino in origin. Thanks to wikipedia!

In Charles Dickens' Nicholas Nickleby, Arthur Gride calls his servant a catamaran. It seems there must have been an additional definition in English (besides a type of boat), but I have been unable to find any sources to confirm this. "Lazy" would fit the usage I'm looking for. Does anyone know for sure if that's an alternate meaning? BrainyBroad 16:26, August 1, 2005 (UTC)

[edit] big sailing catamarans

As one of the designers (CPA), I propose the link:

www.lady-barbaretta.com


[edit] Wave Piercing Catamaran

Can somebody include what makes a catamaran a Wave Piercing Catamaran? Thanks, Stefan --58.187.33.6 15:57, 2 March 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Merge from Catamaran History

The above article contains the history of how catamarans were first sighted by a western sailor, and various other tidbits of history regarding Catamarans. I propose that it be merged with this article under a separate section "History" or "Origins", since it is not notable or interesting enough to have a separate article.--May the Force be with you! Shreshth91($ |-| ŗ 3 $ |-| ţ |-|) 16:16, 22 March 2006 (UTC)

  • 100% agree with the above. rgds, Boatman 13:37, 23 March 2006 (UTC)
That is a good idea. In fact, www.catamarans.now has some definitive articles on some of the biggest historical milestones with regards catamarans including Lagoon and other articles by Peter Nielsen.  :Please take a look at this link for reference purposes:
http://www.catamarans.com/news/boatbuilding/LagoonHistory/
I agree Daniel (☎) 17:13, 17 April 2006 (UTC)
Agreed and done it in a section of its own, wikified the incoming text, but it needs a reference for one section so added the {{fact}} tag Fiddle Faddle 06:48, 26 May 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Catamarans for ferries

This is in danger of becoming a huge list.

Could contributing editors look at it and decide first if a list is worthwhile, and second if this article is the right place for a list or if it should be split out. My own feelings are to split it out.

Fiddle Faddle 16:25, 12 June 2006 (UTC)

I agree, just around the norwegian coast there are atleast somewhere between thirty and fourty such vessels. As the article is now, I don't think adding them is wise, but as a separate article I can add them and their description. -JD
Split performed. Please sign comments with ~~~~ - it makes it easier to follow who has done what. Fiddle Faddle 09:49, 24 June 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Merge from Cataraft

Please merge relevant content, if any, from Cataraft per Wikipedia:Articles for deletion/Cataraft. (If there is nothing to merge, just leave it as a redirect.) Thanks. —Quarl (talk) 2007-03-04 04:39Z


[edit] Pitchpoling/triping on the bow is an old school problem

Catamarans are less likely to capsize in the classic 'beam-wise' manner but often have a tendency to 'pole-axe' (or 'pitchpole') instead - where the leeward (downwind) bow sinks into the water and the boat 'trips' over forward, leading to a capsize.

This is an issue with a few older designs, specifically the Hobie 14/16, that is not shared by most modern designs, i.e. Nacra/Inter 20 and a lesser degree the F18 & F16. --I20-312 03:04, 1 May 2007 (UTC)


[edit] Factual validity of statement needs verification with numbers

In the article it is stated that: Currently, most individually owned catamarans are built in France, South Africa, and Australia.

I think the Hobies are the most numerous in the world - where are these made? Would prefer to see numbers that indicate how many produced in each of these countries or percentage.

Can someone explain how a sail catamaran can reach a speed 1.5 times that of the wind? My basic understanding of sailing gives a 100% wind-speed as an ideal top speed, without power or currents. Once the boat goes faster, the wind is basically pushing it backward. Manofthesea (talk) 18:36, 9 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Hawaii ferry

Please also include the hawaii ferry as a mega catamaran (it has some unique ecological/engineering features). —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.246.132.145 (talk) 18:21, 27 December 2007 (UTC)