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Monohull vs catamaran
Charter companies know these are different boats. Sailors coming from one to the other often do not.
Learn on a monohull for the broader skill set. Train specifically on a catamaran if you are going to charter one — which, in the Whitsundays, you probably are.
Monohull
One hull, ballasted keel. Heels, points higher, berths on a pivot.
Catamaran
Two hulls. Flat, roomy, huge windage, twin engines.
| Monohull | Catamaran | |
|---|---|---|
| Heel | Heels, and tells you about the wind by doing it | Stays flat — no heel to read |
| Upwind | Points higher | Points lower, but sails fast off the wind |
| Manoeuvring | One engine, prop walk, pivots on the keel | Twin engines — turns in its own length |
| Windage | Moderate | High. It will sail sideways across a marina |
| Tacking | Carries momentum through the tack | Loses drive; needs speed and patience |
| Anchoring | Sits to wind or tide predictably | Sails around the anchor, needs a bridle |
| Accommodation | Compact | Far more space — why charter fleets are full of them |
| Reefing discipline | Heel warns you | No warning — reef by wind speed, not by feel |
- you want the widest transferable skill set
- you may race
- you are learning to sail from scratch
- the boat you will end up owning is a monohull
- you are chartering a catamaran
- you are sailing with family and space matters
- the Whitsundays are the plan
- you have monohull experience and need the conversion
Most Australian bareboat charters, particularly in the Whitsundays, are catamarans. Most Australian sailing training happens on monohulls. That gap is where trouble starts.
The heel you no longer have
A monohull sailor reefs by feel: the boat leans, the helm loads up, you shorten sail. A catamaran does none of that. It stays flat and simply goes faster, then faster, and the first clear signal something is wrong can be a very unwelcome one.
Catamaran sailors reef by wind speed and by the numbers, early, on a schedule. That is a learned habit, not an instinct, which is precisely why the conversion course exists.
Close quarters
Twin engines make a catamaran superb in a marina — it will turn in its own length — right up until a crosswind gets under all that windage and takes charge. Practising in a breeze, with an instructor aboard, is worth the whole course fee.
Anchoring
Catamarans sail around an anchor rather than sitting to it, which is why a bridle matters and why a technique that has worked for you for years on a monohull may not hold overnight.
Decided? Now find a school.
Three questions — your experience, the boat you want to sail, and your goal — give you a starting course and the schools that teach it near you.