Boats for sale

A catamaran is originally a boat consisting of two hulls joined by a frame or a single hull with two parallel keels, sail- or engine-powered. The catamaran was invented in Indonesia in the 5th century and is quite a recent addition to the recreational fleet - in 1870s an American Nathaniel Herreshoff began to build catamarans to his own design. They were speedy and atable and soon became popular pleasure craft in America. Later, in 1960s catamaran inspired even more popular sailboats. Then Hobie Cat 14 was produced and it has been one of the most popular boats ever since.

Although the catamarans are harder to tack than monohulls, due to a shorter keel allows them to sail in shallow waters. Catamarans have a higher average speed and are definitely less likely to turn upside-down in a 'beam-wise' manner but otherwise tend to pole-axe, in other words the bow sinks into the water and the catamaran capsizes. Compared to monohulls catamarans are faster due to their thin composing hulls, small displacement, wider beam, which provides stability, and upright position of the sail - if there is one. Nowadays catamarans are often used as commercial vessels, as a high speed ferry and there are numerous passenger routes all around the world.

Powered - or motor - catamaran is a recent development and combines the features of a motor yacht and traditional sailing characteristics of a multihull. As a rule power catamarans don't have sails. There are of various sizes. Smaller motor catamarans are becoming increasingly popular in the US. Small catamarans have twin engines whereas monohulls of the same size usually have only one engine. Over the last decade catamaran occupied its lawful niche in the range of mega yachts. A number of international manufacturers (such as Blubay, Yapuka, Sunreef, Lagoon and Privilege) are developing mega catamarans.

But let's get down to brass tacks. Today we have two catamarans, by H20 and Atlantis yachts. Both are of same length (52') and same beam (21'). Both have twin inboard diesel engines, H20 - 200 hp each and Atlantis - 350 hp each, which is why it's much faster, it's average speed is 20 knots and maximum speed is 27 knots while H20 speeds up to 19 knots. Both catamarans are fiberglass hulled (H2O's hull is made of fiberglass sandwich). Both boats are quite capacious: they have almost equal fuel capacity, but Atlantis has a far more voluminous holding tank (80 gallons to H2O's 26 gallons).

As for accommodations, Atlantis is more spacious and sleeps 6 people in two staterooms and salon murphy bed while H2O sleeps 4 people. H2O has two heads as well as Atlantis that also has a separate shower with teak grating. Both catamarans have state-of-the-art galleys with electric cookers (H2O - 5 burners, Atlantis - 4 cookers) and spacious fridges. Besides Atlantis has a microwave oven and what's the most important thing, plenty, PLENTY of storage space (over-bench lockers and storage, under-bench storage cabinet with shelves and drawers and wine and glass storage cabinet with dark smokey glass doors).

Regarding the electronics, both catamarans have full navigational equipment: radars, map plotters, GPS navigators, VHF radios, sounders as well as main saloon entertainment centers with satellite TVs. Both boats have powerful and reliable generators and all necessary electrical equipment.


But it's the design that makes these two boats completely different. Yes, H2O may be a bit slower, but its design is something to live for. Atlantis represents the everlasting classic style in everything: decoration, furnishing, settees, windows and furnishing. Sure it's not 'classicism'-classic but still it's quite traditional. H2O's design is something absolutely fabulous. It's pure aesthetics and symmetry. Once you see it, the word style is the first to flash through your mind. Everything from light blue linen to fabulous salon all-width windows is worth resting eyes on. Blue, light blue, dark blue and white dominate the color scheme. But what catches the eye is the sleek, stylish and really beautiful dark blue hull. It's possible that on cloudy days it would look a bit gloomy but on sunny days it must look just fascinating, like the catamaran itself.

A catamaran as a recreational vessel may at first seem somehow exotic and unorthodox but considering it's cruising characteristics and the fact that other features are more or less similar to those of monohulls, one can try and acquire one. Anyway being different is no worse than being like others.

	H2O catamaran	Atlantis catamaran
LOA	52'6"	52'
Beam	21'	21'10"
Flybridge	Yes	Yes
Engines	Twin diesel inboard Nanni Diesel 200 hp each	Twin diesel inboard Yanmars 350 hp each
Staterooms	2	2

Sources: http://www.wikipedia.org, http://www.answers.com