I am looking for any information from folks who have sailed on an Admiral 38, Lagoon 38, or FP 40. Are these things dock condos or will they cruise respectably well. My father is looking to purchase and we are all a bit lost as to what would be a good fit.

For the cost of a cruising catamaran, you are probably approaching this just right. After getting lots of opinions and reading everything you can find, you might also consider chartering a boat or two, that end up in your final list of the top two or three and spend a few days or a week on it before you actually decide.

On the other hand, I've found any cat sails and cruises beter than my desk or the computer on it and is lots more fun in the tropical sun and breeses available.

Good luck and for us that are presently snow bound and land locked for the winter, it would be interesting to have you keep us advised of what you're finding and learning along the way, to your possible purchase.

Many of those cruising cats out there that look and feel like condos can actually outsail almost all monohulls and still have 4 times the room and comfort.

When I bought my first cruising boat (after many years of racing hi-tech beach cats) I opted for a monohull. My thinking was that if it was knocked over, it could stand itself back up.
Didn't account for the fact that multihulls float.., monohulls sink. The keel only guarantees you that you will hit the bottom right side up.
Not to mention all the room you have to give up.

ASAP I sold the Irwin and got into the cats.
Good luck,
Rick

Thanks for the input!
This has already been about a year and a half long process. He has chartered a Lagoon 38 already and has boarded an Admiral but not sailed on it..
Great point Rick, I was also a diehard fan of cruising mono's (also for the rolling factor). However, cats make so much more sense; faster, knockdown resistant, you don't live life on a 45, and if they do flip, they make great liferafts!
Any other input is always welcome,
Fair winds,
Dave

Hi Dave,

Please take a look at John and Juanita's website. They bought an Admiral 38 and sailed it across the Atlantic from the factory in Cape Town. They are wonderful people who would be happy to talk to you about the Admiral sails. Their website is:
teetime38.com

Also, if you would like to talk to a few of the delivery captains for Admiral, let me know as they would be able to give you explicit details of how the vessel sails.

Regards

Belinda

PS. Also, we are in the throes of starting Admiral Yachts USA in Fort Lauderdale and expect to have it up and running in the next month or so. This will be the only branch/dealership for Admiral Yachts in the states. To read a little more about this see the Admiral website:
http://www.admiralyachts.co.za/ at the reviews.

or call me at 954-581-8403 or 954-445-5931

Check out http://www.teetime38.com/