I want to upgrade my small 14 feet catamaran to a faster boat that also will be used for camping (sleep in it or dry space for tent and camping equpment). Good if it's simple and if it's possible to sail singlehanded. It should be fast even i light winds. Even if i don't like the idea I'm also considering a motor boat. Any suggestions, pros and cons?

You could camp on this bad boy!

here is a better view of the deck

It seems for the uses you have described, a Corsair Tri would be a great option. It is a large price jump from your 14 ft. cat, however, it is very fast, stable, has camping accomodations and a very shallow draft...they are technically beachable although I am not sure as to the effect that would have on the gel-coat. You could pick up a used F-24 for near the same price as a motorboat with camping accomodations...and you would still remain on the correct side of the tracks...A stiletto 23 might also be a great option; as they are much less expensive and still have spartan accomodations...although you would probably use it to store your tent and gear and then camp on shore. There are numerous posts about both of these boats on this forum. I enjoyed the story in the "crusing multihulls" section by Tom House entitled, "another great crusing adventure," which was about a trip on a stiletto. Good luck and do your best not to cross over to the other side...

You might want to consider a Shark catamaran, 20 foot long, 10 feet wide and folds for trailering (folding and unfolding only takes a few minutes). It has a hard deck instead of a trampoline, so it would be great for a boom-over tent. And it has storage compartments at the forward end of the deck. You could probably mount a small outboard on the back, but it is quite fast sailing in light air.

Another option, although smaller, might be the Isotope. It has huge storage compartments in the hulls and is an excellent light-air boat.

Both boats have simple rigging and are easily singlehanded.

Check out the 'camper mobile' story on page 7 for a H21 fully loaded complete with sound system! H18s have excellent carrying capacity,speed and can be sailed solo. I don't know if you have 16' Calypso cats in the US. These had large deck hatches which allowed huge in-hull storage and were quite the rage in Oz for camping holidays.

If you want a cat with below deck accommodation look for Seawind 24s/or malcolm tennant designs for sale in your area.

If you want to build your own and have about 3 months free, go to members.optusnet.com.au/~rhturner1
for the Aussie Jarcat trailerable cats.

Try a Mystere 6.0 with a front tramp and wings.. Loads of volume in the hulls and lots of sail area..XL is 10' wide.

look at this storage area.

But where is the "dry" storage area?

Well asking all things of anything is usually not realistic, however if by fast you mean as fast as the 14 or faster, and by camping you mean really rustic, (use a 5 gal bucket for a potty, tarp over the boom, sleep on the tramp) then you really only need 2 coolers tied to the boat, one for beer and the other for beer or dry clothes and small blanket). The Hobie 21, with gizmo on the front crossbeam is about as close to a fast cat with storage that I have seen. once you ask for real storage on a cat it starts to make the hulls wider and thus slower. Was on a stiletto 30 great boat, moderate storage, could sleep in if it was raining, but not a screamer. If a motor boat is a consideration, get towing insurance. I like to keep the performance of a cat separate from living arrangements, drive somewhere, set up camp and sail from there or to it.

This is the fastest high quality built camper you can get:
http://dragonfly-trimarans.org/d920_photos.htm

Consider a Reynolds 21. Nacelles access spacious hulls, carries lots of camping gear and crew without much speed penalty. Still tops 15 kts. Not a lot of them out there though. Dave

Build this



Wharram Tiki 21

Tiki 21 is a nice boat, comfortable but not fast. The Reynolds 21 is pretty fast and has storage inside (you could sleep there if needed to. (there is one for sale at our club, young fellow single hand all the time) I have a Stiletto 27, rates about the same as a H16 or better. I've put 10 people with plenty of room to spare (not to race though). Fun to sleep on or in. If you want more room than that you'll need to go to a leaner, but you'll never do 15 knots on one of those.

Clayton
S27, H16

Or buy it from Tami.

eric, i could store your boat in mine. its not quite as fast, but great for camping.

Hey Basket,

That is BAD butt, what is it?

thanx, she is a highly modified tomcat 6.2 i built. 6 oz kevlar hulls inside outside of a half inch core and a 65 lb carbon wing mast. (11.5x4.5 inches) she is not the fastest boat out there, but she works for my family.

I think all those boats are awsome! The Tiki may be slow by comparison, but I hear they are great little cruisers, and the Supercat and Tomcat are incredible! They must be a blast! Eric , are you going to do any camping trips on her? And what about her name? Did I miss that somewhere? A beauty like that deserves a name!

I have a Reynolds 21 in good condition for sale if interested. I can email pics. Jluzius@yahoo.com

I will do some camping with her but not on her. Unfortunatly I am hooked into a name that carries on from history. My first boat, H-18, was dubbed "Breakin' Wind" after she was lost to hurricane Andrew. Subsequent boats have been named the same, Breakin' Wind II,H-21; Breakin' Wind III, H-20; and the current Breakin' Wind IV, ARC21. I am not sure if maybe I should break the chain, there may be some Voo-Doo or other forces at work.

Also look at the MacGregor 36 cat. It supposedly sleeps eight with a little Mazzola oil, but 4 very comfortably. Mary (Wells) and I had one and raced it all the time. Its Portsmouth Number was the same as a Hobie 18.
Pretty hot boat. OUr strongest competitor was a Condor 40. It was faster upwind and we were faster downwind. That is until I replaced the daggerboard (the earlier models had single board and it worked fine) with a much longer (deeper) Formula 40 board and then we took it in all directions.

We used a 9.9 Yamaha 4stroke and it would motor around 8-9 mph.

Prices can be under 20k, but they are a rare find.

Visit the Forum on bigger multis, or better yet, use this Forums "Search" and simply ask for MacGregor and have it search all Forums.
Good luck,
Rick

Go to www.sailingcatamarans.com and look at the "under 25'" section of the designs page. The Strider, Gwahir, and Wizzer are micro-multihull class racing designs that may suit your needs.