Your guide to an excellent catamaran sailing experience

The catamarans have risen in popularity among cruisers, charterers, and casual sailors.  The reason for this is that the catamaran, unlike a keelboat, has a sail in the middle with two hulls for balance as opposed to the single hull in a keelboat.  You also have catamarans or cats that feature a cockpit, the main cabin space for netting and relaxing.  Sailing catamaran is considered safe because of the stability it can offer due to the presence of two hulls.

Difference between catamarans and keelboats

There are many differences. Some of them are:

• The catamarans are larger when compared to keelboats with a single or monohull and sail.
• There are two hulls in a catamaran with a sail in the middle. This offers stability to the catamaran.
• The space between two hulls is good enough to accommodate a number of people and essential things.
• Since there are two hulls, the sailing experience would be less tiring in a catamaran. This is because of the need to battle against gravity is less when you are sailing a catamaran.
• It is possible to use a catamaran even in shallower places because they do not need much water underneath to sail.
• They can be used for fast sailing

How is sailing catamaran different from sailing keelboats?

Owing to the number of features that differentiate the catamaran from a keelboat, you must understand that the sailing a catamaran would be different from that of sailing a keelboat. The motion of the cat itself would be different from that of a keelboat. You would have to trim the sails differently. Making headway in the case of light wind or upwind conditions would be slightly harder. It could be quite a task to handle catamarans in the case of heavy weather conditions. That is why proper catamaran training is advice for those who wish to sail a catamaran.

Where can you get catamaran sailing training?

In response to the growing popularity and demand for catamaran sailing courses, ASA School in Mexico has come up with courses in catamaran sailing. This course can be pursued if you already know monohull cruising or learn it straight away if you are planning to charter a catamaran shortly.  You can obtain ASA 114 certification after completing the catamaran sailing course that would have a fair mix of theoretical and practical sessions that would help you acquire knowledge about sailing and the terminologies that sailors use if this is the first ever sailing training course you have taken up.

In case you are thinking of translating the monohull sailing experience that you already have to multihull sailing, you would quickly understand the advantages and disadvantages of either form and learn to capitalize on the advantages that the cats can offer. When you take up the course when you are about to buy a boat or cat of your own, you would be in a position to make informed decisions regarding the ship, cat or even the type of cat you need to charter for the trip you have in mind.

The practical sessions that are handled with appropriate student-instructor ratio would make you imbibe sailing skills that would make you a knowledgeable and confident sailor. This would ensure that you have a great catamaran sailing experience.