First let me preface by saying that I know any boat can sink. However I
would think that with the redundancy of two hulls, sinking a Catamaran
would be more difficult. If a hull gets severely holed and flooded, I
would think that the buoyancy of the remaining hull could/would be
enough to stay afloat, at least until the undamaged sponson side floods.
Are there any opinions on the Catamaran issue of added flotation safety?
Are two hulls better than one in regard to flotation safety? I would
certainly think so.

Sanford Kramer

When I was buying my Endeavour TrawlerCat 38 I asked
Bob Vincent (president of Endeavour and designer of
the boat) if it would sink if I holed it.  He said
that the hulls would fill with water leaving the
engines and a lot of other things underwater but that
the boat itself would still float high enough so that
the cockpit floor would be above water.  The boat
would then be a disabled but still floating platform.
I think this is a good safty feature although a fire
could still leave you without a boat.

Larry Larsen
Endeavour 38 TrawlerCat
Sitara
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It all depends on the boat.  A highly-regarded, professionally designed,
commercially build aluminum power cat recently sank here after hitting a
concrete float and tearing a large gash in one forward hull.  From my
inspection it appeared that there was no watertight separation between
the two hulls, and inadequate bulkheading within the hulls.  I think
there were other factors as well.

The demands of interior layout configurations sometimes force
compromises in safety.

Bob Deering
Juneau Alaska

-----Original Message-----
From: power-catamaran-bounces@lists.samurai.com
[mailto:power-catamaran-bounces@lists.samurai.com] On Behalf Of Sanford
Kramer
Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2006 5:48 AM
To: power-catamaran@lists.samurai.com
Subject: [PCW] Sinking Catamarans?

First let me preface by saying that I know any boat can sink. However I
would think that with the redundancy of two hulls, sinking a Catamaran
would be more difficult. If a hull gets severely holed and flooded, I
would think that the buoyancy of the remaining hull could/would be
enough to stay afloat, at least until the undamaged sponson side floods.
Are there any opinions on the Catamaran issue of added flotation safety?
Are two hulls better than one in regard to flotation safety? I would
certainly think so.

Sanford Kramer

Power-Catamaran Mailing List

Few mariners have devoted more concentrated thought to these questions than
the late, lamented Phil Weld. He spent five days trapped beneath his ocean
racing trimaran "Gulf Streamer," which had been capsized off Bermuda by a
rogue wave. Upon returning to his Massachusetts home, he promptly built a
new trimaran, appropriately named "Rogue Wave," and set to sea in her. In
yet a later iteration of the design, named (also appropriately) "Moxie," he
won the 1980 OSTAR (Observer Single-handed Transatlantic Race). He was 65
years of age. In his book Moxie: The American Challenge (The Bodley Head,
Ltd., London: 1982), he reflects on those experiences and shares a wealth of
insights about preparing a multihulled yacht for survival conditions. The
book is a splendid read to boot.

Weld favored sailing trimarans over cats, but broadly and passionately
argued that while multihulls are indeed capable of being flipped in extreme
conditions, the crew will almost certainly be left with a survival platform
upon which they can await rescue. Meanwhile, there are many things that the
crew bound for sea can do to make survival and rescue more likely than not.

Alan Bliss
Gainesville, Florida

-----Original Message-----
From: power-catamaran-bounces@lists.samurai.com
[mailto:power-catamaran-bounces@lists.samurai.com] On Behalf Of Sanford
Kramer
Sent: Saturday, March 11, 2006 9:48 AM
To: power-catamaran@lists.samurai.com
Subject: [PCW] Sinking Catamarans?

First let me preface by saying that I know any boat can sink. However I
would think that with the redundancy of two hulls, sinking a Catamaran
would be more difficult. If a hull gets severely holed and flooded, I
would think that the buoyancy of the remaining hull could/would be
enough to stay afloat, at least until the undamaged sponson side floods.
Are there any opinions on the Catamaran issue of added flotation safety?
Are two hulls better than one in regard to flotation safety? I would
certainly think so.

Sanford Kramer

Power-Catamaran Mailing List