Catamarans have become very popular
lately among people going for sailing vacations.
Their biggest plus point is their size and wide berth, which makes
it possible for large groups to be accommodated. Families, office
staff and groups of students prefer catamarans
for their sailing vacations as they offer them more space on board
along with speed and stability.
The word ‘catamaran’
is the Anglicization of the Tamil word ‘kattumaram’,
which literally means ‘logs joined together side by side’.
Tamil Nadu is a southern state of India, where this craft was originally
used by fishermen and river racers in a crude form. Even modern
catamarans are two-hulled, with a wide deck connecting
them with diagonal panels. This is the reason for the wide space
that a catamaran provides. Catamarans
are also characterized by huge sails. This gives them more wind
momentum and hence, higher speeds. However this is also a disadvantage
when making turns.
Catamarans are fast becoming even
more popular than yachts at top sailing destinations. The original
apprehensions about the catamarans have now dwindled
away and many agencies now provide catamarans for
sailing and cruises. As catamarans
have more space, they can have some rooms and cabins, thus offering
privacy to people on board.
There are various types of hiring catamarans.
Bareboat catamarans are available if the number
of people is between 2 to 12, provided someone among them has the
necessary expertise to row a catamaran. A test may be conducted
before hiring a bareboat catamaran. Skippered catamarans
are also available, with a local skipper on board. The skipper looks
after the needs of the catamaran, while the people
on board can plan their itineraries. Catamarans
can also be hired with an entire crew and cook. This is especially
done when catamarans are hired for occasions like
birthdays, anniversaries or weddings.
Despite that, catamarans have certain
demerits. Catamarans, being bulky, cannot be navigated
in narrow strips of water like cays. Vacationers use smaller poke
boats when they have to navigate such areas. Catamarans
on hire may have poke boats bundled with them. Another thing is
catamarans are ideal for bigger groups. Smaller
groups may lack the sense of privacy on a catamaran vacation.
Catamaran hiring prices depend
on the location and the size of the catamaran.
Prices could vary from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand dollars.
Charter brokers can be hired to choose a suitable catamaran
for the vacation.
Sailing Vacations provides detailed
information on Bahamas Sailing Vacations, Caribbean
Sailing Vacations, CatamaranSailing
Vacations, Family Sailing Vacations and more. Sailing
Vacations is affiliated with Caribbean Sailing.
