Multihull heavy weather tactics when sailing a catamaran offshore

From the following excellent article by Peter Johnstone on Sail Magazine:

http://www.sailmagazine.com/cruising/heavy-weather-strategies-when-sailing-catamaran

By their nature, larger catamarans are exceptionally safe offshore. It is not unusual to sail through mildly uncomfortable conditions, such as a gale, only to arrive in port and hear sailors on keelboats talk of “surviving” horrendous weather. A large modern catamaran has plenty of buoyancy and exceptional roll inertia. Together these make a capsize, or inversion, highly unlikely. A 30-foot breaking wave hitting a cat abeam will simply make the boat surf sideways.

On most offshore passages, advanced communications and weather information should preclude you from ever experiencing true gale or survival conditions. The highest risks are run on passages sailed on a north-south axis between seasons. Early spring or late autumn passages between New England and the Caribbean, in eastern Atlantic waters off Europe, or on routes between the South Pacific and New Zealand are where you typically have a chance of experiencing a good wallop offshore. Follow the wisdom outlined in Jimmy Cornell’s World Cruising Routes, and these risks should be minimized. Regardless, anyone venturing offshore in a multihull should be prepared to handle the worst.

read more here

North West Multihull Association meeting Tuesday, March 4th, 2014

From the North West Multihull Association website:

http://www.nwmultihull.org/

Vince DePillis will moderate a discussion on a topic near and dear to every multihullers heart: CAPSIZE.

We will have first hand accounts from Wayne Erickson and David Miller regarding their capsize experiences. The discussion will be focussed on three things:

1. How to avoid it.
2. What kind of equipment should be aboard if it happens.
3. Recovering from the capsize.

This is an important topic, and we hope to see you there.

Gather at 6:30 for potluck offerings with a brief meeting and introductions at 7 with program following.

Location:
Puget Sound Yacht Club, 2321 N. Northlake Way, Seattle

Multihulls World, Multihull handling, how to guides

The comprehensive Multihulls World website have put up a series of articles on multihull boat handling.  They cover sail deployment, reefing, anchoring etc.  A useful resource if your just finding your way with your new multihull.

http://www.multihulls-world.com/us/manoeuvre-guide

Excellent article on Multihulls World on singlehanded multihull sailing

From the following Multihulls World article

http://www.multihulls-world.com/us/catamarans/dossiers/tips-for-singlehanded-sailors,11.html

Sailing singlehanded on a multihull imposes a different rhythm, greater anticipation and absolute respect of safety rules. Don't think that this subject only concerns real singlehanders. Family cruising with young children finally imposes the same constraints. 

read more here

Pitchpole and capsize prevention guides posted on the NZMYC website.

The New Zealand Multihull Yacht Club have put up some excellent guides on pitchpole and capsize prevention.  Available for download from the following link.

http://www.multihull.org.nz/racing/?Section=Club%20Guides%20and%20Documents

Steven Callahan, more interesting articles

Steven Callahan has had some incredible adventures over the years at sea, some great others quite dire including time adrift at sea in liferafts after the loss of a boat.  His articles page has some interesting content including an article by Steven on sailing the pacific proa Jzerro to Tahiti from the US with designer/builder Russell Brown

You can find the articles here.

Articles on the use of parachute anchors and heavy weather sailing from multihullpages.com

A good article from the multihullpages website on the use of parachute anchors on a multihull.

http://www.multihullpages.com/parachute_anchors.html

Heavy weather sailing on a multihull also a good read.

http://www.multihullpages.com/heavy_weather.html