Customer Reviews

Cruising in Catamarans

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book is an excellent, highly independent criticism of the pros and cons of various sailboat designs, with a strong and logical argument for cruising catamarans.

Mr. Kanter makes some keen observations, not only about catamarans, trimarans, and monohulls, but also about the people who buy, sell, design, and build them. From the viewpoint of someone relatively little experience with catamarans, but extensive experience in monohulls, these observations have a ring of truth to them. They cut right through the marketing B.S. to the reality of cruising. In addition, he has a sense of humor and enjoyment about those unique cruising experiences that all sailors can appreciate.

The book is best for intermediate or advanced sailors.

And isn't that exactly how you want your marine surveyor to be? Mr. Kanter is a well known US marine surveyor specialized in multihulls. He has strong opinions borne out of his own experience and well laid out in the first few chapters on the features of good catamarans. He has a few pet peeves (e.g. the lack of rub-rails) and a tendency to get carried away (after the chapter on good/bad helmstations he could not bring himself to review any Catanas), but the information is very solid. He then reviews a number of catamarans built over the last decade, both in and out of production. Each catamaran gets a thorough write up typically based on several surveys/test sails - a welcome relief from the flimsy politically correct reviews of most sailing magazines. My only wish for this section is that the information be a little more standardized and complete (that would have earned the book the fifth star). I would have also liked details of Chuck's own catamaran "La Forza", which he often references in the text.

Having said all this, I think that this is currently (03/03) the best resource available for someone looking to buy a catamaran. I will know who to call when I buy mine.

I was disappointed in this book after reading the other reviews. It seems like this is the best book available on cruising cats, but if so the others must be very poor.

It was more like a collection of notes. It didn't seem like it had been edited or proof read. There were sentences that didn't make sense, words omitted and spelling mistakes. The book was badly laid out with poor structure and style. All this wouldn't have mattered if the information was good. Some of it was.

Charles Kanter has a few pet hates and he laboured these points. Things like excessive beam and quarterdeck steering position. He also went on a bit about the advantages of cats over monohulls. Most people who buy this book will have already come to that conclusion. A short review of the advantages would have been sufficient. He also devoted a lot of space to brief reviews of different models, some of which are pretty rare. It might have been better if he'd done a proper review of the top 10 selling production models. He also devoted quite a lot of space to trimarans. There is a large chunk of the book devoted to the importance of having your boat professionally surveyed, which, coming from a professional suveyor, was a bit of a laboured sales pitch.

What I want from this book was more information on how to handle a catamaran, anchoring, mooring and berthing considerations, heavy weather sailing, sail trimming, down-wind sailing, how to avoid or reduce slamming, shoal water anchoring, best practice for beaching a cat etc.. There were bits of this.

So, a mixed bag. Having looked at the reviews of other books about cats it may be the best one available, which only makes me want to write a better one.

This is the most comprehensive study of sailing catamarans on the market today. It gives a detailed account of many of the different makes and models of cats which are for sale. The average consumer can draw from Charles Kanter's extensive experience as a marine surveyor and knowledgeable sailor. Mr.Kanter is always very forthright with his opinions about boats and boating. As brokers in South Florida we have used Mr. Kanter's books and knowledge to assist many of our customers. We reccommend it as the best source for detailed information about catamarans and the art of sailing catamarans. If anyone is considering buying a catamaran to cruise, to daysail or to livaboard this is the book to buy.

I thought the book was good, but not great. It has lots of information and lots of opinions -- very strongly stated opinions, and typically not backed up by any facts.

As the owner of a catamaran model that the author doesn't particularly like (a Privilege 42), I often wanted to argue with his opinions. In several cases he makes statements to the effect of 'the design of X on the Privilege is terrible', while in two years of sailing my boat I never had any hint of trouble nor any complaints about X. I guess that is just the nature of opinions...

I thought the appendix on anchoring was particularly weak. For example, in the section on anchor rodes (p360-1) he catalogs the reasons why ships in the Age of Sail used chain, followed by an equally long list of reasons why modern Nylon three-strand is wonderful and goes on to claim that Nylon rode will not chafe underwater, even against coral (!), but he does not make any comments or recommendations on chain vs. Nylon for an actual anchor rode for use on a cruising boat. There is only a vague implication. Despite the marketing copy on the cover, he did not tell 'how to' or provide what I 'need to know' to on this critical aspect of anchoring and thus cruising. He listed some 'facts' and gave some opinions, but drew no conclusions. This pattern is reapeated throughout the book.

Still, there is lots of good information in this book and I've recommended my wife to read it before our next cruise.

Mr. Kanter has a lot of experience with multihulls a fact that he reminds the reader every other paragraph. He also seems to feel that every paragraph must be showing that multihulls are in someway better than monohulls rather than just providing information. There is a lot of good information in this book but by the end of it I wanted to slap the author.

Wow, All the questions I ever had about cruising catamarans but did not know who to ask, now I have a source for the answers. This book impressed me as real information without any hint of a sales pitch. That alone is refreshing. It also outlined a thoughtful method of comparing one vessel to another based upon my personal needs. I love the easy to use forms. The chapter on how to handle the twin engine boats under popwer is dynamite. I am all prepared now when I charter this year in Thailand. Could go on and on but I sure do say Thanks Chuck, thanks for my enlightenment.

I discovered this author by searching several websites seeking information on the various sailing catamarans that are being built today and some of the "no longer built" models. Being in the market to purchase my retirement transportation, I thought I should learn all that I could before venturing forth. Mr. Kanter's book was all that I hoped for, and I feel better prepared for my first trip to the Annapolis Boat Show to begin the selection process.

When I first got it, I looked at the quality of some of the printing on diagrams, and winced.

But once I started reading I was entranced.

Carefull, complete, and well written. Every conclusion is carefully justified.

INCLUDING, reviews of current (and some old) boats in detail. EXACTLY what each boat has gotten right, and what each has gotten wrong. And each review is carefully marked with what type of boat (racing, crusing, etc.) that it is, so you can compare apples with apples.

Charles Kanter's "Cruising in Catamarans" is an excellent book that tells readers a lot about hull, deck, and interior configurations, exterior rigging options, and advice on how to sail them and park them in lousy as well as optimum conditions. His wide experience surveying and sailing catamarans of various models and sizes enables Mr. Kanter to offer informed opinions, often accompanied with photos to bolster his argument.

The book is not a primer, nor an introduction to sailing. Kanter targets experienced sailors who are considering changing from monohull boats to catamarans and want to know more - a lot more. The author does not disappoint in that regard.

Kanter's nautical lexicon exceeds that of many sailors, as well as the book's own glossary. Although amply endowed with pictures, a few more would have been helpful. For example, the photo of a chafe-prone skene bow chock is not juxtaposed to a picture of the recommended alternative roller chock - a vastly different bit of hardware. Although technology is already beginning to overtake the book's content (e.g., no mention of LED lighting), readers contemplating catamaran cruising will love this book.