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catamaran
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A catamaran is a boat with two parallel hulls instead of one, which you can see in various forms like the Spirit of Dallas on White Rock Lake, small sailing catamarans, and passenger ferries. This dual-hull design makes catamarans useful for different purposes, from recreational sailing to commercial passenger transport.
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~21 min read
Article
19 sectionsContents
- History
- Etymology
- Development in Austronesia
- Traditional catamarans
- Western development of sailing catamarans
- Performance
- Resistance
- Stability
- Tradeoffs
- SWATH and wave-piercing designs
- Applications
- Sport
- Cruising
- Passenger transport
- Military
- Small, personal boats
- See also
- References
- Further reading
thumb|The Spirit of Dallas catamaran on White Rock Lake thumb|A Formula 16 (sailing)|Formula 16 beachable catamaran thumb|Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts|Salem, [[Massachusetts, United States]]
A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a watercraft with two parallel hulls of equal size. The wide distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts stability through resistance to rolling and overturning; no ballast is required. Catamarans typically have less hull volume, smaller displacement, and shallower draft (draught) than monohulls of comparable length. The two hulls combined also often have a smaller hydrodynamic resistance than comparable monohulls, requiring less propulsive power from either sails or motors. The catamaran's wider stance on the water can reduce both heeling and wave-induced motion, as compared with a monohull, and can give reduced wakes.