# catamaran width



## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

have been advised the 37'' prout snowgoose i am considering is too narrow at 15'' to go offshore. plan to take thornless path, etc.


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

I can''t see how a 15'' beam is too narrow. I would think a 37'' Cat with a 15'' beam is plenty large enough. I have a 33'' Morgan OI with a 12'' beam and its large enough and wide enough to make the journey. 

Maybe you can get ahold of some other Prout owners and get their direct experiences.


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## Guest (Jul 23, 2001)

While Prouts have done a fair share of offshore work that sounds quite narrow for a catamarran. The rule of thumb used to determine the minimum acceptable beam on a offshore Cat was that the beam is more than half of the length with 60% being more optimum. In capsize testing it was found that a near breaking wave height equal to the beam of a cat would capsize it with a high certainty of chance. The B/L=.5 is a pretty old ratios and I don''t know where the current crop of beam to length ratios have ended up but I suspect that they are wider still. . 

Jeff


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## TSOJOURNER (Dec 16, 1999)

Hey gto2,

Have a look at the website - www.2hulls.com and check the beam to length ratios from the "brochures" of the various cats available. Follow links : Resources - then Gallery.

Ours is a Nautitech 475 & has B/L of 52% and is ocean going. Most of the French Cats are delivered across "the pond" on their own bottoms.

Cheers
Jinga


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