If you get involved in such a project You first have to decide which ship You need. The requirements are: as comfortable (large) as possible. Oceangoing.
The first decision ist whether You want a Mono- or Twin-hull. Just to make a long story short: the twin-hull ist more roomy, it is faster, it sails upright which is very important 'cause You can leave Your tea-cup on the table when it get's rougher, You don't have to screw everything tight and can concentrate on screwing the crew, instead ;). In a mono-hull You have to tidy up everything when You are on the way, every drawer has to be secured (and one is often forgotten: You have a mess, then!), every cup, glass, plate, spoon must be secured. Seasickness is an issue, it hardly is in a cat.
Quote Nigel Roberts, long time sailor and boatbuilder from the Isle of Wight, who's living on Negros/Philippines for quite a while: "After emigrating to Australia, he kept up with his love of the sea, not only building boats but also living himself on the boats he built. After building a hundred of them during some 40 years he got caught in a bad storm and saw a catamaran quietly sailing in while he was banging around on his mono hull vessel." His words stand for many similar ones I've heard/read. Nothing more to be said! :)
The cat draws about 1,20m, a mono-hull more than 2m: this means you do have access to many bays You cannot get into with a mono-hull. You can easily sail a cat on the beach and walk to the beach-bar, with a conventional yacht-design You need the dinghi.
Falling dry is easy, You can repair or scrub the bottom easily below the waterline. You have to lift out a mono-hull with a crane to do this, or - if possible - do it diving. This is hard work! - And I hate hard work ;)
In a mono-hull You need tons of dead surplus-weight in the keel to get an uprighting momentum. It is hardly understood in the ship-building industry that low wheight is as essential as it is in any other moving object, as in a car, bike, or plane for example. Low weight is also essential in a skyscraper as it is in small houses.
And: In a mono-hull You sit in the cellar, since the living facilities (livingroom, bedrooms, kitchen) are on or below the waterline. The saloon with kitchen can easily be built on deck of a cat: Sitting at the table You have a good lookout onto the beach or marina (see my pics in the gallery!) - even in the rain.
And, finally: it is easier (=cheaper!) to build.
Compare mastheight to ship's length yourself! This is unconventional, but.... clever :)!
An experienced sailor just told me that I need a ketch-rig. I don't think I do: The idea behind a divided sailplan is to make the sails smaller within a given sailarea so You can handle them easier. The cat is faster anyway since there's no ballast-keel and less water-resistance. What do You need a large sail-area for? Only in light-wind conditions. If it blows harder You have to reduce sail-area, anyway. Do you want to race in light-wind-conditions when cruising? I don't think You will. Since it's your holiday it simply doesn't matter. When I saw Taboo III for the first time I made the same mistake when I thought the mast is not very high with 15m. Well, the answer is Rolls Royce'y: it's enough! The cutter-rigg ist just fine for me :)
NO MORE masts, NO MORE winches, NO MORE sails!
Taboo III is logging - with it's cutter-rigg, i.e. two headsails - up to 200-250 nautical miles in 24 hours (= 360 - 450 km) in good conditions. This is ok and enough - almost any monohull-sailor is dreaming of such a performance but will NEVER achieve it! The speed even might give You a chance to run away from a storm/taiphoon/hurricane without being hit.
Nearly ALL catamarans sport two diesel-engines, for three reasons: It is believed a second engine provides safety in an emergency situation. Second: If You got two hulls You start believing You need two engines. Third: it impresses friends and visitors if You got two engines plus double panels and controls, this looks more powerful in a double sense.
Since I do love power deeply I would wish enough power to do at least 100 knots at full power ;) However, reason has to prevail :( I do not think that a twin-engine-arrangement is necessary. I think that one diesel of about 85 hp should do absolutely fine, and it should deliver enough power for cooling/freezer, the diving-compressor and the electrical power-needs.
Since I'm involved in general aviation for nearly 40 years now I know the discussion there is the same concerning smaller private aircraft. The twin-engined airplane is faster, if we compare a Cessna 182 with a Piper Seneca, f.e. But: double engines do NOT mean double speed!!! The Cessna does 120mph, the Seneca is FAR from reaching 240knots! But2: in short to middle distances this speed advantage doesn't help You since You need a lot more time to get airborne before take-off due to more extensive pre-flight-checks and a longer pre-takeoff-checklist onboard. You do NOT arrive earlier. You do arrive earlier if the distances are longer. But what is the advantage of being 20 Minutes earlier in London LHR after departure in Frankfurt EDDF? On the other hand double engines mean double costs for maintenance and twice as much failures, PLUS the costs for the retractable gear. And if You're above 12000ft (4000m) You do need Oxygen or a pressurized cabin! So what??? - Of course it's more challenging und more fun to fly twin-engined. I LOVE the Piper turbo twin Comanche, You know (200mph/55ltr/hr/14000ft single-engined,RG, long range trans-atlanic-capable) ;)
Concerning a cat this means: an engine in every hull doubles installation- PLUS maintenance-costs AND efforts not only for the engines but for the cockpit, two! With one engine the speed is 8 knots, maybe. With twin-engines it's 9,5, perhaps and nearly doubled fuel-consumption! So You only run one engine when underway. This means You do have to run the engines intermittently, because if You don't the second engine won't start in case You need it. You lose space for the second engine-compartment and You need larger fuel storage capacity. In a lot more than 20 years today Taboo III was not in any situation it depended on a second engine! I don't want it, I don't need it!
Be assured: 99% of all ships (monohulls) only have ONE engine, and clearly NOBODY does seriously think that this is a safety-issue at all! The moment people see a cat they think it is: this is just crazy!
And should I ever wish to impress my guests I'll put a Rembrandt on the saloon-wall! ;)
Taboo III has got a one-of-a-kind hydraulic prop-drive which is retractable midships, so it can be lifted out of the water when not in use. There's no resistance in the water when the sail are up, a feature, that hardly any other cat or monohull in the world has to offer! AND there are NO thruhull-openings, neither for the prop-shaft nor for cooling-purposes: this is why Taboo III ist dust-dry inside: If there no hole there no way water can enter the hulls!
Taboo III is a KISS-ship: "Keep It Simple, Stupid!". It is reduced to what is really necessary, nothing can break that does not exist! There's no speedo, for example, speed is delivered by a simple Garmin GPS 12, as well as position-data. The yacht has wind-direction in the mast-top, wheel-selfsteering, compass, radar, depth-/fishfinder and that Garmin: That's all. Weather reports come via shortwave-radio. There's fridge/freezer. What I want is a good computersystem, hot/cold pressurewater, Sat-TV, communication-radios, und more. The boats safety in regard of unwanted guests shall be improved by a 15000-Volt-shock-system - this ain't funny in a wet environment!!! I want tanks so that I can motorsail about 500 nm (=nautical miles, Seemeile = 1,809 km). There should be a large waterreservoir + holdingtanks, since many laws require these and you're in trouble if caught dumping.
This is Negros with Dumaguete. north of Tambobo/Bonbonon.
The entrance: I seriuosly hope that TabooTwoo will be built here!
Taboo III has a berth in Sutera Harbour in Kota Kinabalu, Borneo, which is said to be one of the most beautiful marinas in the world.
Satellite-picture from Google Earth.
Designed with the highly appreciated help of Google`s free but priceless "Google Earth"-Software!
...just to meet ...Wolfgang, Wolfgang K., in this case, not Wolfgang H. The ship still looked Taboo'ish from near. Not possible! I shouted: "Ahoi, Talamanca!" And Wolfgang materialised.
I asked Wolfgang Hausner, if anybody else had the idea of copying Taboo and he told me he heard that there was somebody doing that in Hamburg. This project was successfull, and it eventually carried Wolfgang K. to his dreams. Now I stood on this boat and was ...... stunned: what a coincidence! This really was the sistership of Taboo III, the Talamanca II !
The second Wolfgang with the second ship was as surprised as I was. He was as interested in my story as I was in his. He was there as accidentally as I was, since I intended to go to St.Petersburg in Russia, first hand, but then changed my plans. He wanted to sail to another island. Then the wind changed and brought him in front of my terrace on Sal. Kismet. So we talked, showed and looked at our pictures. This was a very impressive experience since within a short time I could see and compare both yachts, which looked the same, but were completely different. It helped me a lot.
Talamanca 2 was sold later, and went to Germany via Turkey where she was plundered by locals. Then she was sold a second time.