Re: Hull Design
Your points are pretty much the case. About the longitudinal (roll) axis a catamaran is MUCH more stable. No possibility of chine walk, for example. However, they have their own troubles, when pushed to the extreme. One is "blowover". If a wake bouces the bow high enough at high speed, a kite effect takes place. Very thrilling. And in hard turns in rough water the outside bow may hook, worse case the bow tucks completely under and the boat rolls. But these events usually happen only to cats under racing conditions.
In slow turns a cat will lean into the turn like a V-hull. But in sweeping turns a cat will typically lean slightly OUTWARD of the turn. Which can be disconcerting for boaters not used to cats. Kind of like a car leans outward when turning. But this lean is really quite slight, not nearly so steep an angle the the inward lean most of us are used to.
Kelly
