The newer boats cruising are often multihulls. People want their condo on the water. And truth be told there is a lot to be said for cruising in a cat, plenty of room for solar, easy storing of the dinghy, lots of room for sunsets and cocktails.

When we were coming down off shore from Beaufort to the VI's we spoke with a catamaran a few miles away from us with a family on her. We were in some good seas with a little breeze; about 20 kts and when we spoke with the cat they were playing the Mexican Train game with their kids. We couldn't have done that!

Now, I love the motion of our boat vs a cat, I like that in a Marina the costs are much less, I like that windage isn't as big a factor but I understand the movement towards cats. However, when people come to doing work such as painting the hulls of cats; well, I like our costs down the road in keeping our boat looking spiffy.

Ciao