I am a Monohull Sailor but I Want to Sail a Catamaran on a Sailing Vacation
How do I sail catamarans without much catamaran experience?
Monohull or Catamaran? Monohull or Catamaran? Monohull or Catamaran?
Making the selection for your sailing vacation can be a mind struggle. Sailing a catamaran definitely has its comforts and benefits while the performance of a monohull can be exhilarating. The dynamics of your family/friend group and the location will help provide the answer.
But the decision is also influenced by whether you will actually qualify to skipper the catamaran. And so the question presented here is: How can I qualify to sail a catamaran when I have little to zero catamaran experience?
It seems like a “who came first, the chicken or the egg” dilemma. Meaning – how can you get catamaran experience when no one will rent you a boat?
BUT FIRST, watch this video we made of a Greece sailing vacation on a Catamaran – just to whet your appetite.
Will a Charter Company Allow Me to Skipper a Catamaran Without Catamaran Experience?
Yes and No!
Yes – if you have plenty of large monohull experience
No – if you have little large monohull experience.
The Yes: If you have plenty of experience skippering on a large monohull around 40 feet plus and say around 50 days or so, then likely the Yacht Charter company will allow you to rent a smaller catamaran around 40 feet but will also likely require that you spend 2-3 hours going through a check-out with their local professional skipper at the base before releasing you to take the boat yourself.
The No: If you have limited large monohull experience, then the charter company will either require 2 days with a skipper or an additional provision that you may need to hire the skipper for the entire week.
Licensing and Recognized Certification
There are a few countries that now require a recreational sailing license or competence certification from a government-recognized body.
Those countries include: All of Europe, The Seychelles, The Bahamas.
Other countries do not necessarily require any license or certification however they still require an adequate resume of experience. Some associations issue certifications without an adequate resume and so be aware that even if you hold a purported license or certificate it may not be valid. Knowing this, the NauticEd sailing license and certifications are only issued when the sailor has an acceptable resume of experience for charter.
The NauticEd SLC is an international sailing license that is accepted globally by port authorities and yacht charter companies. Noting the above, it is only issued when a sailor has the required documentation and experience. The United Nations ICC is also another license internationally accepted but it does not guarantee the resume is complete enough to guarantee yacht charter company acceptance. If you have plenty of experience and a well documented resume, then the ICC will work fine.
For the Bahamas, you must be adept at Navigation, with both charts and electronic means. The NauticEd Bareboat Charter Master Certification includes Navigation training and is thus fully accepted for charter in the Bahamas.
Does a Catamaran Certificate Qualify Me?
Yes and No!
The answers still reside with experience. Yacht charter companies put little credence on certificates because many sailing training associations have a wide range of quality (or lack of) control. Be wary of sailing schools that say you must have a sailing certification to charter a boat on a sailing vacation. It is not true! See the biggest lie in sailing article.
What is true is that the charter company will ask you for a resume of your sailing achievements.
The Yes – if you have plenty of experience on a monohull and catamaran – then you will qualify regardless of whether you have a certificate or not. If you have no real catamaran skippering experience but a catamaran certification – maybe – more than likely the charter company will still require a few hours of check out at the charter base. However, keep in mind the licensing/certification requirements for the countries listed above.
The No – if you have a catamaran certificate and little experience as the master of the vessel (catamaran or monohull) then NO – the yacht charter company will not give you the cat for the week.
Summary
If you have lots of large monohull experience (more than 50 days or so) then you can probably go with the expectation of a few hour check out captain (maybe longer if you don’t perform so well). At a minimum, take the NauticEd Catamaran Sailing Confidence online course. But you don’t need a Catamaran Certification. However – all training is good training – even if it is bad – it is better than none. So if it is readily available to you then sure – go for it.
If you don’t have a lot of large monohull experience, get more large monohull experience – see our article: Nineteen Ways to Gain Sailing Experience Without Owning a Boat.
At any time, you can charter a catamaran with a skipper for the week to learn – See our Article: Why Hire a Skipper for Your Sailing Vacation. When you use our NauticEd Yacht Charter Agency, we will hire a skipper for you. The cost of a skipper for a week can be similar in price to a catamaran training course for a few days.
In some countries, you are required to have a formal sailing license AND an adequate resume.
At NauticEd, we have professional catamaran training instructors – see our sailing instructors page.
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Last updated on August 16th, 2024
NauticEd is a fully recognized education and certification platform for sailing students combining online and on-the-water real instruction (and now VR). NauticEd offers +24 online courses, a free sailor's toolkit that includes 2 free courses, and six ranks of certification – all integrated into NauticEd’s proprietary platform. The USCG and NASBLA recognize NauticEd as having met the established American National Standards. Learn more at www.nauticed.org.
The NauticEd Vacations team are Expert Global Yacht Charter Agents – when you book a sailing vacation or bareboat charter through NauticEd, we don’t charge you a fee – we often save you money since we can compare prices from all yacht charter companies. PLUS, we can give you advice on which destination or charter company will suit your needs best. Inquire about a Sailing Vacation or Charter.
