When comparing a sailing and a power catamaran, it’s natural to think sails are an advantage.
However, on a catamaran, that’s less true for several reasons:
- Safety & comfort first: To avoid the risk of capsizing, naval architects deliberately reduce the sail area on catamarans.
- Poorer performance upwind: Catamarans have less lateral resistance than monohulls and therefore don’t perform as well against the wind. They experience greater leeway and require wider tacking angles.
- Reality at sea: Because of inconsistent wind conditions (too little, too much, or the wrong direction), most “sailing” catamarans actually use their engines most of the time.
In short, while sailing catamarans carry rigging that creates drag, a power catamaran is fully optimized for engine propulsion—delivering higher speed, lower fuel consumption, and greater comfort.