We decided to change from Rush, our Pogo 12.50 monohull (which we loved for her performance, handling and steady motion) to a multihull for longer periods of living aboard. Primary factors are the increased living and stowage spaces, comfortable watch keeping and level living underway, stability and room-with-a-view visibility at anchor plus space for a good tender. 

BUT… we really don’t want to lose the enjoyment we get from a rewarding, quick boat. Experienced and likeable yacht designer, Rob Humphries, once said “Cruising efficiency is also about performance. Whether getting from A to B, or avoiding bad weather, there are lots of benefits of having a fast yacht and I can’t think of any benefits of having a slow boat.” 

We have blue-water experienced mates who’ve said the same. Everyone, of course, spends significant periods at anchor but, for us anyway, if we didn’t enjoy the passages and have pride in our boat, it wouldn’t feel the same.  

Coming from a boat development background (I was co-founder of RS Sailing, the small sailboat brand), we undertook an extensive process to build our understanding of what it would take to achieve the balance of comfort and performance we’re after. We tapped into a range of sources:  

Boat Shows Visiting a number of shows (including our favourite, the Multihull Show, La Grand Motte) gave a feel for a wide variety of boats and the opportunity to talk them through with the manufacturers. But, a boat show only provides one part of the jigsaw and to draw conclusions after simply looking over a boat in a marina would be foolish.

Designers Having worked with a number of top boat designers over the years, they’re generally enthusiastic and approachable, so we spoke to some of the leading names in cruising cat design. They were generous with their time and experience and we’re very grateful.

Yachting journalists We fortunate to know some of the best and mercilessly picked their brains! They’ve thoroughly test-sailed many different boats and have a deep understanding of their attributes and compromises.

Shipyards We created a short list and visited a number of them to fill in the behind-the-scenes detail of construction, systems and quality. 

Sailing We sailed all the multihulls we could.  

The process took a year and friends were beginning to wonder whether we’d ever make a decision!