Three hulls, three entirely different weeks. The choice is not about budget — it is about what you actually want the days to feel like.
Most people choose a vessel from photographs, which is roughly as reliable as choosing a house from the front door. The three types sail differently, sleep differently, cost differently and suit very different groups. Here is the honest version.
The monohull
The traditional sailing yacht, and still the best boat for anyone who actually wants to sail. She heels, which is the thing people either love or cannot tolerate, and she goes to windward properly. Motion at sea is more pronounced but more predictable — a long roll rather than a snatch.
- Best for
- Sailors, couples, small groups, anyone who wants the boat to be the point of the week.
- Against
- Narrower cabins, less deck space, and heeling that makes cooking, sleeping and moving around genuinely harder for the uninitiated.
- Cost
- The most affordable of the three by a clear margin, and the cheapest to berth.
The catamaran
Two hulls, no heeling, and roughly twice the living space for the same length. She sails flat, which transforms the week for anyone prone to seasickness, and she anchors more comfortably because she does not roll.
Cabins sit in the hulls, so each couple gets genuine privacy — which matters enormously on a week with strangers aboard. The shallow draught opens up bays a monohull cannot enter. And boarding is easy, which is not a small point for anyone with a knee or a hip that has opinions.
- Best for
- Families, mixed-ability groups, anyone sharing with people they did not arrive with, and anyone who has been seasick once and never forgotten it.
- Against
- Poorer performance to windward, a snappier motion in short seas, and marina fees that are commonly charged at one and a half to two times a monohull berth.
- Cost
- Substantially more to charter and to berth.
A catamaran does not heel. For half the people reading this, that single fact decides the week.
The motor yacht
Speed and certainty. You go where you planned, when you planned, regardless of wind direction — which matters if the week has fixed points in it, or if the group would rather see six islands than sail between two.
Interiors are typically the most generous of the three, and the flybridge is a genuinely lovely place to spend an evening. The trade is fuel, noise under way, and the absence of the thing that makes sailing what it is.
- Best for
- Short weeks with a lot to cover, celebrations, groups with limited mobility, anyone who dislikes uncertainty.
- Against
- Fuel is a real and variable cost. It rolls at anchor. And it is not sailing.
The honest advice
If anyone in the party is anxious about seasickness or unsteady on their feet, take the catamaran and do not agonise. If the group genuinely wants to sail, take the monohull and accept the heel. If the week is about covering ground or marking an occasion, take the motor yacht.
And if you are choosing between a smaller newer boat and a larger older one, take the newer one. Systems fail on old boats, and a week is not long enough to absorb a day lost to a failed watermaker.