Guides · Sailaway Charters
How to choose between sail, motor and catamaran
Three hulls, three temperaments. A monohull leans and points; a catamaran stays flat and sleeps eight; a motor yacht ignores the wind entirely. The right choice depends on your crew, your grounds and what you actually want from the week.
The three boats, in one breath
A monohull is a single-keeled sailing yacht: it heels 10-20 degrees under sail, points close to the wind, and rewards anyone who wants to actually sail. A catamaran is two hulls and a bridgedeck: flat, wide, shallow-draught, and roomy enough that four couples never trip over each other. A motor yacht carries no sails at all and runs on engines and a fuel budget. Most charter fleets in the Mediterranean lean heavily toward the first two.
None of them is the 'best' boat. They solve different problems. Pick the wrong one and you spend the week fighting it — a family of nervous first-timers on a heeling 45ft monohull in the meltemi, or two keen sailors bored rigid on a motor yacht in the Ionian calm. Get it right and the boat disappears and the sailing grounds take over.
How it feels underway
A monohull heels. In 12-15 knots on a beam reach that lean is the whole point — the boat comes alive, the rail hums, and you cover ground with the engine off. In 25 knots gusting through a Croatian channel it means winches, reefing and one hand for the boat. If half your crew has never sailed, that motion is the single biggest thing to prepare them for.
A catamaran stays level. You can put a full glass of wine on the cockpit table in 18 knots and it won't slide. That flat platform is why cats have taken over family and flotilla charters. The cost is windward performance: a cat won't point as high, and in light air it can feel sluggish under sail and you end up motoring. A motor yacht removes the question — you set a course, throttle up, and arrive regardless of wind, trading the sailing itself for speed and certainty.
Space, sleeping and the crew you're bringing
This is where catamarans win outright. A 45ft cat gives you four double cabins in separate hulls, each with its own heads, plus a cockpit and saloon on one flat level. Couples get privacy; children get a deck to roam; nobody climbs over anybody at anchor. It is the obvious boat for two families sharing, or anyone who wants the deck to feel like a floating terrace rather than a companionway.
A monohull of the same length sleeps the same numbers on paper but feels tighter — cabins fore and aft of a central saloon, a single heads shared more often, and everything angled when you're sailing. That closeness suits a crew who came to sail rather than to lounge. Motor yachts vary wildly: a 50ft flybridge motor yacht can offer generous cabins and a huge sun deck, but you are paying for volume and engines, not rig.
Draught, anchorages and where you can actually go
Draught decides your anchorages. A 45ft monohull draws around 2.1m; a catamaran of the same length draws roughly 1.2m. That metre lets a cat tuck into shallow sandy bays and lie close to a beach where the monohull has to anchor further out in deeper water. In the [Bahamas](https://www.sailawaycharters.com/caribbean/bahamas), where banks run shallow for miles, shallow draught isn't a nicety — it's the difference between reaching an anchorage and reading about it.
Mooring is the other side of the coin. On a Mediterranean quay — stern-to in Trogir or [Hvar](https://www.sailawaycharters.com/mediterranean/croatia/hvar) town — a wide catamaran needs 1.5 berths and marinas often charge accordingly, sometimes 1.5 to 2 times a monohull rate. In August in [Croatia](https://www.sailawaycharters.com/mediterranean/croatia) a big cat can be turned away from a full ACI marina where a slim monohull still squeezes in. Match the boat to how you plan to spend nights: town quays and konoba dinners, or quiet bays on your own anchor.
What it costs — charter, fuel and the marina bill
Like-for-like length, a catamaran charters for noticeably more than a monohull — often 40-60% more for the same 45ft. Add the higher marina fees for the extra beam and the gap widens. You are buying space and stability, and for the right crew that is money well spent. For two sailors who want to be underway, the same budget buys a bigger, better-equipped monohull.
Motor yachts move the cost into fuel. Where a monohull might burn a few litres an hour ghosting along under sail, a motor yacht can burn 30-40 litres an hour at a cruising 8-10 knots, and far more if you push the throttles. On our Phang Nga runs we see around 38 litres an hour at cruise — that is a real line on the final bill, not a rounding error. Budget the fuel honestly before you fall for the sun deck.
Matching the boat to the grounds
Some sailing grounds all but choose for you. The [British Virgin Islands](https://www.sailawaycharters.com/caribbean/british-virgin-islands) run on steady 15-20 knot north-east trades and short line-of-sight hops down the Sir Francis Drake Channel — ideal for catamarans, which is why the BVI fleet is stacked with them. The [Ionian](https://www.sailawaycharters.com/mediterranean/greece) in Greece is gentle and forgiving, good for first-timers on either hull. The Cyclades, with the afternoon meltemi punching 25-30 knots, reward a well-found monohull and a crew who can reef.
Charter grounds also shape the fleet you'll find. [Croatia](https://www.sailawaycharters.com/mediterranean/croatia) and Greece carry deep monohull and catamaran fleets, so you have real choice. [Turkey](https://www.sailawaycharters.com/mediterranean/turkey) and the Dalmatian coast suit both. Motor yachts come into their own where distances are longer or time is short — hopping between the islands off [Sardinia](https://www.sailawaycharters.com/mediterranean/italy/sardinia), or covering ground when the wind won't cooperate. Decide the grounds first; let them narrow the hull.
So which one
Start with your crew and your nights, not the brochure. If you have children, mixed sailing ability, or two couples sharing and wanting privacy, a catamaran earns its premium — flat, roomy, shallow enough for the good bays. If the point of the week is the sailing itself, and you'd rather spend on length than volume, take the monohull: it heels, it points, and it costs less to charter and to berth. If you have limited time, want to cover distance regardless of wind, and accept the fuel bill, the motor yacht does what neither sailing boat can.
Right for families and first-timers who want stability and space: the catamaran. Right for keen sailors on a budget who came to sail: the monohull. Right for those short on time or long on distance who don't mind motoring: the motor yacht. Tell us your grounds, your dates and who's aboard, and we'll match the hull to the week rather than the other way round.