We are life-time dinghy and yacht racers. Post retirement, for the last fifteen years we have been full time, live aboard cruisers, with five Atlantic crossings and a circumnavigation behind us, sailing over eighty thousand miles almost all of it two up.

Back in 2008, our choice of cruising boat was heavily influenced by the “expert” opinions offered in yachting magazines and online articles.  The overall consensus among these learned commentators was that it was decidedly unwise to head offshore in anything that wasn’t a robust, “sea-kindly” yacht with a long keel, keel stepped mast, large diesel and water tanks and all round, secure cockpit.  Which is what we bought.  And, we enjoyed it……until I got bored, safely plodding, or more usually, rolling along, sitting at the helm or in the cockpit, braced against the incessant rolling. If we weren’t rolling, we would be heeled over. Sailing well, but doing everything at an angle, sitting, cooking, making our way forward, going to the heads. Everything at an angle. That and sitting below in our cave-like salon while catamaran owners all around were sitting inside, or out, enjoying 360 degree views.  Flat.

And so in anchorages around the world, I started asking catamaran owners two questions.  First; “Was your last boat a monohull?”  The answer was always “Yes.”  Secondly; “Would you go back to a monohull?”  The answer was always, “No.”

And so our search began. We’d done slow and we’d done downstairs living. We’d shivered with cold in the cockpit on long, wet watches and a sheltered, interior helm position was top of the list. In summary, we  wanted a boat that offered performance while affording the comfort, safety and security we’d been used to in our Island Packet.  We looked at Catana, Leopard, Lagoon and FP brands but, despite the dance hall sized interiors, as I said, we’d done slow.  That and life’s too short to sail an ugly boat. It didn’t take long to realise that the Outremer was the yacht that offered the perfect balance. Five years on, we still love sailing this boat. When everyone else is motoring, we’re sailing. When others have the self steering running, we’re at the wheel having a blast, peeling the boat off a wave and surfing up to mid and high teens. In light airs we almost match wind speed. We have never motor sailed - a practice required by most “condomarans” to go to windward at an acceptable degree of pointing.

However, land travel beckons and new owners can carry on from here, around the coast or around the world, safely, in style and comfort.