I have a 15' Venture Cat because it was the only sailboat I could afford. I hesitated getting it because I'm not particularly athletic, my wife is even less so, and I really wanted a boat in which we could stay relatively dry. But it was available, the price was right ($100), and the fellow I got it from convinced me that it could do everything I wanted and more.

That was last year. I spent the year learning to sail, and I found that I really enjoyed its speed and stability (not counting the time I turtled!) I'm now very glad I got it, and it's allowed me to discover that my arm-chair sailing fantasies can become real.

However, it's been hard for my wife and I to enjoy it together. Scrambling from side to side as we tack is really hard for both us, especially my wife. Once we almost capsized because I was slow to let loose the mainsheet in a sudden gust of wind, and my wife was not able to scramble to the weather side of the tramp. The weather hull flew up, I finally spilled the mainsheet and the boom slammed into my wife. That was a scary time!

I've thought about it a lot this summer, and last week we tried something different. We each stayed on our own sides. I handled the tiller and controlled the mainsheet when the wind was on my side. I was careful to explain to my wife the travel area of the boom, and she watched it carefully, ready to stay out of its way. We sat about midships, kind of leaning against the shroud.

When we tacked, I gave the mainsheet to my wife and she had control over our speed. If the ride felt too wild, or it felt like we were heeling too much, it was simple for her to let the mainsheet out. I was careful to watch for the boom and I continued to steer. It worked great!

This allowed us to both enjoy together our boat, at a speed and heeling degree that we felt comfortable with. We still get wet, but it feels a lot better.

Which brings up a related point. As much as I enjoy our little cat, we probably will get a monohull as soon as we can afford it...I'm thinking a Catalina 22 for $5000-6000. This will allow us a drier sail, and we can stay overnight in it.

So, is it fair to say that beach cats are really only for the athletic sailors? Is it fair to say that any catamaran less than 30' long is really only a "sport" boat, designed for speed and thrills? I guess I'm thinking that because I can get a used 21' monohull in which I could sleep overnight in relative comfort for $3000-4000, while I imagine a catamaran big enough to have a cabin, perhaps 30-40' long would be tens of thousands of dollars, even for a used boat.