It seems to be the experience of many seasoned cat sailors that lighter catamarans have some appealing characteristics including their acceleration and extraordinary responsiveness (among others). This phenomenon is not unlike an analagous situation between keel boats and dinghies which also are different in mass and responsiveness.

Since everything in sailing is a tradeoff, one might expect any extreme including lightness to have both advantages and disadvantages depending on yor circumstances and skill level. Topics that have already been well addressed on this forum include lightness vs feel, speed, righting, beach handling, etc.

I would expect that a lighter cat overall should be really fun for an experienced cat sailer due to it's acceleration and responsiveness. I would further expect that any cat that is so highly responsive to helm, weight placement, sail trim, etc may also be just as quick to get one into trouble due to minor lapses in technique/skill and/or more demanding conditions.

If true, this would suggest that all other things being equal (ie, modern designs) that a heavier cat would be a more gentle platform for novice sailors because it would be more forgiving in a wide range of conditions. I want to differentiate between a more gentle learning platform and a faster learning platform: a lighter cat may in fact let one learn more quickly due to it's greater feedback but might be more frustrating in the process. It might also restrict sailable days at least intially.

How do people's own experiences correlate with this thinking?

I appreciate the intput!

Jerry