Almost every cruising catamaran afloat is built in glass reinforced plastic, and the reason is structural. A catamaran must resist enormous racking loads between two hulls while staying light enough to sail, and a moulded composite structure is the only practical way to achieve both. The Yacht Collection lists GRP sailing catamarans across the cruising and charter market.
The engineering is more demanding than on a monohull. Two hulls joined by a bridgedeck experience twisting loads that a single hull never sees, so yards concentrate laminate and often use foam coring in the bridgedeck, forebeam and bulkheads. Weight discipline matters because a heavy catamaran loses the very performance and shallow draught that make the type attractive. Vacuum infusion is now standard at the better yards for exactly this reason.
For an owner the material behaves as it does everywhere. No corrosion, straightforward antifouling, repairs available worldwide and a resale market that understands what it is buying. The specific things to inspect are the bridgedeck underside for slamming damage, bulkhead to hull bonding, coring around every deck fitting and any evidence of repair at the forebeam. Doubled machinery means doubled maintenance, and beam means premium berthing, so both belong in the budget. Browse the GRP sailing catamarans available and let our brokers arrange a multihull specific survey.
