Cruising power catamarans are twin-hulled motor yachts designed for comfortable liveaboard cruising and day use, combining the stability and deck space of a catamaran platform with full displacement or semi-displacement motorised propulsion. They are available from approximately 10 to 25 metres and are used for coastal cruising, charter, and extended passage-making by owners who prioritise interior volume and roll reduction over speed.
The wide beam provides a bridgedeck saloon substantially larger than a monohull of the same waterline length, and accommodation can be distributed across both hulls — typically one or two cabins and a heads compartment per hull. Stability at rest and underway is a genuine advantage over monohulls: roll angles are lower, which improves comfort for passengers prone to seasickness. The consistent trade-offs are marina cost and availability — catamaran berths are less common than standard berths and priced at a beam premium — and higher purchase cost relative to monohull designs of comparable overall length.
Construction is GRP sandwich, produced in either integrated mouldings or separate hull and bridgedeck components joined during assembly. Aluminium is used on some larger and commercial-grade builds. Propulsion is twin inboard diesel with shaft drives, one engine per hull; pod drives are available on some mid-size production models. The independent twin-engine arrangement provides redundancy and manoeuvrability under a single engine in the event of a mechanical failure.
