A multihull is a boat or ship with more than one hull, whereas a vessel with a single hull is a monohull. The most common multihulls are catamarans, and trimarans. There are other types, with four or more hulls, but such examples are very rare and tend to be specialised for particular functions.
A catamaran is a watercraft with two parallel hulls of equal size. The distance between a catamaran's hulls imparts resistance to rolling and overturning. Catamarans typically have less hull volume, smaller displacement, and shallower draft (draught) than monohulls of comparable length. The two hulls combined also often have a smaller hydrodynamic resistance than comparable monohulls, requiring less propulsive power from either sails or motors. The catamaran's wider stance on the water can reduce both heeling and wave-induced motion, as compared with a monohull, and can give reduced wakes.
A trimaran is a multihull boat that comprises a main hull and two smaller outrigger hulls which are attached to the main hull with lateral beams. Most modern trimarans are sailing yachts designed for recreation or racing; others are ferries or warships. They originated from the traditional double-outrigger hulls of the Austronesian cultures of Maritime Southeast Asia; particularly in the Philippines and Eastern Indonesia, where it remains the dominant hull design of traditional fishing boats. Double-outriggers are derived from the older catamaran and single-outrigger boat designs.
HMAS Jervis Bay was a wave piercing catamaran that operated in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN).
HSC INCAT 046 was a wave-piercing catamaran passenger-vehicle ferry. It operated under various marketing names, including Devil Cat, The Cat, The Lynx, and lastly The T&T Express.
TT-Line Company Pty Ltd, better known by its trading name Spirit of Tasmania is a company which has been operating ferries from mainland Australia to Tasmania since July 1985. The company was separated from the Tasmanian Government's Department of Transport in 1993, becoming a government business enterprise wholly owned by the Government of Tasmania where it was then named Spirit of Tasmania in August 1993.
A high-speed craft (HSC) is a high-speed water vessel for civilian use, also called a fastcraft or fast ferry. The first high-speed craft were often hydrofoils or hovercraft, but in the 1990s catamaran and monohull designs become more popular. Most high-speed craft serve as passenger ferries, but the largest catamarans and monohulls also carry cars, buses, large trucks and freight.
TheHSC Hai Xia Hao is a passenger / vehicle ferry. It is a high speed catamaran built by the Tasmanian shipbuilder Incat.
Robert "Bob" Frederick Clifford AO,, and now living in Surrey, England, is an Australian shipbuilder, entrepreneur, and businessman, best known for his success in building his Incat catamaran building company into an international brand that sells wave piercing catamaran ferries all over the world including to the US military and many European ferry operators.
The HSC Superexpress is a 91-metre (299 ft) wave piercing catamaran built by Incat, owned by Golden Star Ferries and chartered to Viking Line. During her delivery voyage on 9 June 1998, as Catalonia, she set the record for the fastest Atlantic Eastbound Record, previously held by another Incat craft Hoverspeed Great Britain. She made the 3,125 mi (5,029 km) run from Manhattan, US to Tarifa, Spain in 3 days 7 hours 54 minutes, traveling at an average speed of 38.877 knots.
Austal Limited is an Australian-based global ship building company and defence prime contractor that specialises in the design, construction and support of defence and commercial vessels. Austal's product range includes naval vessels, high-speed ferries, and supply or crew transfer vessels for offshore windfarms and oil and gas platforms.
HSC Manannan is a 96-metre (315 ft) wave-piercing high-speed catamaran car ferry built by Incat, Australia in 1998. After commercial service in Australia and New Zealand, she was chartered to the US military as Joint Venture (HSV-X1). Now owned and operated by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, she mainly provides a seasonal service between Douglas Harbour and Port of Liverpool.
HSC Max Mols is a high speed catamaran launched on 1 December 1997 at the Incat shipyard in Tasmania. She has spent the majority of her career serving the Aarhus-Odden route with Mols Linien. She has frequently been chartered to other operators in the Baltic Sea and English Channel.
The HSC Cat is a high speed catamaran ferry built by Incat for Sea Containers in 1990. It has been owned by Sea and Sun Maritime Co. since 2014. The vessel is currently operated by Seajets.
Richardson Devine Marine is an Australian company, situated in Tasmania on Hobart's Derwent River.
Incat Crowther is an Australian Marine engineering company, headquartered in Sydney. Incat Crowther has offices in Lafayette, Louisiana, United States and Eastleigh, England.
Philip Christian Hercus AO BSc was a naval architect and marine vessel designer in Sydney Australia.
MV or HSCSaint John Paul II is a high-speed catamaran ferry owned and operated by Virtu Ferries. Built by Incat in 2017–18, the vessel entered service as a ferry between Malta and Sicily in March 2019. It is the largest vessel of its kind in the Mediterranean Sea, and the second largest in the world.
