We’re sailing the Contest 63CS upwind on a glorious late autumn day in the Balearics, in supreme comfort and with minimal heel, yet maintaining 6.5-7.1 knots of boat speed in…
monohull
A TP52, high performance, modern monohull. Photo: Crosbie Lorimer
As the name suggests, a monohull is a boat consisting of a single hull. These represent some of the oldest forms of boat from a simple hollowed out log as a canoe up to modern high-performance yachts that we see today.
The monohull, particularly in the western world, has long been the boat of choice for either small boat sailing or bigger boats intended for ocean crossings.
Today, monohulls come in broadly two styles, with or without some form of ballast. Typically larger boats have a keel of some form under the water, which acts as a counterweight to the forces from the sails, while smaller boats will rely on crew weight to create righting moment.
Monohulls remain, by some distance, the most popular type of boat across the globe.
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