Not all cruising cats are faster than an equivalent length monohull but most well designed and balanced multihulls will arrive earlier, and with more comfort at their respective destination. It would not be fair to mass all cats into one example, but performance cruising catamarans such the Bavaria-Nautitech line with their narrow waterline beams, hull chines, deep and fine keels and rudders and generous sail plans will typically be faster that your average cruising monohull. This all comes with the added advantage of not having the complexity of movable dagger boards, which can add a factor of collision risk and hull flooding, expense, sacrifice of valuable cabin space and having to operate another moving part.

 SPEED. Are cats really faster? read the article 

by Gregor Tarjan, founder – Aeroyacht Ltd.

Excerpt from newly revised edition (2017) of” CATAMARANS, The Complete Guide for Cruising Sailors”
(hardcover, published by McGraw Hill – New York)