Let me put this out in front. We at Sunrise Yacht Products are biased…we love nets. We think about them, we dream about them, and we constantly are working to improve their design. So when someone calls in (and this happens often) and asks “How much is a net for my Lagoon 450” I am a bit bummed. Not because they called, of course, but because they aren’t asking about what’s important (see list of important stuff a few paragraphs down). All too often, the default view on catamaran trampoline nets is that they are a commodity…”a net is a net is a net”. As one who dreams about nets, I couldn’t disagree more, I would say “All nets are NOT created equal”. Why does this matter to you, as a catamaran or trimaran owner, and why does this matter to me, the owner and lead engineer of a company that designs & manufactures multihull nets?
We design and manufacture ONLY high-quality nets. If you simply want the cheapest net available, we're not your place—I'll happily direct you to cheaper options (generally shipped from a certain francophone country). But here's the thing: that's usually not what callers actually want, they just don't know it yet.
A small selection of the thousands of customers we've helped.
Our job is educating customers about the parameters they should consider when buying trampoline nets—of which price is just one subset. Do I make this argument because our nets cost more? Absolutely! But self-interested businesses don't survive 37+ years. If I don't help customers understand what really matters, they'll buy solely on price and be highly disappointed in a few years when they put a foot through their "bargain."
It's hard to recall if it was a bargain when you're in the water.
Why are we at this point? I have some ideas. I imagine it is largely because this may be the one time in a customer’s life they have to think about tensioned netting so they have no frame of reference other than what came on their boat from the factory. And all too often that is…sub-optimal. With two exceptions (Seawind/Corsair & Leopard), every volume multihull builder appears to have engineers design their boats & bean-counters design their nets. I’d be glad to help them fix this, but that call is probably going to have to made by their engineers more-so than their bean-counters 😊. The result is that most volume OEM nets last 2-4 years in tropical to sub-tropical environments. It is very rare that a multihull makes it out of charter without having the nets replaced once, and -surprisingly often– twice in that 5 year span. On top of that, the nets are unsafe as they reach end of life, they lose stability, look unattractive, and are highly uncomfortable! As netting specialists, that feels a lot to me like buying a $750,000 house and being ok with the living room having a dirt floor.
So what parameters do we believe our customers should take into consideration when determining what netting materials, designs, & options are the best fit for their wants & needs?
- Safety (Safety should always be 1st, 2nd, & 3rd most important considerations)
- Openness (Is the net open enough for the boat & operating conditions?)
- Durability (If the net isn’t durable, it isn’t safe)
- Mode of Failure (Does it fail gradually or catastrophically)
- Stability (Is it stable underfoot & will it remain so)
- Comfort (The net is ~40% of your outdoor living space)
- Barefoot Index (Is it comfortable to walk on with bare feet?)
- Pet Comfort (If you have a pet, must take this into account)
- Stability (Yes, listed twice, if not stable for its full life – it’s not comfortable)
- Value (What net gives you the best overall value per dollar/euro spent?)
- Budget (You want the best overall value that your budget allows)
- Durability (A cheap net replaced 3 times is far more expensive than a quality net replaced once)
- Resale Value (A high quality net actually adds to your resale value)
- Enjoyment (Better enjoyment of your floating home is definitely part of the value proposition)
Our goal is simply to educate you on how to evaluate what is best for you. If our netting engineers have not made a net that is the best value for you then we don’t want to sell you a net and we will help you find your best fit elsewhere. If you want the technical details (us engineer types like to give technical backing) I’d recommend checking out our White paper, if you want to just quickly learn which net is likely best for you our Executive Summary is a great resource.
I very much hope this is helpful. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to call or email our team of netting engineers and let us know what parameters you care about so we can help you maximize your netting value.