Multihull Nets - Frequently Asked Questions

High-quality catamaran or trimaran trampoline netting offers safety, stability, and comfort. It creates a working platform when under way and serves as a large part of the outdoor living space on your sailing multihull when at anchor. UV-resistant and heavy-duty netting from Sunrise Yacht Products can enhance the overall sailing experience and protect everyone on board while increasing the space & comfort of your outdoor living space.

Choosing the right netting material depends on factors like boat type, sailing conditions, and personal preference. Popular options include polyester, Dyneema, nylon, and PVC-coated mesh. Sunrise Yacht Products has a lot of information on how to choose the right netting for your boat as well as netting engineers available by phone or email to help you select the optimal material for your boat.

Netting openness is a crucial part of the design consideration for a trampoline net. In fact, it should be the starting point for your design requirements. Openness plays a role in the following characteristics:

• Safety - The netting must be open enough for your application or it will risk blowing out or pulling your hardware apart in heavy seas.
• Comfort – Lower openness is better for comfort so you want to balance open enough for safety & closed enough for comfort. For most cruising catamaran our 3/8” Offshore is the ideal balance of these two.
• Transparency – This is to a lesser extent as transparency is also strongly impacted by color (darker is easier to see through).

We have recommended openness charts for your net square footage here. One small but important detail is that openness becomes much more important forward of your crossbeam so we highly recommend open nets for your bowsprits.

Luckily, in many cases you don’t have to. We have 500+ drawings on file and we know which boats are consistent enough in manufactured dimensions to not require you to measure. For those boats that need drawing checks, accurate measurements ensure a perfect fit. Sunrise Yacht Products provides detailed measuring guides for you when needed and can offer personalized assistance to help you achieve an exact fit. For highly complex shapes we offer the 3 Point Method which is an incredibly accurate method for getting complex shapes such as this.

Replacing a catamaran or trimaran trampoline net does require some elbow grease. If you haven’t done it before we highly recommend you both read our installation instructions and watch the videos on that page. One very important thing to watch is to match the correct lacing pattern with you installation…we ship a CAD drawing showing this with every net to help make following this pattern easier!

This is a good, but loaded, question. Most trampoline netting that we do not manufacture lasts 2-5 years in tropical UV conditions due to design issues & rapid UV deterioration. Sunrise Nets typically last 12+ years with certain models lasting less & others (webbing notably) lasting substantially longer. A good way to get an idea for how long a net will last is to look at the warranty, most nets will last around 2x their warranty.

While not necessary, it only helps to regularly rinse your net with fresh water to remove salt and debris. This is less important on UV vinyl coated nets as they prevent salt & dirt crystals from getting into the fibers. For deeper cleaning, use a mild soap and a soft brush. Avoid harsh chemicals or abrasive cleaning tools that may weaken or damage the fibers.

It’s recommended to inspect your net every few months—or more often if you sail frequently. Check for fraying, loose laces, and any signs of UV damage or discoloration. Early detection of wear allows for timely repairs or replacement to ensure ongoing safety.

We would strongly advise that you inspect your lacing line at least twice annually & before each major passage. As a rough guide, polyester lines tend to last 3-6 years & Dyneema lines tend to last 4-7 years as they have substantially improved abrasion resistance. With a Sunrise net you should expect to replace the lacing line at least once over the life of the nets.

Dyneema lacing line. The squeaking you here is typically vibrations cause by polyester lacing line under tension moving over a lacing point surface inducing the squeaking sound you hear. The lower coefficient of friction in Dyneema line substantially reduces the squeaking sound.

Nets can fail in a variety of ways, but the one you should be most mindful of is catastrophic netting failure. This is when the net itself is so weak that it “unzippers”…one strand breaks then the others around it spread causing a large hole to form nearly instantaneously. This can allow a foot, leg, or even a whole body through and can be very dangerous. You can avoid this with a properly designed net that does not weaken like this. Our 3/8” Offshore & 1-1/4” Ultra-Pro have never had an issue of catastrophic net failure because the coating simply protects them from losing enough strength to exhibit catastrophic net failure.

Minor damages such as small tears or worn lacing can often be repaired. However, significant structural damage, extensive UV degradation, or large holes typically require a full replacement to maintain safety and performance. In most cases if a net that we didn’t make has a hole caused by wear and tear (eg, not a knife cut) the net is in need of replacement.

While stock nets typically ship in 1-4 days, custom production shipping times can range from a few weeks to several months, depending on material selected, size of order, complexity, current order volume, and your location. Sunrise Yacht Products aims to provide an accurate delivery estimate at the time of order. If you need your net extremely fast ask about our rush option which we offer if we have sufficient overtime craft work available.

Tension levels vary by design, but generally, the net should be taut enough to prevent sagging without placing excessive stress on the frame. Consult your boat’s manufacturer guidelines or our installation instructions for precise recommendations.

Get a net that is properly UV protected with a quality vinyl coating. If you have the option to provide some shade to your net it will increase its life.

Most nets are available in white. Because we have a proprietary UV coating that we apply to most of our materials we can make them in any of our standard colors. Choose darker colors for easier maintenance & to see through more easily.

It can be a bit counterintuitive, but to see through the net most easily select a dark (black is the best, darker colors are still good) net with at least 50% openness to see through the net easily. Check out our black nets on our gallery for some great examples of this (the camera & eye both see through a net similarly).

Absolutely, our 3/8” Offshore nets are pet friendly and hold up incredibly well under dog paws. In hot weather the net is often the dogs favorite place. Avoid nets with openings of ½” or larger if you want your pets to enjoy them.

Absolutely. Many high-end resorts & homes around the world use our trampoline nets as architectural netting to create super comfortable day beds over the water. We also see our trampoline net designs work very well as loft nets & treehouse nets.

Yes, Sunrise Yacht Products offers fully custom solutions. Send our netting engineers (engineer@multihullnets.com) any sketches, pictures, drawings, or other references you might have and we’ll be glad to help you design the ultimate net for your catamaran (or home!). We will walk you all the way through the design & measurement process to ensure a great fitting net!

We are proud to offer the World’s Best Warranty for our nets because we know the quality of what we design & manufacture. The exact warranty length will depend on material selected, but most catamaran nets we offer have warranties of 6 years or longer with the nets having an expected life of double+ the warranty timeframe.

In a few words, because we care about netting more than you do. We eat, sleep, & dream nets and even after 37 years of building nets we’re still trying to find ways to make them better every day.