AMERICA’S PREMIER MULTIHULL MAGAZINE
MULTIHULLS TODAY WINTER 2020
SPECIAL REPORT: NEW MULTIHULLS FOR 2020
BUILDING BALANCE OWN A BOAT IN CHARTER
MULTIHULLS TODAY Volume 12 Issue 1
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14
30 40
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FROM THE PUBLISHER
6
ON THE LEVEL
Own a Charter Boat, Salty Dawg Rally
14
ON PASSAGE
Florida or Bust
18
GONE CRUISING
Adventures in East Africa
26
SAILING SMART
High-Tech Sails for Performance Cruisers
30
MODERN MULTIHULLS
Building a Balance - The South Africa Experience
36
MULTIHULL REVIEW
Miami Boat Show Preview- 2020 Multihulls
Cover shot: Fountaine-Pajot Elba 45 under sail Photograph-Fountaine-Pajot
2 Multihulls Today • Volume 12, winter
FOUNTAINE PAJOT ELBA 45
2020 Be st Ch ar t er Bo at
20 15
WINNERS
40 42
45 47
50
59 67
Letter from the Publisher
Performance Cruising Defined
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s the multihull segment of the boating market expands and matures, the trend to emphasize “performance” is getting more prominent. For most of us, I suspect, when we think of performance in a sailboat or powerboat, we think of speed. How fast can it sail or motor? A huge amount of effort has gone into making performance cats and tris as light as possible, since weight is the enemy of speed in light-displacement multihulls. So, we see a fleet of boats with cored carbon fiber hulls and tall carbon masts with high tech sails on them. And we see power cats with cored hulls and fine hull shapes to reduce weight and drag. All to improve performance. But I want to suggest that performance is more complicated than simply a measure of top speed. In reality, top speed is more about potential than it is about actual practice. It’s kind of like owning a car that can go 150 miles an hour; you never drive it that fast in normal use but it’s fun knowing you have the potential to do so in the right conditions. In the passages I have made offshore in multihulls, I have found that performance cats can go faster than you want them to. In other words, if the boat you are sailing can go 18 knots on a reach, great. But how’s the ride? How tired do you get hanging on for dear life? How do you sleep when the boat is crashing and banging through the waves? In reality, on passage the better choice is to trim for a balance of comfort and speed and that often ends up being around 10 to 12 knots. You’re still making 200-plus mile days but you are able to cook, eat, sleep and stand watch in comfort and safety. Plus, you are less likely to break something. So, performance is a combination of qualities. It is more about good average speeds that can be maintained for the long haul, than it is about top speed. It’s about how the boat moves through the wave and over the water. And it’s about arriving at your destination in good time but rested, safe and well fed.
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MULTIHULLS TODAY
Editor and Publisher George Day Ph: 401-847-7612 Fax: 401-845-8580 george@bwsailing.com Contributing Editors Bill Biewenga Rebecca Childress Patrick Childress John Neal Amanda Swan-Neal Art Director Sandy Parks Ph: 401-847-7612 Fax: 401-845-8580 sandy@bwsailing.com Advertising Sales & Tom Casey Marketing Consultant tomcat911@comcast.net Ad Director Scott Akerman Ph: 207-939-5802 scott@bwsailing.com
MT-Multihulls Today is published by Blue Water Sailing LLC in February, May, August and November. Copyrighted 2020. All rights reserved. Reprinting, photocopying and excerpting passages is forbidden except by permission of the publisher. Blue Water Sailing ISSN: 1091-1979
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OWNING A MULTHULL IN A CHARTER FLEET
THE CHARTER FLEETS AROUND THE WORLD OFFER an easy way to go sailing in places far from home on other people’s boats. It’s a great way to have a sailing vacation and at the end you simply hand back the keys and walk away, leaving all the care, time and money required to keep a boat ship-shape to others. But if you don’t own the boat you vacationed on, someone does, because virtually all the boats in The Moorings,
Sunsail, Dream and all the other fleets have private owners. Given the damage to charter boats and wear and tear, why does it make sense for you or anyone else to own a yacht in a charter fleet? There are lots of good reasons. HOW IT WORKS The big companies with worldwide fleets have highly structured ownership programs that are set
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6 Multihulls Today • Volume 12, winter
BALANCECATAMARANS.COM
PERFORMANCE / COMFORT STAY IN BALANCE
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up to make their companies profitable while also allowing owners to get a lot of use of their boats. And not all of the programs are the same and not all are set up to achieve the same results. To start, once you have decided to become an owner, you will need to come up with either the purchase price of the yacht or a deposit and this can vary depending on the program you choose. And, then you can expect to have a balloon payment at the end of your contract time period. Most of the plans last five or six high seasons (years) but there are programs that are shorter. The charter companies, for the most part, work with a financial institution that will loan you the balance of the purchase price using the boat as collateral. You are still the owner and responsible for a monthly loan payment. But, the simplest programs guarantee monthly income of around 9% of revenue which may or may not be enough to cover the mortgage payment. In a guaranteed plan, the charter company covers all other expenses. In the guaranteed income program, owners
gets up to 12 weeks a year to use their boats if you choose to charter in the low season. You’ll get fewer free weeks if you choose to charter in the high season. One of the valuable benefits of chartering with the large companies lies in the ability to use a yacht of equivalent value at one of the company’s many charter bases around the world. You could, each year, charter in up to 12 locations and string together a virtual circumnavigation without the need to make offshore passages between them. ACTIVE MANAGEMENT Some of the programs allow you to be the active manager of your yacht. You take care of the finances and cover the expense of a mortgage, insurance and operating costs. Typically you have to come up with a down payment of around 20 percent and have to be credit worthy. Then you will be billed by the charter company for the operating expenses at their base such as cleaning, laundering sheets, replacing lost gear and fixing whatever get broken. Different companies
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have different formulas for how this billing process works and it is wise to make sure that all transactions are completely transparent. In exchange for taking on the financial risk and covering the expenses, the charter company pays you the lion’s share of the income generated by the boat in charter. This income then gets applied to your costs and, if all goes well, will enable you to keep the enterprise in the black. Setting up an LLC or some sort of legal entity to own the boat makes sense for some active owners, if not all. The charter companies will all tell you that they are charter companies and not financial or tax advisers but will point you to an advisor or attorney who is. The long and short of it is that U.S. tax laws offer owners significant tax benefits which allow an owner to build equity in the boat rapidly. WORKING WITH SMALLER COMPANIES There are dozens of smaller charter companies that will work with you to set up a boat in their charter programs. These companies, like the big
ones, reply on private owners to keep their fleets full. Each company will have its own variety of programs for you to choose from that wil be similar to what the big guys offer. But the smaller companies can be much more flexible with how the boats are scheduled for use and how many weeks a year an owner can use the boat. If you know you will want to use your boat for a month in the winter and then have it available for weeks the rest of the year, you probably want to work with a smaller charter outfit. You can still run your boat as a business if you like, but the income side will depend on how often you use your boat and how many weeks of charter it is available for. AT THE END The programs you sign up for usually last five or six years at which point something has to happen to the boat. The largest companies will want to move the boat on and replace it with a new model so they will offer to take the boat off your hands as a trade in toward a new boat and a new five or six year contract. For many owners
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who have found the experience both worthwhile and gainful, this is the easiest solution. For owners who planned to use their boat for cruising after the five year program winds down, they will have to buy the boat or take on a mortgage outside of the charter program. The bigger companies have a standard process of giving a boat leaving their fleet a thorough inspection and will generally repair whatever is not working. For an owner, this is not a bad way to get more boat than they can afford. Or, if you and your charter company want to part ways and you don’t want to buy the boat, the charter company will help you sell it. The larger ones have their own brokers who will try to sell the boat for you and they will advertise the boats in the sailing magazines and online. Once the boat is sold, you may find you ended up with a little equity to recover or you may not.
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Salty Dawg Spring Rally from the Virgin Islands to the U.S.
T
By Barbara Theisen
he Salty Dawg™ Sailing Association (SDSA) has opened registration for its 2020 Spring Rally from the Virgin Islands to the US. The Rally will depart the Virgin Islands on May 12, weather permitting, from Nanny Cay in the British Virgin Islands, heading to Blue Water Yachting Center in Hampton, VA (or other ports on the U.S. east coast) or to Bermuda. Pre-departure activities begin on May 1.
The Salty Dawg Spring Rally to the U.S. is an offshore passage in company of other boats, usually a fleet of 25 to 35 boats of many nationalities. It is a great way to meet and enjoy the company of other sailors. Cruisers will gather in North Sound at the New Bitter End Yacht Club to begin socializing with fellow Salty Dawgs on May 1. Throughout the
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week there will be hikes, beach parties, evening happy hours, potluck dinners and more. The boats will then move to Leverick Bay and finally Nanny Cay to prepare for departure. The Spring Rally will feature the hallmarks of all Salty Dawg rallies: • Weather routing services, both pre-departure briefings and daily updates during the passage by Chris Parker of Marine Weather Center. • Online tracking of the fleet on the Salty Dawg Tracking Map. • Shoreside coordination and communication by experienced Salty Dawg volunteers. • A twice-daily SSB Net facilitating communication among the boats in the fleet. • A cruise-in-company support system where veteran participants offer advice and counsel to others. • The lowest possible entry fee with the greatest possible payback as a result of the support of over 40 sponsors and dozens of experienced cruisers who volunteer their time. In addition, those leaving from Nanny Cay in the
BVIs will benefit from: • Daily pre-departure weather briefings with group discussions. • Departure Party and Happy Hour social events. • Discounts on dockage and marine services. Once again, we will be holding destination activities in Hampton, VA to celebrate successful completion of the passage. These will be fun for all, so plan to come to Hampton for a special Salty Dawg welcome. For more information or to sign up for the Salty Dawg Spring Rally to the US, got to www. saltydawgsailing.org/salty-dawg-spring-rally/. The Salty Dawg™ Sailing Association will be opening registration soon for the 2020 Rally to Maine, and the 2020 Fall Rally to the Caribbean, the largest rally from the U.S. to the islands. The SDSA unites experienced ocean sailors with developing cruisers to broaden their blue water horizons. All Salty Dawg rallies and events are led by seasoned sailors who volunteer their time and knowledge to help cruisers realize their dreams - safely.
Chris Parker’s Marine Weather Center Available via almost any communications method onboard... SSB radio voice...email... voice telephone...interactive Internet webcast...fax • Weather Forecasts & Routing Advice: geared specifically for small sail & power vessels, with the information you need to support good tactical decision-making. • Value-added: forecasts focus on the “worst-plausible” forecast for your interests, then suggest routing or tactical decisions. The result is faster, safer, and more pleasant trips—day trips, overnights, or offshore passages. • Economical plans: by the day, month, or year. • Geography: Atlantic N of the Equator, including Caribbean, Bahamas, Gulf of Mexico, and entire US E. Coast, Canadian Maritimes, and both E-bound and W-bound Atlantic Crossings. For more information, visit: www.mwxc.com or email info@mwxc.com Chris Parker, Marine Weather Center 5130 Medulla Rd, Lakeland FL 33811 ph 863-248-2702, fax 863-248-4666 www.MultihullsToday.com 13
Florida or Bust
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by Bill Biewenga
Tom and I have faced and conquered a wide range of problems as we’ve doublehanded his various boats across oceans and down coastlines. Our last trip south from the Chesapeake was no exception
ate November deliveries out of the Chesapeake Bay can be rigorous in the extreme. Weather changes fast, and a trip around Cape Hatteras can mean steep seas, cold winds and limited options. Good planning can help avoid the worst of it, but with the Gulf Stream relatively close to the east, a narrow slot of counter current exists between Diamond Shoals and the Stream’s adverse current. Heading south on a favorable wind out of the north, means you don’t want to be caught in the Stream as wind pitches against the north flowing current. Well before we departed, I realized we needed a new log, so I had one printed up at Fed Ex / Kinko’s that prompted for all of the 14 Multihulls Today • Volume 12, winter
information I wanted to monitor. Not only is space provided for typical entries of position, speed, heading and conditions, there is also space for mechanical information. Tom’s catamaran is a relatively new 57 footer, and we needed to learn about the boat and her fuel consumption rate. We also wanted to keep the maintenance and work list organized. Judging from our previous passages on the boat, that list might start to lengthen. The previous passages to and from Florida, we had more mechanical “adventures” than sailing experiences. In one instance a blown hydraulic coupling had sprayed fluid all over the hot hydraulic motor. The ensuing smoke instantly launched Tom towards
the closest fire extinguisher, but upon closer inspection, fortunately that wasn’t required. In this case, where there was smoke, there was no fire. However, with the hydraulics knocked out, the mainsheet was also made useless, and sailing was put on hold until the next passage. New boats are not without their problems. On our previous delivery to Cape Charles, Virginia, sheets had gotten fouled in the steering sheaves, pulling sheave boxes off the bulkhead just forward of the wheel. Time, patience and effort eventually won out, however, and Tom was able to cobble together a solution to enable steering home. It was most fortuitous that he was able to accomplish that seemingly impossible task. On that spring day, just as we were to enter the narrow channel into the Cape Charles Marina, the starboard engine quit. Docking a twin-engine catamaran with one engine knocked out can be a little tricky. When moving at speed, the use of one engine for power can be compensated by steering “into” that side. Lacking a starboard engine with boat speed up we could use the (repaired) helm to steer to port in order to maintain a straight course. Docking would be different. As the boat slows and
there’s less water running over the rudders, they become less effective at maintaining a course. Last spring, as the boat approached the dock to tie up starboard side to the dock, the port engine would push the bow sharply to starboard. Backing down on the port engine would sharply twist the starboard stern into the dock. Tying up portside to the dock, would have the opposite but equally bad result, twisting the boat away from the dock. A couple of years ago, following a transatlantic passage I was faced with a similar problem as we came alongside to clear Customs. In that case, however, we were in a tidal river, and we could dock facing into the
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current and allow the rudders to do their job as water rushed past them in the current. The rudders would work at low boat speed over the ground with one engine out, in that case. Not so easy in the marina without the current to assist. Prior to going in, I practiced maneuvering in the basin to get a feel for how much the boat twisted at low speeds. Finally, we managed to get the boat safely docked at low speed, relying as little as possible on the rudders but giving the boat full rudder to port when needed. Happily enough, the light cross wind from port did the rest. Several weeks later, Tom was able to enlist the help of a local mechanic to resolve the problem with the starboard engine. We had assumed that it was a fuel problem while we were underway, and we checked the Racor filter as well as a few other things. None of our efforts had solved the problem, but the mechanic quickly determined that the fuel line had been fouled. He used an air compressor to blow out the line. The mechanical difficulties had been put to rest and duly noted as “Lessons Learned”. With fall now well underway, it was time for us to take the boat south again. Considering the various mechanical adventures we had during the spring delivery from Florida and hoping to do more sailing this time, Tom invited a sailing friend to join us for the trip back to Florida. The weather can be tough in late November, but I had been watching the systems 16 Multihulls Today • Volume 12, winter
come and go from my home on Cape Cod, and as a good opportunity became clear, we prepared to leave, and I caught a flight to Virginia. The time was now, and we wanted to get past Cape Hatteras before anything unexpected happened with the conditions. Finally, after years of boat building and various trials and errors, we were sailing. Hammer performed beautifully, and the moderate offthe-wind conditions were ideal. A couple of days of ideal sailing quickly moved us south. Getting further south kept the favorable wind direction, but the wind speed slowly dropped. We were again forced to motor. Motoring in light conditions has its pluses and minuses. On the plus side, one watch melts into the next: 3 hours on, 6 hours off. It gives people time to take care of other things as well as conserve the sails and other sailing equipment. On the minus side there is the constant sound of the engine and the risk of mechanical failure. Once again, the starboard engine went out. In the darkness of the middle of the night, I lamented the possibility of trying to get into a dock in a tight marina in West Palm Beach with only one engine. Tom got to work, puttering about with a few odds and ends of things. A few hours later, he was ready to give his “miracle cure” a try. He had duct
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taped the hose from the dinghy pump to a smaller hose and nozzle of sorts. After watching the mechanic at work with the air compressor, he figured out how to jury rig a contraption together that might work as a substitute. After removing one of the fuel lines, he held the nozzle into the end of the fuel line while I jumped on the dinghy pump. After I did that dance a few times, Tom replaced the fuel line, and we gave the engine a try. Back from the dead, the engine was resuscitated! Whether during races, deliveries or while cruising, there is always something to be learned. Patching sails together, tricks to go fast or increase safety, mechanical problems to be solved, or ways to handle the boat: there’s always something. Whether we learn these things from the people we sail with, the stories we read or the discussions we have over drinks, there are always lessons to be learned and ways to rise to the challenge. Perhaps that – and the people with whom we share these things - is what keeps my interest in it all alive. Bill Biewenga is a veteran offshore sailor with more than 400,000 sea miles under his keel. He also is a weather guru and a moderator for Safety at Sea Seminars. www.MultihullsToday.com 17
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Adventures in East Africa The Tanga Race along Africa’s fabled East Coast, allowed them to fulfill long held dreams and check off three top items from the bucket list
by William Kosar with a contribution from Glynis Dorey
THE BUCKET LIST: THREE WORDS Mombasa. Dar-es-Salaam. Zanzibar These three names evoked awe and wonder to me and many a schoolboy in Canada many decades ago. Even as an adult and teaching international business at a college in Toronto, I bandied about these exotic locales to my students. Little did I know that life would take me to Africa and Kenya, not just to visit on safari but to actually live, settle down and marry and indeed sail off what CNN calls Africa’s most beautiful beach: 18 Multihulls Today • Volume 12, winter
Watamu, Kenya. My preparation for the sailing lifestyle began as a 13-year-old junior sailor out of Royal Hamilton Yacht Club in Hamilton, Canada. Upon first arriving in Nairobi in 2008 to work in neighbouring South Sudan as an international development lawyer, I realised that Mombasa was actually in Kenya. Not only that, I also realised that Dar-es-Salaam and Zanzibar were in neighbouring Tanzania, both only an hour away by air from Nairobi. Over time I had heard about Dar-es-Salaam
Yacht Club’s biannual catamaran “raid” from Dar to Zanzibar. Being a former Commodore of the Burlington Beach Catamaran Club, I just knew that I had to sail to Zanzibar and resolved then and there that the first time that I went to Zanzibar I had to do it on the bottom of my own boat! I found a South African-built Dart 18 beach catamaran in nearby Kilifi and then started to refit her. But life and time intervened so Bucket List Item #1 had to be delayed. While sitting around in Kigali, Rwanda, with my wife and some friends late at night after my birthday party a few years back, a Queen song came on. One of my guests, the EU Ambassador commented, “Ah, Tanzanian Music.” My mouth hung open and my wife, a former radio producer in Nairobi, confirmed, that Freddy Mercury had been born
in Stone Town, Zanzibar. Well, I knew I just had to visit the birthplace of my favourite band’s iconic (and flamboyant) lead singer. Bucket List Item #2. A few more years intervened and I had heard of the Dar Tanga Yacht Race which is the oldest (well over 50 years) and largest offshore sailboat (well over 25 boats) race in East Africa. By then I was also looking around South Africa for a multihull to buy and bring back to Kenya. I had reached out to Dar Yacht Club and was able to find a crewing slot on a Pacer 28 sport boat. We had a fabulous time and resolved that I had to do it again; but this time on my own boat. Bucket List Item #3. IN NEED OF A BOAT To tick off three water-related bucket list www.MultihullsToday.com 19
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items, I needed a mode of conveyance first. Ever since I saw dramatic photos of Hobie Cat 14s and 16s flying off waves in the cast off sailing magazines that were lying around the Royal Hamilton Yacht Club’s Junior Club House, I knew that there is only one type of boat for me; a catamaran. Although it would be many decades before I actually bought my first, I was long convinced of the virtues of catamarans. I had admired the Richard Wood’s designed Elf 26 open-bridge deck catamaran and found that in South Africa they had been locally made at a reasonable price. I finally found one in Western Cape that had had a cuddy cabin installed between the hulls. Perfect for my needs! By then I was working in Gaborone, Botswana and flew down to the Cape Town 20 Multihulls Today • Volume 12, winter
Boat Show and then drove up with the owner to the little village of Port Owen about 2 hours north of Cape Town. The deal was done. Long story short, she underwent a substantial refit in Gordon’s Bay (about an hour south of Cape Town on False Bay) and was later delivered by a captain and crew to our home in Kenya, a voyage that took three months of onand-off sailing. Once CassandravillE (named in honor of my wife Cassandra) had arrived at her new home on Kenya’s Indian Ocean North Coast, the planning had begun for the next Tanga Race. The delivery to Dar-esSalaam for the event’s start had taken several weeks with several crew changes. After taking part in the Kilifi (Kenya) Yacht Club’s Annual Pirates Race (so-called because the Tanga Race was cancelled for several years due to the threat of Somali pirates) we had waited for our crew Hidde to arrive by bus from Entebbe, Uganda (two days by bus). Hidde was a friend of a colleague who worked with me in Afghanistan and had eagerly volunteered. He owned a sailboat named Unicorn in Dar (as well as another on Lake Victoria in Entebbe) and knew the waters between Tanga, Zanzibar and Dar better than the back of his hand. The first step was then delivering CassandravillE from Kilifi to Mtwapa Creek on the northern boundary of Mombasa. There, we did the final preparations and provisioning for the anticipated three-week journey. But first we had to check ourselves and the boat out of Kenya. For four days, all of us, including my Kenyan deckhand, were illegal aliens in Kenya!
We left Mtwapa at dawn sailing past the busy port of Mombasa bound for the beautiful Funzi Keys just north of Kenya’s border with Tanzania. We anchored for the night and did a bit of exploring before grilling the fresh kingfish that we had caught along the way. We left again at dawn the next morning sailing through the magnificent Kisite-Mpunguti Marine National Park on the southern coast of Kenya near Shimoni and south of Wasini Island in Kwale District near the Tanzanian border. Although we have dolphins in Watamu (and are known for them as part of Kenya’s Marine Big FIVE), we had never seen so many dolphins including several albino dolphins. We crossed the border into Tanzania and later that afternoon anchored off the Tanga Yacht Club and officially cleared into Tanzania. We spent several days in beautiful Tanga while we waited for a taxi from Mombasa International Airport to bring down Canadian Hobie 16 “rock star” KarenAnn and sent our deckhand back to Mombasa. We left Tanga at dawn the next morning for the uneventful delivery down to Dar-es-Salaam finally anchoring after midnight just a few miles south of Ras Uso wa Membe on the northern tip of Zanzibar Island. Next morning, we were off again at dawn and by 7:30 AM we were passing Prison Island to starboard and Stone Town to port; we arrived in Dar just before sunset on December 3.
complete with three Canadians on our Canadian-flagged 26 foot Elf Catamaran. In addition to the other crew we had Will, a former U.S. Marine colonel and experienced yachtsman who raced with us before, join us in Dar. The race began on Thursday, December 5, 2018 at 11:00 AM sharp with 25 boats on the starting line. The instructions were simple: keep Zanzibar to port in both directions. CassandravillE sailed out Msasani Bay past Bongoyo Island and headed east towards Zanzibar, close to the Bongoyo Island reef. Hidde knew these waters well and his strategy was good. We gained three boat positions by keeping close to the island and its reef. While heading east to the top end of Zanzibar, we were sailing upwind, forcing us to continually tack all the way. Apparently, once rounding the corner of Zanzibar, we
LEG ONE: DAR-ES-SALAAM TO TANGA Dar Yacht Club, the organizer of the Race had sent out an email “Canadian woman, strong competent sailor, wishing to crew for the regatta”. The crew with the addition of Glynis was now www.MultihullsToday.com 21
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needed to find the ocean current that would take us all the way to Tanga. But, reaching the right spot to find the current was the challenge. A couple of times, we passed international cargo ships. They had rings of barbed wire all around their boats, beneath their railings, to ensure that pirates could not board. It was a quick reminder that this regatta had been cancelled for a few years because of concerns of Somali piracy. “We’re not in Kansas anymore Toto” but in the risky realities of East Africa. What should have taken about six hours to reach the south east corner of Zanzibar, was taking us 16 hours and we still had not arrived. We were depending greatly on Hidde’s local knowledge of the reefs and tides of these waters. The wind had dropped and CassandravillE was not quick enough to avoid the tide change and we started to sail backwards. At 0300, I awoke to hear of CassandravillE’s sailing problems. “That’s it!” I decided, “We need to turn on the outboard, and fall back into cruising class.” (There were three classes: Open, Cruising (use of motor allowed) and a third, real cruising class which had several mandatory anchorages on the way.) Come daylight, along the exposed Indian 22 Multihulls Today • Volume 12, winter
Ocean coast of Zanzibar we were motorsailing with a bit of wind in our sails and being carried forward by the current. Everything felt more secure being close to the shore of Zanzibar. The continuous white beaches and islands such as Mnembe and the shallow reefs of Zanzibar were breathtaking. Unbeknown to us, four other competitors also encountered a lack of wind and switched to cruising class. In addition, two boats had confronted serious problems and had to retire. One grounded on the reef. We arrived in Tanga after dark to the cheers of the larger boats that had arrived earlier. We were very happy to anchor. We made it! We had just sailed 120 miles in 34 hours. What a saga! I had hidden (and secretly been chilling) a bottle of South African bubbly which we opened once the anchor was set. After what seemed like forever, the Tanga Yacht Club dinghy came to collect us. Fatigued, we dragged ourselves up the beach stairs past the clubhouse bar and to our simple CBA Hotel which had been prearranged right across the road from the Yacht Club. Saturday was a day of rest followed that evening by the annual race party. There were three other boats that had sailed down from Kilifi, Kenya and we were all presented with a Maximum Effort Award.
SECOND LEG: RETURN TO DAR-ES-SALAAM The return leg to Dar started Sunday morning at 11 with an uneventful sail. However during the night, the crew could not always see the poorly marked fishing nets. On at least five occasions, Will, stripped to his skivvies and, with a knife in his mouth and a flashlight in his hand, dived under the boat to cut nets caught on one of the rudders. Thank goodness we had a former marine as crew! Again, as dawn broke, we passed Stone Town and looked longingly as to when I could finally step foot on her shores to fulfil a long-held bucket list dream. Finally, CassandravillE arrived in Dar es Salaam at the same time as Glynis’s flight from Zanzibar. She had jumped ship in Tanga and could have participated in the second leg of the race, after all. Before her late night flight, she managed to meet the crew and other regatta competitors at the Dar Yacht Club for a celebration drink. Karen-Ann quickly left, catching a ride on a Prout 45 Catamaran returning immediately to Mombasa. She could not risk missing her return flight to Toronto from Mombasa. CassandravillE managed to place eighteenth in the regatta over all but on corrected time she was fifth in the Cruising class to Tanga and fourth on the way back. We should all be proud of our achievement and our adventure. The most important
aspect was the friendship we developed, the people we met and our determination to finish the race. Bucket List Item 1 Checked off. DAR TO STONE TOWN We had left Dar around 9 or so for the five hour sail to Stone Town. It was a lovely sail past Chumba island (a nature preserve). By 1600, we were approaching Stone Town from the south and moments later we were anchored along the beach in front of the Park Hyatt Zanzibar hotel. As there is no dinghy service and we didn’t have our own, we put our belongings into a dry bag and pulled ourselves along
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by the rope which we had attached to the ropes on the beach and were ashore. Finally. Bucket List Item # 2 Checked off . I had arranged to meet some friends at the Tembo Hotel where we had some drinks and I had a swim in their pool before heading off by foot to meet friends Simon and Suzy from London for dinner at the world-famous Beach House Restaurant. On the way out the front door of the Tembo Hotel (Tembo means “elephant” in Kiswahili, the language spoken on Zanzibar and Tanzania) we turned to the left to stop at Freddy Mercury House, which is now owned by the Hotel. Outside the main doors was a sort of shrine to the famous, late front man of rock group Queen. Freddy Mercury, who was the subject of the recent movie Bohemian Rhapsody was actually born in Stone Town of Indian parents. Bucket List Item # 3 Checked off, After a delightful dinner we walked back to the boat only to up the anchor and move around the point to anchor just in front of Beach House Restaurant for the night. We left again next morning for the 13 hour sail back to Tanga, where we would spend the night and clear out the next day.
BACK TO KALIFI We finally cleared out of Tanga by 1400 the next afternoon and sailed immediately for Sii Island just inside Kenyan waters before sunset. We were up the next morning by 0600 for the long slog north to our home port of Kilifi where we arrived just before 1900. In Kilifi we were welcomed for dinner onboard PaSeaFique owned by Australian circumnavigator Phil Shand whom we had met the previous week in Tanga. Spaghetti Bolognese washed down by fiery Mozambican rum and Kenyan Tusker Beer never tasted so good! Bill Kosar has been sailing since the age of 13 on the Canadian side of Western Lake Ontario where he grew up and lived until age 50. Since that time he has been based in Watamu, one the most beautiful beaches in Africa on Kenya’s Indian Ocean Coast, while he works in the world’s “garden spots” including Somalia, South Sudan, Afghanistan and Iraq as an international development lawyer. He has owned only catamarans in his life but will occasionally sail on a monomaran if there is no other choice.
sailingsmart
High-Tech Sails for Performance Cruisers
M
ultihull sailors are by nature an eclectic lot and that’s why you often see them being the first to innovate and try new ideas and that’s no different when it comes to sails. Back at a time when membrane sails were the purview of racing sailors, you started to find membrane sails on cruising multihulls long before their monohull counterparts caught on to the idea. Sail engineering is constantly evolving and changing so let’s look at some of the newer trends as well as some of the tried and tested. Remember the main goal is to build a sail that is light, strong, easy to manage and 26 Multihulls Today • Volume 12, winter
New membrane sails are so good they are coming close to perfect, for both cruisers and racers by Brian Hancock
one that holds its shape for a long time. I like to say that you measure the life of a sail by how long it holds its shape, not by how long it holds together. Let’s start with simple sail geometry, which is driven by the rig configuration. Multihulls are usually rigged with a tripod rig configuration consisting of a forestay and single shroud either side. Because the shrouds are placed far enough aft and outboard they double as the backstay meaning that there is no need for a backstay. The mast is more than supported. All of a sudden you have a big advantage over a monohull where
their roach size is determined and limited by the placement of the backstay. Without a backstay you can add a square head to the sail and as much roach as you like and that’s why you see many cruising catamarans with flat top, or square head mainsails. Concentrating the sail power in the main allows the naval architect to design nonoverlapping headsails resulting in a very simple and effective sail combination that allows for easy gear changing as the wind increases or dies down. The latest trend in sail engineering is toward filmless membrane sails. To know how we got here we need to first look back in order to look forward. Up until the late 70s, sailcloth was made by weaving fibers on a loom and then stabilizing the fabric with different kinds of resins. This worked well except when a load came on the bias of the fabric
which was not supported directly by fibers causing the sail to stretch, which in turn distorted its shape. Fabric makers started looking for new ways to make sailcloth. One way was to laminate fibers to a mylar film. The mylar is extruded and is therefore equally strong in all directions meaning that it adds support to bias loads. This was a huge jump forward. It meant that the fabrics were much more stable which in turn allowed sail design and engineering to be developed knowing that you did not have to worry about the sail stretching in all different ways once it came under a load. There was, however, a problem with a laminated sail and that was it could delaminate, and the sail could be ruined. Mylar, while an integral part of a stable sailcloth, was also difficult to bond to. Over the years better adhesives were developed but to this day it remains difficult to bond to, especially for some fibers, namely Spectra and Dyneema. These are terrific fibers, but they have a “slippery� feel and they do not bond well to film. There is a second problem with mylar. Take a piece of paper and measure it across. Then scrunch it up, flatten it out and try measuring it again. The wrinkles in the paper make it
www.MultihullsToday.com 27
sailingsmart
impossible to lay out flat again and the piece of paper shrinks almost imperceptibly but it does shrink; over the life of the sail and the area of the sail this wrinkle effect can all add up and lead to shape distortion. With this in mind fabric makers have been trying to figure out a way to get the mylar film out of fabrics without giving up on its positive aspects. Along comes filmless fabrics. It’s not new, it’s just that the process has been perfected. Here is how it works. A membrane sail is engineered with the principal load bearing fibers running precisely along the expected load paths. Different fibers can be used for different applications depending on budget and performance requirements. There is no limit to the number of “layers” that can go into a membrane sail. The sail engineers are able to add different layers which all contribute something to the overall design. They have become so precise with their engineering that there is no longer any issue with bias stretch and with that issue gone, gone is the need for the mylar film. 28 Multihulls Today • Volume 12, winter
Engineering a filmless sail includes creating a core structural grid made from a high modulus fiber that is there to take care of the principal loads. Additional layers are added to provide strength in secondary directions and then the entire grid is encapsulated between ripstop taffetas that have been treated with anti-mildew and anti-UV additives. All these layers are vacuum bagged and cured in a heat-activated cross-polymerization process that fuses all the various layers together into a single membrane, which can be up to 25-percent lighter than a filmbased membrane with the same strength and stretch resistance. Remember our original goal was to build a sail that’s light, strong, easy to manage and holds its shape. There is always room for improvement in sail engineering but with filmless membranes sailmakers are getting pretty close to perfection. When words like membrane heat-activated and cross-polymerization are tossed around, many sailors immediately think one
word; unaffordable. Truthfully, while a membrane sail is going to cost more than a cross-cut paneled sail it’s not that much more and here’s why. Fabric makers design and engineer an array of fabrics suitable for different applications. They incur their costs to make the fabric and then mark it up when selling it to sailmakers. Adding to the cost of the fabric is the cost of shipping. When you build a membrane sail you build the fabric and sail at the same time. All you need to do is import various fibers and lay them down with a stringing machine before vacuum bagging them and compressing everything until you have your own precisely engineered fabric. Don’t confuse membrane sails with molded sails. Most membrane sails are not made on a mold. Instead they are made piece by piece in large flat panels which are then sewn together. Shape is added at the seams and when the sail is sewn together it appears as if the fibers are continuous and run the length of the sail from the head to the clew. They are in fact discontinuous but it’s no matter, the seams
are the strongest part of the sail. There are some other advantages to building a membrane sail. Instead of building a sail and then sewing batten pockets onto one or the other side, with a membrane you can engineer the batten pocket to be incorporated into the layers meaning the outside of the sail is completely smooth. Same with corner reinforcement. The strength comes from stringing the patches and having them also incorporated into the overall structure of the sail. Pretty neat huh? Sailors want their sails to be as light as possible. That way they are easier to manage and easier to set especially when the breeze is on the wane. Advances in sail engineering and fiber technology are making it easier than ever to get near perfect sails at a pretty reasonable price. Sailmaker Brian Hancock is the chief designer at Great Circle Sails, a boutique sail loft that specializes in high quality cruising and racing sails that are built one at a time and specifically to the requirements of each customer. Brian has a vast resume of sailing experience from dinghies to round the world races. http://www.greatcirclesails.com/index.html
www.MultihullsToday.com 29
modernmultihulls
When you decide to have a new catamaran built for you in South Africa, the experience combines the challenges of making all the new boat decision with the rare pleasure of visiting one of earth’s most interesting and beautiful countries
Building a Balance – The South Africa Experience by Andrew Hodgdon, Balance Catamarans Technical Director
W
hen you make the decision to purchase and build a new Balance catamaran, it becomes an immersive, one-ofa-kind experience. The build process takes several months and there is a good bit of planning and decision making to do along the way. Many of our customers will make a trip or two to visit their boat while she is under build. While to date none of our customers have felt the need to have a surveyor to 30 Multihulls Today • Volume 12, winter
oversee things, they all enjoy visiting South Africa, fine tuning some of their decisions, and meeting the build teams. Normally, it is not until we are five or more months into the build that final decisions have to be made on hull color, interior finishes, etc., so often our buyers just decide to come to the factory for a day or so, then head out on an amazing safari. Leopard 45 It is hard to describe how very personal
and intimate the experience of buying a Balance is compared to buying a production boat. Everyone gets to know eachother and a strong sense of family and shared interest arises that is quite special. It is especially fascinating to watch people experience South Africa for the first time. The natural beauty, the amazing music, the richness of the many layers of African culture merging in what Nelson Mandela proudly called his “Rainbow Nation,� is most unique. Many of our 526 customers will elect to drive the Garden Route from Cape Town to Saint Francis, which is an amazing seaside journey of 700 kilometers of mostly virgin coast. And for those who are buying a 482 or a larger custom Balance, the Cape Town experience is something not to miss. Driving to Cape Point, visiting Wine Country,
spending the day on the Victoria and Alfred Waterfront are all spectacular experiences. Recently, I was fortunate enough to get the full immersion into the South African experience that a new Balance owner would enjoy. I was visiting as part of my new role as Technical Director for Balance Catamarans. The 526 and the new Balance 620 Catamarans are built in the small seaside town of St. Francis on the very southern end of the continent, about an hour from the nearest airport at Port Elizabeth. The scenic drive into St. Francis took me through stunning views of both mountains and coast, Eucalyptus groves, and emerald green ranch lands. The highway bridges several gorges over which you can just make out the sparkle of the river far below. Upon approaching the town, you travel through seagrass dunes and estuaries with picturesque houses perched on their banks. It is in this quaint little town that Nexus www.MultihullsQuarterly.com 31
modernmultihulls
Yachts, the builders of the Balance 526 and 620, have set up shop. The operation is run by a pair of brothers named Jonathan and Roger Paarman. The brothers grew up on this wild coast and have saltwater in their blood. Coming up in the budding surf culture of South Africa, they spent their youth working in the growing water sports industry of the 70’s and 80’s. Over the years they had many jobs but started out shaping surfboards and building Hobie Cats, eventually working their way up to creating highly customized cruising catamarans. When I first met Johnny and Roger, it was on the bustling factory floor. Construction was nearly complete on Hull # 6 of the Balance 526 model, a stunning bright orange vessel named Alani, which is the Hawaiian word for “orange”. With a launch date scheduled for the following week, the whole factory had an electric air as the craftsman sought to make sure every detail of the boat was perfect. Launch day is always a big event in such a small town, and everybody
32 Multihulls Today • Volume 12, winter
gets excited to see it go off without a hitch. Then, nearly the entire town shows up at the little Port Saint Francis to cheer on the boat until she splashes. The pride that is shown in this town for their builders is enormous, as they are not only one of the major employers, but these bright and shiny catamarans are truly stunning looking objects that were built right there in humble little Saint Francis. One very special thing about the Balance situation in Saint Francis is that Nexus has their own dock in the harbor, which is very close to the factory. The team has time to bend the sails, tune the rig, and do multiple test sails to shakedown the boat to perfection. Then, when Johnny is happy, and the weather window right, off she goes for the 700-kilometer coastal sail to Cape Town. Johnny and Roger make an impression as generally laid-back guys who are serious about what they do for a living. As with many South Africans, they exuded a “can do” attitude and stark independence. This seriousness about their work really showed as
Johnny gave me my first tour of the factory. Spread out across two large warehouses, there was a lot to take in as I looked over the construction materials and boats in various stages of completion. A compressor running on the vacuum table made it difficult to hear Johnny as he described the process of laying up a bulkhead and the system by which they ensure the proper resin to fiber ratio. Johnny is literally on the shop floor all day long. His team members probably view him as a bit of a micro manager, but the respect they hold for him – due to the pride he has in what he does – is enormous. The Balance 526 is built using a sophisticated method of blending foam-cored epoxy e-glass with carbon fiber structural components. The end result is a light weight, rigid, and very fast cruising sailboat. This construction method is a time-consuming process that requires a lot of skill and even more attention to detail, but the end result is a masterpiece of craftsmanship. Compared to a European built catamaran, the Balance catamarans take – literally
– three to four times the labor hours of other production boats. This is not due to inefficiency, but to the high level of hand-crafted work that goes into these catamarans. Throughout my week in St Francis, it was common to see Johnny on his hands and knees working alongside several of his 50 employees to make sure some detail of the boat was just right. This same pursuit of perfection could also be seen in the office where Roger spends most of his time. With the craftsman diligently working down below, Roger watches over from his office window above the factory floor. He is responsible for the real dirty work of the boat building process…making sure everything stays on schedule. I got the sense that Roger is personally invested in every boat that leaves their facility. It was apparent that he was anxious to see Alani finished correctly and on time. Roger’s management role is often an unforgiving job as he deals with the mountains of emails and phone calls necessary to chase vendors and maintain a build schedule, but his approach has the same attention to detail which
modernmultihulls
produces such a fine product and a smoothrunning operation. In my free time in St. Francis I was pleased to discover that the area has a lot more to offer outside of world class sailboat builders. There are numerous outdoor activities to choose from for the adventurous type. On days when the swell is up, you will see many of the employees from the factory catching an early pre-work surf session at one of the many pristine breaks along the coast. A short paddle out from my gorgeous beachside accommodations was one of the nicest waves I’ve ever seen in all my travels. You can spend hours playing in the sea but just make sure to stay clear of “Full Stop Rock”! On days when the sea isn’t cooperating, you can go for a mountain bike ride along the numerous scenic trails that follow the rugged coastline or roll through the inland hills. Hike these same paths and be sure to take a moment to look over the wild Indian Ocean and breathe deep the crisp breeze carried in from the Antarctic. The air is so fresh they should bottle it up and sell it! For the less adventurous explorer, there are many artisan craft vendors and high-end galleries within a short drive of St. Francis. There are also several delicious local restaurants to choose from in town, and I would highly 34 Multihulls Today • Volume 12, winter
recommend going down to the marina and trying some of the local fare. You can enjoy a fine local wine while nibbling on fresh caught calamari as you watch the fishing fleet prepare for another night of hard work. The nearby city of Knysna makes for a nice day trip to escape the bustle of the factory floor. This bayside destination is a popular spot for South African tourists and offers abundant shopping and a wide variety of local and ethnic restaurants. On the drive down, be sure to plan a stop at the Knysna Elephant Park, which is an exceptionally wellrun preserve. At the park I had the opportunity to meet and interact with a young lady named “Thandi” who is a 15-year-old adolescent elephant with a very kind demeanor. If you’re interested in a more immersive safari experience, there are several world class game preserves in South Africa including the famous Kruger National Park. Departing from Knysna, heading West, you eventually arrive in Cape Town, which certainly rivals San Francisco as one of the world’s most beautiful cities. Here is where I spent some wonderful hours working with Balance Designers Anton Du Toit and Phillip Berman working on the design for the new Balance 482. Cape Town is also the home of Balance Catamarans Cape Town, where
veteran builder Mark Delaney is tooling and building the new Balance 482. Due to the demands on Nexus with the new 620 and expanding 526 production, it was decided by all to fabricate the 482 in Cape Town. The scene in Cape Town is very different from Saint Francis! A thoroughly modern city, perched at the end of the world, with magnificent coastal communities branching out to the East and West. The Eastern Seaboard is built on terraced mountains with modernist contemporary homes overlooking the ocean. Some of the architecture rivals that of any major city in the world. Cape Town is also a heavily touristed city; offering bus tours, trips to the famous Table Mountain, and to Paarden Island where Mandela was imprisoned for so many years by the apartheid government. The most amazing adventure, however, is out to the Cape Point, over the famous Chapman’s Peak. Continuing on to the nearby wine country also offers some stunning scenery and wines that rival any in the world. The facilities for Balance Catamarans Cape Town are very close to the heart of the city, in what is called Robben Island. Just down the street from the factory is the factory for Robertson and Caine, who build all of the Leopard and Moorings Catamarans. The environment is a sort of yachtie’s dream world: Sparcraft spar makers, Ullman and North Sailmakers, every sort of marine vendor you can imagine can be found in Cape Town. And just down the road is where they all get together for the Thursday night races at the Royal Cape Yacht Club. Then, just to the east, is the world-famous Victoria and Alfred Waterfront. Here you find every form of African art, carvings, handicrafts, restaurants, and a stunning array of birds and sea life as you walk along the waterfront complex. Several other aspects of South Africa that make it such a joy to
visit, especially for an American, are the fact that they speak English and that the US Dollar is currently so strong against the South African Rand. I recall ordering the giant “Family Platter” of sushi that cost us the equivalent of $18 U.S. dollar. Stateside such a plate would have been a $100 dollar meal.. As much as I enjoyed exploring the area, this trip was about work and soon I was back at the factory with the Paarmans and Balance Catamarans president Phil Berman. We spent the remainder of my visit finalizing the future plans for the construction of the Balance 526 Hulls 7 through 10 and planning some other very exciting new projects. As I am now a member of the sales and technical team at Balance, I will be fortunate enough to go back to this wonderful place and enjoy it a couple times a year. I will also be running exclusive sailing charters and the Balance University program for prospective customers. My excitement is already building for the new Balance 482, as the first five hulls have already been sold. It looks like South Africa will be in my future, and I could not be more excited about that! If you’re interested in learning more about the Balance University Program”, or about what you can expect on your visit to South African, feel free to email me at AMHodgdon@Balancecatamarans.com.
www.MultihullsToday.com 35
multihullreview
Miami Boat Show Preview New Multihulls for 2020 As the multihull market has grown over the last 15 years, the Miami International Boat Show has become one of the two big multihulls shows in North America, alongside the fall Annapolis sailboat show. This February, there are 45 cats on display in Miami and many of those are new to the U.S. Most of these are sailing multihulls but we’re seeing more and more power cats in the fleet as both the charter companies and private owners discover the benefits of these efficient, spacious and comfortable cruising boats. Here’s a quick look at the world of multihulls in 2020:
ANTARES 44GS The Antares 44GS is a boat that has evolved year after year as the builders, in Argentina, and their owners compare notes and innovate new solutions to the real-world issues that blue water sailors deal with. The 44GS is a pure liveaboard, blue water cat that takes an extremely practical approach to just about every aspect of the boat’s design, build and systems. You feel like you are aboard a proper yacht built with old-school values when you climb aboard the Antares 44GS and you know that this is a couple’s cruising boat that will take them anywhere. https://liveantares.com/ 36 Multihulls Today • Volume 12, winter
BALI CATAMARANS Bali cats are built by Catana in France and are the prime source of charter boats for Dream Yacht Charters. Dream is now the largest charter company in the world and announced recently that the company would spend up to $165 million in the next few years buying boats for their fleets. This will be music to the builders at Catana and other cat builders. The new 4.3 power cat was launched in January at the Dusseldorf boat show and the new 4.6 sailing cat will be introduced later this year. https://www.balicatamarans.com/en/
BALANCE CATAMARANS The Balance brand was created by Phil Berman, the founder and president of The Multihull Company. He has been in the multihull market for a long time and the Balance concept is the fruit of his experience both sailing and selling hundreds of multihulls. The balance in Balance cats is between sailing performance, luxurious living and ultimate seamanship. Built in South Africa, Berman offers cats from 45 to 76 feet. The 451, 620 and the 562 are the first three models now available with the all new 482 to be launched in 2020 and the new 442 is just finishing the design work. https://balancecatamarans.com/
CATANA CATAMARANS The French builder Catana is known worldwide as the creator of true blue water passagemaking catamarans. Many of their yachts over the years have crossed oceans and a number have made successful circumnavigations. You will find Catanas anchored in many of the world’s most exotic cruising locales with couples or families aboard. They build three models from 47 to 70. Ther new 53 is going to be at the Miami show and is a fine example of the care and quality that go into each of their cats. https://www.catana. com/en/
CORSAIR TRIMARANS Corsair Marine builds their line of six high performance trimarans in Vietnam which is emerging as a great place to build boats. The boats range from the 600 which is 20 feet long to the 37 foot offshore cruising model. What sets these trimarans apart is their ability to be folded up in about 30 minutes and then trailered behind a family SUV. Tris are a compromise between excellent sailing performance and a smaller living space than on a catamaran. If you want to sail at speeds in the high teens or low 20s, then a tri might be just for you. http://corsairmarine.com/
DRAGONFLY TRIMARANS Built in Denmark by a second generation of avid designers and builders in the Quorning family, Dragonfly tris are upscale, high performance sailing and crusing boats that will appeal to sailors who are seeking a truly exciting sailing experience. Like the Corsairs, these tris can fold their amas back against the main hull so they will fit into a normal marina slip or trailer behind an SUV. The fit and finish of Dragonfly tris is yacht style and Euro modern. They introduced a brand new 40 footer at the Dusseldorf boat show which will be shown in North America this year. https://dragonfly.dk/
www.MultihullsToday.com 37
multihullreview
EXCESS CATAMARANS Lagoon is one of the largest builders of cats in the world and is a subsidiary of Groupe Beneteau. In 2019, the group launched a new brand of cats called Excess which is marketed as the cats for younger, active sailors who are into adventure and water sports of all kinds. The Excess 12 and 15 offer spacious interiors and cockpits that are huge and comfortable with retractable shades in the hardtops and twin wheels aft. If you are looking for the next new thing in cats, check out Excess. https://excess-catamarans.com/ our-catamarans
GEMINI CATAMARANS Gemini is the oldest builder of catamarans in North America and one of the few sailboat builders left on the continent. They build the Legacy 35, the Freestyle 37 and this year are introducing the new Freestyle 399 power cat. The Legacy 35 is a couples cruising boat that may be the most popular catamaran ever designed and is a great value. The Freestyle 37 is a daysailer that is a great party boat. The New 399 will be a fun, all-purpose power cat. https://www.geminicatamarans.com/ GUNBOAT 68
FOUNTAINE PAJOT CATAMARANS One of the big three multihulls in the world with Leopard and Lagoon, Fountaine Pajot is a French company that has grown enormously in the last decade as it rode the wave of catamaran popularity worldwide. They build seven models of sailing cats and four models of power cats. You will find both types in charter fleets around the world and being sailed and cruised by cruising families worldwide. New for 2020 are the new Elba 45 sailing cat (https://www.catamarans-fountaine-pajot.com/en/ ) and the new 43PC powercat (https://www.motoryachts-fountaine-pajot.com/en/. )
38 Multihulls Today • Volume 12, winter
The new Gunboat 68 being built by Gunboat of France, which is a subsidiary of Grande Large Yachting, the builder of Outremers among other brands, is an entirely new take on the original Gunboat concept. The new performance cat was designed by VPLP with styling by Patrick Le Quement. The all carbon hull, deck and rig are as high tech as you can get and the giant sail plan over this light stiff cat provides her owners with Ferrari-like performance. The 68s are semi-custom yachts so owners can work out with the builder the deck and layout configurations that suit them, within the confines of existing molds and the placement of bulkheads. www.gunboat.com
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Knysna 500SE
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HH CATAMARANS HH is a company based in China that is the creation of entrepreneur Hudson Wang and boat builder Paul Hakes. Hakes is no longer involved but HH is going forward by leaps and bounds as it introduces new designs and models every year. The HH 66 is the model that launched the brand. In 2019 they introduced the 55 and the designs for the 88 and 50. The boats are all-carbon, high tech performance machines with luxurious accommodations. Last year, they also offered the boats in fiberglass to lower the price. HH partners with Morelli and Melvin for their designs, so you know that performance is a key to their brand. http://www.hhcatamarans. com/
KNYSNA CATAMARANS Knysna catamarans are build by Kevin and Rika Fourche in Knysna, South Africa. Their 50-foot Knysna 500 is a semi-custom design that are built in their boutique factory to order. Each boat is hand crafted to each owner’s specification and can be customized to a fairly high degree. The 500 is known as a great couple’s cruising boat and many of them have crossed oceans and made circumnavigations. The design for the new Knysna 550 has been completed by De Toit Yacht Design and is ready to start in build. The new boat is thoroughly modern and comes with a huge flying bridge. https://www.knysnayachtco.com/
KINETIC CATAMARANS The Kinetic brand was launched at last fall’s Annapolis sailboat show to rave reviews. The 62 is a huge, modern semi-custom cat that is built in the seaside village of Knysna, South Africa. The boat is notable for its huge salon, expansive galley, forward steering station, forward cockpit and enormous saloon windows. It is both an elegant cruising boat and a high-performance, all carbon sailing machine. The 62 will compete with the Gunboats and HH cats very favorably. https:// www.kineticcatamarans.com/
LAGOON CATAMARANS Lagoon is the production builder that really launched catamarans into the cruising and charter markets and remains one of the largest builders. The company is based in Bordeaux, France and is known for its constant innovation and design excellence. The most recent designs have an all new rig concept that shifts the masts aft and reduces the size of the mainsail while enlarging the roller furling, self-tacking jibs. This makes the boat much easier to sail and the sails much easier to handle. These are great live-aboard boats
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that are both practical and blue water capable. https://www.cata-lagoon.com/en LEOPARD CATAMARANS Leopard cats are build in Cape Town, South Africa by Robertson & Caine and virtually all of their production goes into The Moorings and Sunsail charter fleets or to private owners. This year Leopard is introducing their new 53 powercat at the Miami show and it looks like a real winner. It follows in the wake of the Leopard 51 which to date is the most popular power cat ever. The smaller sister, the 43PC was a finalist in the European Boat of the Year competition and has been extremely popular in charter fleets around the world. https://www.cata-lagoon.com/en
MAVERICK CATAMARANS Maverick is a small boutique builder in Cape Town, South Africa that builds its new 440 cruising cat on a one-at-a-time semi custom basis. The 440 is a pure couple’s cruising boat that has been designed and spec’d to be easy to sail, safe in all conditions and easy and inexpensive to own and maintain. The company’s founder and owner Rudi Pretorius will guide each owner through the build process and will give truly hands-on attention as each boat is built. https://www.maverick.life/
NAUTITECH CATAMARANS The French builder Nautitech will have its Open 40, Open 46 and the 46 Open Fly at the Miami show and these two designs have shown themselves to be both great family cruisers and better than average sailing vessels. They also will be introducing the first Nautitech 47 powercat that has a massive cockpit, a full fly bridge and four large cabins with shared heads in both hulls. Nautitech was bought by the huge German boat builder Bavaria two years ago and continues to thrive. https://www.nautitechcatamarans. com/en
NEEL TRIMARANS The NEEL trimarans have taken the tri concept and really pushed the envelope. By placing the saloon and cabins on top of the three hulls instead of inside them, they have created high performance sailing tris with the accommodations of a modern sailing cat. Ingenious. The new 47 that was introduced in 2019, is a kind of hybrid with the saloon and master stateroom over the main hull and with sleeping cabins in the two amas. The 47 has www.MultihullsToday.com 41
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proven to be a great sailing performer and is capable of reaching speeds in the midteens or higher. Last fall, the 47 won the ARC rally across the Atlantic and beat its nearest competitor by 35 miles. https://www.neeltrimarans.com/ OUTREMER
PRIVILEGE CATAMARANS Privilege has staked out the luxury end of the cruising cat market and offers four sailing models from 51 to 74 feet plus a 50 foot powercat. This year, they are introducing their new Signature 510 and 580 that are designed for cruising couples and families who want to explore the world in luxury, comfort and safety. Privilege was recently bought by the German Hanse Yacht group so it is well capitalized and ready to start its next generation of building fine cruising cats. https://www. hanseyachtsag.com/us/privilege.html ROYAL CAPE CATAMARANS
The French builder of performance cruising cats, Outremer, has proven over the years to design and build excellent boats that are known for their great sailing performance and their embrace of simplicity and practicality. The company is also known for supplying a boat to the wildly popular YouTubers Riley and Elayna on La Vagabond who have over a million subscribers to their channel. If ever social media has done something unique in the sailing market it is to promote the sailing lifestyle and the Outremer brand through the La Vagabnde videos. https:// catamaran-outremer.com/en/home/
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The Majestic 530 is Royal Cape’s semi-custom, boutique-built cruising cat from Durban, South Africa. The boats are unique because they offer such expansive accommodations and the ability for an owner to really have the boat built to his or her specifications. If you enjoy SCUBA diving, then you can have your 530 dedicated to that. If you are an avid fisherman, then the boat can be set up with all of your gear. RC founder Ken Bircher works very closely with each new owner to get the finest finished cruising boat possible. http://royalcapecatamarans.com/
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multihullreview the Polish builder, if that gives you a hint. They build sailing and powercats from 50 to 200 feet. In the last year they have launched six new powercat designs and five new sailing cat designs. These amazing boats often end up as luxury charter boats but they certainly can qualify as super luxury private yachts too. https://www.sunreef-yachts.com/en/ SEAWIND CATAMARANS The Seawind 1260 is a handsome 41-foot cruising cat that epitomizes indoor-outdoor living. Designed in Australia and built in Vietnam, the 1260 has a huge cockpit with twin helms, large benches, plenty of storage and great protection from the elements. Between the cockpit and the saloon there is a tri-fold door, that folds together into one panel that then can be folded up into a cavity in the hard top where it is totally out of the way. Removing the door joins the cockpit and saloon into one huge living space. Seawinds are sold all over the world and make great coastal or offshore cruising boats. They are fast, sea kindly and easy for a couple to manage on their own. For more information click here. https://www.seawindcats.com/ seawind-1260/
SUNREEF CATAMARANS If you don’t have to ask the price of a yacht you want to buy, then Sunreef might just be the company for you. Tennis star Rafael Nadal recently ordered an 80-foot power cat from 44 Multihulls Today • Volume 12, winter
XQUISITE CATAMARANS Once you have a look at the Xquisite X 5 crusing cat, you will never mistake it for another brand. It’s highly distinctive arch over the cockpit that blends neatly with the curve
of the cabin top and the huge “cats-eye” saloon windows are totally unique. Plus the four vertical windows in the base of the arch are an unmistakable signature for the brand. But these just the most obvious design points that set the X5 apart. The boat is built by Tamas and Sara Hamour in Cape Town, South Africa and each boat is custom built for each owner. Tamas and Sara are veteran cruisers so their experience and knowledge provide a great base for owners who need to make hundreds of decisions as their boats are built. Xquisite is launching their all new X5 powercat in 2020. https://xquisiteyachts. com/
Lagoon 42 - February 2016 - Photo Credit: Nicolas Claris
DISCOVER THE TMM DIFFERENCE
THE BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
New additions to the fleet
Since 1979 friendly and memorable staff has welcomed our clients, delivering first-hand local knowledge of the British Virgin Islands. Year on year we strive to deliver this experience whilst maintaining a diverse fleet of modern yachts at competitive prices.
We have kept our fleet fresh with many new vessels to enjoy. Additions to the fleet this season include: three brand new Lagoon 42’s, a 2016 FP Saba 50, 2017 Lagoon 450 and a 2017 Helia 44 Quatuor Evolution.
All the information you need to book your bareboat charter can be found on our website, www.sailtmm.com
charter@sailtmm.com
1-800-633-0155 For yacht purchase enquiries please contact Don at 1-877-648-6721 or don@sailtmm.com Representing these fine yacht manufacturers:
SAIL | 40 | 45 | 50 | 58 POWER | 43 PC | 53 PC
www.leopardcatamarans.com info@leopardcatamarans.com