Multihulls Today, winter, 2023

AMERICA’S PREMIER MULTIHULL MAGAZINE

MULTIHULLS TODAY 19 NEW MULTIHULLS FOR 2023 CHARTERING IN THE AMAZING ABACOS FAMILY AFLOAT: COMMISSIONING

winter, 2023

MULTIHULLS TODAY winter 2023

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FROM THE PUBLISHER

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ON CHARTER Chartering the Amazing Abacos

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ON THE LEVEL Caribbean Multihull Challenge; MODX 70 with Infiatable Sails

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GONE CRUISING Family Afioat: The Commissioning of Sacre Bleu Part One: Les Sables-d’Olonne, France

Cover shot: Enjoying a sail aboard a Lagoon 51.

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MODERN MULTIHULLS 19 New Multihulls for 2023

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Publisher’s Letter As we always do, in this winter edition of Multihulls Today we bring you our big preview of the new multihulls that will be making waves in 2023. Some were launched in 2022 and will be making their U.S. debuts in 2023 and some are still in the process of creating hull number one.

Of the 19 boats in the preview, three are trimarans and all are exciting sailing boats with better than average cruising accommodations and amenities. Tris have really come a long way in the last few years and are finding a growing audience. The introduction of the Neel line of tris has certainly proven that a boat with three hulls can make a capable passagemaker and a spacious liveabord cruising home.

All of the bigger builders, Lagoon, Fountaine Pajot and Leopard in particular, have new boats on offer and have expanded their lines to include both smaller, entry-level designs and much larger, almost mega yacht models.

We can say that because a 75-foot cruising catamaran has the living space of a 120-foot monohull and in most conditions will sail and motor as fast, too.

In the performance end of the cat segment, daggerboards seem to have been widely accepted among the buyers of these boats while five or more years ago these appendages had many doubters. Certainly, the curved deep boards improve upwind performance significantly and add a bit of lift to reduce wetted surface and improve speed.

Carbon has been an important feature in the performance cruising segment for all of the obvious reasons – great strength to weight ratios, epoxy resins, incredible stiffness and more. But, that said, a number of the performance cat builders, such as Balance and HH, are now also offering their models with carbon reinforced fiberglass hulls. So new boat buyers now have a choice between ultimate performance construction or a less expensive and perhaps easier to maintain hull and deck.

Among both the regular cruising cat and performance fleet, raised or top lounges fitted to the cockpit’s hard top are becoming more popular and designers are finding ways to make this second story living space look stylish, trim and attractive. These raised lounges are perfect spots for evening sundowners or a light lunch at anchor on sunny days. Even Gunboat is offering a new design, the 70v, that comes with a bridgedeck and a raised lounge over the cockpit.

MULTIHULLS TODAY

Editor and Publisher George Day Ph: 401-847-7612 Fax: 401-845-8580 george@bwsailing.com Contributing Editors

Bill Biewenga Rebecca Childress John Neal

Sandy Parks Art Director 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 2023. All rights reserved.

So, every year the fleet of cruising and performance cats gets better and more innovative. Check out the 19 previews starting on page 26.

Reprinting, photocopying and excerpting passages is forbidden except by permission of the publisher.

Fair winds,

Blue Water Sailing ISSN: 1091-1979

4 Multihulls Today • winter 2023

FILM Aura 51 Smart Electric

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Sailing Towards Carbon Neutrality with

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on thelevel

Caribbean Multihull Challenge Sees Record Entries for 2023 February 3, a record number of entries will be on the books. As the New Year IN LATE DECEMBER THE CARIBBEAN rolls in there is already a 30 plus percent Multihull Challenge noted on their web- increase over 2022; with time left in Janusite that the annual event in St. Martin, ary for this number to grow. “From a high scheduled for February 2 to 6, will attract of 18 boats in 2022, we hope to come a wide array of multihulls from builders closer to the high 20’s for this coming and owners cruising and racing in the event” says Stephen Burzon, Volunteer Caribbean this winter.

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joining up with the CMC rally as a way to wind up our celebration fits in perfectly with our plans”.

addition of several Balance Catamarans joining the first ever Caribbean Multihull Challenge Rally; a three-day cruising event beginning and ending in Simpson Bay, Sint Maarten; with fun-filled overnights on the French side of SXM at Anse Marcel and at Sandy Ground in Road Bay, Anguilla. According to Philip Berman, president of Balance Catamarans – a company he founded in 2013 – the idea of celebrating the tenth anniversary of Balance with a rally in the northeast Caribbean is a perfect one; and….”

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As an innovation, the cruising rally will run concurrently with the traditional threeday CMC hot racing schedule focused on the Dutch side of the island.

“The Sint Maarten Yacht Club’s CMC is a place for all kinds of multihulls to come to race, play, and party. We have luxury cruising boats on racing courses along with very fast multihulls racing in their classes on other courses. Everything from the French designed 24’ Diam class open trimarans, to a stunning Leopard 50 and a charismatic Schionning 53 will be out there pressing for new records. Our new CSA 1 class Trifecta combining a 60 Mile Sprint around St. Barth, a 52 Mile Dash

FIRST TO FINISH

Congratulations Norhi!

Balance Catamarans’ 526 skippered by its owner crossed the finish line first in this grueling race in a lapsed time of 18 days, 20 hours, 48 minutes and 16 seconds! A fast race with a great team of sailors.

Repeat after me: “Balance Catamarans are fast. Balance Catamarans are gracious.” Mantra.

around Saba, and a 27 Mile circumnavigation of the island will bring the combined winner of all three a gorgeous and practical Oris Aquis Diving Watch provided by long time sponsor Oris.” …says CMC Steering Committee Chair Petro Jonker.

It is a true festival of all things multihull and a chance for the multihull community to come together in one place to recreate, learn, congregate, and enjoy the wonderful dual nation island of St Maarten and St Martin. For more information about the CMC…www.CaribbeanMultiThe Caribbean Multihull Challenge is hullChallenge.com/ To enter the race or more than a regatta and a cruising rally. the rally…www.YachtScoring.com/

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on thelevel

Something Completely Different: MODX 70 with Inflatable Sails HAND IT TO THE FRENCH FOR THEIR RELENTless efforts to drag sailing and yacht design into the future. The latest inspiration comes from a company called Ocean Development in Lorient, which has partnered with the design firm VPLP and the inflatable sail, retractable mast inventors at Aeroforce Wing to create a sailing vessel that is truly unlike almost anything ever launched, the MODX 70.

Europe, so creating this new cruising catamaran on a similar platform, was not much of a stretch.

Next step was to get the team at Aeroforce to design a rig with a mast on each hull instead of along the cat’s centerline.

This has proven to be an efficient way to arrange the sail plan on a cat and American designer Chris White has several of his Atlantic series cats sailing the world They started with a super-light carbon with similar rigs, albeit with fixed masts infused catamaran hull and deck for and more traditional fabric sails. which VPLP are renown in racing circles.

They have designed plenty of MOD 70 The Aeroforce sails are inflatable and trimaran race boats that are popular in retractable. When furled, the NACA foil-shaped sails stow in their deck pods on top of each hull. The carbon masts retract or telescope onto the hulls. When

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It’s time to go sailing, electric pumps start to inflate the sails and as they rise into sky the masts telescope upward with them.

You can sail the boat with one sail or both and the sails can be reefed as the wind rises. In heavy weather you can reef the sails down to really small shapes to suit the boat’s motion, balance and seakeeping foundation dedicated to cleaning up our abilities. oceans, lakes, rivers and water sources world-wide. The MODX 70 is just the kind Since Ocean Development always con- of ocean-going vessel that will help this ceived of the MODX 70 as having a non-profit foundation get their message zero-carbon footprint, the next phase of out to the world. development was to partner with a firm with expertise in energy management Click here to learn more about this amazand electric propulsion. Mad In! Tech, a ing and innovative project.

French company already immersed in the development of systems for French and European racing boats fit the bill.

They developed a system of solar panels, chargers, batteries, inverters and 40-Kw electric motors to drive the boat under power and to handle all of the electrical loads aboard, including the sail-control systems and all instruments.

The MODX 70 is also the product of the French government and non-profit organizations that have helped to fund the development and design work and have assisted with their institutional knowledge in green, zero-carbon technology.

A cat with a purpose, the MODX 70 is intended to be an example of how we might propel vessels across oceans in the future without creating any carbon pollution. In this mode, it is also dedicated to addressing the scourge of plastic pollution in our oceans. So, the final piece of the partnership puzzle was to join forces with Race for Water, which is a www.MultihullsToday.com 13

gonecruising

Family Afloat: The Commissioning of Sacre Bleu Part One: Les Sables-d’Olonne, France

by Jim Toomey

JULY 10, 2015: WE BEGAN OUR SAILING adventure with an ocean crossing the easy way—in a commercial jet. After a long flight to Paris and a short commuter hop, we met our boat in Les Sablesd’Olonne, a beach town on the Atlantic coast of southwestern France and the launching point for the nearby Lagoon 14 Multihulls Today • winter 2023

catamaran factory. Our boat show purchases and other gear were waiting for us in a shipping container that Valerie had arranged to arrive in Les Sables when we did. The day before, our new catamaran had been delivered to a nearby boatyard, and a work crew had already started commissioning her. We found an

Sacre Bleu touches water for the first time.

continuous disruption and change. I was trying to fit entire workdays into smaller blocks of time here and there, writing and drawing the comic strip, while Valerie worked the phones and email in her native French, making arrangements with the marine contractors that would help with commissioning. Our children, Madeleine and William, now severed from their internet connection, took to beachcombing in front of the apartment, an encouraging sign that they could embrace the real world as their playground when left with no alternative.

Our new boat was sitting in a boatyard across town, but it was already getting dark, and we would have to wait till tomorrow to see her. We were now officially boat owners, but the boat still had no name, so we spent our first heady night in the apartment deciding what to call her. As with both of our children and the dog, Valerie and I flipped a coin for naming rights. I won, which meant that I had a choice between naming the boat or having an enjoyable trip on a boat named by my wife.

apartment overlooking the entrance to the harbor, with a balcony where I could watch vessels big and small leave the safety of port and disappear over the horizon. In just two weeks’ time, we would be doing the same.

Valerie hit on Sacre Bleu for two reasons.

She pointed out that I frequently use colorful language when things go wrong.

In French, “Sacre Bleu” is a minced oath standing in for sacre dieu, or “sacred God,” a phrase that should not be uttered in polite company. Also, the literal translation, “sacred blue,” refers to our new lives on the blue part of the map and our love of the ocean.

We had left our comfortable lives The next morning, we assembled our foldbehind and were now officially nomads, ing bikes, which we had retrieved from scrambling to adjust to our new lives of the shipping container, and pedaled

gonecruising

cabins, and they both chose the larger aft cabin.

Madeleine pulled age rank, though William maintained he had called dibs first. It was our first conflict. The boat was already starting to feel like home.

through morning rush hour to the boatyard to meet Sacre Bleu. There she was, the only recreational boat in a dusty yard full of overworked fishing trawlers. The mast had not yet been stepped, and she still lacked a boom and rigging, not to mention sails, so our new home was still a work in progress. The deck was a good twelve feet off the ground, and we all took turns climbing the ladder tilted up against the transom to get our first peek at the interior. Inside, a mildly toxic, fresh resin smell permeated the air, and on every surface a fine film of factory dust had settled.

The following day, we returned to watch a travel lift pick up our new 16-ton baby and gently set her free in the ocean. The mast, boom and sails had been installed, and Sacre Bleu was beginning to look like a proper sailboat. We fired up the twin diesel engines, and Valerie took the helm and drove her on her maiden cruise—the quartermile run from the boatyard to a dock we shared with a dozen other new Lagoon catamarans.

The chandlery was a five-minute walk from the dock, and we made that walk so many times and got so friendly with the owner, Willy, that by the second week we were inviting him to the boat for happy hour. Instead of slowing down Valerie and I were overjoyed to be finally for the inconvenience of paying, Willy standing on the magic carpet that was opened a credit account and saved going to take us on the Family portrait ride of our lives. Madeleine and William, eyes wide and mouths agape, surveyed their new home in silence.

“We’re all going to live here for a year?” asked Madeleine, hoping to open a door and discover a much larger room with a couch and an entertainment center inside. We instructed the kids to pick their 16 Multihulls Today • winter 2023

Some of the many local contractors in Les Sables-d’Olonne, France, that helped us commission Sacre Bleu.

all the pain for the last day. We could walk past customers waiting in line, wave a $50 stainless steel shackle, say “put it on our tab, Willy,” and stroll out. We felt important. When the time came to settle the invoices, Willy pulled out a shoebox and an adding machine, and we realized how our importance had grown.

Every morning for the two weeks of commissioning, the four of us rode our bikes from the apartment to the boat, where

we began our day of meeting contractors, attempting projects, abandoning projects, running up the tab at Willy’s, and finding new hiding places to store new supplies and gear that we were just discovering we needed. Most components on the boat were factory installed, but we had ordered enough modifications

The dock in Les Sables-d’Olonne held a dozen new Lagoon 450’s fresh out of the nearby factory.

Ours is the first in the line-up, with the laundry hanging from the lifelines. www.MultihullsToday.com 17

gonecruising

and addons to keep the contractors coming and going, measuring and cutting, texting and smoking well into a third week.

The rest of the time we explored farther and wider on our folding bicycles, following paths that took us out of town and into the countryside. We were beginning to feel comfortable, as if Les Sables-d’Olonne were just another neighborhood in Annapolis, Maryland— a neighborhood with a lot more cafes where the patrons seem to drink wine at all hours of the day.

help us find a signal from a greater distance. With wine, water and WI-FI, nothing could hold us back.

However, we did not yet feel any great impetus to cast off the lines and sail away. We had finished our own preparations—provisioning, stowing gear, and, literally, learning the ropes—and we were now officially over-preparing, a process with no defined end. I could’ve spent the rest of the summer tethered to the wharf in Les Sables. In any direction we walked, we found a restaurant that served a casual, exquisite and inexpensive meal.

The farmers’ market looked like a food museum, with dozens of individual vendors offering the full spectrum of France’s glorious cuisine, from dozens of varieties of cheese to breads and pastries of all shapes and sizes to seafood right off the boat. Valerie and the kids had established a daily routine of going to the beach, a broad stretch of bright white sand populated with a diverse cast of vacationers, from families to fashionistas. I tinkered with boat stuff, and I had plenty to tinker with. It was my new garage.

At the end of our second week, we moved out of the apartment and onto the boat, officially becoming a family afloat, departing a world of abundance and privacy and entering a world of scarcity and space shared not only with each other but also with a bevy of workers.

I mentioned to Valerie that we already seemed to have found our groove. She At the end of the third week, the con- pointed out that without forward movetractors hit a stopping point and we ment it’s not a groove, it’s a hole. This declared Sacre Bleu to be seaworthy. continued until a representative from Instead of a conventional boom, we Lagoon showed up at the dock and told installed a wider “canoe” boom that us we had to leave to make room for provided a safe perch for crew to climb more boats coming out of the factory. up and fold the mainsail, an ideal task for our nimble children. We added an extra In the light of the morning sun, I fired up reefer in the exterior dining area so that the two 57 horsepower diesel engines, we would never be too far from a chilled Valerie and the kids unfastened the dock bottle of wine. Our new watermaker lines, and we slowly worked our way out gave us an infinite supply of freshwater of the basin of Les Sables. I had been from the ocean. A WI-FI booster antenna planning this trip my entire life. As a boy, I mounted to the top of the mast would had spent hours studying maps, drawing 18 Multihulls Today • winter 2023

and erasing the track I would sail around the world, passing my pencil line through exotic destinations and dreaming of the adventures I would have there. The thought that we were about to sail into this dream made me both giddy and terrified. Available on Amazon Prime More about the voyage

comic strip Sherman’s Lagoon, published daily in over 150 newspapers, including The Washington Post, the San Francisco Chronicle and the Chicago Tribune.

Valerie Toomey moved to the U.S. from her native France twenty-five years ago.

Since then, she has worked in international shipping, run a children’s boutique, Jim Toomey is an internationally published and for the past ten years worked in the humor writer and syndicated cartoonist boating industry, currently as a yacht best known as the creator of the popular broker for Atlantic Cruising Yachts.

oncharter

Chartering in the AMAZING ABACOS

with Scott Akerman

places to charter because of the lovely islands, clear water for snorkeling, friendly locals who always offer a wave and a smile, and the safe and pleasant anchorages. We chartered in 2022 with Cruise Abaco out of Marsh Harbour and had six days of varied weather but we had a marvelous time. Here’s a look at The Abacos are one of our favorite what we found.

IT HAS BEEN ALMOST TWO YEARS since hurricane Dorian swept through the northern Bahamas and devastated the the Abacos. We went back last spring for a week of chartering and to see how the islands have recovered. On the whole, the Abacos are most of the way back.

On Great Guano Cay, we had a great time at Grabbers Bar where the crowd was having fun and the food was tasty Bahamian fare.

oncharter

On Great Guano Cay we went over to the windy east for a look at the ocean and to have a meal at Nipper Bar. In the wind we had, we hung onto our hats.

A building damaged by Dorian is still not repaired and the islanders and their community work hard to get their lives back in order.

We happened on to none other than the famous vloggers Elayna and Riley on La Vagabond who were in the Abacos hosting a Moorings charter event with the winners of a nation-wide drawing in celebration of the reopening of the Mooring’s charter base.

Our daughter Astrid behind the wheel Our boat for the week was the Fountain and getting ready to drive for real.

Pajot 40 Harbour Lights, a very Watch out. comfortable home away from home.

oncharter

Captain Calvin knows the channels, shallows and anchorages of the Abacos like the back of his hand.

Photos opposite page:

Hopetown on Elbow Cay is a favorite cruising destination and offers excellent protection on blustery days and nights.

The famous red and white striped lighthouse is the last manually operated kerosene lighthouse in the world.

It was fun to climb to the top for one of the Bahamas’ best views.

The Abaco Beach Club has a safe and secure marina and good, clean fuel. Ashore they have a pleasant restaurant with excellent food.

Tahiti Beach on Elbow Cay is a perfect beach bar with a popular sandbar for swimming and a chance to see baby sharks, safely.

modernmultihulls

19MTNew Multihulls for 2023 takes a look at the new catamarans and

trimarans that will make 2023 one of the most innovative years in multihull history

THE WORLD OF CRUISING MULTIHULLS continues to evolve and innovate as established brands and newcomers alike bring out new models and upgraded versions of their existing designs. And there is no question that multihulls are making serious inroads in the blue water cruising fleet; in the 2022 Fall Salty Dawg Rally, of the 120 boats that signed up, 30-percent were multihulls with cruising couples aboard. And, the first to finish honors went to the HH 50 Tribute, an all-carbon cat that simply flew down the 1,400-mile rhumb line.

BALANCE 442 The new 44-foot Balance 442 is the smallest model in the Balance fleet (44 to 75 feet) but still offers all of the attributes that founder and President Phil Berman deems essential in a performance cruising cat – moderately light weight, narrow hulls, daggerboards, a powerful rig, and simple elegance throughout. Built in South Africa, the 442 will sail closer to the wind than most cruising cats due to her highperformance daggerboards and will reach and broad reach at 10 to 13 knots.

With Berman’s innovative Versa Helm, you can steer the boat from the raised For 2023, here are 15 cats and tris that helm station or, in bad weather, from the will be setting the standards for luxury, protection of the cockpit where you still speed and comfort both offshore and at have great visibility forward through the anchor. huge saloon windows. To my mind, the Balance 442 seems an excellent balance between performance, comfort and style for a cruising couple who love to sail. https:// balancecatamarans. com/balance-442/

BALANCE 442 26 Multihulls Today • winter 2023

BALI 4.4 Conceived by Oliver Poncin and designed by Xavier Fay, the Bali 4.4 falls in the mid-size

range of the Bali fleet and offers an amazing amount of living space, both inside and out. The Bali line was developed by Poncin to build boats for his Dream Yacht Charter fleets and the boats are built in France under contract with Catana Yachts. Since the boats, like the 4.4, are meant to be used in charter as well as by private owners, they are robustly built and have moderate rigs and fixed keels. Their great attraction for family cruisers is the amount of space provided; BALI 4.4 you can have four sleeping cabins, and there are communal spaces three- cabin layout with the master suite in the cockpit, saloon and in the larger to starboard and guest cabins to port. A forward lounge that covers most of the handsome and thoroughly modern new foredeck. The Bali 4.4, like her sisterships, entry in the cruising fleet, the OC 50 will will be great in warm climates and com- appeal to cruisers with ambitions to sail fortable for coastal cruising with a gang far, sail fast and sail in both luxury and onboard. The 4.4 might be a perfect first comfort. https://www.catana.com/en/ boat for new cruisers, too. https://www. bali-catamarans.com/en/ CORSAIR 880 TRIMARAN The Corsair 880, built in Vietnam by the CATANA OCEAN CLASS 50 Australian-based Seawind Catamaran Catana is a French builder that has a company, is an all new completely modwell-earned reputation for building per- ern design intended to replace the venformance cats that are capable of erable F27 that really helped to start the high latitude sailing and circumnavigat- trimaran revolution. With folding amas, ing. The new Ocean Class 50 replaces the great 47 that so many couples and fami- CATANA OCEAN CLASS 50 lies have sailed all over the world. The new design has reverse bows, narrow hulls, a high bridgedeck, daggerboards, and a powerful rig with a self-tacking jib and a code zero. The raised helm to starboard has all control lines and sheets handy so a lone watchkeeper can trim and reef without leaving the helm.

The 50 comes with a standard

modernmultihulls

CORSAIR 880 TRIMARAN like all Corsairs, the 880 can be moored in a slip intended for monohulls and can be trailered behind a family SUV. Although only 28 feet, the 880 will sleep five, has an enclosed head, a large cockpit and plenty of on-deck space. But the real reason to own a tri and an 880 in particular is the sailing qualities they offer. With her daggerboard down, the 880 will match upwind performance with monohulls twice her size; then crack off and hoist a chute and the 880 will leave just any monohull of any size in her wake. Fifteen knots at a comfortable angle and with a feather-light helm will put a smile on any serious sailor’s face. It certainly did for me when we sail-trialed the boat. https://corsairmarine.com/corsair-880/ DRAGONFLY 40 TRIMARAN I had the chance to sail the new Dragonfly 40 in Denmark last fall (2022) with Jens DRAGONFLY 40 TRIMARAN

Quorning, the boat’s designer and builder.

Jens is an Olympic quality sailor, so it is a huge pleasure sailing with him and his boats in the Dragonfly line reflect his deep knowledge of and need for performance sailing.

Suffice it to say that in 15 knots of true wind we often saw 15 knots on the speedo with the spinnaker up. But the new 40 is a cruising boat meant for cruising families who, like Jens, demand superior sailing qualities. The boat is also roomy both in the cockpit and below and finished with beautiful Scandinavian style joinery. It can sleep six comfortably and has a full galley and an enclosed head. The 40, like all Dragonflys, has folding amas so it can be berthed in a normal marina slip and can be transported on a trailer behind a pickup truck. For those who don’t mind giving up a bit of interior volume in exchange for exciting sailing and very fast passage making, the new Dragonfly 40 should definitely be on your short list. https://dragonfly.dk/dragonfly-40 EXCESS 14 Groupe Beneteau owns the Lagoon brand and has built it into a leader among cat

builders. But the company also discerned that there was a market for younger owners who are active in water sports, adventurous and into a watery sailing lifestyle. Hence the launch of the Excess line of cruising cats with the first two, the 11 and 15, being built on older Lagoon hulls with EXCESS 14 new decks. The Excess 14 is the first in the line to be designed from the keel up as an all-new cat and it does indeed embody the Excess concept. The 14 has fixed keels, full hulls for interior volume and moderate rigs with a double headsail configuration. The boat can be sailed from the raised helm without the need for going forward to fly a downwind sail. The layouts include three and four cabin options and it is interesting to note that the hulls are wide enough to allow for walk-around double berths.

Spacious, open and airy, the 14 will appeal to those who want a simple functional cruising platform that can take you anywhere. https://excess-catamarans.com/ our-catamarans/excess-14#intro

instead, builds boat that have elegant styles, good sailing qualities and ease-of handling and stability. FP brought raised lounges to the mid-range market by putting a low-profile seating area on top of the hard top over the cockpit, and they managed to create this space without making the boats look like layered wedding cakes. The 51 can have four, five and six cabin layouts to accommodate larger families or those who want to run crewed charters. A booming company, FP is one of the main players and builds cruising cats that compare very favorably to the other big builders. https://www.catamaransfountaine-pajot.com/en/sailing-catamarans/ catamaran-aura-51/

GUNBOAT 72 FOUNTAINE PAJOT AURA 51 In the last decade as the sailing market Since being bought by Grande Large adopted multihulls with a vengeance, Yachting, the company that also builds Fountaine Pajot, a French builder, found considerable FOUNTAINE PAJOT success and market share AURA 51 with their roomy, solid and easy-to-sail cats. The Aura 51 is near the top of their line and represents a couple’s cruising boat that will make a fine home afloat and a capable offshore cruiser. FP does not go for high performance in their designs, but

modernmultihulls

GUNBOAT 72 Outremers, Gunboat has been reimagined and taken to new design and engineering heights. The G 68 has proven that aiming high and delivering unique all carbon performance luxury cats works. The Gunboat brand is still a market leader.

Now, the company has developed the 72V which is the first gunboat with a flybridge and raised lounge and is intended to be as “green” as possible. Since the 72 will sail as fast as the wind in anything over 8 knots, her owners will rarely have to motor once away from the dock.

Also, the 72V eliminates the forward sailing cockpit as all lines and sheets will lead to the helm on the bridge. The 72, like the 68, is built more like a Gulf Stream jet than a hand-laid composite yacht. Many of its parts are pre-made by third party vendors which are then assembled by the Gunboat team in La Grande Motte, France. The result is an ultra-light, mega high-tech yacht that also has one of the

HH 52 30 Multihulls Today • winter 2023

finest, elegant fit and finishes ever brought to market. The new G 72V may be the ultimate Gunboat. https://www.gunboat. com/series/gunboat72v/ HH 52 The new HH 52, built in China to a Morrelli & Melvin design, is designed to replace the 50 with a big nod to creating a platform for electric propulsion. Two feet longer than the successful HH 50, the new cat can be built in carbon and epoxy (Sport) or in regular GRP composites (Ocean Cruising).

The hard top over the cockpit will carry a vast array of solar panels that will in turn charge a large bank of lithium batteries that can run electric motors. HH usually offers only a forward cockpit configuration but the new 52 can also be ordered with no forward cockpit and after steering stations. Plus, you can add tillers and a helm chair well aft for sailing the oldfashion way. HH creates finely finished yachts that glisten with deep varnish and bright stainless steel. If you are a cruiser who also wants the thrill of high-speed sailing and the kick of a tiller in your hand, plus the ability to go electric, the HH 52 is for you. https://www.hhcatamarans.com/hh52 KINETIC 62 The Kinetic 62, which is built in Knysna, South Africa, and is the big sister to the Kinetic 54, brings so many design and build innovations to the table that both boats have been successful right out of the box. Built in carbon fiber, the narrow hulls are

light and designed for performance sailing. The boats come with innovative centerboards standard but can instead be fitted with high-tech daggerboards for enhanced upwind sailing. The standard rig is huge and will power the boats swiftly even in light airs but tall performance rigs are also available that will put afterburners onto KINETIC 62 the rig. One of the first things you notice about the K54 and 62 is the headroom in the saloon, which on offer. The 550 has plumb bows, long has to be close to eight feet. With this waterlines, fixed keels and a large doucomes walls of tempered safety glass ble headsail cruising rig. The cockpit is is that wrap around the saloon. I’ve never large and can be completely enclosed seen such views from the inside of a cat. with side panels. The helm is on the cenThe cabins can be arranged in a number terline and raised so you can clearly see of configurations to each owner’s specs forward over the cabin top. Aft of the and the boat is finished to a very high helm is a raised lounge. The 550 can be degree. The systems on boards are state built on a semi-custom basis so owners of the art and provided by world-renown can choose how many cabins and heads companies. A great new entry onto the they need and how they want the saloon performance cat segment of the market and cockpit laid out. Knysna is known for the K 62 is a cat to be reckoned with and their high-quality workmanship and their will show her sterns to most of the com- dedication to blue water quality conpetition. https://www.kineticcatama- struction and systems installation. For a couple looking to create a boat just for rans.com/kc62 them, the Knysna 550 will make a great choice. https://www.knysnayachtco.

Knysna 550 The port city of Knysna, South Africa, com/products/ has long been a boat building center for both commerKnysna 550 cial craft and pleasure boats.

The Knysna Yacht Company is a boutique builder that was founded about 20 years ago and is now being run by its second owners. The Knysna 50 has long been the single design the company builds but with the introduction of the new 550, the company has a completely modern cruising cat

LAGOON 51

owns The Moorings, Sunsail and the private label Leopard.

According to the company, about half of all Leopards built go to private owners who use them for cruising with family and friends. The new 42 follows in the wakes of the relatively new 45 and 50 and bears the unmistakable DNA of those successful designs. At 42 feet, the new boat earned a couple of honors in 2022, the Multihulls magazine Multihull of the Year and the Cruising World Boat of the Year for a cat under 50-feet. The reason for this success lies in the boat’s unusual amount of useful living space tucked into a small package. It has a forward lounge, the after cockpit, a roomy saloon and a raised lounge over the main cockpit.

The helm is raised to starboard between the lower cockpit and the raised lounge.

Leopard’s 380 was a market leader for a decade or more and was a great boat but this new 42 is a much bigger and more sophisticated creation. You can have either three cabins and three heads or four cabins and four heads. For private use, I would take the former and I would feel confident that this compact but roomy new Leopard could take me anywhere I’d choose to cruise. https://www.

LAGOON 51 The Lagoon 51 offers as much living and sailing space as you will find on any 50-footer. With a flying bridge and upper lounge, plus a hardtop over it, you have an perfect place for sunny day sailing and evening lounging. With a large aft cockpit with a huge table and seating for eight, you have the perfect spot for al fresco dining with crew and friends. And, with the large saloon and interior table, you have a place to retreat if weather turns cool or stormy. There is plenty of headroom in the saloon and large widows so you always feel connected to the watery world around you. The 51 has a range of possible layouts for three to five cabins and the hulls are wide enough to permit walk-around double berths. Lagoons are created to be both good charter boats and fine private yachts and they appeal to owners who want the trusted reputation of a market leader, and Groupe Beneteau, in a boat that is solid, safe and capable LEOPARD 42 of crossing oceans. This could make a wonderful floating home for a family exploring the world. https://www.catalagoon.com/en/51 LEOPARD 42 Built by Robertson & Caine in South Africa, Leopard yachts are built for one client that 32 Multihulls Today • winter 2023

leopardcatamarans.com/ catamarans/leopard-42 ROYAL CAPE CATAMARANS MAJESTIC 570 Royal Cape has been ROYAL CAPE CATAMARANS MAJESTIC 570 building their 53-foot Majestic for more 40 and 46 feet and includes innovations than a dozen years so the introduction developed in the earlier boats. The Marc of their new 570 is welcome news. The Lombard design has narrow hulls from new cat takes many of the best quali- the waterline down with fixed keels and ties of the 53 and expands upon them then large chines above the waterline with innovations that will please new to provide interior volume. The cockpit owners. The longer waterlines will add is partially enclosed and joins the saloon stability and speed. The higher topsides via double folding doors to make one will keep the decks dry and add vol- unified space. There are twin helms aft ume that enhances the interior cabins. and lines run to them through banks of Majestics have always been extremely line stoppers. Visibility from the helms is roomy yet the new 570 will feel like a excellent. The 44 can have three or four much bigger boat. The cockpit is huge cabins and as an owner I would choose and has a large table for al fresco dining. the three-cabin option. The fit and finish The saloon and galley are spacious and of Nauticats is modern and very attracthere are options for four, five and even tive. The 40 and 46 are known for their six sleeping cabins with en suite heads sailing qualities and the 44 will no doubt and shower stalls. Elegant, stylish living be even better. https://www.nautitechcataand comfortable cruising are what Royal marans.com/en/catamarans/44-open.html Cape Catamarans are all about and the new 570 promises to provide all of that in NEEL 52 TRIMARAN spades. https://royalcapecatamarans. When Eric and Barbara Bruneel came com/majestic-570/ NAUTITECH 44 Nautitech has been building catamarans in France for a generation. Under new ownership the company has been reinvented with two new designs, the Open 40 and the Open 46.

Both boats have proven successful and manage to bridge the gap between production cats and the more rarified world of performance cats. The new 44 fills in the line between

NAUTITECH 44

modernmultihulls you anywhere you like at speeds you might not have imagined. https:// www.neel-trimarans.com/ range/neel-52/ OUTREMER 4 ZERO The new 4 Zero from Outremer is the first of their boats to be offered with out with their first 45-foot cruising tri a all-electric motors and the solar pandecade ago, it was for me a head-slap- els and battery bank to drive them. ping moment. Why had no one thought Outremer is a leader in designing and to build the saloon on top of the three building performance cruisers with daghulls instead of squishing it the center ger boards and big rigs that have really hull? The concept has proven visionary bridged the gap between performance and broadly accepted by scores of new and value in very handsome cats. The 4 owners. The designs offer the sailing per- Zero is a 48 foot hull and with the massive formance of trimarans with the roomi- rig will be able to sail extremely well in a ness and airiness of a catamaran. The wide range of conditions, meaning you new 52 is a big boat with almost 30 feet will need the engines less often than you of beam. The cockpit is huge and there might in heavier cats. The cabin top is is lounging space on the trampolines for- quite low and the helm to port provides ward. The helm is raised to starboard and good visibility of the sails and forward. on top of the cockpit’s hard top a small Like her sisterships, the 4 Zero has helming raised lounge has been incorporated. chairs and tiller fitting on both sides of the The saloon is huge with a full modern gal- cockpit for days when you want to feel ley, a large dining table and an inside the kick of the helm in yuor hands. The lounge. The 52 had six sleeping cabins hard top provides weather protection inside the hulls so, theoretically, you cold from sun and rain. The 4 Zero has three or cruise with up to 12 people onboard if four cabin layouts and a roomy saloon. you wanted to. The new 52 will be a great The 4 Zero is a bold step for Outremer and floating home and is capable of taking will help them lead the way OUTREMER 4 ZERO to a carbon reduced future. https://catamaran-outremer.com/ en/catamarans/outremer-4-zero/ SEAWIND 1370 Seawind Catamarans is an Australian company that moved its production facilities for both Seawind and Corsair to Viet Nam a decade or more ago. Seawind is by far the most popular bnand of cruising cats in Austral-Asia

and their boats are known for being true indoor-outdoor designs tailored to the warm and often wet weather conditions of the region. The allnew 1370, at 45 feet, follows the 50 that was introduced five years ago and is a true offshore cruising cat with thoroughly modern styling.

The hulls have reverse bows and sport fairly efficient fixed keels. The cockpit is commodious, has a fixed hard top SEAWIND 1370 and twin helming stations at deck level. The saloon is large solar array, lithium battery bank and the and airy with a full galley and a dinette inverter systems will make the 60 othfor six. The 1370 can be set up with either erwise self-sufficient without the need three or four cabins; in the three-cabin for a genset. The styling of the new 60 layout the master suite occupies the full is modern and eye catching and has a port hull. Famous cruising vloggers Ruby large aft cockpit, a top lounge next to Rose spent a year testing cats as they the raised helm, and a double headsail decided on their new boat and ended rig. The raised helm has a built in dodger up landing on the Seawind 1370 as their to protect you from sun, wind and rain. “it” cat. Their video about their new cat is Since they launched the company, on the Seawind website. https://www.sea- Tomas and Sara have launched 24 Xquiwindcats.com/seawind-1370/ sites and the new 60 Solar has all the makings of a huge new success for them XQUISITE SOLAR 60 and their owners. https://xquisiteyachts.

Tomas and Sara, founders of Xquisite com/60-solar-sail-yacht/ Yachts, have always been innovators with a ton of cruising experience behind every decision they make. Their boats XQUISITE SOLAR 60 have always been technologically advanced and the details of construction, systems and installations are truly mega yacht quality. Their new Solar 60 is destined to be a innovative cruising boat that will significantly reduce an owner’s carbon footprint.

It will have two Yanmar diesels but the enormous

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