When the Rothschilds and Gitana team unveil a new boat, they do it properly – and last night the huge team base in Lorient, France, became the theatrical backdrop to the grand unveiling of Gitana 18, the highly anticipated new foiling Ultim.

In a dramatic ‘reveal’ a silk curtain dropped mid-press conference and the gathered guests – a couple of hundred media, technical partners, and the great and good of French ocean racing – realised they were underneath one of the most top secret boat building projects of recent years.

But perhaps even more dramatic was the boat itself – or certainly the appendages that will be fixed to it.

The radical new foils for the Ultim Gitana 18 – the flaps on the trailing edge can be trimmed independently, while the arms can also be lifted, and the rake adjusted.

The L-shaped foils of the current ocean-going trimarans have been replaced with what the team refer to as ‘Y’ foils – giant appendages with 5m span set on enormous swinging arms, that show a clear lineage from the America’s Cup.

The central ‘wing’ beneath the boat is a sculptural 3m of metal (they won’t disclose which one).

Radical rudder design

But the rudders are unlike anything seen before – an inverted ‘U’ or A-frame design. Unlike a conventional rudder, which itself turns, the double chords of the rudder are fixed, while flaps at the trailing edge control direction – all designed to overcome the deformation that the hugely loaded rudders would experience, and apparently with no drag penalty.

The rudders of the new Gitana 18 are a revolutionary A-frame or ‘U’ shape, with twin fixed stocks or chords, but adjustable flaps.

Meanwhile the rig is not only a canting wing mast, but is designed to bend to allow the crew to control the mainsail’s power – particularly in the shift between take-off and flight, and in squally conditions where the trimaran could become overpowered. It’s another element which is entirely new on this scale, and is the first Ultim mast made by Southern Spars in New Zealand.

“With this new boat, we hope to achieve as close to perfect flight as possible. Ideally, we’ll be able to fly very high without ever touching the waves. We hope to be able to fly in 3m waves and reach an average sailing speed bordering on 40 knots”, explains Charles Caudrelier, the skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild Gitana 18.

The team told me that top speed potential is over 55 knots.

Gitana 18: designed to fly

The project was designed by known out-of-the-box thinker Guillaume Verdier with the 30-man in-house team at Gitana. Its primary goal is to foil for 100% of its sailing time, achieved by both decreasing the wind strength at which it can foil, while also sustaining higher average speeds at flight.

It builds on much of the knowledge, data and experience the team have gained from their previous Gitana 17 (now Actual Ultim 4), which was launched eight years ago and became the most optimised and successful of all the 100ft trimarans, winning the Transat Jacques Vabre, Route du Rhum, and Arkea Ultim Challenge, while covering over 200,000 miles of ocean.

The new Gitana 18 in the team base in Lorient

Owner Ariane de Rothschild also spoke at the launch, which she attended with her daughters. They are represented on the boat’s spectacular livery, designed by French artistic duo Florian and Michaël Quistrebert, in collaboration with the Palais de Tokyo. Gitana 18 is the 28th boat in the Rothschild/Gitana stable, which next year celebrates 150 years in the sport.

“Within my family, we’ve always enjoyed a passion for competition, performance and also one of technological disruption. It’s about being disruptive, knowing how to take risks, gauging them and managing them. This is fully in line with our philosophy,” said Ariane de Rothschild.”

The Rothschild family and Gitana team hosted a spectacular unveiling of the newest Ultim, Gitana 18,  on Wednesday 3 December.

You can’t rush perfection, and the boat is definitely launching a little later than anticipated, but a project of this magnitude will take months to work up. Its first event will be the 2026 Route du Rhum, which skipper Caudrelier will be looking to defend his title in, before taking on solo around the world and crewed Jules Verne record bids.

We’ll take an in-depth look at this incredible creation in the February issue of Yachting World, out January 8th.

The post Have you ever seen rudders like that before? Radical top-secret Gitana 18 Ultim unveiled appeared first on Yachting World.

The Famous Project CIC, the all-women challenge for the Jules Verne Trophy, the non-stop around the world record, departed on Saturday 29 November.

The team, which is skippered by French former Vendée Globe skipper Alexia Barrier and was set up together with British record-breaking yachtswoman Dee Caffari, is aiming to become the first all-female crew to complete a Jules Verne attempt.

But above all they are chasing one of the all-time great sailing records, the non-stop, no-holds-barred around the world record time, which currently stands at 40 days and 23 hours, set by Idec Sport in 2017.

As Dee Caffari posted on her Facebook page: “Sh*t is about to get real!”

Barrier and Caffari are racing with Annemieke Bes, Rebecca Gmuer, Deb Blair, Molly Lapointe, Xiquita Etchegoyen, and Stacey Jackson aboard Idec Sport, the same maxi-trimaran which set the current Jules Verne record in 2017, skippered by Francis Joyon.

The Famous Project CIC, 100% women crew, crossing the start line for Trophée Jules Verne on November 29, in Brest, France. Photo by Jean-Marie Liot / The Famous Project CIC

Starting a Jules Verne challenge

The Jules Verne Trophy has an official start/finish line between the Créac’h lighthouse on the island of Ouessant, France, and Lizard Point lighthouse on the southernmost tip of England.

Crews must sail around the world, passing Cape of Good Hope, Cape Leeuwin, and Cape Horn to port, before crossing the same line in the opposite direction to finish – a ‘great circle’ distance of 21,760 nautical miles (40,300km).

But the Jules Verne has no set start time, so teams may leave whenever their weather routers believe a suitable window of opportunity for a fast Atlantic descent is opening up.The Famous Project first moved to what’s known as ‘Code Green’, or ready to depart. Having left Brest, they crossed the line at 01.40 UTC (14 h 40 FR) on Saturday, November 29.

The Jules Verne Trophy course

Toughest 24 hours at start

The Famous Project crew set off in tough conditions with a blustery north-westerly, and will immediately face 4-5m waves in the Bay of Biscay.

“I feel very lucky and grateful for all the work that has been done over the last few months and years, all together. It’s really a collective celebration to be at the starting line,” said Barrier.

“Obviously, I’m a little nervous because what we’re doing is huge. But what reassures me a lot is having these incredible girls by my side. I’m not alone and I know my team is up to the task.

“We’ll be sailing downwind until we reach the equator. These are conditions we know well. Further on, the doldrums are still shifting.

“As Brian Thompson, who has helped us a lot throughout this training course on trimarans with the girls, would say, ‘You’re going to experience the toughest 24 hours of your Jules Verne Trophy.’ So we need to stay focused and conservative so we don’t hurt ourselves or break anything on the first day.”

Boat and crew of The Famous Project CIC, 100% women crew, before start for Trophée Jules Verne on November 29, in Brest, France. Photo by Jean-Marie Liot / The Famous Project CIC

“I’m surprisingly calm, but I think I’m calm to help everyone else, because you can feel a certain nervousness,” said Dee Caffari on the morning of the start.

“The main goal has always been to get to the starting line, and I think today we took a big step forward. It’s an important milestone, and I think it deserves a little celebration.

“It’s been a long road, with ups and downs, but Alexia never lost confidence or faith in herself, and I supported her throughout. So I’m very happy to be here. Today it’s about reminding the girls that we’re just going to sail, which is what they do perfectly, but simply that they won’t be sleeping in a bed for a few days. That’s exactly what we practiced in training, so we’re just going to set off, enjoy ourselves, and do what we know how to do.

“We wanted a perfect start, but perfection doesn’t exist in sailing, because we’re at the mercy of Mother Nature. That said, it’s a very good start.”

Skipper Alexia Barrier (FRA) before start of The Famous Project CIC attempt on the Trophée Jules Verne. Photo by Jean-Marie Liot / The Famous Project CIC

Jules Verne weather window

Ashore the team is supported by meteorologist Christian Dumard. The circulation of two high pressure systems over the North Atlantic has created an opportunity for a starting window, though the team will have an immediate race against time as the movement of an anticyclone threatens to close the route off Cape Finisterre.

“The front will pass over the starting area on Saturday morning,” explains Dumard. “The idea is to leave just behind it, in the early afternoon, in a north-westerly wind of less than 30 knots, which will gradually weaken.

“This window is very short and does not necessarily offer an absolute chance of achieving a ‘blistering’ time at the equator. But it does offer favorable wind and sea conditions for downwind sailing and a relatively comfortable start for the crew.”

“We will leave Brest on Saturday before noon and cross the line about two hours later. There will be rough seas, with swells of over 4 meters, which are perfectly manageable aboard Idec Sport,” adds Barrier.

“The danger is that the high-pressure system centered off the coast of Portugal will grow and block us as we pass Cape Finisterre. We would then have to turn back and resume our standby in Brest.”

A big crowd turned out to see the crew of The Famous Project off from Brest. Photo Jean-Marie Liot/The Famous Project CIC

All-female team

The Famous Project was launched in 2022, with the team initially training in a MOD70 before taking delivery of Idec Sport. They have been working with round the world yachtsman Brian Thomspon, with fellow British ocean sailor Jonny Malbon the Team Director.

In a recent blog post, Dee Caffari reported that the team’s final training sessions in late October ahead of the record were both invaluable, and challenging.

“These training sessions are where theory meets reality – intense, demanding, and absolutely invaluable.

“We were fortunate to train with Brian Thompson, whose expertise and calm authority at sea are second to none. Brian’s coaching has helped us fine-tune our performance and strengthen our team dynamics – those crucial marginal gains that will make all the difference when we take on the planet’s toughest challenge.

“This month, Mother Nature decided to push us harder. The conditions were significantly bigger and stronger than what we experienced during the summer -exactly what we needed. It’s one thing to sail fast in perfect conditions; it’s quite another to maintain that performance when the waves are towering and the wind is howling.

“These challenging sessions gave us a much more realistic preview of what life will really be like as we chase the record around the world.”

Skipper Alexia Barrier and his crew training onboard the Maxi-Trimaran The Famous Project CIC, off Groix island. Photo: Jean-Marie LIOT / The Famous Project CIC

Jules Verne attempts

There have been numerous attempts on the Jules Trophy record since Joyon set the current record in 2017. That time of 40 days, 23 hours, 30 minutes requires an average speed of 22.84 knots.

The foiling Ultim trimarans – capable of maintaining consistent speeds in the high 30s – have set off several times. In 2024 Thomas Coville’s Sodebo and Francois Gabart’s SVR-Lazartigue started within hours of each other, but both had to pause their attempt after damage or gear failure. Sodebo restarted last winter, but later had to retire after losing their central rudder.

In 2020, Charles Caudrelier’s team on Gitana 17 and Sodebo also set off in the same weather window in late November, but both had retired by mid-December after colliding with underwater objects.

Sodebo is among the Ultims that has made numerous attempts at the Jules Verne Trophy. Photo: Pierre Bouras/DPPI

The last all-female attempt on the Jules Verne, Tracy Edwards’ Royal & Sun Alliance in 1998, ended when the 92ft catamaran dismasted in the South Pacific 2,000 miles off the coast of Chile.

Idec Sport, the trimaran the Famous Project CIC crew are sailing, is a non-foiling design that was originally launched in 2006 as Groupama 3, and won the Jules Verne Trophy in 2010, skippered by Franck Cammas. While its peak speed is less than that of an Ultim, it is a robust and well-proven boat which has successfully completed multiple non-stop around the world passages – the first challenge of any Jules Verne attempt.

How to follow The Famous Project Jules Verne bid

You can follow The Famous Project’s attempt at thefamousproject.io

The team also has an app, active social media, and plan to share live daily updates on their YouTube channel.

The post All-female round the world record attempt sets sail in tough conditions appeared first on Yachting World.

There’s been the odd singular sailing superyacht thus far, the likes of the 44m Pendennis-built Hemisphere and Perini Navi’s recent 46m floating art gallery ArtExplorer, while JFA has quietly gone about launching a handful of 85-110ft custom sailing catamarans.

But a new pride of big cats is coming. Last year John Mountain launched his carbon bluewater sailboat Air Yacht 80 after failing to find his preferred blend of performance, space and superyacht quality.

And it’s the performance element which has triggered this new trend that we centre on in these pages. Yachting World readers will have noticed a similar movement with monohulls of late, where production yards have stepped up to cater to a semi-custom demand in the 70-90ft sector.

We dedicated these pages to them two years ago, detailing the latest launches from YYachts, Solaris, Grand Soleil, CNB, Ice and Swan. Now with an increasing number of sailors seeking that size, style and speed combination on two hulls, it’s fuelled a real surge of new, big (and mostly fast) cats.

Gunboat can arguably be credited with igniting this performance cruising cat cult and we’ve been writing about and reviewing a multitude 45-60ft fast cruising cats in YW in recent years. Now they’re growing in size, space and pace. McConaghy, Balance, Kinetic, Advanced Yachts, Black Pepper, Cure Marine and HH are all producing or have recently launched varying levels of performance cats around the 70ft region.

Typically, these involve carbon or E-GRP lightweight composite construction, ultra fine bows, and powerful rigs with booms kept low down. Where Gunboat and HH are taking it to the next level of luxurious lightweight performance, we can see the needle shifting further still, and at each end of the spectrum too.

Article continues below…

The best bluewater multihulls of all time: a complete guide

What are the best bluewater multihulls for long term cruising? The one you own, or the one you can afford…

Best Yachts of 2025: European Yacht of the Year 2025 Winners

The European Yacht of the Year 2025 winners were announced this evening, Saturday 18 January 2025 on the first night…

At its sharpest, Persico’s new foiling 72 is being tested by the American Magic team and will surely prove the most rapid ‘cruise-equipped’ multihull to date. Thrill seekers should also check out S6’s dynamic foil-equipped Infinti 72 design, and the latest images of Daedalus’ jaw-dropping D75, D100 and D165 projects.

For the large part of the market less obsessed by speed comes the real space race that multihull platforms can provide – a market cornered by production yards Sunreef, Lagoon and Fountaine Pajot over the last decade, but one also seeing some evolution.

Think flybridges like flats, drop-down balconies and freestanding designer furniture, albeit combined with innovation in greener materials, propulsion and solar technology. Scaling up further, Echo Yachts in Australia is well into the secretive build of a monster 58m catamaran superyacht, which will go straight in to claim the spot as the world’s largest sailing multihull.

Welcome to a new era of Super sailing, that of supercats, megacats, and particularly the performance-oriented maxicats.

New MaxiCats – Space & real pace

Advanced AC72

Italian boutique yacht builder Advanced Yachts has turned its attention for the first time to multihulls. Active in the 60-80ft monohull sector, Advanced offers semi-custom yachts with fine Italian styling requiring a small crew of two or three.

It has started building the moulds for a 72ft catamaran that fits the same brief, with naval architecture by the renowned Reichel/Pugh. Performance is certainly an important consideration, but this is really designed to be a comfortable offshore cruising cat for bluewater cruising – or just loafing round the Med. It’s built in E-glass with a carbon-fibreglass deck and superstructure to keep the centre of gravity down and displacement to 35.5 tonnes.

The former is important when you add in the low-profile flybridge and towering carbon rig from Lorima. It also uses 4m-deep centreboards which lift into the boat hulls. “We have a higher power-to-weight ratio than anything else in the crewed yacht cruising capability class,” said sales director Jay Nolan.

“We put Gunboat and one or two others really in a separate Grand-Prix class. We’re not as powerful as that – we’re specifically stopping short of the most frightening performance where cats are a little edgy.”

Sail handling and navigation is all brought back to the flybridge, allowing the yacht to be sailed by a couple. The electric rudder control means it would also be easy to put a helm at the nav desk in the shelter of the saloon. “We’re building-in the ability to have protected controls not just with canvas on the flybridge,” added Nolan.

This leaves the aft cockpit free for guests to relax. There’s also a forward cockpit to take advantage of the breeze at anchor. The main deck is flush, with glass doors aft sliding completely away to open up one big indoor-outdoor space.

Configuration and finish is a matter for individual owners, but the concept from Cassetta Design puts a master owner’s cabin in the port hull and three guest cabins to starboard, with space for two crew. A large hydraulic platform aft serves for bathing and watersport toys, or carries a tender up to 4.6m in length when underway.

Holld 74

This Dutch startup and Zwartsluis yard has a focus on luxury, aiming to put the super into performance cruising catamarans. The founders are using their two decades of carbon composite superyacht boatbuilding experience, combined with that of designers including Eliot Thorne, to offer full carbon semi-custom cats ‘as technically advanced as they are visually stunning’. Holld promises a bespoke build programme for each owner using hybrid-ready platforms, smart digital systems and flexible modular interiors. This first 74 is already in build.

“We didn’t set out to build another production multihull,” says founder Guido Achtelik. “We set out to re-engineer the category from the ground up, using carbon and epoxy infusion, digital build processes, and an obsessive focus on precision, longevity, and performance with a superyacht finish.” The launch of the brand will be during the Cannes show.

Gunboat 80 Agave & new model teaser

Agave has been tearing it up since she hit the water in last May, but this second version of Gunboat’s 24.65m flagship is decidedly a (swift) cruising boat. Where the red hull number one was always destined for the Highland Fling racing programme, hull number two was customised with a number of more cruising-friendly features, notably around the interior.

Make no mistake, though: in the words of Gunboat, this is still an ‘objectively epic sailing machine’! From the pre-preg carbon layup and rotating mast to retractable T-propeller rudders and daggerboards, Agave is designed in true Gunboat tradition for exhilarating performance.

The yard reports that she matches true wind speed from 5 knots and tops out at over 30 knots, while the foils on the rudders reduce pitching in oceanic swell by 30%. Grand Prix accessories include ECsix carbon rigging, titanium fittings and HydrauNautic hydraulics with pressure sensors and a quick-release system to de-power the mainsheet, Cunningham, outhaul and other key controls.

With 16 hydraulic controls, the boat is designed for short-handed sailing. There’s little detail about the cruising interior, but the standard design allows for three guest cabins and up to three crew.

Meanwhile, Gunboat is hinting at an exciting new product range to be unveiled at the Cannes Yachting Festival. The French yard is remaining tight-lipped about the details, but we know that the debut model will be an 80-footer and that it will have a flybridge.

“What we are about to reveal is not just another yacht,” said marketing director Rodolphe Cadoret, “It’s the birth of an entirely new segment in high-performance sailing – a project that fuses long-distance capability, refined onboard experience, and the unmistakable Gunboat DNA.” The veil will be lifted on 9 September, but Gunboat is likening the move to that which saw Porsche launch the Cayenne as its first luxury SUV.

Black Pepper Code C.69

French speed merchant Black Pepper is at it again – this time with a catamaran. Pitching its debut multihull at a punchy 69ft LOA, the yard has just revealed a second order – before the first has even been delivered. The two hulls have already been completed by partner Multiplast in Vannes and towed to Black Pepper’s premises in Nantes, where they dominate the build shed.

Infused in carbon fibre, the hull of the C.69 is light despite plenty of hull openings. In fact, the yacht only displaces 17.5 tonnes light – so perhaps 21-22 tonnes fully loaded – not bad for a 70-footer!

The yard says it did a lot of soul searching before launching the multihull project with designers François Pérus and Romain Scolari. The brief was ‘handsome, fast, safe and high-tech’. The result is eye-catching: reverse bows and a heavy, bevelled tumblehome with a low coachroof and a long bowsprit. There are sunbeds just ahead of the mast, while the helm stations on the quarters seem to float above the deck.

Accommodation runs to two large double cabins and a triple with a fold-down berth, supported by up to three crew. But the layout is flexible. The second boat will feature a hard bimini extending aft from the coachroof to cover part of the cockpit. Its helm stations have been simplified and brought further inboard, leaving clearer side decks.

And it will also have a hybrid diesel-electric drive. The first boat will be launched at the end of the year, the second in 2026.

Baltic 107

It was big news when performance yacht builder Baltic revealed its first multihull order last year. Berret-Racoupeau’s 33m low profile design includes a flybridge and a full-beam bathing platform aft as well as cabins for eight guests.

But the performance is what makes this boat stand out: pivoting centreboards, a huge sail area and high-tech lay-up in carbon Corecell sandwich. Since we last covered it, moulding is now complete in line with delivery in summer 2027. “With bulkheads installed, the two hulls have been released from their tooling and connected together via the wet deck midsection,” said Baltic’s Henry Hawkins.

“Further structural members will now be installed as well as the commencement of system and interior fit-out. We continue to receive enquiries regarding the boat and potential future catamaran projects.”

Kinetic K6

Kinetic Catamarans, builders of performance voyaging cats the KC54 and KC62, is launching a formidable-looking new K6 range. It will be officially announced at the Cannes Yachting Festival this September, but we have the exclusive preview after speaking with founder Bob Hayward and veteran boatbuilder Leon Scheepers.

K6 comprises a new 63 and a 67, the former is for private use, designed to fit into a 20m berth, the latter is more aimed at sailing with pro crew. This US-based brand builds semi-bespoke high-end carbon fibre cats from its yard in Kynsna, South Africa, which is currently completing an expansion and redevelopment, to help accommodate the new K6 range and more larger models to come.

Cannes will be the first time its yachts are available to view at a show in Europe, a key market having sold four KC54s here now.

Together with design partners Simonis Voogd, Kinetic specialises in clean lines and prefers not to have daggerboards sticking out through the decks. “We’re staying with centreboards as it’s a system that works very well,” Hayward explains.

Controlled by line drivers, these are contained below the floorboards. “Our yachts are world cruisers, so if you hit something like a coral head, a weak fuse allows it to automatically ride-up. Replace the fuse and you’re back sailing in 20 minutes,” he adds, having tested the theory on his own KC62 in the Pacific.

The powerful sail plans are offered with slab-reefing or in-boom furling. Opting for a push-button controlled mainsheet and traveller plus furling sails makes the 63 manageable short-handed. Note, the traveller is led to the coachroof, which takes significant structural engineering, but keeps the aft cockpit free for a leisure zone.

A luxurious forward cockpit sees sunbeds built into the deck and a retractable awning above. Kinetic won’t do a flybridge, but its forward helm stations are key for its owners, close to the sail controls. The K6 also has twin exterior wheels on distinct mezzanine levels for optimum visibility.

Superyacht vibes continue with a wide fold-down swim platform, carbon davits that fold out of the roof supports and bulwark side doors. The port hull offers a full owner’s suite, including an office, with its own private access aft. These are 48V powered yachts, including the aircon and refrigeration, and use Integral E-drives delivering up to 15kW each into the house batteries bank.

Stay tuned for more to come in the next couple of years from this maturing brand.

HH80

If there does happen to be anyone left out there still thinking cats don’t look cool, then perhaps show them a picture of the HH80. This bang-up-to-date Morrelli & Melvin turbo cat might be the only beast out there to get near a Gunboat 80’s performance. A carbon epoxy build with prepeg boards, it has a 30m-high mast and is capable of hull flying. Can you imagine that?

HH says it has the lowest boom in class for a low centre of effort and fast, smooth ride. While the light displacement figure is not given and will depend on interior fitout, a generous cruising payload weight of up to 40 tonnes is presented. HH has some form at this supersize level too, having delivered the HH88 two years ago.

It’s since been flat-out building its latest range, the new 44s, 52s and 56 to come. The HH80 appearance is all curves and muscle, from the reverse bows to sculpted sections of the coachroof, which help fashion forward and aft cockpits. Below that glass-look roof is a multitude of solar panels (around 11kW) on the carbon superstructure.

A self-tacking jib could be controlled by a captive winch for more short-handed operation, and M&M’s predictions are it could offer sparkling cruising ability with 250+ mile days possible in just 12 knots breeze! The design affords real space to the forward cockpit, with the winches and sail handling set well forward at the start of the longeron.

Walking through the sliding doors from there to the main saloon must be like entering the Starship Enterprise (you can almost hear the ‘swoosh’ noise of the doors). At 79ft, it offers the most space and speed available without falling into restrictive big yacht coding.

The HH80 is designed to suit six to eight guests with space for two to three crew in dedicated accommodation.

Balance 750

Balance is a US/South African brand/build which has really created momentum since its 2013 inception with a range of refreshing performance voyaging cats packed with practical and original thinking. And now it’s gone big, with a new flagship 750 that launched in Cape Town earlier this year, named Some Day. Balance claims it will redefine luxury and speed.

The company is named so for good reason, aiming to hit that balance of speed and agility using fine hulls with daggerboards paired with airy, modern comfort. The 750 adds a liberal sprinkling of luxury into the mix. This is also the first Balance with a forward cockpit, linked to the saloon via a waterproof door.

Offering another relaxation zone, this also houses the primary winches at the mast base, so the boat can be trimmed from forward or controlled from either aft helm. We particularly like the inboard station Balance has designed, allowing its swing wheel VersaHelm to cant to a fully protected steering position.

A powerfully rigged yacht, the 750 is controlled using a full hydraulic system, including rams in the boom, mast, beams, and captive winches. This promotes short-handed use, so two or three hands can sail and operate the yacht. It’s also a sleek-looking design by Anton Du Toit, with low hulls and roof.

A flybridge is an option, and Some Day has an in between ‘flylounge’ to give some sunlounger space between the solar field. The interior shows how the UK’s Design Unlimited is one of the world’s best at combining superyacht glam with lightweight materials. Furniture is all foam cored styled with wood veneers, in accommodation laid out with four or five cabins with or without crew quarters.

The hulls, deck and structure are foam cored too, keeping displacement to 32 tonnes. Infused E-glass is predominantly used for noise insulation, while there’s also plenty of carbon reinforcement in high-load areas and bulkheads.

Persico Cat 72

Construction work on this 72ft speed project by Persico Marine has continued since 2023 behind a veil – until January this year, that is. The finished hull was revealed in a series of images which show just how narrow its twin hulls are, and how they are allied to a low-profile superstructure.

An enormous longeron dominates the forward half of the boat, which wastes no weight in fripperies such as foredecks. Underlining the performance potential of this 21.5 tonne Morrelli & Melvin project, American Magic has ‘come on board’, with sea trials and fine-tuning of the boat, shifting to the team’s base in Pensacola, Florida.

Persico promises it will ‘push the yacht to its limits’. And those limits look to be pretty far out, thanks to a full set of foils that are designed to keep the hulls flying just above the water. There are rake-controlled righting-moment foils (RMFoils) over 7m in length, daggerboards for leeway control, and T-rudders with rake control. The whole set-up is integrated with Gomboc’s Flight Control System, which manages the foil angles of attack.

Expectations are that the RMFoil is beneficial from wind speeds of around 9 knots and allows the yacht to skim at 20 knots in just 13 knots of true wind. Persico reports that the system will automatically lower the flight of the boat and manage speeds according to the owner’s preference.

Nonetheless, a crew of at least three is required to sail with a choice of two exterior helm stations or a protected interior wheel, which gives access to mainsail management and all flight controls. The yacht has a pared-back, modern interior from Design Unlimited.

And despite potential speeds of up to 40 knots, Persico describes it as possessing ‘the comfort of a cruising vessel’. The coachroof is studded with 2kW of solar panels and the yacht features electric boats propulsion.

Supercats – Size & some speed

McConaghy Sapphire Plus MC & Panther

While it built its name on its high-performance and record-breaking maxi monohulls, McConaghy has proved that it can build anything, from AC40s and their hydrogen chase boats to a deep-sea submersible. It’s also no stranger to multihulls, including its largest craft to date, the sensational, futuristic 42.5m trimaran Adastra, which launched 10 years ago. Latterly, it’s really honed in on the large cruising multihull market, with its MC range of sailing cats.

These Jason Ker designs, with their signature flybridge-mounted aft helms, began with the MC50 in 2018, and grew to include last year’s spectacular launch, the MC75 Jack. Such has been the interest in these large cats that McConaghy has recently conceived two full new ranges: a Panther line of electric hybrid yachts from 48-68ft and a Sapphire range of super spacious supercats from 70-115ft. Both are, of course, carbon builds, the forte of this yard.

The Sapphire range looks to be going after more of the Sunreef space race market, albeit with distinctly more sailing focus. Despite Sapphires aiming to offer ‘the largest interior volume in the world relative to their size’, they should still sail well. The yard predicts they’ll be able to average speeds in the teens – in 20 knots the S80 should reach at almost 14 knots, and could even hit 20 knots on its day. Now that would be a sight!

Retractable composite centreboards drop 5m down from the hull at the push of a button to help offer pointing ability, while sail handling systems use advanced push-button technology to make operation by a small crew easy. In terms of comfort, these highly voluminous yachts won’t be lacking. A hard bimini covers both the forward and aft cockpits, while the side windows can open out at the push of a button.

Vaan R8

An aluminium supercat. After all, it’s the material of choice for the majority of monohull superyachts. Vaan has been quietly making a name for itself as a specialist in luxury aluminium multihulls with a focus on greener building. Its 40ft R4 and 50ft R5 have proved its use of recycled and fully recyclable aluminium as a viable material for its semi-bespoke electric powered yachts.

Our full review of the R5 follows next month, but suffice to say when you board this yacht and appreciate the finish quality and particularly the natural light the huge coachroof windows bring (thanks to the stiff structure), it’s easy to picture the appeal of scaling up the design. Reassuringly, the naval architecture is once again by fellow Dutch firm Dykstra, world-class superyacht designers.

Vaan likes to keep the boom low for performance, so no flybridge on the R8. There is, however, an internal helm, linking to a forward cockpit, and when you combine these with the saloon and aft cockpit, it equates to formidable single-level living space.

Siting the galley down to starboard amidships will also emphasise this space. And it’s designed like a superyacht, so the crew quarters forward link to the galley, mess and the bridge. Elsewhere, there’s space for five guest suites, but another benefit of aluminium is that each yacht is built to order so layout can be adaptable to suit.

Equally, aft helms or benches can be chosen, a crane, davits, swim platform etc. The R8 will be powered by two electric engines with two diesel range extenders and a 100kWh battery bank. Displacement is predicted to be between 35-40 tonnes. Construction of the R6 is due to start later this year and Vaan has several serious prospects for this R8, a project born from demand, founder Igor Kluin confides.

JFA 87

French yard JFA has been working with fast cruising monohull and multihull expert Marc Lombard on a successor to its 85ft sailing catamaran for a couple of years, and the new design is now well in build. Measuring 87ft LOA, it has an extended flybridge, featuring a new navigation station, a sheltered bar and a large saloon, with solar panels on the hardtop.

Franck Darnet’s interior uses the 11m beam to deliver a huge social space flush with the cockpit, and a wonderful owner’s cabin forward at deck level. The aluminium hull has been completed and was recently married with the glass-epoxy composite deck, allowing interior systems to start going in.

Cabinetry is already taking shape. The US-based owner plans to sail round the world with a family of four.

Lagoon Eighty 2

We featured this yacht in our Cannes show preview last issue, where it will be making it’s world debut this autumn. The hull design comes just below the 24m mark in terms of class, making the boat an attractive candidate for charter, just like its 77ft predecessor.

Key features of the new model include a large 50m2 flybridge with a hard-top and optional Jacuzzi, plus a wide lifting bathing platform that extends the flexible cockpit space. Accommodation is designed for eight guests, where the centrepiece is the owner’s suite with its drop-down balcony.

Loose furniture that can be specified by the owner is a new feature, creating much greater customisation potential. And the hull is made of 40% bio-sourced resin, with a lower carbon footprint.

Megacats – Supersized space

Sunreef 43

Moulding the hulls for this sailing cat was completed back in February and constituted the largest one-shot infusion project in the world, according to Sunreef. Flybridge and bimini mouldings are also complete, with work well under way on the interior systems of this 140ft ‘supercat’.

The hulls alone account for 1,700m2 of composite surface and will be embedded with part of the 250m2 of third-generation ‘solar skin’, capable of generating 60kW of electrics. It can be stored in the huge 1MWh battery system – a bank that can propel the yacht under silent electric power for 12 hours, or guarantee night after night of silent operation at anchor.

A regenerative propulsion system allows the yacht to make electricity while sailing. The 43 Eco should sail too, with speeds well into double figures. But the real draw is the enormous volume and open deck space. Highlights include the giant flybridge with a spa pool, flexible lounging dining space with a bar on the main deck level and the beach club with fold-down side platforms.

There’s accommodation for up to 12 guests and we expect a generous forward owner’s suite with prime views. Three boats have already been sold!

Echo Yachts 58m

Dubbed the ‘Adventure Sailing Catamaran’, this true megacat promises to be the world’s largest luxury sailing cat when completed. And Australian shipbuilder Echo Yachts has experience here, having already built a 56m powered cat and an 84m trimaran.

This all-aluminium, full-custom build features a twin DynaRig sail system. Designed by Dykstra Naval Architects in collaboration with One2three Naval Architects, the yacht is engineered to manage the complex structural loads unique to sailing catamarans. It incorporates dual shaft generators that harvest energy from trawling controllable-pitch propellers, and a battery storage system that ensures emissions-free operation and extends range while under sail.

Sunreef 35 Eco

Never one to slacken the pace, Sunreef also announced the sale of a new 35 Eco sailing cat late last year. The 115ft boat is being built in the UAE and is slated for delivery in 2028.

Like all Sunreefs, it will feature a huge solar array for renewable power, as well as vast outdoor spaces, including a 100m2 flybridge with a plunge pool. Accommodation is for up to 10, with a master cabin dominating the forward section of the superstructure and filling the full 14.7m beam.

Its bathroom includes a tub positioned with fine views out through deep glazing and freestanding his ‘n’ hers basins in limestone-effect composite. The saloon includes an elegant bar running down the starboard side and the yacht represents a new level of interior finish for Sunreef. An ‘ocean lounge’ is formed by a combination of the aft platform and the fold-down side wings, reached down a few teak wood-lined steps from the aft cockpit lounge area. catamarans-lagoon.com

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The post Supercats, Maxicats, Megacats: 16 new high-performance luxury multihulls appeared first on Yachting World.

The plan is simple: buy a boat and seek out your best life. You’ve decided you want a multihull, for the space and stability that offers.

Your other key requirements are comfort – a yacht you can live aboard for months – and a multihull that’s bluewater capable so you can explore wild remote places. It has to be safe, of course. And spacious enough for you, your partner, maybe your kids (and perhaps someone to help look after them sometimes), or a few friends and family. After all, adventures are better shared.

Bonus items? If the budget allows – performance, please! A fast boat means less time at sea (critical for keeping the non-sailors happy). Faster means more fun, but also the faster you sail the more flexibility you have for weather routing. So speed equals safety.

If this all sounds familiar, that’s because many Yachting World readers dream of the same thing: a bluewater catamaran, powering through the miles, and the freedom of an endless horizon.

Every year, I work with hundreds of people chasing this dream. And wow, it’s a big project! Most begin with hours upon hours, if not weeks, lost to YouTube and online reviews, comparing boat brands. Once committed, the number of decisions to make and to-do list items explodes.

What modifications or custom options will you want? Do you want gas or all-electric? How many cabins do you need, and what layout suits you best? What sails do you need? Who to make them? Then there’s electronics, spares, tools, toys, logistics… and how to leave behind your land life.

Buried in logistics and yard work, cruisers often fall into a common trap: time and time again they forget the sailing element.

Many new catamaran owners are experienced monohull sailors but new to multihulls. Others charter in the Med a few times a year but have never owned their own boat. Some haven’t sailed in years – kids and work got in the way. Some, incredibly, are total beginners.

Article continues below…

The best bluewater multihulls of all time: a complete guide

What are the best bluewater multihulls for long term cruising? The one you own, or the one you can afford…

Best catamaran and multihull: The very best yachts on two and three hulls

There are many categories in the European Yacht of the Year awards, from the best luxury yachts and performance yachts to the best yachts for families and evet…

So when the boat finally arrives or the jobs list is finished in the yard, most owners are exhausted and over-excited. Their sailing skills are rusty. But, at that point, taking the time to polish up their boat handling is not what they want to do. Understandably, they want to slip lines and go.

The problem is that a lack of skill and confidence can lead to a bumpy first couple of years cruising. The best case scenario – if they’re lucky – is that only the boat gets bruised. I’ve seen many boats listed for sale within two years.

Two things matter most to the success of your bluewater experience:

• The brand and model of catamaran you buy
• Your sailing and cruising skills

Your skill and confidence will make or break your experience – and your crew’s too. Here are the 10 top skills to polish before casting off.

Leaving or manoeuvring in a marina – and dealing with twin engines – is likely to be your first test of handling skills with your new catamaran. Photo: Richard Langdon

Docking a catamaran with Twin Engines

Leaving the marina is going to be the unavoidable first step. The departure sets the tone. Nail it, and there’ll be a good feeling in the air.

Twin engines take some getting used to. First, forget your rudders: lock the helm straight and steer with the engines. Famously, cats can spin on the spot. But it rarely turns out quite as advertised… high topsides, no keel, and light bows mean your ability to pivot is often negated by windage and drift.

Once you figure out how to use the limitations of a cat to your advantage you’ll love the double engines. Practice is key.

Catamaran docking tips

• Stern to wind is your mantra. Keeping the stern facing the wind makes the boat more stable and easier to control.
• Park in reverse. Stay stern to the wind, and you have better visibility and comms with the aft line handler.
• Skip the ‘spin’. Where possible, use a 3/5/7-point turn with one engine at a time. It’s simpler, less confusing and thus less risk-prone. And you can keep the boat to windward of the tight space within your turn.
• Use one hand. Traditionally, driving multihulls was taught with two hands: left hand left throttle; right hand right throttle. Change this to one hand. Then you can move around, twist your torso, see, communicate and park successfully.

Multihulls are becoming increasingly popular for sailors taking on an Atlantic challenge – here setting off on the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC). Photo: James Mitchell/WCC

Wind angles and routing

Factory polars can be shocking. “50° to windward?! How will I ever get upwind anywhere?” you wonder. Well… yes… catamarans are reaching machines. They don’t point well. Daggerboards help a lot with upwind performance. But even then, crack off 10° and they fly.

Don’t blame your tools. Learn how to use them. So how to best leverage this?

Sail more miles, faster. Cracked off = big speed gains. Sometimes you can still reach a windward destination faster than a monohull of similar length by using this technique.

Wait it out. If a shift is coming in the next few days, consider delaying your departure. Then enjoy a fast few hours of downwind sailing, rather than the 10 hours slog you initially signed up for.

Don’t pinch – it doesn’t work. Accept your angles and see if you can outsmart your own plan. If you do ever see a cat pinching, don’t be fooled. They will be using the engine for assistance.

Multihulls are weight sensitive so try to keep heavy items central and low. Leading anchor chain aft away from the bows is prudent. Photo: GLY

Weight management

Cats are wider, roomier, and generally have more space for more stuff (much of which you probably don’t need). But they are also lighter, and more weight sensitive. All this means there is a lot to consider when it comes to stowage.
If you are a monohull sailor, be prepared to pay just as much, if not more attention to how much and where you add extra weight on board.

Catamarans are typically lighter displacement than a monohull of equivalent length, and so extra weight on board will have a greater impact. And, unlike a monohull which relies on its keel for stability, a catamaran relies on its beam. Therefore, loading the catamaran with weight aloft, or not distributing it evenly across both hulls, will make it more prone to heeling and reduce its stability.

What to do

• Live minimally. Be ruthless about what comes aboard. Once ‘stuff’ (the usual culprits are extra kitchen equipment, doubled-up tools and spares, shoes you never wear, water toys you never use) comes aboard, you will feel a sense of ‘loss’ to take it off. Save yourself the grief, and never let it on.
• Keep the ends light. I know they are roomy and no one sleeps there. But they are empty for a reason! Weight needs to be central, and low. Consider storing the outboard motor off the tender and use bow lockers for light gear only.
• Balance port and starboard. One hull shouldn’t carry your whole life. Check from astern on a calm day that your boat isn’t listing.

Reefing early is vitally important with a catamaran. Photo: Marianne Urth

Reefing a multihull

Cats don’t spill any power via heeling. They just power up, until they flip. And that is why reefing is key. Reef proactively. Set strict wind speed reefing thresholds (lots of manufacturers recommend these).

But don’t be afraid to err on the more cautious side, as the guidelines rarely take into account sea state.

Multihull reefing tips

• Topping lift! No vang means the boom drops hard onto the roof without it.
• Mainsails don’t drop easily. There is a lot of friction due to full battens compressing mast cars, and probably a 2:1 halyard. Consider using downhauls on the luff or upgrading mast cars to ones with roller bearings and using the reefing line to coax the sail down. If all else fails, you can change course upwind but be cautious of the increased apparent wind when you do that.

Keeping weight out of the ends is key for sailing performance. Photo: GLY

Depowering a multihull

As aforementioned, gusts don’t spill power on a cat – they load it up. Multihulls can take a lot, but the line between everything being fine and not fine is sudden. You need a fast, simple depowering setup in case of any unexpected gusts or squalls.

The previous advice was to reef early – but we aren’t always good at that. So you need a plan if you get caught out and miss the window of opportunity to reef.

Multihull depowering tips

• Active sheets. Keep these on winches with the clutches open – always the mainsheet and headsail/spinnaker sheet.
• Traveller dump. The windward traveller line should also be ready to dump. In a gust, this can be your first move because it’s in the cockpit where you also are likely to be.
• Bear away. Go for a quick bear away as soon as you’ve depowered the sails to reduce the apparent wind. Practice hand-steering this.
• Turn downwind fast. Quickly straighten the helm the moment you don’t feel the wind on your windward cheek.
• Daggerboards. Keep the leeward daggerboard line on a winch ready to quickly raise it to avoid tripping.
• Depowering. For kites and gennakers, set up quick-release tack systems for instant depowering.

Catamaran sailing is all about the fun –especially downwind, when properly set up. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot

Downwind sails

Cats sail downwind like a dream, so it’s time to embrace that. You’ll be especially thankful for your and your crew’s proficiency with the spinnaker or Code 0 when the winds soften and you have a long ocean passage ahead of you.

Any monohull sailors might underestimate the gains to be made by flying downwind sails. But a few knots can make a big difference over 3,000 miles. Anyway, you are out of excuses! Cats are stable, the bow is safe – and with its big soft nets, it’s even kind to your knees. There’s no justification for not going up there and giving this a go.

Downwind catamaran tips

• Practice the drop. If you know you can get it down, you overcome the fear of putting it up. This might include using socks, furlers, or a traditional drop to douse the offwind sails. Nail them all!
• Optimise your systems. Make hoisting, flying and dropping these intimidating sails easier – reroute lines if needed, add Martin Breakers (a quick-trip shackle to release tack line under load) and use electric winches if that helps smooth
  the routine.
• Learn the angles. The more you understand about what wind strengths and angles your sails love, the more likely you’ll be to fly them. Get as much data as possible, or a sail crossover chart from your sailmaker. And also keep a good log and note your own numbers.

No excuses to go without a kite. Photo: Saskia Stainer-Hutchins

Feedback cues

We’ve all been there. You go off watch with the boat sailing peacefully in 10-15 knots. And you wake up having fallen out of bed, the boat heeled over hard, in 20 knots upwind. You will now reminisce on those days with fondness. As a catamaran sailor, you are going to have to master the art of subtlety. Specifically, interpreting less obvious feedback that the boat is overpowered or underpowered.

Tips for tuning in

• Use the instruments. But don’t use them in isolation. Boat speed and wind speed tell you a lot and it’s critical to respond to them with reefing (see point No4). However, you can also sense a few degrees of heel, a change in acceleration, or a shift in pressure with your body. The less reliant you are on instruments and the more intuitive your relationship is with the boat, the safer you will be.
• Use your hearing! Listen for slamming, rig hum, and the frequency of the wave slap.
• Log what you ‘feel’. Log regularly and include wider information so you can look back and compare. For example, if a few weeks ago you were happily eating dinner with no reefs in the main, what’s different this time? The sea state? Your fatigue? Intuition?
• Power down early. Comfort trumps speed on cruising boats 99% of the time (which can be hard to adapt to for successful, driven people). But remember the dream – it’s usually a version of ‘slowing down’.

Living the bluewater dream, anchored in an idyllic spot – and catamarans can drop the hook in relatively shallow water. Photo: Robin Christol/GLY

Manoeuvres

Two hulls change things when it comes to manoeuvres: tacking is slow, gybing is violent. You need to get comfortable with it all.

It’s not uncommon to find catamaran sailors who avoid manoeuvres at night. That’s great in theory – until you sail into a wind hole, or want to avoid a squall, or need to miss a cargo ship. Really every bluewater sailor needs to know how to complete manoeuvres in all conditions, at any time of day.

Upwind Manoeuvres

Build up speed before the tack and use it to carry you through. Remember, angles are wider and the turn may well be more than 100°.
If you have them, and they aren’t already down, drop both daggerboards to the same level. It gives you some grip during the turn.
Back the jib through the tack if needed (unless it’s self-tacking, in which case get creative with a handybilly or extra control line).

Downwind Manoeuvres

With a square top, big roach and full battened mainsail, gybing can be exciting. The main needs a lot of control through the gybe. Centre the traveller and make sure it’s locked off on both sides, tighten up the mainsheet, gybe – then control the sheet to dampen the slam when it flips to the other tack.

A remote-controlled windlass will be a big help when retrieving and viewing your anchor tackle, while headsets help maintain communication with the helm. Photo: Saskia Stainer-Hutchins

Catamaran anchoring

Most cruisers are at anchor about 80% of the time, even if they are ‘sailing around the world’! It’s a critical skill, and a core element of living the dream.

But in order to spend your days swimming off the back of the boat or enjoying serene sunset cocktails on the bow – and to comfortably sleep, make repairs, and live on the hook – you need to be able to anchor confidently, reliably and securely.

Making sure the hook is properly set will ensure a more relaxing time in that idyllic anchorage. Photo: Kinetic Catamarans

Catamaran anchoring skills

• Set it properly. Use 3-7 times the depth. Reverse hard on it (1,500-2,000rpm) – better to drag and find out it’s not holding now, rather than at 3am.
• Find space. Choose a spot with not too many boats around. If there are, make sure they’re catamarans too as similar hull shapes swing similarly. Resist the temptation to be too close to the beach in the crowds (instead, get a fast tender and learn how to use it).
• Always use a bridle. If it isn’t already set up, attach a mooring line of identical length to each bow cleat and tie both to the chain in the same place with a prussick knot or rolling hitch.
• Float the chain. Learn to float the chain in preparation for the reef-laden anchorages of French Polynesia or other heavenly spots. Use a couple of traditional heavy plastic fenders at about 10m increments.
• Shorelines. Know how to set up a shoreline to control your swing. This will open up the tighter anchorages, or the deeper ones, which can be beautiful. Anchor as normal and then head ashore with a long line and tie it to something stable like a tree or a rock.

Photo: Lagoon Catamarans

Enjoy the comfort

Sometimes sailors can be a bit masochistic. Let that go. This dream involves two hulls – it’s time to get comfortable.

Before departure, try to relax. You don’t need to prep every meal in advance and psychologically prepare yourself for beyond three or four days of the usual motion sickness. Instead, think about activities to keep everyone busy and entertained.

You can cook, bake, eat, sleep, do yoga, workout, learn the guitar, or dance while underway (yes, I’ve done all of the above). This is a lifestyle.

Just one thing to remember: when sailing downwind the wind funnels through the saloon, so card games don’t work so well. Everything else? Go for it.

I feel so lucky to have spent so much time around people making this dream into their reality. It’s inspiring to see people brave enough to go after more from their life. So if you want to make that dream last you’ll need to invest in the skills to make it work. Docking, reefing, routing, anchoring – mastering these techniques will add a layer of safety, confidence and ease to your experience.

If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

The post 10 essential multihull sailing skills you need to know appeared first on Yachting World.

Tuesday 12 May 2025 in Skaerbaek, Denmark, was a special day, a defining moment in my sailing career. I’m normally deliberately objective when testing, but I admit to really falling for this quirky winged beast – in that fresh phase, infatuated sort of way.

I fully accept a rapid cruising trimaran won’t suit everyone, and I’ll list the reasons why. But, after two exceptional days spent aboard, I also feel confident in highlighting the many reasons why this is the most successful new yacht this year – with 28 ordered before this first one launched!

Dragonfly has been building trimarans near Kolding since 1967 and remains a Quorning family-run yard. Its new 36 marries modern design and engineering ingenuity, including buoyant, wave-piercing bows and all-composite folding mechanisms for the floats. Chiefly, as we were to discover, it’s a super-light cruiser with serious gas.

‘It’s a superlight cruiser with serious gas’. Photo: Richard Langdon

Within boat lengths of the small fishing village and marina of Skaerbaek, where Dragonflys are towed down the hill and launched, we hoisted (a lot of) main and code sail, bore off onto a reach and took off. Life became instantly smooth and quiet as we lifted straight onto the plane.

Helming from right aft, within the curved embrace of the cushioned pushpit, Dragonlet and I had no slow, awkward dates getting to know each other, rather an absolute and instant engaging connection.

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In the 12-15 knot puffy breeze, we gybed around the fjords under Code 0 as if aboard a dinghy. Our speeds averaged in the low teens, shooting up to 15-17 knots in the puffs (at 55° apparent). It offers non-stop planing on most angles, particularly when sailing anywhere slightly off the breeze in 12-plus knots. So much so that you really notice it when you’re (rarely) not, because it seems comparatively noisy as the wake catches up with the hull.

Steering is easy, direct, engaging and enjoyable. It offers a proper sportsboat feel on a 36ft cruising yacht. I couldn’t help thinking that if you put any performance monohull enthusiast onto the helm during that first sailing session, they’d sign up for one there and then. It’s that good.

The 36 sails even faster than it looks – both off the wind and beating. Photo: Richard Langdon

Afterburners ignited

With the large blue asymmetric hoisted, the Dragonfly 36 comfortably maintained a long-legged average stride in the low teens, before the log would shoot up to match the 17-20 knot gusts. That acceleration is intoxicating, but it’s also combined with arguably an even more impressive quality: stability. During bear aways, I’d expect the leeward bow to bury, but instead the forward volume in those floats performs wonders, simply converting it to yet more easy speed.

How? This is the first Dragonfly with an inverted bow on the main hull. Together with the wave-piercing bows on the outriggers, this provides formidable buoyancy forward. These asymmetric-shaped floats, which have their widest sections at the waterline, are also 70cm further forward than the main hull to increase directional stability and help you push it downwind. The result is the 36 just lets you throw it around without complaint.

Blast reaching spikes the adrenaline while tacking through the Danish fjord’s shallows is addictive. Photo: Richard Langdon

With your foot to the floor, a 30ft stream of whitewater hoses away from the transoms, as if a jet boat. Our top speed was clocked at 20.5 knots – on flat water in similar wind! Dragonfly’s CEO and mastermind, Jens Quorning, says they measure performance not by the speedo, but by the size of your grin when sailing. My dial was firmly in the red.

We carried that spinnaker down through a tight fjord, with a stunning tree-lined backdrop, gybing back and forth yards from the shoreline. Dragonflys are designed to sail short-handed and, on the 36, the two powered winches each side are within reach of the helm. So although we didn’t need four aboard, and it made the cockpit feel a little cramped in the corners at times, it helped get the most out of the boat (despite their thousands of hours of Dragonfly trials, the Quornings and long-term UK agent, Al Wood, still thrive on sailing these yachts).

Inverted bows provide telling stability. Photo: Richard Langdon

Making wind

Another joy of a performance trimaran is that it can provide similar sensations to those of a monohull sailing upwind. In the Dragonfly’s case, you get plenty of reward from a single carbon rudder blade, so with the windward hull airborne and minimal wetted surface, flat water beating is fun.

Little active trimming is necessary and you can still steer with a drink in hand. The 36 felt particularly well balanced close-hauled on starboard tack, when I could leave the wheel and it kept tracking true, but it needed a light guiding hand on port. Dragonfly believe this may be a centreplate alignment issue, which it is trying to resolve.

The mid freeboard chine from the bow deflects spray and preserves some forward cabin volume over the narrow waterline beam. Photo: Richard Langdon

During our second day we saw how the 36 performed in the lighter breeze. Again it showed pace, particularly when pointing, clocking 8.5 knots at 40° to a true wind averaging 7-13 knots. These are performance monohull figures, helped by the narrow hulls, centreboard, inboard genoa tracks and rotating carbon mast. We also matched up against Jens’ son Peter, who solo sailed an all-carbon 40 Performance, and it was interesting to see very little difference in pace. Both boats easily exceeded the true breeze under Code 0s (8.5 knots in 7 true at 45°A).

The 36 is a wind generator, a craft that will match or outpace true windspeeds, all the way from 5 knots to nearly 20. Polars show it topping out at around 24 knots – in flat water. Granted, you don’t get to see what it’s like in waves or even surf in these confined waters, but you get to feel the 36 react to every lift, while executing plenty of manoeuvres.

A tasteful if conservative finish with space used intelligently. The saloon has long benches, with the portside converting to a berth, while the forward cabin is reached through a thick bulkhead, with a sliding panel for privacy. Photo: Richard Langdon

In fact, it was as we short-tacked our way up another fjord into the setting sun on our first evening, when it all sank in for me. I had the cockpit to myself, the heated foam-decked helm seats warming my glutes – a delightfully novel way to counteract the first chill of the evening air – and I couldn’t help but marvel at the sheer pleasure this yacht provides. We were to moor up at the formidable converted sanatorium near Kolding that night (see page 75), a unique spot, yet still I didn’t want to tear myself from the helm.

This was perhaps the most enjoyable sail trial I’ve done in over two decades – an incredible day.

Once the Dragonfly is at rest you begin to appreciate it’s not simply a fairground ride, but a complex marriage of design and composite engineering.

Aft cabin has wide berth but lacks stowage. Photo: Richard Langdon

Engineering evolution

Much of this revolves around the Swing Wing system, employed as we approached the jetty. Floats that fold into the hull provide the convenience of monohull berthing, using a system which has principally remained the same since Jens and his father Borge developed it in the late 1980s. Operated using the winches and without leaving the cockpit, a continuous line system pulls the floats in or out while tensioning or stowing the trampolines. The operation took us approximately one minute.

However, when you consider the complexity involved, both in the loads it places on the hull connections and how to support the mast, you realise it’s anything but simple. Despite having a beam join designed for 25 tonnes of compression, this 36 marks the first time Dragonfly has used composite here as opposed to stainless steel connections. “It was a 10-year dream to do this but we didn’t have the courage!” Quorning explains, with the result saving time, weight and cost.

As the outriggers fold forwards, they lift the main hull and increase overall length, with beam reducing from 8.12m to just 3.7m. You also have to consider the rig – using a deck-stepped rotating mast on floats that fold demands creativity. The yard has used tall carbon masts as standard since the early 1990s, which have incredibly strong and light round profiles designed to suit this Swing Wing system. The running backstay-style split supports can be tensioned with floats folded or extended.

The joys of shoal draught. Photo: Richard Langdon

The test boat was set up with two deep reefs using 3:1 thimble purchases on the mainsail leech, which crank the sail down and aft via the winch to maintain sail shape without anyone needing to leave the cockpit. Dragonfly ensures its models can be sailed solo, proving so by winning events such as the Silver Rudder Race around Denmark. All running rigging is led cleanly underdeck to the powered Andersen winches in reach of the helm.

A boom vang on a block and tackle is used on either side/tack instead of a traveller, doubling as a preventer and helping to free up cockpit space. The test boat sported Elvstrom’s new Xylo sailcloth, a performance filament carbon tape for enhanced shape, while for offwind sailing, many owners chose a Code sail as it can be left hoisted. Dragonflys can sail wing on wing with this and the main, tacking it to the windward float and using a barber that runs from midships to the bow.

The snub bowsprit houses the Code furler, is sturdy enough to use as a step for bows-to mooring and keeps the anchor chain clear of the reverse stem.

The Dragonfly 36 has a reasonable-sized workable galley. Photo: Richard Langdon

Beach parking

Another feature Dragonfly has employed for decades is the use of a lifting centreboard on the central hull to prevent leeway. The 80kg foam sandwich board flips up in the case of grounding, via a spring-loaded camcleat by the winches (yes, we ‘tested’ it). This was another feature which took years to design and refine, particularly the panel closure beneath the hull.

The rudder also kicks-up and has a similar safety fuse cleat. Shaped in hollow prepreg by carbon maestro Marstrom for an ultra-light feel, its unusual curved profile is designed to prevent cavitation at high speeds.
The sail drive is mounted right aft, between the dual helms, to allow for beaching – not ideal for weight management, but it also keeps noise and heat out of the interior and preserves maximum interior space.

Accommodation

You’ve had the sailing thrills to dream about, and have now found that isolated beach for the night. Can the 36 offer enough for ‘comfortable’ cruising too?

Yes… as long as you appreciate the compromises real speed necessitates. And that doesn’t mean stark minimalism, indeed the 36 has a warm interior lined with hand-built joinery (elm veneers as we had, or lighter ash). However there’s no getting around the fact this is compact living for a premium-priced 36-footer.

The 36’s new composite folding mechanisms. Photo: Richard Langdon

There are no layout options, as the centreboard trunk and bulkheads are immovable. Instead, owners can only play with the colours and upholstery – but do get 2m headroom and space to sleep six. The saloon has long benches, lots of natural light, ventilation and stowage.

It’s also an adaptable area, with a small standing desk and switch panel, and the port settee doubling as a kid’s den or passage berth. The table leaves fold up or down to allow six to eight to sit while providing clear access forward.

The aft cabin extends under the cockpit, providing enough seated headroom height to make it feel spacious and comfortable, though stowage is an issue. There are outboard lockers each side, but you won’t be hanging blazers and cocktail dresses in here.

Indeed, the double locker opposite the heads is the only hanging space and even that’s only half-height. The heads is compact – a small, practical wet heads area where you’d sit on the toilet to shower. Meanwhile having to climb through a ring fame to access the forward cabin obviously won’t suit all, but you do get a comfortable 2m x 1.6m berth once in.

Vinylester and divinycell with carbon reinforcement is used for these main bulkheads, while closed-cell foam cored construction ensures Dragonflys are unsinkable. Meanwhile, four stainless steel deck eyes enables the Dragonfly to be easily craned out of the water anywhere.

Dragonfly 36 specifications

LOA sailing: 11.55m / 37ft 11in
LOA folded: 13.43m / 44ft 1in
LWL: 10.90m / 35ft 9in
Beam sailing: 8.12m / 26ft 8in
Beam folded: 3.70m / 12ft 2in
Draught: 2.00m-0.67m / 6ft 7in-2ft 2in
Disp (lightship): 4,500kg / 9,921lb
Berths: 6
Engine: 30hp 21kW saildrive
Water: 220lt 48gal
Fuel: 70lt 15gal
Sail area/disp ratio: 32.8
Disp/LWL ratio: 97
Price: (ex VAT) Touring from €554,000; Performance from €582,000; test boat €809,445.

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Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

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The post Dragonfly 36 review: Probably the most fun boat ever! appeared first on Yachting World.

Continued development and refinement are key drivers behind the ever-increasing popularity of cruising catamarans. The scale of the rate of change in these boats was brought home to me when I stepped on board a Fountaine Pajot Bahia 46 built in 2004.

These were very desirable and well-regarded designs in their day, yet the extent to which internal volumes and the blending of indoor and outdoor living spaces have advanced over the intervening two decades on the best of today’s models is nothing short of astounding.

Today’s designs are a lot heavier than the older model and have proportionately smaller sail areas. Yet sailing performance remains remarkably good for vessels that offer so much accommodation, and newer models therefore still have potential to cover significant distances in respectable times.

The Fountaine Pajot 41. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot/Fountaine Pajot

Solid and smooth

I was lucky to sail both of the new Fountaine Pajot models in a blustery 15-25 knots of onshore breeze, with occasional stronger gusts, in a brief interlude between heatwaves. With one reef in the mainsail, both boats felt very solid. Even upwind on the smaller boat there was no slamming of waves under the bridgedeck, though the sea state hadn’t had time to build to its full extent.

Upwind we sailed quite wide angles, often with a 55°-60° true wind angle, which produced respectable speeds. The smaller Fountaine Pajot 41 consistently made a shade over 7 knots in these conditions, while the Fountaine Pajot 44 was around half a knot faster on average. Unsurprisingly, both boats lose speed very quickly if you try to pinch closer to the wind.

These designs are both relatively heavy, but despite the strong gusts both had a reassuringly solid feel. Even upwind we could likely have carried full sail and that was certainly true once we bore away onto a reach. However, neither boat accelerates quickly in gusts and realistically shaking the reef out would have made very little difference to the average speed in these conditions.

The hydraulic steering is lightweight but inevitably doesn’t have as much feel as boats with a more direct linkage. This wasn’t a problem upwind or reaching, but made it more difficult to maintain a straight course with a building quartering sea.

Article continues below…

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Best catamaran and multihull: The very best yachts on two and three hulls

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The semi-raised helm stations feel very secure on both tacks, with the main differences between the boats being that the Fountaine Pajot 41 has a double helm seat, while the Fountaine Pajot 44 has a triple seat behind the wheel. In both cases, visibility from the helm is largely good, though on starboard tack there’s a sizable blind spot behind the headsail.

This is common on multihulls with a raised helm station and is by no means unique to these two boats, but you have to move much further to see around the sail than you would on a monohull.

Sail handling is carried out in a separate area just forward, ahead of the helm station and on the same raised level. There’s space for two people to work and it’s well organised, with good rope bins. The arrangement works well both for when there are several people available to handle the boat and for a lone watch keeper with the pilot steering the boat.

Sailing at pace with dry bows. The Fountaine Pajot 41 still packs in a lot of accommodation, both on the bridgedeck and in each hull. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot/Fountaine Pajot

On both yachts the first mainsail reef is single line, making it a simple operation to shorten sail, while reefs two and three need a Cunningham line to be passed through the luff cringle, which involves going up to the mast base. The argument is this simplifies handling overall by reducing the amount of rope that needs to be handled, as the purchase systems within single-line reefing set-ups makes the pennants for each one very long, with the effect magnified for deeper reefs.

Mainsail shape control is generally good, even though there is no vang, thanks to the wide traveller mounted on the aft end of the hard top. However, the high aspect jibs on both boats tend to twist off considerably when sheets are eased and there’s no obvious provision for outboard sheet leads. That probably doesn’t matter much in lighter airs when a Code 0 or asymmetric spinnaker is likely to be used when reaching, but it does mean that perfect sail trim can’t readily be achieved when reaching in the wind strengths I experienced during my test.

Nevertheless, the Fountaine Pajot’s boat speed topped out at 10.2 knots for the Fountaine Pajot 44 when reaching in a 27-knot puff, while maintaining averages of almost 9.5 knots with 20 knots of true wind 10° aft of the beam. Bearing away further to a true wind angle of 130° resulted in a drop of boat speed of only half a knot in these conditions, even though the apparent wind was down to less than 15 knots.

Rupert Holmes on the helm of the 41. Sail handling is carried out in a separate area forward, with room for two people to work. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot/Fountaine Pajot

Impressively, the averages when reaching for the Fountaine Pajot 41 were not much slower, with 8.9 to 9.2 knots recorded fairly consistently. And some of the speed differential can be explained by the Fountaine Pajot 44 having the upgrade from standard Dacron sails to an Ocean spec Hydranet fabric. This option is chosen by roughly 25% of owners and makes a tangible difference.

Sadly, I wasn’t able to try either boat in lighter airs. With its sub-10 tonne displacement and longer waterline, the Bahia 46 might on paper be expected to be faster in those conditions, but Code 0s that massively boost speed on a wide range of wind angles, from almost close hauled to broad reaching, weren’t routinely fitted to cruising boats a couple of decades ago and they make a huge difference to light airs speeds, even on a heavier boat.

While the Fountaine Pajot 44 is undeniably faster than the Fountaine Pajot 41, in cruising terms the difference between the two is modest, translating to maybe six or seven miles per 24 hours when on passage, although it’s worth remembering that the larger boat will tend to have a more comfortable motion at sea.

For those planning extensive and adventurous voyaging, a more important factor may be that the stability of a cruising catamaran increases exponentially, with the fourth power of the length of the boat. Despite the relatively small difference in overall length, the larger model can therefore be expected to offer as much as one-third greater resistance to capsize.

The FP 44 has a more comprehensive semi flybridge area with lots of seating and four sunbeds. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot/Fountaine Pajot

Flybridge differences

A cursory look around on deck won’t reveal many differences between the two models. Indeed, there are only two key visual clues, the most obvious being the semi-flybridge. The Fountaine Pajot 41 is the smallest ever Fountaine Pajot to have a semi-flybridge and only has a double sunbed, albeit with backrests that can be arranged to make sitting up comfortable.

By contrast, the Fountaine Pajot 44 has a much larger semi-flybridge than the Fountaine Pajot 41 with extensive seating as well as two sunbeds, making this an additional socialising area that could be useful, for instance, if sailing with teenagers and friends.

Even the Fountaine Pajot 41 is a big boat in many respects, with surprisingly large aft cabins and decent-sized forward cabins with peninsula beds. Arguably, the biggest downside in this respect is that the internal seating area is rather small, though the big aft cockpit area can be enclosed by canvas in inclement weather.

A drawback of four-cabin boats is also limited stowage space, but that’s not an issue for the three-cabin option that has considerable stowage in the owner’s suite.

Worktops are made of recycled material that is easy to repair if damaged. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot/Fountaine Pajot

Many of these points also apply to the 44, though this is by no means simply a scaled-up 41. In particular, the larger model has more space in the middle of the hulls. As a result both cabins in the starboard hull are en suite, with separate shower stalls. By contrast, the Fountaine Pajot 41 has a choice of compact en suites, or larger shared facilities with a separate entrance from the corridor in the starboard hull.

The port hull of the 41 can be fitted out in two different ways – either as a mirror image of the two-cabin arrangement in the starboard hull, or as an owner’s suite. This has the sleeping area aft, a capacious heads area forward, plus a desk/dressing table amidships and a huge amount of stowage. A further option for the Fountaine Pajot 44 is to have a flexible forward workshop/storage area that could also be fitted out as a large dressing room if required.

Guest cabin stowage is not particularly generous on either boat, but there’s a massive amount of stowage space in the master hull of both boats. Equally, on-deck stowage is excellent, particularly if the optional skipper/children’s cabins right forward are not specified.

For those wanting to spend longer periods on board, the 41 has an option for a 3kg capacity washer-dryer in the owner’s hull, whereas the 44 has space for a full-size 7kg load unit with access from the corridor in the starboard hull.

Island unit improves circulation and allows more people to prepare food etc in the galley. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot/Fountaine Pajot

The internal saloon can be ordered with a low coffee table or a larger raised dining table that allows for indoor eating. Both boats have an opening window in the front of the coachroof that improves natural ventilation and allows direct communication with the foredeck lounging area. The saloon also has a central overhead panel allowing you to view the sail trim, but doesn’t have so much overhead glazing that solar gain is excessive on either boat.

A much larger opening between the saloon and aft cockpit allows for a new galley format that includes a central island unit instead of L-shaped worktops. This works well, and gives better circulation of people, while also allowing more hands to easily work in the galley. Both boats share this layout, though the Fountaine Pajot 44 has a little more space and significantly improved refrigeration. There’s also good stowage for dry goods in several large under-floor compartments and below the saloon seats.On the downside, there’s no dedicated indoor navigation/watch-keeping station.

Both test boats have internal saloons with a low coffee table, but a dining table can be fitted. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot/Fountaine Pajot

The woodwork looked good on my test boats, but there are veneered capping pieces and sharp corners that may not withstand repeated knocks and bumps without damage. The interior of lockers also have a more domestic feel to them, rather than a traditional boatbuilding approach using higher-quality materials.

Worktops are made of recycled material sourced from the interiors of end-of-life fridges and freezers. They can be recycled back into new worktops and are easy to repair if damaged as the material can be worked like wood. Scratches can therefore be sanded out and the surface polished to restore an as-new appearance.

The master cabin of the FP 41. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot/Fountaine Pajot

Hybrid future

All models are available with conventional diesel engines and generators. However, the Fountaine Pajot group, which includes Dufour, is at the forefront of transitioning to hybrid technologies and has sold around 100 hybrid boats over the past two and a half years. This represents 15% of sales, a proportion that’s steadily climbing as more owners become satisfied that concepts and systems are well-proven.

The aft cabins of both boats are impressively spacious, with generously-sized angled peninsula beds. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot/Fountaine Pajot

The Fountaine Pajot 44 I sailed was fitted with the ODSea+ Smart Electric hybrid propulsion. This encompasses propulsion, hydrogeneration, large solar arrays totalling around 2kW and huge battery banks that can also be used for domestic systems such as refrigeration and even air-conditioning.

It was developed in conjunction with fellow La Rochelle-based company Alternative Energies, which has been supplying systems to small ferries and work boats for 30 years and is now part of the Fountaine Pajot group.

Each hull has a 25kW pod drive motor, with a high voltage supply meaning that water cooling is not required – it’s a simple installation that requires little maintenance. The boat is also fitted with a soundproofed 24kW diesel generator that’s sized to allow for motoring at 8 knots in flat water, yet still puts an impressive 8kW into the battery bank. In addition, the hydrogenating facility under sail proved effective – at eight knots of boat speed we were charging at around 1.5kW on each engine.

Optional storage/workshop area aboard the FP 44 . Photo: Jean-Marie Liot/Fountaine Pajot

Overall, it’s an impressive system that increases comfort, flexibility and autonomy, while reducing maintenance. In addition, a key benefit of electric propulsion is the large amount of torque that’s almost instantly available and therefore makes manoeuvring in tight corners easier.

Fountaine Pajot 41 specifications

LOA: 12.1m 39ft 8in
Beam: 6.92m 22ft 8in
Displacement: 12,700kg 28,000lb
Draught: 1.34m 4ft 5in
Mainsail: 65m2 700ft2
Genoa: 35m2 377ft2
Fresh water: 600lt 123gal
Fuel: 700lt 154gal
Prices ex VAT base: €404,000; approx as tested €545,000

Fountaine Pajot 44 specifications

LOA: 13.26m 43ft 5in
Beam: 7.44m 24ft 5in
Displacement: 15,200kg 33,510lb
Draught: 1.57m 4ft 6in
Mainsail: 75.5m2 812ft2
Headsail: 45m2 484ft2
Fresh water: 600lt 123gal
Fuel: 700lt 154gal
Prices ex VAT base: From €499,000; approx as tested €850,000

If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

The post Double catamaran review: Fountaine Pajot 41 and Fountaine Pajot 44 tested appeared first on Yachting World.

Few people are lucky enough to be able to take a hands-on approach to the design and build of their own dream yacht. But that’s exactly what Karin and Brian Trautman, along with daughter Sierra, are currently doing with the new Delos Explorer 53.

The new boat is set to replace the 53ft Amel Super Maramu ketch Delos that has taken them on a huge number of adventures. It also established Sailing Delos as one of the most popular sailing channels on YouTube.

Delos 2.0 will be a 53ft aluminium explorer catamaran borne of the experience gained while covering some 85,000 miles at sea over 15 years. Brian has described the project as “one of our biggest adventures ever” and it’s no surprise this yacht appears to be very carefully thought out, including layouts on deck that reflect how people use their boats in reality.

An unusually comprehensive outdoor galley at the aft end of the main cockpit, for instance, has refrigeration, sink, barbecue/stove, plus a fish filleting and preparation station. It’s an arrangement they say is “inspired by years of cooking and entertaining in the sweltering tropics.” In addition, this area incorporates stowage for six dive bottles and a liferaft.

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There’s a Gunboat-style forward sailing cockpit at the base of the mast area, connected to the bridgedeck saloon by a full-height door, creating excellent ventilation when at anchor. A full watch-keeping station, including a wheel, at the front of the saloon enables the boat to be conned from inside during bad weather.

Systems also benefit from Brian’s knowledge and insights as a former electrical engineer. The parallel hybrid-electric propulsion has a single 80hp diesel engine, plus twin 25kW electric motors which are also capable of hydrogeneration while sailing.

A back-to-basics approach adds a level of redundancy that enormously increases overall reliability, making it far more resilient if problems are encountered.

Delos 2.0 is an adaptation of an existing design by Kiwi naval architects De Villiers. It is currently in build by Stradbroke Yachts near Brisbane and is scheduled to launch at the end of 2025.

Delos Explorer 53 specifications

Hull length: 16m / 52ft 7in
Beam: 7.7m / 19ft 5in
Draught: 1.2m / 4ft 0in
Displacement: 16,340kg / 36,023lb
Builder: svdelos.com

If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

Build your knowledge with a subscription delivered to your door. See our latest offers and save at least 30% off the cover price.

Note: We may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site, at no extra cost to you. This doesn’t affect our editorial independence.

The post Delos Explorer 53 first look: The adventure yacht designed for Youtubers appeared first on Yachting World.

Now this is a multihull to raise a sailor’s adrenaline. With the wish to create something special between its 32ft and 40ft models, Danish trimaran specialists Dragonfly spent two years developing this new Dragonfly 36.

“When you develop something new you want to raise the bar,” designer and CEO Jens Quorning explained to me at its Düsseldorf premiere in January. A key development is that the folding mechanism structure is now made in composite, something Quorning says has been his dream to do for a decade.

Pace and deck space, with easily folding floats

Why haven’t they managed it before? “There’s 20 tonnes of compression on the arms when flying a hull,” Quorning answered, referencing why they preferred to play safe with metal before now. The analysis they have recently done with composites, which included crash tests and pull tests, has given them the confidence to now use it in key structural areas.

Winches are sited by the twin wheels.

The resultant weight savings – this boat weighs under five tonnes – mean more speed. Performance wise, Quorning expects this to be somewhere between the standard and performance version of the 40 (which is quite capable of speeds in the mid 20 knots).

The 36 also has new asymmetric float designs with added volume, which are slightly longer than the main hull for diagonal stability. The bottom line is that it’s an easy yacht to sail, says Quorning, pointing out the ability to carry full sail in up to 20 knots, that it can dry out, and that it only takes 40 seconds to fold the floats.

The long saloon in the central hull.

Dragonfly has taken the best bits of the 40’s cockpit to create a large, comfortable bench space with winches by the dual aft wheels. And the yard obviously knows how long people like to actively spend on the wheel even in Baltic waters, as it included heated helm seat options!

A 30hp Yanmar is located right aft between the wheels, keeping noise and smells away from the interior, while the saildrive is protected from drying out, positioned directly in front of the rudder for manoeuvrability.

The first boat drew a crowd at boot Düsseldorf

Below decks is Dragonfly’s favoured layout with a long, sleepable saloon and proportionately the largest galley it has done. It also has a proper aft double and a forward V-berth.

The 36 is offered as a cruising version with self-tacking jib or a performance version with taller rig. Seventeen had sold off the plans and around 80% of Dragonfly clients take the performance rig. Hull number two is being exhibited at La Grande Motte.

Article continues below…

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Dragonfly 36 Specifications:

LOA: 11.55m 37ft 10in
LWL: 10.99m 36ft 0in
Length folded: 13.43m 44ft 0in
Beam: 3.70m 12ft 1in to 8.12m 26ft 7in
Draught: 0.67m 2ft 2in to 2.00m 6ft 7in
Displacement (light): 4,500kg 9,920lb
Price from: €510,000 ex VAT
Contact details: dragonfly.dk

If you enjoyed this….

Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

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The post New Dragonfly 36: Composite folding wings reduces weight for more speed appeared first on Yachting World.

There are many categories in the European Yacht of the Year awards, from the best luxury yachts and performance yachts to the best yachts for families and evet a best specialist yacht category. But with multihulls rapidly increasing in popularity, the best catamaran and multihull category is often hotly anticipated.

The small number of entrants in this category in no way reflects the rich range or huge demand for multihulls. Many new models were launched by the big yards in the preceding years and they’re struggling to keep up with bulging order books.

2024 saw a reduced showing of new multihulls this year, which is perhaps representative of a market that’s been booming for many years, but also one which is slowing its new model releases as it struggles to fill order books.

Best catamaran and multihull

Best catamaran and multihull 2025 winner – Nautitech 48 Open

Space, speed and style. Is this the best-looking current production cat? It builds on the success of the 44 Open, offering more space in the key areas you want it, increasing practical stowage throughout, while that extra waterline length helps offer high average speeds.

This is a sailor’s yacht – on the helm you can really feel the acceleration and sail the shifts as if aboard a performance monohull.

The Lombard design studio incorporated its trademark reverse sheer to help keep a low freeboard impression, and shifted the rig aft to keep the bows deliberately dry. The result can be felt immediately on the water with the non-immersed bows resulting in fast, easy tacking. There’s also less danger of catching a bow in waves as these dry forward sections increase as the bows lift with speed.

We spent a lot of our trial matching single-figure windspeeds and when I found a 12-knot ‘gust’, I was amazed how quickly we accelerated up to double figures close reaching. Aft helm cats often receive negative comments about their exposed steering positions and a lack of clear forward vision. And while those points stand, I usually feel the trade-offs are worthwhile for the sailing experience – certainly so here.

The direct steering is superb, incomparable to a bulkhead helm or flybridge helm. Practical solutions that will suit bluewater cruising include the low boom, forward-facing navstation, and redundancy features for the electrical and steering systems. The Naca profile fixed keels also allow for drying out.

The test boat had a three-cabin layout plus a utility cabin. The hulls are noticeably narrow forward, but the yard has used the dimensions well, especially in this multipurpose SmartRoom. The build and finish quality is production level – nicely designed but to a price.

Were I to be offered €1m to spend on a new yacht, this might make my shortlist. It’s one of the rare production cats that makes you want to remain on the helm. No complex daggerboards hinder the accommodation, which allows intelligent layout solutions to be offered. For distance voyaging at a good average speed, this has the waterline length to deliver, combined with comfort throughout.

Lagoon 43

Lagoon continues to build the highest numbers – nearly 1,100 Lagoon 42s have launched since 2016. And while this new Lagoon 43 was slated as a replacement, the 42’s continued popularity sees its production run continue (albeit only the four-cabin model for charter). The new 43 is the same length and width, but otherwise quite different.

A chief goal was to offer four equal size cabins for charter guests, and to move the berth in the owner’s cabin version forward away from the dock. The result is that the 43 looks especially wide in the bows. Hard chines just above the waterline on the inboard side of the hulls help to keep the wetted surface areas down. VPLP admits there were worries about its seakeeping in chop, but say its CFD analysis shows it works.

That said, we found this 14-tonne cat struggles to point and prefers to be sailed slightly freer, and a Code 0 is key in lighter breezes. See more next month. Access from the dinghy/dock/ocean has all changed, including new bulwark door openings.

Nauta Design worked particularly hard on the connecting saloon and cockpit and how the dual tables and chairs can combine. There’s also a flybridge area above the bulkhead helm which offers some seating without pushing the boom too high, while the cockpit aft bench allows you to sit facing forward or aft with feet on a net.

Best catamaran and multihull winner 2024 – Outremer 52

My highlight test of 2023? Sailing this Outremer 52 for 200 miles over two days and nights! Quite how such a large vessel, one that is capable of doing laps of the planet in true comfort, is also capable of providing such enjoyable sailing is the secret sauce that helps scoop this prize.

And it was pushed hard for this award by the disruptive HH. But the Outremer is such a well rounded, measured and thought out yacht for bluewater cruising at a reliable speed – it’s the full package, a dream boat for family bluewater sailing and arguably the French yard’s best and most refined model to date.

Designer VPLP was tasked with replacing the popular and well proven 51 with more comfort and stowage, while maintaining the performance. It says it took the best of the 55 (which won this award two years ago), and the best of the 51’s deck plan to create this 52. The result means too many good features to point out here, from the variety of helm positions, including a completely protected position inboard using the swing pedestal, to the well conceived spaces. I’d therefore recommend reading our full test report online or in YW’s June 2023 issue!

Neel 52

Neel continues to enjoy its cruising trimaran niche, using the wow factor of bridgedeck accommodation combined with the type of sailing enjoyment and feedback monohull sailors appreciate.

The impressive lightwind performance and direct feel of a Neel I am used to. But I don’t think I’ve ever been so surprised by the amount of cabins or space as I was on this 52. It’s available with four to six cabins plus the option for two crew cabins aft! Some of this maze works well, other areas, such as the forward cabins in the main hull not quite so well. Horizon and rig sightlines and some finishing also leaves room for improvement.

HH44

The HH44 seemingly manages to achieve the space and pace balance in a compact 45ft package, while also being one of the most innovative and exciting new production yachts I have sailed. From its looks to layout, to practical on deck solutions such as swing pedestals, side gates through the bulwarks and transom gates that double as swim platforms and boost cockpit security, it’s packed with fresh thinking.

And on the subject of ‘fresh’, the natural ventilation encouraged into the yacht through those massive forward facing coachroof windows which open – a feat made possible thanks to a stiff carbon composite structure – negates any aircon requirements.

With its deep carbon boards and tall carbon rig the HH44 is a powerful, reactive animal to sail. However, it’s the incorporation of the first parallel hybrid electric drive units which really makes this high tech high performance cat stand out. The electric motors are attached to the aft end of conventional diesel engines, not only providing silent power, but renewable energy through regenerative drives while sailing.

Best catamaran and multihull 2023

Best catamaran winner – Nautitech 44

If the very best catamaran delivers the ideal comfort to performance compromise, here’s a catamaran that seems to strike the perfect balance.

For those who cite a lack of visibility and protection as reasons not to choose this aft helm route, try sailing this first – direct steering brings so much more helming pleasure that you get the enjoyable feeling and communication more associated with a monohull. The attention to keeping weight low and central, vacuum infused vinylester build and a low coachroof and boom all aid this performance. The fine entry Lombard-designed hulls allowed us to properly point upwind at 8 knots (in 13), but it was the hands-on steering sensation that really stayed with me.

While there’s no real inside/outside boundary – the saloon bridges both – the Chedal-Anglay interior design works well. It is not as voluminous as some, but is certainly enough to be smugly comfortable at anchor, finished to a good quality, with walnut Alpi trim as standard. The layout option for a ‘smart room’ office/laundry/bunk room or stowage cabin is indeed really smart.

Out of all the multihulls nominated or sailed last year, this cat impressed me the most under sail. It’s the ideal size to go distance sailing, with good performance, low draught and space for family and friends. It had me dreaming.

Balance 482

I was drawn to the Balance 482, thanks to the combination of good looking modern design, high average speeds and, chiefly, the profusion of clever thinking and practical ideas that it brings. The South African build uses a foam core with E-glass laminate and cored furniture for a light weight of 11.3 tonnes, but also with the ability to take a generous payload.

An electric furler option combined with screecher sail helps offer effortless handling and fun sailing, although the 482 prefers a breeze in the double figures. Smart options such as load cells on the rigging, a bowsprit camera to monitor the anchor chain, plus engine room and mast cams all help for maintaining vigilance. Other features we like include the solar panels properly installed on raised brackets, raincatchers built into the coachroof, and how all sheets and lines are led to the helm station. But the prize solution is the VersaHelm, which allows you to swing the wheel inboard, close off the helm station, and stand watch and steer from a fully protected position.

Catana Ocean Class

The Catana Ocean Class is a bulky model which is geared more towards creature comforts than the higher performance of its predecessors. That said, it uses carbon in the structure and roof, foam cored furniture, the tanks are mounted low in the hulls and it has daggerboards and fine entry bows. The weight savings help it offer a massive 5.5 tonne cruising payload, plus there’s capacious stowage and large tank, refrigeration and laundry capacity.

Positioned between Lagoon and Outremer, the Catana echoes a bit of its sister brand Bali’s concept with its internal cockpit-cum-saloon layout while providing good ventilation via large sliding doors and opening windows. We liked how it’s easy to handle solo from one helm station, including the electric remote control of the boards, plus the layout of the galley and navstation.

C-Cat 48

Those chasing speed and helming pleasure should perhaps look to the C-Cat 48, as it’s as close to helming a fast monohull as a cruising cat is likely to get and one of the rare times we enjoyed sailing upwind in light breezes on a multihull! This is largely thanks to a lightweight, stiff build – the Comar yard has managed to save 1.7 tonnes over the first boat (9.5 tonnes light) and increased the draught of the curved daggerboards to 2.95m.

A carbon roof and rig comes as standard, as well as an epoxy hull, full carbon deck, bulkheads and compression beam. It is a little quirky with comparatively small volumes, but this François Perus design will outperform most other performance cats and monohulls of a similar length.

Excess 14

The Excess 14 shares that direct sensation you get from aft helms and some of the performance of the C-Cat, but in a more balanced, voluminous layout for cruising. The Excess 14 benefits from the research of VPLP’s Vannes racing office, where attention was focused on weight reduction, with savings particularly in furniture, on improved stiffness (PET foam cored sandwich for main structural bulkheads), and the efficiency of deeper fixed keels.

The result is telling on the water, as it should be for any best catamaran contender, where you can log easy miles: we clocked late 7s upwind, reached in the late 8s and regularly averaged 9 knots with gennaker in 12-15 knots. Clear glass windows give acceptable visibility from the helms through the coachroof and the comparatively minimalist interior. In short it offers a good mix of volume, reasonable performance and enjoyable sailing – see our full review last month.

Sailing performance was another key facet in the battle of the big cats from the big cat yards, Lagoon and Fountaine Pajot. Both models offer luxurious amounts of space for home from home comfort, as watersports bases for long term cruising.

Lagoon 51

The decision to push the mast to the front of the coachroof to allow for a larger genoa than its recent preference for self-tacking jibs has paid off on the Lagoon 51. It helped us sail efficiently into the waves (albeit not pointing too high) before clocking double figures reaching with the code sail in 15 knots.

The Lagoon’s large flybridge with dual access is a USP at this size that will be a hit or miss deal breaker for many. The 51 offers unrivalled accommodation volume in three, four or six cabins, and relaxation zones, and good circulation through these big spaces. Once again the jury applauds Lagoon for thoroughly testing the prototype model during a six month tour. Over 100 have already sold.

Aura 51

We saw in our December issue how the experienced owners of the Fountaine Pajot test boat choose to live and work full time aboard their Aura 51. It’s a design that promotes space, enough to take friends, family and crucially for them, all the toys to enjoy at anchor. Its capability of averaging 8-10 knots also appeals, although the single side helm and hydraulic steering result in scant connection to the sailing in light winds (the same applies to the Lagoon).

The fact the yard already offers this in a hybrid version and has an electric and hydrogen model in the pipeline could sway some, but the decision between the FP and the Lagoon will likely come down to preference between a central flybridge or offset bulkhead helm together with interior design and layout.

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What do you do when you have yachts that are as diverse as innovative daysailers, a lake sportsboat, a recyclable one-design and an elite high-end carbon weapon? Well at the European Yacht of the Year Awards, we define them as specialist yachts. And this year’s eclectic bunch of nominess for the best special yacht really were full of interesting new ideas.

Where other categories in the awards such as the best family cruisers, best bluewater yachts, or best luxury yachts are made up of boats that are similar in terms of their usage the best specialist yachts category has a plethora of options, all of which have found a new, interesting or otherwise noteworthy design direction.

In 2025 the nominees were formed from a trio of dayboats, which are unique and very different from each other, providing an appetising mix. Both the Tofinou and the Sunbeam fit into a modern daysailer bracket, the Bay Cruiser being more a small cruising yacht which is also simple and light to tow.

Best specialist yacht 2025 – Bay cruiser 21

There is an increasingly small choice of new entry-level yachts, but Swallow Yachts has produced a multifaceted beauty here. Attractive and seaworthy, with space to host friends or for a couple to weekend aboard, the Bay Cruiser 21 also offers engaging performance, shoal draught and easy towing ability.

The generous cockpit has deep coamings and a protective coachroof without impairing vision from the helm. A lightweight carbon mast and boom, Dyneema standing rigging and halyards and water ballast all come as standard to help with weight, power, stability and speed of rigging. At just 600kg the Bay Cruiser 21 is light enough to tow easily behind a normal car and can be rigged in minutes. In fact, we timed designer Matt Newland doing it alone – 31 minutes from arriving under sail to driving home!

We sailed it empty in light winds, relying on just the 25kg of lead ballast in the swing keel. An electric or hand pump is used to add the water ballast when in more breeze, flooding the single tank in the bilges to provide 400kg extra stability.

It then offered dry, double-digit surfs the following day in strong winds (extra purchase for the mainsheet would help though).

We liked the focus on balance and stability. The 6hp outboard is mounted forward in the cocckpit to help centralise weight, which also means the prop thrust is directed over the rudder blade. The swing keel and kick-up rudder setup also means you can dry out easily too.

The interior is compact compared to the cockpit, yet provides a comfortable seated area, enough room to sleep two and a dedicated space for a chemical heads.

In an age where new entry-level yachts are almost obsolete (and all cost six figures), this is a proper little cruiser which offers so much for the price: light weight, easy sailing performance, in a classic shape with a generous, protected cockpit and a weekendable interior. And you can tow it anywhere and rig it in minutes. For those who worry about the future of sailing, check out this Welsh yard. A unanimous hit among the jury and a standout yacht of the year.

Tofinou 7.9

Tofinou, a long term specialist in daysailing, has continued its spirit and neoclassic style of the 9.7 with this 7.9. Now the smallest in its range, it’s very much a pure design with modern lines designed for the pleasure of a few hours warm weather sailing.

The standard boat comes engineless. You can choose a 20hp diesel, or ours had a Temo 3kW electric drive with 1.7kW batteries (€13,000 extra). My favourite feature is the iroko tiller with the throttle neatly integrated into its end.

The forward benches are convertible to allow four to sit around a table, while below decks is simply a V-berth. An infused hull with PVC foam keeps weight to 1,200kg and it uses 1.7m fixed or 1.9m retractable keels with twin rudders.

The backstay-less square top main provides grunt and the 7.9 heels easily, but the helm felt relatively heavy during our trials, a bit neutral and lacking the sporty feel its looks suggest.

Sunbeam 29.1

Meanwhile Austrian yard Sunbeam has brought out another bold design in the 29.1. It calls it a ‘daysailer+’ thanks to its generous and practical interior. A swing keel (0.85-1.85m) allows for sailing on shallower lakes, while its 2.5m beam and 2.3 tonne weight enables trailering.

The heads compartment and pantry area are optional extras, built in modules to reduce the standard price. The electric 4kW drive is standard however.

Perhaps it is best suited to lakes though, as I found it tender and uncomfortable to sail in the testing conditions we had off Kiel. In sharp waves and a Force 4-5 it heeled steeply even with two reefs. The benches are too far apart for the helmsman to brace to windward and the open transom felt unnerving. In short, it’s a clever-looking design but for calmer waters (I noted as the Bay Cruiser was having a blast nearby!)

Best specialist yacht 2024 – Saffier SE 24 Lite

Surely the hardest task is to exemplify the very best of what you do within the smallest model you can? Yet that is what today’s king of daysailers Saffier has achieved with its Se 24 Lite. And it’s enough to secure a fifth EYOTY award for this Dutch yard.

Modern hull shape, with flat underwater sections (particularly aft) combines with high form stability for a fast ride. A reverse bow brings more volume (and waterline length), while chines provide the rigidity for less weight. The result is easy speeds and addictive sailing, whether harnessing the lightest puffs or in full double digit planing mode in the stronger stuff. The distinctly low freeboard may mean there’s little in terms of ‘what’s below’, but it’s worth it for the dinghy-like sailing experience.

A simple boat to manage, whether rigging, sailing, or maintaining, the Se 24 is also very smart – including being an electrically driven boat which uses a single 24V system, charged via solar integrated into the deck. The instruments are all wireless, while a single point lift makes launching easy.

Like the very best yachts, the Saffier Se 24 Lite looks good, is a joy to sail and puts a grin on your face.

Cape Cod 767

The Cape Cod 767 is just the kind of delightful niche French daysailer the EYOTY programme helps uncover. It’s a 25ft modern trailable dayboat packed with fresh thinking, yet from a traditional Bordeaux yard which builds classic style craft.

Innovative features include the kick up rudder, a retractable mechanism for the electric drive, a pop up cockpit table, and folding backrests – it’s like something from a Transformers movie. And there are neat details such as removable Seasmart deck fittings for attaching fenders etc, even a cup holder in the tiller. It can also beach easily thanks to a 350kg hydraulic lift keel, which raises up from 1.8m in 20 seconds.

Beneath the sun bed on the flush foredeck is a V-berth for two, which helps explain the full sections forward. But the reverse bow also helps provide enjoyable sailing, whether short-tacking or gennaker reaching. Reactive and sporty, it lacks some security under sail and on deck, but the Cape Cod is a fun dayboat which offers space and comfort at anchor.

Pointer 30

The Pointer 30 is a more authentic-style daysailer from a specialist Dutch yard which has built over 2,000 open dayboats in its 70 years. It wanted a high quality, attractive yacht with a large cockpit and good sailing capabilities. This is achieved in a shape which goes well to weather, while there’s also space below decks for a proper toilet, a V-berth and quarter berths for overnighting. This interior, with its wonderful revolving chairs, fridge and chart table, helps give it a small yacht feel.

The Pointer sails as it looks – modest and handsome – and is easily managed from the deep, sheltered, long cockpit. The standard boat comes with tiller, an L-shape keel and double rudder for shoal draught. Two large 48V lithium batteries can give four hours motoring at 4.5 knots with an optional Torqeedo, or a Yanmar diesel can be chosen.

Flaar 24

Two interesting new specialist small race boats, aimed at totally different markets and waters, include the Sun Fast and the Flaar 24. The Flaar 24 is a lightweight carbon composite one-design sportsboat (750kg), with a bulb-less lift keel for lake sailing and racing. There are four berths within a bright interior with seated headroom and a chemical toilet.

Easy to launch and trailable, it’s a high-powered, slippery design with plenty of sail area. A carbon mast rigged with diamond shrouds, a large genoa and long extendable bowsprit all help boost performance.

Quick to plane, it’ll be a blast on flat water. That said, we found it quite tender and easy to overpower at sea, with a slightly cramped cockpit. Reasonable value for its carbon build, it includes a smart electric actuator which raises the keel at the push of a button, while the transom-hung rudders can be raised and locked at the height of the lifted keel.

Sun Fast 30

Much has already been said about the Sun Fast 30 (YW December), an ambitious project which aims to make offshore sailing more fun, accessible and sustainable. Of those key targets it’s the latter I found most interesting.

The Beneteau Group did impressive research into the use of Arkema’s thermoplastic resin (which has similar properties to polyester) as a more sustainable material because it can be separated from the fibre after use and reused. The result is the first production yacht built from recyclable composite materials. The hull is monolithic, the deck infused sandwich using PET foam.

The group’s strong knowledge of Figaro one-design builds and weight management, together with that of builder Multiplast, is telling. On the water this is a super playful, reactive lightweight racer, which goes surprisingly well upwind (for its scow shape) and is, naturally, very well set up for short-handing. The mainsheet and traveller are to hand of the tiller, you can clutch off the runners, cleat off the sheets and cross-sheet most lines.

The offset companionway creates space for a pit winch (note singular winch though) and there’s plenty of grip in the cockpit and on the foredeck. The minimalist interior simply includes pipe cots, a head, small sink and large chart table. It’s also spacious with 1.9m headroom.

A strict one design rule helps cap spending, banning the likes of laminate/3Di sails. However, typically this will cost €200,000 ready to sail – and while not what we might consider affordable, it’s an enticing offshore-ready one-design package (that’s around €100,000 less than the SF3300 for example).

Shogun 43

Conversely, affordability is not what the Shogun 43 is about, but what a fascinating and cool project this is nonetheless! The young Oscar Södergren’s design is a fast cruiser created for short-handed sailing but that can race fully crewed. Built by Linjett, the long established family yard which won an EYOTY award last year for its own cruising yacht, it is ‘free of rules and budget constraints’ – which translates to high-end spicy fun.

It is deliberately sleek, narrow and lightweight for short-handing, and feels it below decks, despite the three-cabin layout. But the open plan design is inviting and clever, made possible by a very stiff hull structure, with deck join at the coachroof line. This results in a rigid shell, with less dependency on bulkheads, and no unnecessary weight.

The timber clad flax fibre interior has a Divinycell core, with carbon used for structural parts (the interior only weighs around 350kg of the yacht’s 6.5 tonnes). The hull, deck, rudders and even keel blade are also all carbon – the latter you could lift by hand, even though it’s 2.7m and carries a 3-tonne bulb!

The mast is stepped far aft, behind the keel, allowing for a large self tacking jib and staysails. The test boat had the full hydraulic package, including mast deflector. On the water it proved really sporty. I like the deck layout, in particular the Karver winches for grinding in sheets and backstays, while a 2-speed high powered Seldén prototype winch on the coachroof manages the halyards. Definitely one to view… look out for more on the Shogun soon.

Best specialist yachts 2023

Best specialist yacht 2023 – Ecoracer 25

Behold a reusable, recyclable competitive sportsboat. If a ‘garage project’ such as this can successfully prove the use of more sustainable materials, such as thermoplastic resins, linen fibre, basalt and recyclable carbon are a viable solution for boatbuilding, there’s no excuse why mainstream production yards shouldn’t already be employing them! 

While most fibre-reinforced boats are destined for landfill, here the composites can be separated from the resin after immersion in a solvent, to make reusable composite products. Even the 4T Forte OneSails are recyclable. 

It’s the product of a group of friends who trialled the techniques and materials by first building an Optimist. Matteo Polli drew these sportsboat lines for them and a year later they were exhibiting at the Genoa Boat Show. 

This is an on-trend one-off racer, which at 1.1 tonnes and 2.7m beam can be towed when tilted and takes one hour from crane to sailing. It’s so much fun to sail, even in the lightest puffs, and won the ORC sportsboat class on Lake Garda on its debut season. A shame it’s only a prototype, but the future looks bigger and brighter for this startup brand Northern Light Composites, with a 30ft version going into production.

Ace 30 plywood IRC racer

The Ace 30 may look a little uneasy on the eye to many, however others (including Fireball sailors perhaps) will be drawn to its purposeful lines, stiff construction and innovation. This is the first scow for IRC racing and short-handed events. It’s also a blast to sail, a 2.7 tonne lightweight flyer, which boasts rapid acceleration. 

Curves and contours are worked into the scow bow to help reduce slamming and provide rigidity to the bow sections. It has a very stable hull shape powered by a raked carbon rig, which, when in 15+ knots wind (cue full planing), is faster than its competitors, says designer and La Rochelle builder Antoine Mainfray. We found the trick is not to pinch upwind and sacrifice a bit of angle, where it maintains high average speeds. 

The Ace has a low IRC rating and is really well set up for trimming. A neat feature is the canting chart plotter screen, mounted on a long arm so it can be swung to comfortable angled seats either side. We also appreciate the eco-focussed construction, which involves a plywood epoxy shell, foam core from recycled PET and laminations in bio-sourced resin. It’s all wonderfully French but not cheap (see our January issue for more). 

Astus 22.5 trailerable trimaran

For those after easy sailing and easy speeds, a trailable trimaran can be a cost effective solution for daysailing and weekend cruising. VPLP has given the Astus 22.5 a modern look with go-faster wave-piercing floats. An infusion hull and lightweight manual centreboard makes for a light boat at 800kg including engine, while two people can rig and launch it in two hours. 

The Astus is sporty yet simple, offering easy planing. It has a double berth, camping stove and chemical toilet, but it’s a little cramped and basic with no real comfort for the price.

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Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

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Would you like a drink?” asks Fiona, one of the crew of Outremer 52 Inez V. Even if you’ve only just stepped aboard, as I have, you know you could probably ask for a cappuccino or a mojito jangling with ice, and it would be no problem. The enormous freezer and shiny coffee machine are right there in the saloon.

The galley opens to the cockpit, there are seating areas inside and outside, a cooling breeze comes through the forward saloon windows. Inez V is as spacious and comfortable as a small apartment, but one with a permanent view of the harbour, the sea or a tropical anchorage. The question I’ve come to ask – why a multihull? – simply answers itself.

Richard Border and his partner Alex Mathisen from Vancouver took delivery of their new Outremer 52 in 2023. They are long-time sailors and have a Mark Mills-designed C&C 30 racer they keep at home. Border’s plan to exit his business in actuarial consulting included buying a boat they could cruise and live aboard afterwards, and for that they chose a catamaran.

Four years ago, to test the concept, they chartered a Lagoon 45 in Greece and helped deliver a Lagoon 42 from Les Sables d’Olonne to Gibraltar. “We had 20-30 knots off the Portuguese coast and we were able to sit down to a meal of roast lamb and red wine in our T-shirts, where in a monohull we’d have had foul weather gear on,” says Border. That convinced them.

After a year in the Med getting familiar with Inez V, I met them at the start of the 2024 ARC transatlantic rally. Next they plan to join the Grand Large World Rally, spending three-and-a-half years circumnavigating, “and then we will sell the boat,” Border says.

Outremer 52 Inez V. Photo: James Mitchell/World Cruising

Nearby is Petr Deuchner, the professional skipper of an enormous-looking Australian-flagged Fountaine Pajot Samana 59. It is Deucher’s second Atlantic crossing in this model of catamaran.

“If you want adventure or speed, or are racing, buy a monohull,” he says. “If you want comfort and safety and a boat for different ages on board, get a multihull. For this [kind of sailing], I really like a multihull,” he says.

Having conquered the realm of yacht charter, catamarans are transforming the experience of ocean voyaging. This has been accelerated by the reach of YouTubers selling the lifestyle, such as ex-monohullers Sailing La Vagabonde and others.

The case that catamarans are inherently less safe for ocean crossings and round the world voyages has been comprehensively scotched by their testimonies. Places they aren’t suited to, such as high latitudes and regions with cold, rough or volatile weather, are not that high on most families’ sailing agenda anyway.

The Inez V crew plan a three-and-a-half-year circumnavigation. Photo: James Mitchell/World Cruising

The rise and rise of multihulls, mostly French- or South African-built catamarans, is well reflected by entries in rallies. For many new owners, the ARC transatlantic is the first step away from the Mediterranean. This year, over a third of the rally boats were multihulls.

“I get the impression that the owners are younger and a bit more family friendly,” says Paul Tetlow, managing director of World Cruising Club. Overall the ARC appears to be attracting more mid-life sailors in their 40s or early 50s – a sign of increasing affluence and earlier financial independence.

Plenty of room

Professional navigator and racing sailor Mike Broughton is at the end of the same dock, about to go transatlantic with a charter group in Jack, a highly desirable looking carbon composite McConaghy MC75 catamaran. A Royal Yacht Squadron ensign flutters at the stern.

With its huge saloon and flybridge helm stations with race car-style seats, this is a sailing superyacht experience in a sub-24m package. “The rules are so much less restrictive, and you have much more living space than with a 30m boat,” Broughton points out.

The downsides? “It doesn’t do such deep downwind angles, doesn’t go upwind so well and is a bit slower in light winds, but in 16-17 knots [of apparent wind] we’re much faster, and as soon as you reach 18, we are doing 20 knots.

Catamarans galore in the Marina Las Palmas in the lead up to the ARC start.
Photo: James Mitchell/World Cruising

“The sail plan is very, very good: a big square top main, big Code 0 and a genoa and staysail. We have amazing line speed [on the winches] at the push of a button. We have a lot of privacy in the two hulls and lots of little areas to read, write, talk to people.” With plenty of room for the 12 crew, they are also about to have “a very cushty watch system,” he smiles.

By offering life at less of an angle than a monohull, multihulls are particularly ideal for families with small children, friends not so at ease on boats, or anyone with a mobility issue or a disability. Toronto businessman Axel Doerwald has a spinal cord injury, so a multihull was the only practical option. He’d begun looking into buying a cruising yacht in 2016, having done “a little local sailing with friends on Lake Ontario. But I didn’t know a lot, and I didn’t know what I was getting myself into,” he says.

He began looking at new build options but found that either the helm positions of production designs were inaccessible to him and/or the builders were unable to modify moulds to make access through the cockpit wide enough for a wheelchair. A chance meeting with a US broker linked him up with South African builders Vision. They were trying to sell hull No1 of their 444 model and were happy to accommodate modifications.

Article continues below…

Outremer 52 review: Exclusive 200-mile test

They seem preternatural, our navlight giving the dolphins an oily reflection as they launch like dark green torpedoes in unison…

£1,051,510.00

Sailing La Vagabonde explain their multihull criteria

Over the last seven years Riley Whitelum and Elayna Carausu have advanced from novice sailors to logging more ocean miles…

Doerwald has since sailed 25,000 miles – his maiden voyage was the 6,500 from South Africa to Grenada via St Helena and Ascension islands. He requires crew with practical skills to go sailing. He took on two German sailors for the transatlantic crossing and pays for this.

“Trying to manage on my own is not realistic or safe. I can helm and I can trim sails, but I can’t lower the dinghy, I can’t go to the gooseneck or cope if something goes wrong. I need crew to fix things. That comes down to money. Buying a boat is only one part of the equation.”

Costs of ownership

Multihull manufacturers are building boats at a rate that a global marina infrastructure historically configured for monohulls is struggling to adapt to and accommodate. To take the example of the ARC again, a decade ago it was full at 225 boats. Now the rally is maxed out at 175 because multis need either two finger pontoon berths, stern-to space with ground lines, or a hammerhead.

Pre-rally essential checks. Photo: James Mitchell/World Cruising

“Exponential supply is out of kilter with the present berthing mix, especially in the western Med,” says Paul Tetlow.

Richard Border couldn’t take his Outremer 52 back to Vancouver even if he wanted to. “There’s no place we could berth it, as far as I’m aware,” he says. “The waiting list [for a suitable berth] is years long.” In the Med, there is a race for stern-to moorings, and in Greece the Borders had to anchor near popular harbours so they could grab a spot the next morning as soon as the occupants left.

Then there’s the expense. “A lot of places you’re paying by the square metre, superyacht prices on the basis of beam, and it varies a lot. In Croatia, we were paying €300 a night. In Turkey it was more expensive for a month than in La Grande Motte [France] for four months. Prices ranged from €60 a night to €290.

“We were quoted €790 for a night in a marina in Barcelona during the America’s Cup,” he recalls. “We didn’t take it!”

Multihulls also face restricted yard and haul out facilities. The investment needed for a big lift is massive. There was nowhere suitable in the Canary Islands until this autumn when Rolnautic Varadero in Las Palmas opened a new 8,500 tonne hoist, at a cost of €6m. Further afield on the ‘milk run’, options for wide beam haul outs are sparse. Paul Tetlow points out: “It is definitely a problem above 45ft. Facilities are few and far between and this would need careful investigation.”

For all these reasons, multihulls must spend a majority of their time actively cruising or at anchor, and be self-sufficient to do so.

Stephane Gautier’s Excess 14 Ikigai sets off at the ARC start. Photo: James Mitchell/World Cruising

Owners need to factor some extra costs, such as servicing and maintaining two engines. Mark Billings does not see this as an outright downside. He bought his Fountaine Pajot Elba 45 earlier this year and his ultimate aim is to go through the Panama Canal to the Sea of Cortez.

“If you are doing a service on one engine, doing the second is trivial,” he argues, “and the thing is we have redundancy of engines and rudders.”

Axel Doerwald says he budgets $200,000 annually to cover maintenance, insurance, marina fees, crew fees, spares, fuel and provisioning.

“Maybe it could be $150,000 or less if you’re able-bodied and handy, but if you need people with experience to help, it’s expensive. Casual crew won’t be able to fix things and the quality of crew is something I’m happy to pay for and it gives me peace of mind.”

Doerwald has had good experiences getting crew through FindaCrew.net, selecting people following video calls.

Mark Billings’s Fountaine Pajot Elba 45 My Cherie Amour. Photo: James Mitchell/World Cruising

The costs of new boats have risen sharply in the last few years. There is uncertainty among owners about what they will get back when they sell. “We won’t know the actual ownership cost until we sell it,” says Richard Border. “Since we ordered, the same boat is 30-35% more, and if you order an Outremer now, you won’t get it until 2028. I’m hoping that will keep demand up. But it all depends on the state of the economy.”

“You have to accept that if you think you’re getting into this as an investment, it’s a pipe dream. And you’re on the hook to maintain it,” says Axel Doerwald. “I think potentially you will spend more than with a monohull and you’re paying twice the mooring fees, the insurance costs are higher, the ongoing maintenance is somewhat higher.”

Where next?

Based on World Cruising’s data, Paul Tetlow estimates that, after crossing the Atlantic, “25% will go through the Panama canal, 25% or more will remain in the Caribbean for more than a season (staying south), under 25% will go north to the US, and the balance will return to Europe.”

Catamarans now make up more than a third of all boats taking part in the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers. Photo: James Mitchell/World Cruising

Sailing back to Europe is often done by owners with delivery crews, or by a delivery skipper. Shipping back is very expensive – supposing owners can get a place on a ship. “I’ve looked at shipping back [from the Caribbean to the Mediterranean],” says Billings, “and it would cost $40,000. Which is actually cheaper than preparing for this,” he adds, “when you account for all the extra equipment for this, flights for crew, etc. But that’s if we can find a ship; there can be years of a wait. It will be years before we can go back.”

These practical and financial considerations are some of the issues would-be owners need to weigh up. Yet for more and more buyers, the stability of a multihull, the space and the privacy win out many times over. It is easy to see yourself there, kicking back in Virgin Gorda with that galley-made mojito or cappuccino.

Invested in their own choice, the owners we spoke to are enthusiastic advocates. “You can’t argue the greater comfort,” Axel Doerwald concludes, “and if you have sufficient discretionary income, it’s a no-brainer.”

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Yacht design continues to advance quickly, as evidenced by the leap in performance made by the current generation of IMOCA 60s compared to just four years previously. The same is true among cruising designs and the Nautitech 48 Open also represents a big step forward, with hull shapes refined compared to those of the Nautitech 44 that was launched only three years ago. This simultaneously boosts performance while also improving handling and safety.

One of the key design aims was to improve performance at typical moderate sailing speeds of around 8 knots, which was achieved by modifying the rocker profile of the bottom of the hull, especially towards the transom. At the same time the bows are 10cm above the static loaded waterline, which helps the boat to turn more easily, both at sea and when manoeuvring in harbour. High aspect ratio rudders mounted almost right aft also help in this respect.

This boat has a very direct feel to the helm and in many ways it’s more like a monohull to steer, even if the difference that small tweaks to sail trim make is not as easy to notice. It’s also notable that very little speed is lost in tacks and in this respect the boat handles more like a good monohull than a traditional catamaran with immersed forefoots.

Relatively narrow hulls, below and above the waterline, give faster sailing and a smoother motion. Photo: Nautitech

In fact, spinning the boat as quickly as possible in a tack is the best option, even if that feels counterintuitive, especially to a yacht sailor. When executed neatly boat speed drops remarkably little.

The aft helm positions and open concept also make steering a much more sociable occupation than with a raised helm position. The downsides are that these positions lack protection and visibility is not as good, particularly past the coachroof. In one sense this is little different to a monohull with a blind spot under the jib, but can take some getting used to and even then will never have universal appeal.

Still, it should be no surprise that the Nautitech 48 Open has potential to maintain high average speeds on passage. In 12 knots of true breeze, with a 125m2 furling gennaker set, we made just over 10.5 knots with the true wind just aft of the beam, and 9 knots in slightly more breeze but deeper angles between 110° and 120°.

Performance dipped slightly to 7 knots when the true wind dropped to 10 knots. This was with the Code 0, rather than an asymmetric spinnaker, all of which points to easy 200-plus mile days when on passage.

Lombard’s reverse sheer and modest freeboard produce a powerful look. Photo: Nautitech

Design secrets

Another design aim for the Nautitech 48 Open was to improve both handling and safety by inducing the bows to lift further at higher speeds. This reduces the chances of burying a bow when sailing downwind in boisterous conditions, which in turn reduces any tendency for the bows to steer the boat into a broach.

This additional lift is mostly achieved by tweaking the rocker shape of the underside of the hull towards the transoms, with a little help from U-shaped underwater sections near the bow. Lionel Huetz of the Marc Lombard Yacht Design Group told me neither of these changes are extreme, so the modified bow shape doesn’t promote slamming in a head sea, while drag at the transom that would put a brake on acceleration is not increased at moderate speeds.

Article continues below…

“What we’ve done is a combination of starting with the bows slightly raised,” Huetz told me, “which means the hull shape doesn’t need to generate a lot of lift. Aft of that the key is to have the correct rocker shape underneath, but without adding too much rocker, because that adds drag at medium speeds and stops the boat accelerating.”

The result of these changes is that turbulence at the transoms of the Nautitech 48 Open disappears at speeds over 10 knots, when the stern wave is left behind in a manner that has similarities to a monohull planing.

There’s still plenty of space for cruisers to relax and spend long periods aboard. Photo: Andreas Lindlahr/EYOTY

Frustratingly, we didn’t have enough wind to see this under sail, but in light airs and the twin 75hp Volvo Penta diesel engines running at 3,100rpm we made an impressive 11.3 knots of boat speed. At that speed the stern wave was well behind the boat and the front metre of each hull airborne, with the bows roughly 30cm above the water. This will clearly be advantageous when sailing downwind VMG angles in a big breeze.

At the other end of the scale, performance in very light airs has long been an excellent test of a thoroughbred design. Our test boat had an 89m2 Code 0 designed for tight sheeting angles and upwind use, allowing us to sail at apparent wind angles of 30° in 3-6 knots of true breeze. Impressively for a boat with a light displacement of 13.5 tonnes, our boat speed almost equalled the true wind speed in these conditions, and the helm still retained its very precise feel.

The test Nautitech 48 Open also had a very high aspect ratio self-tacking jib, which makes for wonderfully easy handling.

The funky-shaped wheels are, in Nautitech fashion, mounted right aft for direct steering. Photo: Andreas Lindlahr/EYOTY

A more efficient 64m2 overlapping sail is offered as an option, which might reduce the need to carry the upwind Code 0, leaving a furling gennaker, plus an 18m2 asymmetric spinnaker handled with a sock, as options that would give an efficient all-round sail inventory without having to carry too many individual sails.

Huetz also says the overlapping headsails give a perfect sail plan downwind in a big breeze when combined with two reefs in the main.

Safe speeds

During initial sea trials off the Atlantic coast of France, the first Nautitech 48 Open notched up 20 knots boat speed sailing at a 120° true wind angle and 20-25 knots of breeze in 4m waves. I’m told the boat was very easy to steer, even using the pilot, but still with the option to play the waves and have a lot of fun.

This may sound alarming to those accustomed to a more sedate pace while cruising, but a 120° true wind angle gives lots of scope to bear away and massively reduce the apparent wind speed, thereby calming everything down if necessary.

Long hull windows give lots of light and opportunity for views from the cabins. Photo: Nautitech

Equally, heel stability increases with the fourth power of the size of a boat and becomes enormous once a catamaran reaches this length, so risk of capsize is a fraction of that of a 40ft boat in similar conditions. Indeed, this effect is so marked Huetz tells me that above 50ft it’s routine not to engineer the masts of cruising catamarans to take the full rig loads that would be needed to capsize the vessel, as to do so would require an unfeasibly heavy and cumbersome spar.

The design team also analysed the likely benefits of daggerboards for this boat, instead of the relatively deep fixed keels that have been fitted to Nautitechs to date. They concluded that, when compared to efficient keels with a proper aerofoil cross-section, the benefits of daggerboards were too marginal to be worth the extra build cost, loss of interior space and added complexity when tacking and gybing.

Deeper keels than usual for a catamaran of this size also allows for more efficient higher aspect ratio rudders, which has a direct impact on the feel of the helm. Steering is by cable, with the pilot directly attached to the port quadrant, so it’s available immediately for steering in the event of cable failure.

The 48 improves on the 44’s style and layout with larger cockpit, saloon and galley surfaces. Photo: Andreas Lindlahr/EYOTY

There’s also an option for a second pilot system on a completely separate network for redundancy – an important factor for those who intend to sail long distances.

Sail handling mostly takes place just inboard of the helm stations, which works well in most respects, although there’s not a direct line of sight between someone working centrally on the foredeck and another in the cockpit, for instance when hoisting a Code sail or spinnaker.

A second drawback is that lines turn through two 90º angles before reaching the clutches and winches working areas, which increases loads and friction. The mainsheet traveller runs across the beam aft of the cockpit and was easily controlled by a Harken electric Flatwinder system on our test boat, while the gennaker and asymmetric spinnaker sheet to each quarter.

Note the refrigeration space and navigation station forward. Photo: Andreas Lindlahr/EYOTY

We sailed with seven on board the Nautitech 48 Open, yet circulation of people around the saloon and cockpit areas generally proved to be very easy, with plenty of space for two or more to pass each other easily. The only exception is at the very aft end of the cockpit, where there’s little space to pass and this is also an area in which you’re working lines or steering… and changing sides in tacks and gybes.

Of course this isn’t an issue on semi-flybridge catamarans, or those with a raised helm station further forward, from which almost all sail handling can be carried out, though the Nautitech’s twin aft helm stations have other advantages.

Although little more than a decade old, Nautitech was one of the pioneers of what it calls the Open concept of blended indoor/outdoor living. This is now well established and offers a big improvement compared to older models, though while there’s a wide opening between the cockpit and saloon it’s not possible to connect the tables in two different areas together.

The Nautitech 48 Open cockpit table is offset to starboard and has a folding leaf in the middle to convert it from coffee table mode to full dining. There’s also a further seating area on the foredeck, which opens up more options for socialising space, or for added privacy when berthed stern-to.

Despite the fine entry hulls, cabins are large and bright and not impinged by daggerboards. Photo: Nautitech

Views all around

The saloon has almost 360° vision that’s interrupted only on each quarter and benefits from plenty of light, space and natural ventilation. The yard has also worked hard to reduce solar gain here and therefore keep it cooler in bright sun. So there are fewer big glazed panels overhead, while optional covers are available to keep sun off the windows. There are also opening hatches in the coachroof, plus a couple in the forward windows to maximise natural ventilation.

To starboard is a big, well-appointed galley with ample worktop space and good stowage, plus an extensive choice of refrigeration and freezer options. Seating and the saloon table are to port, with room for six people and enough for eight at a pinch. However, as mentioned, the saloon and cockpit tables can’t be connected together to accommodate a larger party.

The flexible SmartRoom adds appeal. Photo: Nautitech

The Nautitech 48 Open has a great forward-facing navigation area and watch-keeping station, while the bar-style feature at the front of the saloon that was first introduced on the 44 is a neat addition adding worktop/table space and creating a further small socialising area.

This may sound like a lot to pack into one area, even on a multihull the size of the Nautitech 48 Open, but the layout is well executed and there’s still plenty of space to move around, so it doesn’t feel cluttered.

In addition, attention to detail is impressive, both in the way the interior is put together and in items like the solid capping pieces on the joinery that will absorb knocks and bumps as the boat ages without damaging more fragile veneers.

Nautitech can accommodate a degree of flexibility on the layout in each hull, for instance in the number and configuration of the heads and shower compartments. The Nautitech 48 Open we sailed is an owner’s version with a very large forward heads area in the port hull, including room for his and hers basins, a separate shower cubicle, space for a washer-dryer and decent stowage. There’s also a dressing table with a section that pulls out to create a desk that has an outside view through the hull windows.

Another decent sized cabin. Photo: Nautitech

The test Nautitech 48 Open’s starboard hull is configured with a smallish double cabin aft and Nautitech’s so-called SmartRoom. This is a flexible concept that can be fitted out as a utility, workshop and stowage area, albeit with occasional berths.

On this boat it was set up with a settee/single berth and a small desk area with a view out through the hull window, but can be quickly converted into a double bed and there’s an additional bunk bed that swings out above it. Three children, for example, could sleep in that space if you had visitors. This hull also has large separate shower and separate toilet compartments, although the boat can be configured with up to four heads, or with a larger aft cabin.

Another important element of this boat’s performance is its relatively light displacement. Structural mouldings are vacuum infused, with a Divinycell foam core, while bulkheads are glued and bonded at key locations. There are four watertight bulkheads giving the boat a good chance of remaining afloat, even in the event of extreme damage.

Our test Nautitech 48 Open was equipped with 2kW of solar panels allied to a 1,020Ah 12V battery bank, a €40,000 option that all of the eight boats sold to date have taken. Roughly half have also specified a diesel generator, but that’s only essential if air conditioning is also specified, which is rarely chosen by those who intend to sail long distances.

To date every owner has opted for the option of 2kW solar panels and upgraded lithium batteries. Photo: Nautitech

At 300lt each the fuel tanks are of a reasonable size for long-distance sailing and spending extended periods on board, especially given the boat’s performance in light airs, and the solar/ lithium options that should all but eliminate the need to use diesel power for battery charging.

Systems appear to be very neatly installed, with easy access to pumps and filters, while all interior trim panels are clipped in place to give instant access to wiring, deck fittings and so on. The wiring of the test boat looked very neatly installed and the digital switching system has a full manual backup.

The narrow hulls give the 48 a performance profile. Photo: Nautitech

Nautitech 48 Open specifications

LOA: 14.67m 48ft 1in
LWL: 14.32m 47ft 0in
Beam: 7.97m 26ft 2in
Draught: 1.55m 5ft 1in
Displacement: 13,500kg 29,768lb
Mainsail: 93m2 1,001ft2
Self-tacking jib: 42.5m2 455ft2
Genoa (optional): 64m2 688ft2
Code 0 (optional): 89m2 958ft2
Gennaker (optional): 125m2 1,345ft2
Spinnaker (optional): 175m2 1,883ft2
Engine: 2 x D2-60 Volvo saildrive
Diesel: 600lt 132gal
Fresh water: 600lt 132gal
Air draught: (ex antennas) 23m 75ft 6in
Naval architect: Marc Lombard Yacht Design Group
Interior design: Christophe Chedal-Anglay
Base price: €999,800 ex VAT; Price as tested: €1,133,521
Builder: nautitechcatamarans.com

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Pushing fast multihulls downwind in gnarly conditions can be a hazardous business. Knowing how hard you can push, and when you need to back off, mostly comes down to experience. But it’s also down to preparation, says Pete Cumming.

“We cover a lot of miles on multihulls like Gunboats and MOD 70s, but you’ve always got to respect the fact that these boats can capsize easily and with very little notice.

“I’ll never forget the Round Ireland Race we did on Phaedo. When you’re competing with other boats, that’s when the red mist can come down.

“We looked across at [MOD 70] Oman Sail and they didn’t put a reef in, so we didn’t put a reef in, and we were just carrying too much sail and got hit by a huge gust. We released the sails but the drag meant we were blowing over and the mast was just about to touch the water when the mainsail battens reversed and somehow it just popped us upright. That was the closest ‘Get out of Jail’ I’ve experienced!

“So you need to learn when to err on the side of caution.”

Skim the windward hull

Flying the windward hull high in the air might look good in photos, but for speed and safety we want to get the windward hull just skimming above the surface.

If the windward hull is riding too high, it’s one of the warning signs that you’ve got too much sail up or you’re badly trimmed. Maybe you need to reduce sail area but before that there are other things you can do to keep the boat in control, such as easing the mainsheet traveller and pulling up the daggerboards.

Article continues below…

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Pull up the daggerboards

If you’re sailing a multihull downwind and the boat feels too loaded, pushing the bows into the back of the waves, then try pulling up the daggerboards. This is one of the most under-rated controls at your disposal. It’s much easier to vary the power by raising or lowering the boards than, say, taking a reef in or out of the mainsail or changing headsails. If the boat feels ‘trippy’ then pull the boards up some more.

The other time to pull up the boards is when you’re about to go for a big bear away, maybe around the windward mark. With boards down there’s a big risk of tripping over as the sails load up during the turn and the boat is struggling to accelerate. Pulling up the boards will make the bear away easier to execute and you’ll accelerate faster.

So boards-up can make you faster AND safer.

Photo: Paul Wyeth

Reduce sail early

I’ve learned all my offshore multihull sailing from Brian [Thompson] and one of his biggest lessons is to plan ahead and be organised very early. So if you think you’re approaching some big weather, this is when you need to reduce sail area early.

Once you hit the big conditions the boat can quickly get out of control and you’re really just a passenger. So when we see a cold front coming, we’ll get a reef in early on the mainsail, and change down a size on the headsail.

Beware the death zone

The Death Zone is the zone of power, typically between 90° to about 110° true wind direction, where it’s easy for things to get out of control quickly.

When you’re in the Death Zone the sails need to be twisted and both hulls flat to the water. Because if you have a big hull fly in this zone, no matter what you do, steering up or steering down, you’re going to have to go through an even more powerful zone. The trimmers need to be focused and ready to react because the driver doesn’t have the time or opportunity to steer out of a problem if a gust hits.

Macif Ultime trimaran in big conditions during the Brest Atlantiques. Photo: Alexis Courcoux / Brest Atlantiques

Do the ‘Mich Desj’

Sometimes you’re going to get caught out by a massive gust or squall. The first thing to remember is not to panic. When it feels like you’re running out of options to keep the boat safe, just go through your checklist. Is the daggerboard up as far as it will go? Are the sails eased enough? How much further can you let the traveller slide to leeward?

If you’ve done all that and you’re still feeling on the edge, then there is still the ‘Mich Desj’. I learned this from Brian, who learned it from Michel Desjoyeaux who worked out this manoeuvre that sounds crazy, but actually works. We’ve used it a few times in the MOD 70, when we get the daggerboard up as high as it will go, get the boat feathering almost head to wind and then pull on the jib really hard.

Slow down until you’re making between 5-10 knots towards the wind, then you smoke the mainsheet and the traveller and aggressively bear the boat away until you’re going dead downwind. The idea is to bear away at slow speed which also keeps your apparent wind low too and prevents the boat from accelerating into trouble. It’s amazing how effective it is with the jib pinned in, and once you’re borne away you’re in a better position to put another reef in the mainsail and change to a smaller headsail.

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Explore the latest in ocean cruising catamarans for 2024 with our lineup of five exceptional boats. From the eagerly awaited Seawind 1370 to the eco-conscious design of the Vann R6, each catamaran brings its own distinct features to for cruising adventures.

Seawind 1370

The market for comfortable and spacious performance multihulls continues to grow. Seawind is perhaps less well known in Europe than French brands such as Outremer, however the yard’s background as a sister company to long-standing trimaran builder Corsair effectively gives it a long history in this market.

The 1370 is a long awaited model following an extended Covid-related shut down of the Vietnam production facility. The boat won’t premiere at a show until Cannes in September, but the first seven boats are already on the water, including hull No2, Ruby Rose 2, owned by YouTubers Terysa Vanderloo and Nick Fabbri.

Article continues below…

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The 1370 is a 45-footer with lightship displacement of 12,300kg. That’s a little heavier than the Outremer 45 and HH44, for instance, but almost 5% lighter than the Excess 14. Modern reverse bows and immersed hull shapes drawn by French-based Yacht Design Collective are intended to combine high performance potential with good load carrying capacity.

Accommodation layouts are geared around the needs of long-term cruising couples and their guests. The modern interior style has ash finishes and large front-opening windows to optimise natural ventilation. A wide lifting tri-fold door aft enables the bridgedeck accommodation to be easily opened onto the aft cockpit in sunny climes, while giving protection against the elements when necessary.

Punch 1370

This range of Mortain & Mavrikios-designed lightweight cruising catamarans has its roots in the former Martinique Multicap Caraïbes yard, which built some 25 boats until 2010. A couple of years ago the designers and Christian Hernandez decided to revive the range, with construction in a new MultiCat Algarve yard, at the mouth of the Rio Guadiana in Portugal.

Red cedar strip planking and epoxy is used to create the underwater profile, while deck and topsides are of composite with a recycled Airex foam core and epoxy using 45% bioresins. The 1370 has a displacement of only 8.5 tonnes, placing it firmly at the light end of the cruising catamaran spectrum, yet it’s still designed for a payload of three tonnes. The updated rig has a square top mainsail and overlapping jib. Shallow keels are fitted, rather than daggerboards.

Lagoon 60

This full flybridge design fills a big slot that previously existed between the Lagoon 55 that was launched in 2021 and the more lavishly appointed Sixty 5. The new design’s huge aft cockpit can be fully opened out onto the water, including hull sides that hinge down like butterfly wings, creating an area even wider than the yacht’s generous 32ft beam allows. There’s also a large forward cockpit on the same level as the saloon, and with direct access, making this an ideal yacht for larger parties.

Layout options include five cabins with a bridgedeck galley, or four cabins with the galley in the port hull, accessed by its own stairs. This version also has a smaller bar area on the bridgedeck, along with a larger saloon.

As with the 55, the rig is stepped further forward than on earlier models and is fitted with overlapping headsails. Naval architect VPLP says these offer more flexibility and efficiency on a boat of this type than the near ubiquitous non-overlapping jibs of today’s yachts.

Nahoa 55

The best boats are invariably the result of considerable experience. This aluminium exploration catamaran has its roots in more than eight years and 50,000 miles of voyaging on a 2005 41ft production catamaran – and the lessons learned and problems encountered during that time. The concept was created by Ben Brehmer and Ashley Stobbart for the next stage of their voyaging life with a young family.

The result is a “focus on expedition-style comfort, reliability, and suitability for short-handed crews,” Brehmer told me. It’s a powerful hull with watertight bulkheads intended for high latitude adventures, as well as use in the tropics.

High bridgedeck clearance helps provide comfort at sea, while protection from sun and inclement weather is maximised.

All lines are led to a forward cockpit, allowing a lone watch keeper to handle the boat. The new coachroof design maximises visibility and light and gives the option to fully enclose the forward cockpit with removable glass. Although initially envisaged as a one-off, the first boat is scheduled to start build in June at a New Zealand yard that’s capable of producing multiple examples in parallel.

Vaan R6

This Dutch yard is one of a number of the multihull builders leading the way in producing yachts that can be recycled, while also making big steps towards decarbonisation.

The 58ft R6 is intended as a rugged yacht capable of taking owners anywhere between the poles and the Mediterranean. It follows 40ft and 50ft R4 and R5 models. With beam only fractionally short of 30ft, it’s a big yacht by any standards and the builders have sought to make the most of the huge volumes on offer.

There’s lofty headroom, large windows that maximise the view of the outside world and a choice of spacious seating areas. In addition to sumptuous owners and guest accommodation, there’s an optional cabin for two crew, recognising this is an important factor to recruiting and retaining crew.

This is also Vaan’s first model with twin staircases leading down from the bridgedeck into each hull. Benefits include easier circulation of people, improved privacy, and an option to have the galley in the port hull rather than on the bridgedeck.

“The Vaan core philosophy of sailing, style and sustainability of course applies again,” founder Igor Kluin tells me. “This boat is made for sailors, with clean styling and truly sustainable material use and propulsion.”

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Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

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The post 5 of the best new ocean cruising catamarans for 2024 appeared first on Yachting World.

Solo skipper Charles Caudrelier has won the Arkea Ultim Challenge Brest, the first ever solo around the world race in multihulls, on the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild giant foiling trimaran.

Caudrelier crossed the finish line off Brest, northern France this morning, Tuesday 27 February, at 0837 after 50 days and 19 hours of racing.

The Arkea Ultim Challenge Brest is the first time giant multihulls have ever been raced solo around the world head-to-head. Caudrelier is the first person ever to sail a foiling Ultim around the world solo, and in fact only the eighth ever to complete a solo circumnavigation on a multihull.

Charles Cauderlier and the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild win the Arkea Ultim Challenge Brest solo round the world race. Photo: Vincent Olivaud/Arkea Ultim Challenge

Though the race is ‘non-stop’, in the sense it has no scheduled stopovers, by the North Atlantic Caudrelier was the only skipper not to have made a technical stop for repairs. But with potentially ‘impassable’ conditions in the Bay of Biscay forecast of 7-10m waves and 50 knot winds due to Storm Louis, Caudrelier took a four-day pause in the Azores before cautiously sailing the remaining 1,200 miles to Brest to take the race win.

Caudrelier was able to stop in the Azores having built up an unassailable lead since his nearest rival Tom Laperche on SVR Lazartigue had to retire into Cape Town after a collision with an underwater object. Caudrelier and his Gitana-backed Ultim consolidated their position as front runners since January 17, at one point extending his lead to over 2,500 miles from second placed Thomas Coville on Sodebo.

The Maxi Edmond de Rothschild in Faial, Horta -t he damaged front starboard beam is visible. Photo: M. Le Roux/Polaryse/Gitana SA

Throughout the race Caudrelier revealed little about any technical problems he had experienced on the ground-breaking, and highly complex 100ft foiling trimaran. However, when he put into Faial in the Azores it became obvious that his boat had incurred damage early on, after a front section of one crossbeam had been ripped off by a wave. The solo skipper had cut a spare mainsail batten in order to rig a repair, tying it together with straps.

Cauderlier’s first round the world

Remarkably, this is Caudrelier’s first ever solo around the world race. Though Caudrelier – who turned 50 yesterday – had early ambitions to compete in a Vendée Globe, he instead began working with many top offshore teams, including joining Franck Cammas’s winning Volvo Ocean Race entry Groupama 4 as a navigator and helmsman. He then stepped up to skipper his own entry in back to back races for the Chinese Dongfeng team, winning – by the race’s closest ever margin – in 2018.

Photo: Vincent Olivaud/Arkea Ultim Challenge

In 2019 he joined the Gitana stable as co-skipper of the Maxi Edmond de Rothchild trimaran with Franck Cammas, with a long-term plan that he would skipper the enormous machine solo for each single-handed event.

With one of the longest running Ultim campaigns, a well-resourced team encompassing some of the best in the business, and a focus on banking as much sailing time as possible, the Maxi Edmond de Rothschild has long been the boat to beat. Cauderlier skippered or co-skippered the Ultim to major wins in the Brest Atlantiques, back to back Rolex Fastnet Races, Transat Jacques Vabre, and an emotional 2022 win in the Route du Rhum. 

Though he did not set a solo round the world record on this race, he did set a new benchmark for a solo Indian Ocean crossing, covering the 6,113 miles between Cape Agulhas (South Africa) and the Cape Leeuwin (Australia) in 8 days 8 hours 20 minutes and 36 seconds, at an incredible average speed of 30.7 knots.

We’ll have a full report, with the skippers’ first-hand tales from this incredible race, in the May issue of Yachting World.

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The post Caudrelier wins first ever solo round the world race in foiling Ultim appeared first on Yachting World.

A fast, fun catamaran that is safe and comfortable may once have been a pipe dream, but is now perhaps the biggest growth market in yachting. However, creating a performance catamaran at or below 45ft is no easy task. It’s an elusive sweet spot because many buyers think they want what the 50ft+ catamarans offer but in a more manageable and, crucially, affordable package.

Meanwhile from the designers’ and yards’ point of view, that’s not so easily achieved – in particular the challenge of keeping a boat light enough to perform, yet offer all the amenities expected of multihull living.

Then try building something on which you can still turn a profit? That focusses the mind. It could be argued that those meeting this challenge most creatively and effectively at the moment are HH, led by experienced boatbuilder Paul Hakes, and in particular his son James – the 44’s lead designer. They describe this new baby of their range as ‘groundbreaking’.

The HH44 seemingly combines all the latest thinking around performance and technology while also adding a liberal sprinkling of fresh ideas, including being the first production catamaran to feature parallel hybrid propulsion. And all this while still being capable of ocean cruising.

Can such a feature-rich fast cat work harmoniously at this size though? I was keen to find out. A quick first sail during European Yacht of the Year trials in the autumn provided a taster and I hope a lengthier test will follow to draw more conclusions. But it was enough to get an idea of what works, what doesn’t, and get a feel for why this model has sold in such extraordinary numbers (over 30 off the plans alone).

Fresh thinking: unlike earlier Morrelli & Melvin HHs, the 44 has been conceived and designed fully in-house by James Hakes

A speed date

First impressions are of a very modern looking fast cat, more like a 50-footer perhaps that’s been squeezed a little, with length lost out of the ends. So there’s noticeably high freeboard and good bridgedeck clearance (over 3ft). The sporty look is set off by razor sharp bows and an attractive coachroof line, which extends right back to cover the aft helms. Next up you notice the powerful carbon rig, while even from the dock you can appreciate the formidable amount of natural light being encouraged in through the massive amounts of glazing in the coachroof and hull portlights.

The choice to go with aft helms triggered other design decisions, including keeping the boom (and centre of effort) low, and allowing HH to use the whole roof for a solar array. This resulted in a market leading 4.2kW of panels as standard.

Go to step aboard and you instantly appreciate some of the innovative features. For starters, with the boat moored side-on, you can actually step aboard via a gate in the aft bulwark, rather than having to perform some sort of gymnastic hurdle onto the transom steps, as you do on most high freeboard catamarans today.

Furling headsails set on a carbon longeron. All lines are led to the cockpit. Photo: Ludovic Fruchaud/imacis.fr/EYOTY

This leads us on to one of my next favourite features: the folding transoms. Rather than the typical open transom steps that any clumsy crewmember, inquisitive child or pet can fall down and out of, the HH has lowering platforms which serve as a bathing platform, protect those aboard from falling out and, crucially, prevent a following sea from pooping the cockpit. And when you are helming from that far aft, this will be of real comfort.

Washboards are a popular option for many offshore cruising cats, but typically look like an afterthought and are used sparingly, where this is integrated into the design in a seamless fashion. Operation is also pretty neat: a line is led forward through the bulwarks to aside the helms, allowing a powered winch to be used. These lifting platforms also add extra usable space when folded down. The downside is they make the transoms look a bit high and, well, sawn off.

Smooth moves

We pulled away from the dock – in silence. The HH44 was designed from scratch to incorporate parallel hybrid propulsion. Not only do these ‘EcoDrives’ offer silent, fume-free motoring, but they can also hydrogenerate while sailing – more on that later.

Huge forward facing opening windows provide formidable through-flow ventilation to the interior. Photo: Ludovic Fruchaud/imacis.fr/EYOTY

The test boat was the more popular and expensive Sports Cruising (SC) model, which is built in carbon epoxy and features C-shape carbon daggerboards, a Marstrom carbon mast and these EcoDrives as standard – 80% of orders have been for this, while an Ocean Cruising (OC) model is also offered with a gelcoat finish, aluminium mast and fixed keels.

Swing pedestals are used each side to allow the helmsman to steer either with an outboard view or from a more protected position beneath the bimini looking through the coachroof windows. This is an increasingly common practical feature on today’s catamarans and one fitted on the first HH66 a decade ago. It also allows you to free up some space when needed. Equally the fold down helm seats each side can be kept out of the way unless needed and while these do offer a nice perch, they are a little low for maintaining clear sightlines.

Once the sails go up you can quickly see why HH has incorporated such features as there is a lot going on in these aft quarters. You find yourself regularly swinging the helm over to get it out the way to work the winches. And yet there are still blind spots from the helms with pedestals canted – a drawback of having low helms right in the quarters.

Easy side boarding access. Photo: Ludovic Fruchaud/imacis.fr/EYOTY

Sailing upwind with the Doyle square-top main and Solent set, we had a long beat into 11-15 knots true wind, making 7.5-8.5 knots against an awkward swell at 40° the apparent wind. Lining up against other yachts around us proved these were not far off performance monohull speeds and angles.

While beating into an ugly, sharp 2.5m swell is not what most owners might choose, it’s something all need to do at times and proved helpful to get a feel for the HH’s manners. It resulted in a predictably awkward twisting motion aboard, however the fine bows did cut through the swell well, keeping speed up, and the high freeboard kept the deck dry. It was also noticeably direct on the wheel and responsive to sail trim (this despite the traveller being locked in a central position after the line driver developed a problem earlier in the week).

We bore away and set a top-down gennaker, increasing average speed to 8.5-10+ knots depending on the swell angle. Again these are respectable figures considering a breeze of only around 11 knots apparent. The polars suggest double figures should be easy to maintain when reaching in anything above 12-14 knots true. I felt a clear difference in small wind increment gains. This is a stiff yacht, which reacts quickly to puffs – you really feel that extra couple of knots as the boat accelerates – while Cyclops Marine sensors help you monitor the loads in the rigging, which is reassuring.

In terms of operation the HH has been set up to be completely controlled from the helms. The upgraded, powered winches on the test boat can be remotely operated with foot controls, which is particularly helpful for short-handed work and adjusting the 5m-long daggerboards.

sporty, compact nerve centres leave good cockpit space. Single panel sliding doors, aft windows swing open and there is no mullion between them. Photo: Ludovic Fruchaud/imacis.fr/EYOTY

Moving forward the decks are a lot cleaner, thanks to all running rigging led through line tunnels underdeck (even jib sheets). Toerails and high stanchions give a good feeling of security, while comfortable, grippy Eva foam decking comes as standard all over the deck. Foam decking has been used a lot on race boats in recent years and offers an appealing solution for cruising boats as it’s so comfortable under foot, easy to clean and doesn’t get hot like teak or teak alternatives. A question mark perhaps remains over its longevity and durability.

See the light

Such is the extent of the glazing and natural light encouraged into the HH44, it’s almost as if there is no inside/outside divide. Granted, there is a particularly glossy white decor on this first model, which helps emphasise that brightness (many other colour and trim combinations are offered), but the real key lies in the size of the coachroof windows.

The SC model has carbon epoxy infused hulls with E-glass decks and foam-cored furniture, essentially a highly stiff construction technique which also allows for the two huge tempered glass opening windows. As well as an overhead and two central hatches, these massive Lewmar windows provide phenomenal ventilation at anchor.

Over 2m headroom in the particularly bright and well ventilated saloon and galley. Photo: Ludovic Fruchaud/imacis.fr/EYOTY

The bridgedeck layout is ideal to benefit from all this natural light and ventilation too, with its large forward-facing navstation and saloon, and a galley which seamlessly links to the cockpit.
In the hulls it’s a three cabin layout only, but there are some choices in the forward starboard cabin, which can be a compact double, a Pullman or a utility cabin. It’s here where you see the prime payoff of having a performance cat, with ultra fine bows and large daggerboard casings stealing precious volume.

Parallel hybrid power

The aft berths lift on struts to reveal the engine bays below. At first these look like conventional 30hp Beta marine diesels, before you notice the water-cooled electric motors bolted on their aft ends. These act as electric drives, high powered alternators and hydrogenerators.

This EcoDrive system was designed to provide the key benefits of an electric boat, without sacrificing the backup of diesel engines. So essentially, they “piggyback on reliable normal diesel engines”, says Paul Hakes. The diesels can become two DC generators, putting 10kW into the battery bank while motoring, or the props can spin to charge while sailing.

Plenty of light and headroom plus inviting doubles aft, but volume is lost forward with the fine bows. Photo: Ludovic Fruchaud/imacis.fr/EYOTY

The crew used only the electric propulsion to get the HH44 in and out of Port Ginesta multiple times per day that week. The 10kW electric motors can provide 1.5 hours propulsion at max thrust without charge – at which stage you can run a diesel. So effectively you end up having four engines, HH reasons.

The 840Ah lithium ion battery bank is large enough to run AC overnight without running an engine. High load items are on 48V while 12V systems use a DC to DC converter.

When you consider the high level of competition, such as the Balance 442, the Outremer 45 and the new Seawind 1370, the HH44 is the highest end in terms of cost and exotic build. The SC is the only one in its class to have carbon fibre hulls as standard, including carbon rig, bowsprit, daggerboards, and rudders, while the electric drives, 4.2kW of solar and 48V battery bank etc all come as standard too. I also like how HH’s price list labels every extra with its weight; so if you want full aircon in the boat, for example (a strange choice with this much ventilation), it’s a whopping 200kg extra.

43.2kWh of lithium ion 48V house batteries can be charged by solar, the diesel motor and hydrogeneration under sail. Photo: Ludovic Fruchaud/imacis.fr/EYOTY

James Hakes tells me they wanted to design the 44 in-house for multiple reasons: “It has so many new details not attempted before, and we needed very tight control over the design to execute them correctly.”

HH has “a lot of firepower to throw at design issues to rapidly iterate dozens of ideas” and needed to design it to be easy to build.

While HH’s production so far has been in Xiamen, China, the popularity of the HH44s and new HH52s is such that a new manufacturing facility is now running in Cebu, Philippines, which will help increase capacity to around 30 HH44s a year. This is also not a bad place for trial/shakedown sails or to start multihull cruising!

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The latest and largest model in Nautitech’s line up, Nautitech 48 Open, hit the water for initial sea trials in late 2023, and is the last design legendary naval architect Marc Lombard worked on before his premature death in September.

It’s also a boat with which Lombard he had a special connection, since his own yacht was a Nautitech 40 Open that he sailed across the Atlantic with his family, before basing it in Martinique.

Many of his ideas to update and improve that design are embodied in the Nautitech 48 Open. Indeed Lombard was a key driver behind Nautitech’s whole Open idea, starting with the original Nautitech 40 Open in 2013 that has since been widely imitated.

This boat seeks to move that concept forward and refine it further, improving ergonomics, living spaces and performance.

Article continues below…

Nautitech 44 Open review: space and performance?

It’s been more than six years since the Nautitech yard in Rochefort launched an entirely new design, but this Nautitech…

£602,464.00

Outremer 4X on test – a high-performance liveaboard cruiser that is built to last

It’s a mix of everything you need for cruising and what you want to feel for performance,” Loïck Peyron said…

A rigorous approach to minimising weight, including vacuum infused hull construction and infused sandwich bulkheads, is employed. Light displacement is therefore only 13,500kg, which combines with slim hulls and narrow waterline beam to promise excellent performance.

Yet, as with the other models in the range, it doesn’t have the complication – or risk of problems – associated with daggerboards. Instead, fixed keels have a modest draught of 1.55m (5ft 1in), yet performance, especially upwind and in light airs is expected to be notably better than is commonly associated with catamarans that have this style of keel.

Digital tank testing was carried out to find the right balance between the desire to minimise hull width to optimise performance and a coherent interior layout. The hull shape was then honed to give comfortable motion at sea, with reduced pitching, easy tacking across a wide range of conditions and a responsive feel to the helm.

The latter has long been a core Nautitech strength. It recognises that, even though the autopilot is likely to be used predominantly when on passage, the conditions in which helming is a lot of fun are often a key highlight of any voyage.

Four layout options range from two to four cabins, with up to four heads. All employ the Open concept that minimises the distinction between the aft cockpit and saloon. In addition to the larger space for socialising and relaxing this provides, Lombard pointed out it also “avoids excessive internal volume and unnecessary weight.”

This model also includes the optional SmartRoom first seen on the 44 that gives bluewater multihull sailors a flexible space that can be used as a workshop and laundry room with considerable additional stowage, yet can also provide a spare bedroom or office space.

Nautitech 48 Open specifications

LOA: 14.60m 47ft 9in
Beam: 7.97m 26ft 2in
Draught: 1.55m 5ft 1in
Displacement: 13,500kg 29,768lb
Mainsail: 85m2 915ft2
Self tacking jib: 42.5m2 455ft2
Base price: €898,000 ex VAT
Builder: nautitech.com

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The Yacht Club Costa Smeralda is one of the most prestigious yacht clubs in the world, its marble atrium and exclusive pool deck usually welcoming owners and crews of superyachts, Swans, and iconic classes like the Star, J-Class and TP52. But this autumn the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup, the club’s season finale, broke new ground with three catamarans given pride of place at the YCCS’s race dock.

The three different, but equally exciting, powerful big cats went on the prowl in a newly introduced multihull division within the 45-strong entry at the showcase Maxi event. Lord Irvine Laidlaw’s brand new Gunboat 80 Highland Fling 18 lined up alongside Adrian Keller’s 84ft Irens-designed Allegra (launched 2014), and the new Gunboat 68 Convexity, campaigned by Don Wilson and Suna Said.

For the record, Allegra won overall by two points from Highland Fling which missed the second, windy race due to a ‘teething gremlin’, but then won races three and four when the breeze had diminished. Convexity finished 3rd, on equal points aggregate to Highland Fling.

Highland Fling 18 is Laidlaw’s first new build multihull, after he had an interim pre-owned ‘starter’ Gunboat 68 (hull No1) in 2021-2022 while the 80 was in build. The red-hulled beast is undoubtedly the benchmark for a growing breed of Maxi Multihulls which are now starting to become more popular in Europe as well as in the Caribbean and the USA.

She’s an out-and-out racer – indeed a day racer at that. Built entirely in pre-preg carbon fibre, using the same construction methods as the VPLP Ultims and IMOCA 60s, a focus has been on keeping weight down to the absolute minimum and, more importantly, carefully distributed.

The 80-footer, which has a 33ft beam, has aircraft-grade furniture inside and further weight savings were also made in the paint and glazing technology. The Gunboat 80 has long, asymmetrical L-shaped daggerboards, the rig set slightly further back for a better overall balance.

Brand new Gunboat 80 Highland Fling 18. Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget/Rolex

The boat was only launched in July, and racing in Porto Cervo in September the crew included many longstanding Fling team members, including the likes of Jan Dekker, and Kiwi (now Newport-based) match racer Cameron Appleton. Offshore legend Loïck Peyron has had an ongoing role with the boat and sails on board as the team’s resident multihull expert, working closely alongside the owner who, as usual, steers.

By contrast, Allegra has already earned a long, successful track record offshore, including back to back class wins in the Rolex Fastnet Race. The third entry was another new Gunboat, raced at her first event by Don Wilson, who is better known for his M32 programme of the same name.

There should have been five Maxi Multis forming this inaugural class, but two did not make it for fairly exceptional reasons: CoCo de Mer, the Gunboat 66, capsized in the Round the Island Race; and Flow, a Gunboat 60, was damaged by fire in Barcelona. But the feedback from those in Porto Cervo is that next year should see somewhere between six and maybe eight big Multis racing in this class.

“I think this is only going to grow,” smiles the ever enthusiastic Paul Larsen of Allegra. “We were usually the first boats to start and we would take off and have some fantastic boat-on-boat racing, flying hulls, pushing it to the edge.”

Newly launched Gunboat 68 Convexity. Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget/Rolex

Making the transition

As the firepower increases and the multihull fleet grows, so more and more top pro sailors are making the transition to these high speed big cats.

“I was looking across at the start line and on the boat next to us there is Kinley Fowler, Taylor Canfield, Chris Nicholson, Charlie Enright all racing on one boat, that is a punchy line up of guys right there,” recalls Larsen. “And then there is Loïck [Peyron], Cameron Appleton, Jan Dekker and co on the Highland Fling and they are right here racing these multihulls, not over there on the Maxis!

“It’s great fun to be racing in that company. These guys are not paid to come second. Everyone is there with an interest in moving things forwards, and the owners have the budget to drive things forward. But while it is fun, I think Adrian [Keller, Allegra owner] is conscious of the rest of the fleet – for the other good boats we definitely don’t want to go forwards blindly and leave them behind.”

The Irens-designed Allegra has the most experience on the racecourse, here at last year’s Multihull Cup in Palma. Photo: Sailing Energy

Highland Fling tactician Cameron Appleton races everything from TP52s to RC44s and superyachts – so is not someone who is easily impressed. He has found himself doing more and more Maxi Multi racing and enthuses: “The new boat is a great evolution, it is a big step on. I did some sailing on the last boat, the Gunboat 68, and on the HH66 and other big multis. The fleet has some serious promise, without a doubt.

“For some older owners like Irvine it just has an extra comfort element. If he needs to take a break, or when we are waiting before or between racing, there is a lot of real comfort. When he is sitting inside he can see everything that is going on on the race course, nothing is obscured by any big amounts of heel. His rest is true rest for him then and that is important for him.”

Despite bringing a highly experienced crew on to the new boat, Appleton acknowledges: “We had a lot to learn. We have a lot of the original guys from the Highland Flings, we had Loïck Peyron to help in terms of set-up and speed and just the way we approached sailing, the sail configurations. He was amazing, so alive, so electric and passionate. His biggest thing was all about when you had to choose your combinations, the whole ‘low load, low drag is fast’. It’s about not trying to overpower the boat, so that if you get caught out, this is step one, this is step two, you can ride this out this way… you can get yourself in trouble with this combination but not that one…

“The importance, [Peyron] was pressing on us, is in thinking ahead. These multis load up very fast. We have the ‘UpSideUp’ system which has the Vs, the cap shrouds set with an alarm at a certain load, we have a heel angle alarm that triggers the mainsheet, and we have a mainsheet load that triggers too. So there are three safety features. We are making sure we are sailing the boat within these limits.”

Gunboat 80 Highland Fling 18. Photo: Gilles Martin-Raget/Rolex

Costa Smeralda and the confines of ‘Bomb Alley’ – as the passage through La Maddalena archipelago is known – is a very different race track to the tradewind, open, choppy waters of the Caribbean where the biggest growth in these big multihulls is.

Racing in Sardinia brings particular challenges, as Larsen notes: “Porto Cervo is typically relatively flat and so you can push the boats to 100%. You have lots of corners and roundings and odd angles that you are sailing relative to the wind so you need to have very good crossover charts for all your sails. Because you have to push the boat all of the time, you also need to have the equipment and the people to get sails up and down very quickly – that’s where you can draw big tactical advantages from having a faster winch package for faster hoists, halyard locks and so on. If you can get inside someone at a mark and come out firing you gain.”

Appleton concurs: “These boats seem to love everything. We love reaching legs. Porto Cervo was great because the setting is so dramatic. You have all these different angles, you have acceleration through Bomb Alley, all the navigational aspects and the geographical bends, but at the end of the day long windward-leewards and triangle [courses] are good too.”

Alex Thomson has been racing the Gunboat 68 Tosca. Photo: PKC Media Tosca

Fresh playing field

At the Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup the honours were shared across the different wind strengths, Allegra better in the breeze and Highland Fling better in the lighter winds. Going forward, the challenge is to fine tune the ORC Multihull rating system to ensure each has an equal chance in their less favoured conditions. Most of those asked seem to favour a multiple number system related to wind strength.

As ever, racing under different rating rules favours different styles of multihulls. On the offshore calendar one of the key, pinnacle events for this new breed of fast multihull is the RORC Caribbean 600, “There we clash with the MOD 70s under the MOCRA rule. It seems they struggle under MOCRA against our ‘style’ of boat,” suggests Paul Larsen. This year’s Caribbean 600 saw the Gunboat 68 Tosca, skippered by former IMOCA racer Alex Thomson for American owner Ken Howery, win the MOCRA division overall.

“On the other hand the CSA rating system seemed to favour the MODs hugely at Les Voiles de St Barth,” adds Larsen. “We feel it’s in everyone’s interest to help work to a common goal of creating a system more dedicated to our niche. That is the ORC Multihull rule. We’ve seen it work pretty well, albeit with a few bugs. Despite borrowing heavily from the ORC rule it still needs more data points to help refine it, as well as subjective input from the fleet to shape the direction the majority want it to go in.

Allegra defended her Fastnet class win. Photo: Rick Tomlinson/RORC

“There’s often a clash of interests when the European fleet heads over to do the Caribbean circuit as some of the more US-centred boats are optimised for the rules they know. That’s to be appreciated but you can’t help feel there should be an amalgamation. These are big, comfortable, fast ocean crossing boats and it’s got to be in every owner’s interests to be able to do as many events as possible.”

Long-time MOD70 skipper Brian Thompson, who’ll be racing the Gunboat 66 Mana next season, suggests: “Hopefully the ORC Multi rule is headed in the right direction because it is certainly a hard ask to rate the MOD70 against the Gunboats. But the way things are going hopefully the class will split to have a Gunboat/HH type class and then a trimaran class which would race separately. So I see it maybe reaching a point where we’ll have different classes similar to the Maxi monohulls, racers, performance cruisers and so on.”

Future proofing

Predicting the direction of growth is part of the rating rule challenge, trying to future proof it for diverse fleets including multis of very different configurations. Naval architect Quentin Lucet of VPLP summarises: “I’m sure there is room for improvement. I believe for these cats the configuration, the length and displacement appendage configuration is quite similar, so for now I suspect in terms of performance and handicap we should be able to put in place a proper system for everyone.

“What is different here [compared with rating monohulls] is when you get more weight in a multihull that is more righting moment and as soon as it is blowing more than 15 knots it is really such a benefit, much more than in a monohull fleet. I think the ORC are working on this.

The distinctive Bieker-designed Fujin is a Caribbean race regular. Photo: Christophe Jouany

“From our side it is not so complicated when the boats have the same configurations. But what will be tricky is if we have foils or ‘T’-rudders or things like this. At the moment we have the Gunboat-type boats and, say, the MOD70s coming together more.

“We see it in the Caribbean already with the different MOD70s with different appendage configurations. Some have big foils, T-rudders, some have conventional configuration, so this all might become a little tricky.”
In terms of where he sees the growth in new boats in the near future Lucet concludes, “It is so much driven by the owner. Owners who want to do some cruising will not go so long [LOA]. If that is not the case what we will see will be more daysailers – like a TP52. What I suspect is that the cats will not go bigger than 80ft, and the development will be between 65ft and 80ft.”

Fujin chasing the new HH66 Nemo at Les Voiles de St Barths. Photo: Christophe Jouany

Regattas worldwide

For the International Maxi Association, this new class debut at the 2023 Maxi Yacht Rolex Cup is very much a case of dipping a toe into the waters for a European Maxi Multihull event. But there are other significant regattas around the world with performance multihull racing.

Les Voiles de Saint Barths attracts one of the biggest fleets on the burgeoning Caribbean multihull circuit. In 2023 there were no fewer than 14 big multihulls racing in a diverse class, won by Eric Maris’s MOD70 Zoulou. The French, typically, garner a particularly strong entry here, and in 2nd was Loïc Escoffier with the ORC50 Lodi Group, on which he also won the solo transatlantic Route du Rhum (just weeks after capsizing off Ireland in the Drheam Cup).

Marsaudon’s ORC catamarans (formerly TS) are regular performers offshore, Lodi Group winning class in the Route du Rhum. Photo: Marin Le Roux/PolaRYSE

Behind these two Todd Slyngstad’s HH66 Nemo finished one point up on brother Greg’s innovative Bieker 53 Fujin, with the fleet including a clutch of Gunboats and one-offs. Tech entrepreneur Greg Slyngstad has been a frequent attendee on the Caribbean multihull circuit with Fujin since its launch in 2015, racing hard and with much success. Nemo was launched in 2020 with the particular intention of competing against – and ideally beating – Fujin.

Meanwhile the Route du Rhum – always the soulful home of offshore multihull racing – last year attracted a clutch of performance-oriented Marsaudon ORC catamarans, Marc Guillemot’s custom 52ft Metarom MG5, and Roland Jourdain on his eco-friendly Outremer, alongside vintage Walter Greene and Dick Newick designs. This summer’s Rolex Fastnet Race saw many of the same catamarans line up against one another, with victory going to Allegra ahead of the Gunboat 68 Tosca.

It’ll be interesting to see how the different core fleets converge – or maybe they won’t. But for sure in the likes of Highland Fling 18 a new breed of cat has already been unleashed.

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There are very few ‘firsts’ left in the world of sailing, but one such remaining barrier could be smashed when the Arkea Ultim Challenge Brest sets off from north-west France on 7 January 2024.

Since the Sunday Times Golden Globe in 1968/69 – the ‘impossible feat’ – there have been all manner of non-stop laps of the planet, from fully crewed Jules Verne Trophy and solo records, to races such as the single-handed Vendée Globe, and The Race in 2000 for fully crewed maxi-multihulls. This January sees a new pinnacle-of-pinnacles event: the first solo, non-stop, round the world race in Ultim trimarans. Six brave French skippers on their 100ft multihulls are entered.

The advancement in human endeavour and technology in this cutting edge area of sailing has been extraordinary. Thirty years ago we were in Brest for the first tentative Jules Verne Trophy attempts. Back then no one knew if sailing around the world in under 80 days was even possible: three boats set off and only one made it – Bruno Peyron’s maxi-catamaran Commodore Explorer in 79 days 6 hours.

Since then the record has been reduced by titans such as Peter Blake/Robin Knox-Johnston, Olivier de Kersauson, Loïck Peyron, Franck Cammas and, ultimately, Francis Joyon. In a quarter of a century, the record has halved with Joyon’s 105ft IDEC Sport setting the present benchmark of 40d 23h 30m 30s (at 26.85 knots average) five years ago.

You might assume that a solo around the world would be much slower, but Joyon destroyed this notion. In 2004, when the Jules Verne Trophy record was 63 days, he completed a lap in just under 73 days alone on his 90ft trimaran IDEC (also the first successful solo non-stop circumnavigation by a trimaran). The following year the UK ground to a halt for an afternoon, television dominated by live coverage of Ellen MacArthur’s arrival into Falmouth after she’d taken more than a day off Joyon’s time.

Gabart on his previous Macif Ultime. Photo: Rolex/Carlo Borlenghi

Thomas Coville took the time below 50 days in 2016 with 49d 3h, broken the following year by François Gabart’s 100ft Macif, establishing the present solo non-stop record: 42d 16h 40m 3s (just 4% slower than Joyon’s fully crewed).

While these times are impressive, they are records set in optimum, carefully selected conditions (for the first two weeks at least), whereas the Arkea Ultim Challenge Brest is a race. The solo sailors will have onshore routers, but their departure day is set, and pace likely dictated by their opponents. It’s a very different test of man and machine.

“It is something new,” says Gitana’s Charles Caudrelier. “The first time racing around the world with these big flying boats. It is a bit like the first Vendée Globe – not quite the same because we know where we are going! But it is a bit of an adventure, and I’m happy about that.”

Armel le Cléac’h in solo mode on Maxi Banque Populaire XI. Photo: Benoît Stichelbaut

The contenders

Surprisingly, skippers at all stages of their careers are competing. Amiable sea-dog Thomas Coville will be 55 when the race sets off. There is almost no major event Coville hasn’t done, from the America’s Cup to winning the Volvo Ocean Race.

Having sailed ORMA 60s, Coville moved into the record breaking business on maxi trimarans and is now on his third, Sodebo having backed him continuously. Of the six skippers Coville is the most experienced racing Ultims single-handed and is laudable for his sheer tenacity – he finally set a solo round the world record on his fifth attempt, after 11 years of trying.

At the other end of the scale, it was a surprise to learn that SVR-Lazartigue will not be raced by François Gabart, the single-handed round the world record holder and the blue trimaran’s initial skipper. Instead, taking over for solo races will be 26-year-old Tom Laperche. An engineer and highly talented sailor, Laperche is a graduate of the classic French offshore racing pathway; and has been involved with SVR-Lazartigue since its launch, racing as Gabart’s co-skipper in the last two Transat Jacques Vabre.

Anthony Marchand, 38, has also newly taken on a campaign, replacing Yves le Blevec on Actual Ultim 3 (ex-Macif) in early 2023. Meanwhile an 11th hour entry is Eric Péron on Adagio, the previous Sodebo Ultim. The boat is something of a ‘Frankenstein’ creation – recycling the 2001 maxi-tri Geronimo with appendages from 2010 America’s Cup winner USA17 – but a fast one.

Thomas Coville, on Sodebo Ultime 3. Photo: Vincent Curutchet/Team Sodebo

“I’ve been preparing for this kind of thing for years now,” said Péron. I haven’t done much preparation on the boat, but for everything else, the boxes are ticked. So, in the short time I’ve got left before the start, I hope to become at one with the machine. What motivates me most of all is the fact that it’s an extreme race, and that’s why I want to take up the challenge. Obviously, I’m not leaving totally confident. But I’m not going to give up.”

In the absence of Gabart, the two favourites are likely to be Armel le Cléac’h on Maxi Banque Populaire XI and Charles Caudrelier on Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (Gitana 17). Theirs are two of the best funded and oldest teams.

Banque Populaire first sponsored Joyon’s ORMA 60 in 1989 and has campaigned seven trimarans since, including building two Ultims. The team’s first Ultim had a disastrous 2018, before a final crash left it utterly destroyed during the Route du Rhum. Undeterred, the French bank set about building a replacement. Now, alongside SVR-Lazartigue, their two-year-old Maxi Banque Populaire XI is one of the newest Ultims.

SVR-Lazartigue and Banque Populaire XI are essentially VPLP designs (Ultim teams have their own in-house designers, engineers, aero- and hydrodynamists, foil and hydraulics experts), while Maxi Edmond de Rothschild is from Guillaume Verdier – Emirates Team New Zealand’s long term naval architect who has applied much of his Cup experience to the offshore trimaran.

Adagio, the previous Sodebo Ultim. Photo: Yvan Zedda

Impressive statistics

An Ultim’s length can be anything from 24-32m (78ft 8in-105ft) with a maximum beam of 23m (75ft), though in practice all six are trimarans built to, or near to the rule’s maximum. Overall mast height is less than 120% of length of the longest hull, so 38.4m (126ft). Additional rules cover minimum air draught below the beams and float volume. Water ballast, autopilots and automatic anti-capsize systems are permitted, but stored energy (produced by the crew) or the creation of inertial energy and computer or electromechanical assistance for adjusting any of the appendages is forbidden.

As with all things yachting, their quantum performance leap has come since going airborne. Today all six use a similar, complex foil configuration: on each hull is a rudder with an elevator where lift can be adjusted via a flap on its trailing edge. Midships in each float is a giant J-foil, which can be raised, lowered and its rake adjusted. Unique to the Ultims (apart from Adagio) is the daggerboard, which is fitted not only with a trim tab on its trailing edge to prevent leeway, but an elevator.

Maxi Edmond de Rothschild (Gitana 17). Photo: Yann Riou/Gitana

The foils and elevators are adjusted hydraulically in combination to alter, for example, fore and aft trim and ride height, depending upon the point of sail and sea state. Generally the aim is for the platform to have zero heel/pitch. Thanks to the rudder elevators the ride is very stable in pitch (unlike IMOCA 60s), the foils effectively ‘locking’ the boat to the water.

Just as America’s Cup catamarans that raked their windward rudder elevator to produce downforce (like crew on the rail), so Ultims can produce downforce with their daggerboard elevator. According to Gabart this is vital: racing an Ultim solo is about maximising efficiency so, when a gust hits, the rake on the daggerboard elevator is increased, sucking the trimaran’s main hull down. “If you release the hydraulic main sheet, it takes five minutes to pump it in again,” explains Gabart. “With this, when you are sailing at 40 knots you can add two tonnes [of down force] in one second using minimal energy.”

With their latest substantially larger foils, Ultims can fly in less wind. Originally it required 15-20 knots of wind or 26-27 knots boat speed for Macif to fly, this is now down to 12-14 knots of wind and 21-23 boat speed for SVR-Lazartigue – remarkable considering an Ultim’s 15-17 tonne displacement.

It’s similar on Banque Populaire XI, says Armel le Cléac’h. “We fly in 12-13 knots of wind or 22-23 knots of boat speed. In 15-17 knots of wind we fly upwind at 27-30 knots – that is the big step. Compared to older Ultims like IDEC in the last Route du Rhum, it’s an 8-9 knot improvement.”

Actual Ultim 3, formerly Gabart’s Macif. Photo: Thierry Martinez

Such speeds permit Ultims to become ‘masters of the weather’ – to some extent at least – often travelling so fast that their skippers can choose the weather system they can sail in. Optimum conditions for an Ultim are 15-25 knots (more than this and the sea state becomes too choppy for foiling), so they aim at the sweet spot of weather systems (flat water ahead of a warm front), which they then ride, like a surfer on a wave.

Le Cléac’h says their top speed has been 47 knots, “But that is not an objective. We want to have a good average speed: 40-42 knots for one or two hours is very good. 35-37 knots for 24 hours is very good too.”

Riding a rocketship

So how can skippers handle such a monster-sized boat that is foiling single-handed? Autopilot technology has improved to extraordinary levels of accuracy. According to Gabart, once set up, speed sailing in a straight line is not much different between solo and crewed. “Upwind or downwind VMG you are a little bit better if you are steering and others are trimming. At 65-70° TWA it is no different.”

Naturally manoeuvres are slower alone. Gabart says that going from reefed to full main might take two minutes fully crewed, but at least 10 solo. Some technology helps, like Harken’s latest generation Air 900 winches and pedestal grinders with bespoke gearing for single-person operation.

The newest of the Ultims, SVR-Lazartigue is perhaps the most advanced design. Photo: Guillaume Gatefait

While foils and many sail controls are hydraulic (SVR-Lazartigue has 23 rams), the pedestals are able to drive twin hydraulic pumps – though it requires serious manpower: “80% of the grinding is for the hydraulics,” says Gabart. SVR-Lazartigue will race with just five sails, including main and J0-J3, two permanently rigged on furlers.

Sailing at such high speeds has several effects. With apparent wind factored in, on deck there is constantly storm force, or at best gale force, winds. Human beings cannot operate for long in this and so cockpit
protection has drastically increased with some Ultims now fully enclosed.

On the latest Sodebo and SVR-Lazartigue these have moved forward. On the former, the ‘bridge’ is forward of the mast, USS Enterprise-style, while on the latter it is just aft of the mast, with jet fighter-style steering cockpits each side, complete with sliding canopies. The end result is that an Ultim’s crew rarely ventures outside, viewing the world via CCTV.

While foiling reduces hydrodynamic drag, all the teams have been focussed on reducing aero-drag. Crossbeams now have trailing edge fairings made from robust vinyl, while on SVR-Lazartigue, moving their ‘cockpit’ forward has enabled them to have an AC-style ‘deck sweeper’ boom where the deck creates an endplate for the foot of the mainsail (improving efficiency).

Tom Laperche steering, jet fighter-style, on SVR-Lazartigue. Photo: Guillaume Gatefait

To finish first…

For the teams, the principal hurdle of the Arkea Ultim Challenge Brest will be finishing. The major worry on such a long race is reliability. To prevent structural failures Ultims have load cells, the output from which is monitored in real time. Otherwise teams have simply been racing and sea trialling as often as possible in all conditions.

This year’s Transat Jacques Vabre’s heavier conditions were ideal, enabling the double-handed teams to really push the boats harder. While all the Ultims finished, some were in better shape than others, Maxi Edmond de Rothschild suffering rudder and foil issues while Sodebo Ultim’s starboard rudder sheared off after a collision with an underwater object.

“The main problem will be to have all of the boats finishing the race in good shape,” says Caudrelier, who says it will take a new approach from his previous crewed around the world races. “Always you push to the maximum, but this time you can’t do that and we will have to find a good balance between performance and safety for the boat. That is quite an interesting exercise and also managing a boat like this alone for 45 days.”

Éric Péron explains: “On these boats, a small incident can immediately put us out of the race, because nothing can be replaced on our own. The boat is so big that there’s not much we can do to fix it with what we’ve got on board.”

Antoine Gautier, head of the design office at Mer Concept (behind SVR-Lazartigue) adds that their enormously complex boat will be simplified: “We are going to have less systems on board to make it simpler and more reliable. There are some things which won’t make much difference on a round the world race.”

Armel le Cléac’h at Banque Populaire’s mission control/protected pod. Photo: Vincent Curutchet/ Hublot Sailing team

Capsize was once a major concern, but for Ultims today is – apparently – almost a non-issue. The multihulls are simply huge, and their rigs are now stepped almost two thirds of the way back from the bow, to prevent pitchpoling. As Gautier explains: “The boats are definitely safer than any multihulls before. There are no more pitchpoling issues and in terms of heel stability, you almost can’t heel because the leeward foil is pushing up so much. That is why they are able to sail so fast, even short-handed – because the boats are very safe and you don’t feel in danger.”

Nonetheless they do still have inclinometers which can automatically dump hydraulics (eg mainsheet) or mechanically release headsail sheets if heel is excessive.

Of greater concern are elements beyond the skipper’s control: collision. AIS and radar target alarms substantially reduce the chance of an Ultim hitting another vessel, but the threat of a ‘UFO’ (unidentified floating object) remains. As Gautier says: “Collision is the biggest fear for all of us. If you hit something at 30-plus knots it is the end of your race. The boat which is going to win will be the one which has all its appendages at the finish. It is Russian roulette and you can’t do anything about it. This is not a fun part of the sport, but it is the same for any race like this.”

To help prevent such collisions Ultims are all fitted with SEA.AI (previously known as OSCAR) a camera mounted at the masthead that can ‘see’ ahead both in daylight and at night, using infra-red. Images are compared in real time with a giant database to establish whether something ahead represents a collision threat.

Ultims raced each other double-handed in the November 2023 Transat Jacques Vabre – won by Armel le Cléac’h/Sébastien Josse in Banque Populaire XI. Photo: Jean-Marie Liot/Alea

There are other factors too that will come into play: a good deal of luck, undoubtedly, but also the skill, experience and motivation of the skippers. Caudrelier has perhaps the most experience in his boat and over the last three years has won most races, but he has never raced solo around the world. “This is my Vendée Globe” he acknowledges.

By contrast Le Cléac’h has completed three Vendées, on the podium every time. However his recent victory in the Transat Jacques Vabre was his first in an Ultim. For Coville, this might be his last lap? While for Laperche this will be his first big Ultim event and proving himself is a key objective.

What is certain is that this will be the ultimate contest between some of the world’s most talented offshore sailors. How many will make it round? And for those that do, it could be the fastest ever round the world race, so all the action will unfold quickly. Follow at arkeaultimchallengebrest.com

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A desire for speed is leading to a revival of larger trimarans. This long awaited Morrelli & Melvin-designed ultra fast cruiser, offered in two distinctly different versions, is from a Vietnam-based yard that also produces 40ft and 60ft trimarans.

The standard Rapido 50, announced in 2020, is a pared down folding trimaran for the ultimate in performance, with the convenience of being able to fit into most standard marina berths – though interior space is limited compared to monohulls of similar length, yet alone catamarans.

Nonetheless the result is an appealing two-cabin boat with a compact saloon that has an all round view, combined with easily achieved 20-knot plus performance. Folding amas reduce overall beam from a massive 10.24m (33ft 6in) to a more manageable 5.8m (19ft 0in).

The new 53XS (extra space) version has more flare above the waterline of the main hull, together with a much more expansive main deck area and wider saloon. This comes at the expense of 800kg of additional weight but there’s space for a third double cabin on the bridgedeck.

This model also has C-foils in the amas, in place of the centreboard in the central hull of the standard model, freeing up more space in the saloon, which includes a large forward navigation and work station. Twin fixed pre-preg carbon rudder blades, one on each ama, extend to the lowest point of the main hull, allowing access to shallow water, while providing excellent control even when fully powered up.

The tall spreader-less carbon mast – air draught is 26.6m (87ft) – and V boom of both boats are made in house, as is the very deep daggerboard for the standard boat and the C-foils for the XS version.

On the downside, the amas of the 53XS can’t be folded to reduce the overall beam for easy marina berthing or storage ashore.

Rapido 53XS specifications

LOA: 16.1m / 53ft
Max beam: 10.24m / 33ft 7in
Draught: 0.67m-3.52m / 2ft 3in-11ft 6in
Displacement: (XS) 9,350kg / 20,613lb
Upwind sail area: 190m2 / 2,040ft2
Price: from US$1.75m
Builder: rapidotrimarans.com

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The Multihull Centre in Cornwall is no stranger to innovation. The Millbrook yard, nestled up a Tamar creek, has undertaken some fascinating custom projects, including in recent years the full rebuild and conversion to a luxury powercat of the Gunboat 55 Rainmaker, which dismasted and was lost at sea. It has designed and built bespoke wheelchair accessible fast multis, including the record breaking Impossible Dream, which Geoff Holt sailed across the Atlantic unassisted. And the Rapier 550 was another project that we could tell was way ahead of its time when we sailed it in 2014 – in terms of push-button sailing a large cat from inside.

Since 1988 Dazcat has been its long term small production range of cruiser-racers, a brand named after founder and co-designer Darren Newton. Thanks to the world’s biggest YouTube sailing channel (Sailing La Vagabonde) doing a recent vlog on them, Dazcat is currently in the limelight and it unveiled plans earlier this year for this new flagship Dazcat Ocean Cruiser 55.

This Dazcat Ocean Cruiser 55 is aimed at very fast, yet easy ocean cruising, designed for two to four people to live on for extended periods in cold or warm climes and with occasional guests. It mixes contemporary styling throughout with Dazcat’s liberal sprinkling of innovation and lightweight composite expertise. We had a fascinating full virtual tour earlier this year.

internal helm option is next to a large navstation with a large skylight to view the mainsail

One objective of the design is to be able to make progress even in very light airs, thereby reducing engine use. The hulls are easily driven thanks to a slender 13:1 waterline beam to length ratio and super fine reverse bows. And it’s only 12 tonnes lightweight – that’s two tonnes less than the Arcona 50 or the Outremer 55! Plus it can take a four tonne payload.

At the same time the boat is engineered to withstand the very high stresses associated with driving hard in big winds. The spreader-less carbon rig, for instance, has fibre standing rigging and is designed to be set up with sufficient tension to fly a hull without the lee shrouds becoming slack. Other rig options include an in-boom furler or even a wing sail.

A high freeboard and high bridgedeck clearance keeps solid water away from the deck, while a well defined water deflecting chine forward helps to provide a dry ride. Optional electric furlers and sheeting on rewind winches allow the headsails to be controlled from anywhere on the boat. This theme extends to alarm systems that can be set for wind or boat speed limits. If the crew doesn’t respond in a given time the system will take over, for instance by automatically easing the mainsheet traveller.

The Dazcat Ocean Cruiser 55 has also been designed with a plethora of helm positions to suit all, including interior and exterior, forward and aft, swing and twin wheels – take your pick or have the lot!

Bathing platforms allow easy access from the tender, even in swell. Note range of helm positions

“Everyone we spoke to wants steering positions in a different place,” explains Newton. “We’ve developed a carbon steering rod through the length of the boat that all these steering wheels can connect to directly.” This can be retrofitted at a later date if a new owner wants a different configuration.

The forward cockpit can be used for access and relaxation or to manually trim sails too. Its twin forward winches are designed to control an optional parasail, which Dazcat recommends in combination with in-boom reefing.

The large aft cockpit connects seamlessly to a large living area including galley. To help control internal temperatures the thickness of the core material for the hardtop was increased to provide additional insulation against solar heating, and where possible there’s an overhang above windows to reduce the amount of direct sun they receive. In addition the designers have tried to maximise passive airflow with big opening windows in the front of the coachroof, in addition to the door to the forward cockpit, plus plenty of opening deck hatches.

Get set for Dazcat to dazzle!

Dazcat Ocean Cruiser 55 specifications

LOA: 16.75m
 / 55ft 0in
Beam: 8.00m
 / 26ft 3in
Displacement: 12,000kg /
 26,500lb
Upwind sail area: 197m2 / 2,120ft2
Build time: around 18 months
Estimated price: £2.5-2.7m
Contact: multihullcentre.com

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We’re beating out of the approach channel to La Rochelle in 8-10 knots of true wind, with some tacks as short as 90 seconds. The yacht is tacking cleanly and accelerating willingly afterwards, underlining how manoeuvrable it can be in skilled hands. Yet this isn’t a lightweight monohull – it’s a 52ft semi flybridge multihull weighing more than 13 tonnes, the Neel 52.

The first generation of Neel trimarans, including the Neel 51 launched in 2017, set a new standard in combining handling that echoes that of a monohull with accommodation of a scale that can only be found on a multihull. The concept of the Neel 52 remains the same, using the hulls of a fast racing trimaran with narrow waterline beam, as a platform for expansive four- to six-cabin accommodation.

On paper there’s no significant difference in the key dimensions of each boat, but that conceals a number of important changes. An example for this market is a much improved owners’ cabin which now occupies part of the bridgedeck and can also include the entire starboard ama.

There’s also a big difference in how the new boat handles. Offshore racing multihulls are designed to optimise straight line speed, but that’s rarely the key priority for cruising yachts. As a result the shape of the main hulls and amas of this new Lombard design are very different to those of the Joubert-Nivel-designed Neel 51 it replaces (42 built).

In particular the forward sections have a very shallow forefoot compared to the old model, where maximum waterline length was a key priority. The change improves manoeuvrability and is an important factor behind the ease with which our boat tacked in the conditions we experienced for our test. The Neel 52 is also lighter, with improved balance thanks to a mast (and engine room) further aft and a larger jib.

Most sail handling operations, except using spinnakers and furling the headsails, can be carried out single-handedly from the helm station. Photo: Rupert Holmes

On the helm

Close-hauled in more open water, with the true breeze still predominately between 8-10 knots, we consistently made just over seven knots of boat speed at a true wind angle of 60°-65°. In these conditions there’s very little heel – just enough for the windward ama to skim above the water and markedly reduce wetted surface area.

Steering is via Dyneema cables, which gives a more direct response than many alternatives, though the boat’s heavier on the helm than a well set up monohull, with a less precise feel. Nevertheless it’s still good by the standards of many cruising catamarans.

The standard Neel 52 sail plan includes a square top mainsail, slightly overlapping headsail of around 120% and staysail. Our test boat also had a very flexible 150m2 furling gennaker that can be used for reaching in 10 knots of true wind or less and broad-reaching in winds well above 20 knots. Neel also offers a larger asymmetric spinnaker as an option, as well as a marginally taller carbon rig with higher-spec Hydranet sails.

All lines, except spinnaker sheets and furling lines, are led to three electric winches at the helm station. Separate luff and leech pennants for all three mainsail reefs help tame the sail quickly. There is, however, lots of rope in this area and insufficient rope bins to handle it.

The flexible gennaker on our test boat can be used for reaching in up to 10 knots of wind and at 140° TWA in well over 20 knots

Downwind and reaching sails sheet to the back of the amas, while genoa and staysail furling lines are led to the aft end of the starboard ama. This arrangement for the furling lines greatly reduces friction compared to the convoluted route they would have to take to lead to the helm station, but means furling these sails isn’t an easy single-person operation.

With the true wind building to 10-11 knots and puffs to 13 we consistently made speeds of around 9 knots, with occasional bursts just into double figures when reaching at 110°-120° TWA, with the gennaker and staysail set. This was easy sailing at speeds that will quickly gobble up the miles when on passage.

Visibility from the Neel 52 helm station is excellent on port tack, but there’s a big blind spot on starboard – you need to descend four steps to see under the jib or gennaker. A semi flybridge above the hard top, with space for up to eight people, includes generous sunbeds. This is right next to the helm/winch station, so communication between the two is easy and, unlike many multihulls, it doesn’t feel as though the helmsman is isolated from everyone else on board.

You have to be sure guests are sitting before tacks and gybes, when hoisting and dousing the mainsail, and when reefing on port tack. There’s a bimini for sunshade over the helm area, with a clear overhead panel for sail trim, but no provision for sun protection over the flybridge area, though the hardtop over the main aft cockpit gives plenty of shade.

A key selling point for Neel is offering a very refreshing change to the familiar layouts of cruising multihulls of similar length, and the Neel 52’s arrangement feels generally bright, welcoming and innovative.

The saloon adjoins the cockpit, however you need to stoop to see out of forward windows. Master cabin is to starboard but you need to draw blinds for privacy

Neel 52 – bridgedeck cabin

The older Neel 51 benefitted from Neel’s trademark bridgedeck level cabin, which gives a fantastic view out almost all round the boat when you wake up. This comes at the expense of some privacy, though, which is largely solved by closing the window blinds in the bulkhead that separates the cabin from the saloon. But this space was small compared to typical catamarans owners’ cabins.

Owners with guests will still need to close the blinds on the main bridgedeck cabin on the Neel 52, but this now links to the whole of the starboard ama. This is a private area with a desk/dressing table and a generous amount of stowage in hanging and shelved lockers. Ventilation is provided by several overhead hatches and there’s a long hull window above the desk which provides plenty of natural light.

The mid part of the owner’s ama has a heads with a separate shower stall, while further forward is an additional space that was left fairly open in our test boat, with the exception of a washer/dryer. This area has obvious potential for much more stowage, or even a workbench.

Large and well appointed galley.

The aft cockpit under the hardtop is relatively small, but this doesn’t feel important since this space fully opens up onto an expansive saloon, with the interior and exterior tables together forming a dining table that can be extended almost seamlessly to just over 3m in length.

Ahead of the saloon area is a large navstation with a double seat and a good view forward, to port and aft. However, the bridgedeck owner’s cabin creates a large blind spot on the starboard quarter and there is no hatch above to view the mainsail.

All layout options have a large and well equipped galley forward on the starboard side of the saloon. There’s acres of worktop space, a four-burner gas hob plus oven, large refrigeration and freezer capacity, plus a slimline dishwasher. Stowage is in 17 lockers both under the counter and at eye level. The saloon has two opening panels in the front windscreen for natural ventilation, plus a small opening hatch over the cooker.

In four-cabin boats steps lead down to a double cabin in the port ama, with a large double berth aft, above which is a long hull window that gives a great view out. Stowage here is primarily in a small hanging locker, plus empty space under the berth that can be used for easy access to kit bags. Forward of this are heads and shower compartments mirroring those of the starboard ama, and further forward a space similar to that with the washing machine on the starboard side.

Bridgedeck level owner’s cabin.

Alternatively the port ama can be fitted out as two doubles that share a central head/shower compartment. This option is also available in the starboard ama for six-cabin charter specification boats. These also gain additional saloon and dining space on the bridgedeck as there’s no owner’s cabin at that level.

Seven steps at the front of the saloon descend into a further double cabin in the centre of the main hull, under the solid bridge deck. There’s plenty of space, but natural light and ventilation are restricted, with the former coming solely from the two escape hatches. There’s stowage plus a heads compartment (without shower) shared with a forward cabin at the front of the main hull.

On the test Neel 52 this is fitted out as a Pullman-style cabin with bunkbeds. Crew cabins, each with a single berth and head/shower, can also be specified at the aft end of each ama.

Owner’s hull space in starboard ama

On the downside, some elements of the interior have hard edges in places that may not wear as well as rounded corners. And traditionalists won’t be impressed by the inside of lockers which have a similar feel to mass market home furniture.

Neel’s trademark full height technical area with engine and systems is restricted to the back of this model. Nevertheless, it remains a well laid out and useful space that will make maintenance and repair easier than on many yachts. Unlike cruising catamarans, Neels have only a single engine in the main hull, so a bow thruster is fitted as standard. A stern thruster is offered as an option that can make Mediterranean-style mooring a lot easier.

Deck stowage includes large lockers that can accommodate sails, fenders and watersports toys, while the tender rests on purpose made chocks at the aft end of the main hull. It’s lifted using a line from the end of the boom – a simple arrangement that avoids the weight, complication and cost of davits. Access to the water is from the extended bathing platforms on the aft end of each ama and the transom of the main hull.

Our test Neel 52 was set up with just under 2kW of solar panels on the coachroof. Neel says this is almost enough for complete autonomy while cruising when combined with the boat’s lithium iron phosphate battery bank, though as standard 625Ah of 12V AGM batteries are fitted.

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Black Pepper Yachts never ceases to impress, whether it’s the Nantes-based firm’s stylish and impeccably finished daysailers, or performance monohulls including Sam Manuard-designed IMOCA 60s for sailors such as Armel Tripon, Sam Davies and Phil Sharp.

The Black Pepper Code C.69 is a stunning 69ft epoxy infused carbon sandwich design from the board of François Pérus and Romain Scolari and is the yard’s first multihull. It’s designed for offshore passagemaking and racing in both comfort and style. It incorporates many proven innovations from today’s large racing multihulls and is set up to be easy to sail short-handed. Yet acceleration and the potential for very high average speeds are impressive.

The interior is fitted out with top notch finishes.

However, the accent on performance doesn’t result in compromised cruising comforts – there are large bathing platforms and a big aft cockpit with outdoor galley that opens onto a huge saloon. The customisable accommodation in the hulls looks larger than the sleek lines might suggest. Initial drawings show two double suites, a triple cabin, and crew quarters with three berths, all with private bathrooms.

The interior is fitted out with top notch finishes. A full complement of hotel systems assures comfort, with options including air conditioning, a 200lt/h watermaker, large solar array and an 11kW diesel generator.

A common problem with ultra light boats can be a lack of payload for serious cruising, especially if this isn’t factored in at the design stage. However, this boat has a 4.5 tonne limit, representing 25% of light displacement, and there’s tankage for 1,000lt of both fuel and fresh water.

Black Pepper Code C.69 specifications

LOA: 21.00m 69ft
Beam: 9.60m 31ft 6in
Draught: 1.20m-2.80m 3ft 11in to 9ft 2in
Light displacement: 17,500kg 38,600lb
Upwind sail area: 220m2 2,368ft2
Builder: blackpepper.fr

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Italian yard Comar is adding a 65ft model designed by Enrico Contreas and Luigi Cirillo to its existing range of 37-65ft performance catamarans and 52-100ft monohulls, the new C-Cat 65. Carbon infused hull, deck and bulkheads keep displacement down to 18,500kg, an impressive figure for such a large vessel, while upwind sail area of 232m2 gives an enormous power to weight ratio.

The deck layout takes inspiration from the short-handed racing world and includes raised steering positions each side of the hardtop, where lines for key manoeuvres are led.

There’s also an inside steering position at the front of the saloon.

Despite its performance potential this is intended as a comfortable, elegant and sophisticated yacht. The bright, modern interior includes a massive retractable window between the saloon and cockpit that’s engineered to leave virtually as little trace of its presence when open as possible.

To minimise wetted surface area the waterline beam of each hull is only 1.75m (5ft 9in). Yet the owner’s hull of three-cabin boats won’t have the feel of being in a narrow tube thanks to a big athwartships bed that has ample space to walk around its foot.

As well as access from the saloon, this cabin also has a dedicated companionway aft, giving easy access to the port side bathing platform.

Payload is 5.5 tonnes, representing 30% of the light displacement, and the first example is scheduled to launch in the summer of 2025.

C-Cat 65 specifications

Hull length: 19.71m / 65ft 8in
Beam: 9.20m / 30ft 2in
Draught: 1.63m-3.2m / 5ft 4in-10ft 6in
Displacement: 18,500kg / 40,800lb
Upwind sail area: 232m2 / 2,500ft2
Price: circa €3.5m
Builder: comaryachts.it

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The Transat Jacques Vabre is one of the ultimate tests of short-handed racing, a double-handed dash from France that sees many of the world’s top racing machines take on the North Atlantic in often brutal winter conditions. The 2023 edition will start on Sunday, 29 October almost exactly 30 years after the first edition of the event back in 1993.

Huge Transat Jacques Vabre fleet

The competitors taking on this gruelling ocean sprint are a true ‘who’s who’ of offshore sailing. The numbers are impressive, 190 sailors, 95 boats, 17 nationalities and 77 race first-timers are set to take part in the event for the first time.

Fleet sizes are similarly massive with fully 40 IMOCA 60s registered and 44 Class 40s. Add in six Multi 50s and an incredible five giant 100ft foiling Ultime trimarans, and you can quickly see that the 2023 Transat Jaques Vabre is a collection of some of the absolute best offshore sailors in the world.

Charlie Dalin onboard his new Macif was once again the stand out performer in the 2023 Fastnet Race

Incredible IMOCA 60 line-up

With just one year to go until the Vendée Globe this race is a key part of many teams’ preparation programme – and with many still to get their full qualifying mileage under their belts it is a vital part of qualification for a good number of sailors. Most of the new IMOCA 60s that have been built to challenge for the 2024 Vendée Globe are now on the water, so this represents a great barometer for where each team sits in the pecking order.

It’s hard to look past Charlie Dalin in the his new Macif IMOCA. The Frenchman, who has dominated much of the racing in this fleet in recent years, won his first big race on the new boat, the Fastnet Race, earlier this year. He will once again be sailing with Pascal Bidégorry and the two have proven a very effective team.

In the Fastnet Dalin and Bidégorry where pushed hard by Yoann Richomme and Yann Elies on Paprec Arkéa and there is little to suggest this will not be the case again with both teams looking very fast, and very sorted.

Elsewhere Thomas Ruyant‘s For People is back on the water having suffered some structural issues on the Fastnet Race and the two-boat team of himself and Sam Goodchild, sailing For the Planet both look set to be contenders. But in truth there’s a plethora of top teams any of which could make a podium. Despite a disappointing Fastnet, it would be foolish to write off Jérémie Beyou and Frank Cammas sailing Charal, for example.

Plus several of the IMOCAs that took on the fully crewed The Ocean Race are now back in their shorthanded racing set ups and with plenty of racing miles under their belts, they should be contenders. Included in this list is Boris Herrmann’s Malizia-Seaexplorer, which took the 24 hour record during the race. He will be sailing alongside Britain’s Will Harris and the pair look a formidable duo.

Tricky conditions for the giant 100ft Ultimes exiting the Solent at the start of the 2023 Rolex Fastnet Race. Photo Rick Tomlinson/RORC

Five foiling Ultims

The Ultim trimarans represent the fastest and most advanced foiling offshore designs ever created, and an astonishing fleet of five will be racing in this month’s Transat Jacques Vabre, all looking to blast across the Atlantic at speeds approaching 40-knot averages.

Fresh from a Fastnet Race win, the fastest man to sail around the world, François Gabart, will be racing his impressive SVR-Lazartigue once again with Tom Leperche, the pair looking to get another win over their rivals, former Vendée winner Armel Le Cléac’h, who will sail with Seb Josse on Banque Populaire XI.

Not taking part in the Fastnet this year, the Gitana entry of Maxi Edmond de Rothschild, will be skippered Charles Cauderlier with Erwan Israel and in a class where results can be up and down, this boat probably has the strongest pedigree of the lot.

Probably the most tried-and-tested of the foiling designs is Sodebo Ultime 3, skippered by round the world record breaker Thomas Coville, and Thomas Rouxel. So far absolute top performances have been somewhat lacking for this boat, but she is fast and will be fighting at the front.

It seems surprising to say it, but the oldest and least technologically advanced boat in the five-boat fleet is Actual Ultim 3, previously designed for Gabart upon which he set his round the world record. Anthony Merchant has taken the reigns of this foiling Ultime and will sail it alongside Thierry Chabagny. It might not be the absolute latest design, but it is a tried and tested foiler with plenty of potential to fight it out at the front of the fleet 

The 7,500-mile Transat Jacques Vabre course

The Transat Jacques Vabre is now 30 years old, having first run in 1993 and every two years since, though the concept of the route is far older – the race course traces the historic coffee trading routes between France and Brazil used by clipper ships in the 19th century.

After starting in Le Harve, this year the finish is now in Martinique in the Caribbean, as opposed to the old finish in South America, with a mid-Atlantic turning mark of Trindade, off Rio de Janeiro, added for the fastest Ultime trimarans bringing their race distance up to 7,500 miles.

Meanwhile the Ocean 50 multihulls and IMOCAs will round a mark off the Brazilian archipelago of Fernando de Noronha, in a nod to the race’s historical destination, covering around 5,800 miles, and the Class 40s pass the Cape Verdes before heading to Martinque, around 4,600 miles.

However, the race is often decided in the opening miles, with the Bay of Biscay in late October/early November often delivering brutal, sometimes boat-breaking conditions.

Plenty of Brits will be cheering on Sam Davies. Photo: Yann Riou – polaRYSE

International line-up

Though the French have been the dominant force in shorthanded offshore racing for as many years as most can remember – and remain the nation with the strongest hold on the sport – international entries have come a long way in recent years. Gone are the days that events like the Transat Jaques Varbe where almost exclusively French event with a handful of international entrants taking part.

The 2023 edition has 17 sailors from different nationalities taking part, with the IMOCA 60 fleet featuring 26 non-French sailors.

For British fans there’s plenty to keep you interested as Pip Hare gets to stretch the legs of her newly relaunched Medallia who will be looking to show what her new-to-her boat can do after a disappointing Fastnet due to damage. She’ll be sailing alongside fellow Brit, Nick Bubb. Sam Davies will also be one to watch in her brand new IMOCA Initiaves Coeur 4.

There will be plenty of people watching Sam Goodchild to see if he and Antoine Koch can back up their impressive early races in Thomas Ruyant’s old IMOCA. If form so far this year is anything to go on he should be right at the sharp end of the fleet, despite only graduating up to the IMOCA 60 in the last year.

Elsewhere, Brit Alan Roberts will be once again sailing alongside Clarisse Cremer as the Frenchwoman looks to qualify for the next Vendée in Charlie Dalin’s old Macif – now rebranded for her title sponsor L’Occitane en Provence – and with extra British incentive on this team as ex-Vendée star, Alex Thomson heads the team behind the scenes.

Long-time followers of British offshore racing will be interested to see Mike Golding back on the water as he takes on this year’s TJV alongside Jingkun Xu on Singchain Team Haikou.

Follow latest race developments, including the live tracker, at: transatjacquesvabre.org

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Californian sailor Terri Nelson likes nice things. One of her pet peeves, she tells me from her home in San Diego, is that even when checking into luxe hotels, as a wheelchair user she misses out on some of the finer design elements that other guests enjoy.

So it’s no surprise that when she commissioned a custom-designed trimaran, one of the key briefs was that it should not look like an adaptive boat. Instead it needed to combine performance, style, and a certain luxuriousness: a tough brief.

Terri Nelson had sailed for much of her adult life, initially on Hobie Cats, then Catalina 30s, and bareboat chartering with friends all over the Caribbean. Always highly active despite her limited mobility, she enjoyed adaptive snow skiing and, as she puts it, “trying almost everything except parachuting”. For many years she used crutches to get about on land, and found the confines of a cockpit relatively easy to manoeuvre herself around in. After Nelson became a parent she began using a wheelchair more frequently. Her love of sailing never waned, however, and once her daughter had grown up she began to mull the idea of building a custom boat that would be fully wheelchair accessible.

“One day I thought, it’s either now or never. So I looked up who the local marine architects were, and I decided to drive down to Shelter Island and just see if there’s a parking place, because that’s important to me. Sure enough, there was a place right in front of Reichel/Pugh’s office.”

The spontaneous trip led to a meeting with the Reichel/Pugh design team, and the concept of Trinity was born.

Trinity is optimised to perform well in light winds, with Nelson planning to race locally in San Diego. Photo: C/O Reichel/Pugh

“When she came to us, neither one of us had any idea what this boat would look like,” recalls Jim Pugh of Reichel/Pugh. “But it evolved from discussions with her about her past sailing – her experience was on monohulls – and we sort of discussed and sketched up some different concepts. A trimaran offered good feel and sensation while being very stable and sailing at low angles of heel, which is pretty important.”

There are few fully adaptive sailing yachts in existence – the catamaran Impossible Dream was an early reference point, but the design quickly set off in a different direction. “I wanted to race, so Trinity is called a cruiser, but I consider it a performance cruiser,” explains Nelson. “I wanted it all. And Tony [Beale, senior naval architect] at Reichel/Pugh knew that.”

Article continues below…

“That was quite a big challenge,” says Jim Pugh. “Incorporating that accessibility combined with aesthetics and performance, and designing a beautiful yacht was a top priority for her and for us. We wanted to incorporate a design that had the graceful curves and proportions that Reichel/Pugh designs are known for, without compromising that accessibility.”

Trinity is constructed of carbon and foam core with light weight being a key objective, and was built at New Zealand Yachting Developments in Auckland. ‘We had to initially do a very extensive weight study – like you have to with any design, but we didn’t have a lot of comparable data for a design like this,” says Pugh. “Doing that weight study early, and tracking and monitoring the weight through the design and build, allowed us to evaluate decisions as the project went forward and through construction.”

The layout is designed to maximise both usable and wheelchair accessible space. The entire main deck is accessible, including a cockpit forward of the main saloon, the helm stations, and the aft deck, while Nelson’s master cabin and heads are also on the same level. An automated sliding door to the master cabin creates an open plan living area. The (non-adaptive) guest cabins are located down in the ama hulls, along with a second head, with machinery space below in the central hull and a sail locker in the forepeak.

Owner Terri Nelson taking the helm during sea trials in Auckland. Photo: C/O Reichel/Pugh

Access all areas

Full-width retractable doors that slide flush into the bulkhead create a single level area between the main saloon and aft cockpit as well as creating a sense of spaciousness.

The helming and sailing controls are also designed to be entirely accessible to Nelson from her wheelchair, with multiple helming positions: two outboard helm stations, and a third inside forward. “We designed some steering stations and then the yard [in New Zealand] actually built versions of them and sent them up to [California], with the wheel and everything. We had them in our office so that Terri could come in and try them,” recalls Pugh.

Flush sliding doors create a single level space between main saloon and aft cockpit. Photo: C/O Reichel/Pugh

The interior helm station sits next to an inside cockpit area with control lines led under shelter. Overhead windows provide sight lines for sail trim. The mainsheet is hydraulic with an in-boom furling main, furling jib and fully powered winches for push-button control.

The controls are designed so that, in time, Nelson will be able to sail with a high degree of autonomy. “I’m not there yet because it’s still a learning curve for me. I haven’t sailed for a really long time, and this is all new, and I have to figure out how I’m doing things,” she explains. “I’m not a skipper right now, I’m learning the boat, so I’ve got a skipper, and she’s really good. I’m going to gradually get more and more responsibilities, but it’s set up for me to go everywhere.

“Everything is push button. And everything else is [controlled] on an iPad – so the hatches open and close, right down to the screens and the shades.” The powered systems which control the doors, hatches and blinds are integrated into the boat’s C-zone system.

The mast base cockpit area with powered winches and push-button controls allows all sails to be adjusted from a protected internal position. Photo: C/O Reichel/Pugh

One of the key accessibility goals was for Nelson to be able to board the yacht on her own. Hull topside doors aft open to create an adjustable height boarding platform and ramp for access to and from the dock. “Getting off and on is really important, and I want to do it myself. I told them, ‘Make it so that I can go by myself.’ I won’t, I know that – mainly because I can’t dock her. Though I even looked into fenders that kind of go in and out of the hull, but really, you still need somebody else to tie up.”

Besides the access ramp there is also a lowering platform on the transom that Nelson can swim from, cunningly disguised as an aft cockpit seat, and bearing no resemblance to a conventional swimming pool hoist. “The middle of the rear of the boat has the teak seat. You sit on it and it will lower into the water or lower me into the dinghy – but you wouldn’t know that,” she says.

The inside forward helm station is designed for excellent visibility with curved windows outboard and glass panels in the roof. Photo: C/O Reichel/Pugh

Custom details

The interior is by Design Unlimited. Designer Nigel Jones explains: “The layout and functionality of Terri’s living spaces was particularly fascinating to develop. From corridor and open spaces to placement of taps, handrails and customised wardrobe handles there was an extra level of meticulous planning and design reviews that were required to ensure everything worked for Terri as seamlessly as possible.”

Some of Nelson’s favourite details include a custom-designed coffee station to house her beloved Keurig coffee machine, and a wardrobe with stowage that raises and lowers to make stored clothes easily reachable – based on a design she has in her own house.

There are two outboard helm stations, each with joystick and touch-screen controls. Photo: C/O Reichel/Pugh

The soft furnishings echo the seafoam green-blue of the hull, with crisp white and orange leather accents together with black carbon trim detailing. “I really wanted it sporty, I really wanted it to represent performance. And that means more contemporary.”

So far Nelson’s first custom-built yacht is exceeding expectations for sailing performance. “For a big boat, she handles really well. She is sharp and responsive and handles turns extremely well.”

Her sailing plans include some exploring of the local Coronado and Catalina Islands, and likely cruising south to Mexico. However, she’s also keen to put Trinity through her paces. “I want to do some club racing and probably longer races.

I want to put her out in everybody’s face!”

Trinity specifications

LOA: 13.71m / 45ft 0in
Beam: 8.30m / 27ft 3in
Draught: 1.93m / 6ft 4in
Displacement: 11,900kg / 26,235lb
Upwind Sail Area: 109m2 / 1,173ft2
Downwind Sail Area: 253m2 / 2,723ft2

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Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

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If you’re contemplating buying a multihull for bluewater sailing, be it a new one or a brokerage yacht, what equipment and spec should you be thinking about? The choices you make could determine much of your experience along the way, from comfort at sea to safety, but you don’t want costs to mount up unnecessarily. Where’s the right place to draw the line?

For this feature, we consulted two very experienced bluewater sailors with oceans of multihull miles behind them, catamaran owner Chet Chauhan and coach Nikki Henderson, for advice and guidance.
Here, they look at what they consider the most important priorities, from downwind sail choices to energy requirements – and not neglecting essentials such as a robust workhorse tender.

It is aimed squarely at speccing a multihull, but many of their recommendations would be applicable to bluewater yachts of any type.

safety in numbers – a good way to get into the groove of bluewater cruising is to sail with others in events like the Atlantic Rally for Cruisers (ARC). Photo: James Mitchell

Sail choices and rigging options

Nearly all bluewater catamarans will come with slab reefing, which is simple and durable. Make this system work as efficiently as possible. Check what your mainsail car system is, and possibly upgrade the cars to ones with roller bearings to reduce friction. The smoother the mainsail can drop, the better.

Fit downhaul lines for each reef on the luff to make downwind reefing easier. Ideally, run these back to the same winch station as the reefing lines and halyard. On that note, the ability to reef from one place is important. Running back and forth from port to starboard to control reefing lines and halyards is not practical and increases the risk of a slip or a fall. Check that the winch layout allows that.

When it comes to headsails, buy more than one for redundancy. If your budget is limited, make your extra sail the storm headsail. If you can afford it, choose a blade headsail as well for your ‘everyday’ headsail, and a higher clewed, larger reaching headsail for long downwind legs.

Headsails made from laminate sail cloth and fitted with extra UV protection when furled are a worthy investment. They weigh less, which makes changing sails short-handed much easier.

A tidy cockpit with winches and lines to hand of the helm (plus tailing lockers) is most practical. Photo: Andreas Lindlahr/EYOTY

If you opt for a spinnaker or other loose-luffed sail, getting it down easily is critical. The sock system you choose to douse it needs to be robust. I find that fibreglass rings work best.

Lengthen the sock-line so that it can run down through a block on the foredeck and back to a winch sited aft, close to where the sheets are controlled; this will make dousing the sail easier. Wobbling around on the bow getting your legs caught up in the sock line isn’t fun.

When it comes to asymmetrical sails, it’s all about furlers. Stick with the traditional furlers for a Code 0 or a flatter gennaker, and consider a top-down furler for a true asymmetric.

Unless you’re a performance-orientated sailor buying a performance catamaran, the ability to sail dead downwind is important. Ideally, invest in a symmetric spinnaker.

If you have a performance catamaran, first buy a heavy spinnaker to withstand any squalls. For cruisier catamarans, choose a lighter and larger S2 because it will help in lighter airs and you won’t have the acceleration to safely sail through a squall with it up anyway. If you are limited in budget, not a confident spinnaker sailor, or want a more robust heavy weather option for dead downwind sailing, poled out twin headsails (jib/genoa) is a great alternative. Just make sure you have two tracks in your headsail foil.

Spinnakers need a reliable dousing method – leading control lines to these winches aft makes more sense than foredeck work. Photo: Andreas Lindlahr/EYOTY

For controlling all the sails, lines that run aft to inboard winches are much easier than lines that run to winches by or at the mast only. At the very least, you should be able to hoist and drop the mainsail and adjust reefing lines and headsail sheets from a position where you can also see a chartplotter and adjust the helm manually.

Ready for heavy weather

I recommend having your mainsail built with three reefs. But before requesting this, check the boom has the space for three sheaves, or even four if you have an adjustable outhaul at the aft end – sailmakers and riggers don’t always communicate with custom changes.

If you have a furling headsail and no inner forestay, ensure your storm headsail can be hoisted over the top of it. To my mind, an inner forestay is the better option for a storm headsail, as you can rig it ahead of time to be ready if the weather worsens. It’s also arguably less physical a task to hank on a headsail than it is to slide one over the top of the jib or genoa right at the bow.

If you are cruising anywhere you could meet major rough weather, I’d buy a series drogue. This will help you slow the boat down. Tying warps together is also an option, but lean on the rope option as a plan B. Don’t rely on mooring lines for this as they’ll be unlikely to fit on your winches. Whichever you use, practise it so that you don’t have to invent it in anger.

a protected helm or ability to steer from a protected position is recommended. Photo: Andreas Lindlahr/EYOTY

Cockpit security

If you sail with children, an enclosed cockpit (or a way of enclosing it) is important to create the boundaries they need to have an essence of freedom. The same goes for pets.

An enclosed cockpit not only protects the crew from falling out, but also prevents water from coming in. Tradewind sailing comes with big swells, and the acceleration and deceleration – which is especially pronounced when sailing deep downwind with a symmetric spinnaker – can occasionally result in big quantities of water flooding the aft decks. An enclosed cockpit is the ideal, but you could also consider fitting removable barriers if you prefer the option to be able to walk straight from the saloon into the water on anchor.

Safety gear and features

Many catamarans have a helm station that is only accessible from climbing up a ladder or stairs which are very far aft, without any real protection from falling backwards straight into the sea. I recommend choosing a boat that has a more protected helm access. This will also improve visibility. A helm that is low down and far aft could obstruct the view and communication to the bow on the opposite hull.

What it’s all about: bluewater cruising at Fakarava Atoll in the stunning Tuamotus of the South Pacific. Photo: Jim Hooper/SV Polaris

For man overboard scenarios, a drop-down ladder on the side deck that can be deployed quickly is important. While the stern seems the obvious recovery location, it is not the ideal first point of contact with a crewmember in the water due to the proximity to the propellers.

A hanging ladder provides the casualty with something to hold onto initially. On the topic of ladders, ensure the ladder on the stern is deployable from the water in case you forget to put it down before jumping in for a refreshing dip while at anchor!

Think carefully about jackstay placement. Jackstays that run along the stanchions on the outboard-most part of the vessel can actually be a hazard; if you fall overboard while clipped on, you will drag in the water. Look for ways, or ask the manufacturer, to run jackstays further inboard. You need to be able to get to the helm, to the mast, and to the bow while always being clipped on. I would advise investigating this early in the build, as extra strong points may need to be fitted.

A chartplotter and comms at the helm are vital. Photo: Andreas Lindlahr/EYOTY

A crew overboard emergency GPS button, a VHF transmitter, and a chartplotter or iPad/iPhone holder at the helm are, for me, deal-breakers.

They are arguably more important on catamarans than monohulls as the distance between the helm and the navigation station can be substantial and involve several flights of stairs.

Water

I sailed halfway around the world without a watermaker and have just completed another half with a watermaker, and I can say the difference in comfort is profound. We no longer have the constant anxiety of finding good water sources and we have the luxury of taking a shower everyday.

A DC rather than AC watermaker is the way to go so you are not reliant on a generator. But even if you do have a watermaker, you also need a way to purify the water. Yes, watermakers do produce the purest water, but after sitting in your tanks without chlorine for a few days in the tropical heat, bacteria and viruses can grow. You could add chlorine every time you make water but it is hard to keep track of the concentration.

A good solution is to add a separate tap in the galley for drinking water that goes through a carbon filter and ideally UV light as well to kill any remaining pathogens. Some units also have filters that add back calcium and other minerals that watermakers remove.

Anchoring

A bulletproof anchoring setup is a critical consideration since the majority of the time you will be on the hook. Modern anchors (Rocna, Spade, Manson, Ultra etc) are very reliable across the majority of the seabeds you will encounter.

Bigger is always better but, with catamarans being weight sensitive, a good compromise is to get an anchor only one size above what the manufacturer recommends. Couple that with around 70-80m of high test chain that has better strength to weight ratio and a sturdy bridle and you are all set – literally!

Lastly, the chain hook that connects the bridle to the chain is something that should not be overlooked. If you are anchored in shallow water and the bridle is slack and resting on the seabed, the chain hook could easily come off. To prevent this, it is good to have a hook that is secured with a pin or bolt.

Your dinghy is like your car – luckily catamarans allow for large davits and therefore large dinghies. Photo: Parallel Sea Productions

Tender dinghy

Cruising sailors always say their dinghy is their car, and like your car it’s often the limiting factor on how much stuff and people you can transport. So get the biggest dinghy that can fit on board or on davits, but not so heavy that it affects the trim and therefore the performance of your boat.

You will also need a good tender anchor that can hold the dinghy in 20-knot wind and waves for when you are snorkelling or diving, but also in an emergency if the outboard engine cuts out and you can’t row against the wind or current.

In a lot of remote places you will have to beach the dinghy to land, so having a good pair of dinghy wheels can make it a lot easier and will spare your back.

Lastly, many dinghies are sadly stolen so it’s wise to secure it with a sturdy chain and the biggest padlock you can find.

Good wheels are key for beaching. Photo: Parallel Sea Productions

Handover and after-care

Anyone planning to sail thousands of miles from land really needs to understand their boat back to front, and with a new boat the role of the manufacturer is critical. A quick six-hour run through where you are given the keys and shown how to turn the engine on is not a sufficient handover.

Before you buy, find out as much as you can about the length of time and training you are going to receive on handover and the expertise of the people who will be giving that handover. They should be sailors or engineers and not sales staff.

Ask also about the quality of the manual, as-built drawings, plumbing and wiring diagrams that come with the boat. You are going to need these. Will they be enough to troubleshoot problems?

Before you buy, find out as much as you can about the length of time and training you are going to receive on handover and the expertise of the people who will be giving that handover. Photo: Andreas Lindlahr/EYOTY

Find out more, too, about the length and commitment of the warranty (and ask other owners for their experiences). If there are major issues with the build, will they be covered? How will it be dealt with?

A strong community of owners of the same brand of boat as yours will be invaluable. There are many very active owners’ associations and groups, and they are worth their weight in gold, so if they have some sort of forum to communicate on, this is a huge plus. It will be a resource for helping troubleshoot problems, find crew and also to make friends.

Bluewater sailing can be an isolating venture, and a sense of camaraderie and practical support among owners of the same type of boat as yours will mean more and buy you more than you might expect.

The balance of power

When preparing a boat for bluewater cruising, one of the most critical considerations has to be energy. How are you going to power the instruments, autopilot, lights, fridges, laptops and all the appliances you can’t live without?

It’s important to first start with a calculation of how much energy you plan to use at anchor and underway. This means having a list of all the energy consuming equipment, coupled with the amount of energy they consume in a 24-hour period. You should come up with a table something like this, which is based on typical energy consumption at sea for us as a couple on our Nautitech 46.

This will show you how much energy you need, and help you size the boat’s energy sources as well as that of the house battery.

You’ll tend to use a lot more power underway because of the autopilot and instruments, but it’s also worth remembering that you’ll be spending a lot of your time at anchor. Ideally you want to optimise your energy sources so that renewables cover your energy usage at anchor on most days.

There are many ways to power a boat, each with their pros and cons.

Catamarans do have the advantage of having a lot of space to fit solar panels. This is why it’s better to go all-in on solar first before adding other sources of energy. A transom solar arch works very well because it’s not shaded by the hoisted mainsail, and the solar panels can dissipate heat more effectively than if fitted on the coachroof, which increases their output.

Once you max out on panels on the arch, add them to the roof but these will produce less. On the curved surfaces of the roof, flexible panels fit better but are about 20% less efficient than rigid panels so factor this into your energy projections.

With a solar arch and additional panels on the roof, you’re likely to have enough power to meet all your energy needs at anchor on most days, although obviously this depends on where you are cruising. In a Mediterranean summer with up to 16 hours of sunlight and cloudless skies, you’ll have little problem topping up the batteries. In the tropics you are looking at 12-hour days with 20% cloud cover on average.

Use a cat’s real estate for solar, starting at the davits. Photo: James Mitchell

A rough rule of thumb is to divide your total solar capacity by five (low end) or three (high end) to get your output in amp hours. For example, 1,200W should give around 240-400Ah per day. Finally, to maximise output it’s important to have separate MPPT controllers for every large panel or every 400W.

On passage, with the autopilot working hard and the mainsail shading the solar panels, you may need additional sources of power. Topping up with the alternators is a cheap way to cover this if it’s only for a few hours a day. Installing high output alternators can halve this time, and some people install hydro generators and wind generators, which also have their pros and cons.

Calculate the power usage of every electric device on board. Photo: Billy Black

From our observations in anchorages around the world, more and more boats are getting rid of gensets. This is partly due to better solar and lithium battery technology but also because of new 12V air conditioning systems. And when sailing in remote places, diesel can be hard to come by. For example, I’m writing this anchored in Nuku Hiva, the largest island of the Marquesas in French Polynesia, and they’ve run out of diesel. Even when the ship arrives in a week’s time, it will be rationed to 100-200lt per boat.

Finally, you need to store all this power you’re generating so batteries are the next piece of the puzzle. Lithium is becoming the standard on all new boats and especially on weight sensitive catamarans. When sizing your battery bank, a rough rule of thumb is to have capacity for at least 1.5 times your daily power usage so you can store enough power to tide you over for at least one bad day of solar production (a day and two nights).

To power all the AC appliances you’ll need an adequately sized inverter of at least 2,000W and, lastly, it’s critical to have a battery monitor to see the state of charge of the batteries at all times.

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The post How to get a multihull ready for bluewater sailing appeared first on Yachting World.

The old adage that the many benefits of a cruising catamaran are achieved at the cost of its sailing qualities is no longer true and a growing proportion of buyers are seeking performance boats that are responsive and fun to sail.
This part of the multihull market has of course existed for a long time, with the likes of Outremer, Catana and more recently Gunboat and Marsaudon Composites proving that lightweight ultra-fast catamarans can be safe and comfortable, yet also exhilarating.

HH Catamarans has grown rapidly since the yard was founded in 2012 by entrepreneur and boating enthusiast Hudson Wang. He has since ploughed some US$50 million into the company, including 1.2 million square feet of manufacturing space with state of the art production equipment, predominately at Xiamen in south-western China.

Wang has also recruited top talent, including Kiwi boatbuilder Paul Hakes, who as CEO has brought his knowledge of building very high end raceboats to a cruising audience who want an equal level of attention to detail in an impeccably finished yacht that also offers a high level of comfort and without sacrificing speed.

The latest model to hit the water, the HH44, will be the smallest in the range and therefore available to a wider audience, even if the price tag still ranges upwards of US$1 million ex VAT. Nevertheless this hasn’t deterred 35 owners ordering boats off-plan before the first one left the yard.

This Morrelli & Melvin design is not as ultra high performance as some of the earlier and larger HH models. This is especially true in the OC (Ocean Cruising) versions of the HH44, which have an easily handled format with aluminium mast, white gelcoat finish and mini-keels as standard instead of daggerboards. Nevertheless displacement is one third lower than that of many catamarans of this size, which promises enjoyable and rewarding sailing, as well as markedly reducing time spent under power when passagemaking.

SC (Sports Cruising) models include current race boat technology, including carbon C-foils and rig, a painted hull finish, plus over 4kW of solar panels.

They also have a parallel hybrid EcoDrive system developed by Isle of Wight company Hybrid Marine. This is intended to provide all the key benefits of an electric boat – including silent, fume-free motoring, instant torque when manoeuvring, and hydro-regeneration while sailing – without sacrificing the reassuring backup of diesel engines.

The first boat, an SC model painted in a striking metallic silver, was scheduled to hit the water this summer. Demand has been such that HH is currently building an additional set of moulds and two production lines will run for the HH44 at its Cebu facility in the Philippines.

HH44 specifications

LOA (transoms raised): 14.23m / 46ft 8in
LWL: 13.28m / 43ft 7in
Beam: 7.15m / 23ft 6in
Draught (fixed keels): 1.52m / 5ft 0in
Displacement (OC model): 8,750kg / 19,290lb
Payload approx: 4,750kg / 10,000lb
Mainsail: 74.2m2 / 799ft2
Solent jib: 51.1m2 / 550ft2
Base price 44-OC: US$957,000 ex vat
Base price 44-SC: US$1,325,000 ex VAT
Builder: hhcatamarans.com

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As with most big races around the world, bragging rights in the Rolex Fastnet Race race are split into two broad camps, the line honours winners (the first boat to complete the course) and the winner of the event on corrected time.

And since the inclusion of multihulls 20 years ago, these categories are split again into monohull and multihull line honours and handicap winners.

Most of those taking part in the race, in either monohulls or multihulls, will only be focussed on the handicap results as a line honours win is out of reach of all but the fastest, biggest and most expensive boats in the world.

For the Rolex Fastnet Race 2023, the fastest boat to complete the course will almost certainly be one of the two 100ft foiling trimarans, the Ultim of Banque Populaire XI and SVR-Lazartigue.

Banque Populaire XI in full flight. Photo: Jeremie Lecaudey

Fastest Fastnet Race Multihulls

The foiling ocean racers are at the very forefront of technical innovation and are designed to break records – be that offshore races, ocean crossings or the ultimate prize a Jules Verne Round the World record.

The Ultim trimarans are set to become especially newsworthy over the next months with the first ever race for five of these extreme 32m long by 23m wide flying trimarans, around the world, non-stop, singlehanded, setting sail from Brest, France on 7 January next year.

Before then two of the main contenders will be leading the charge on the rather shorter 695 mile Rolex Fastnet Race.

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SVR-Lazartigue and Banque Populaire XI are skippered by two titans of offshore racing, Francois Gabart and Armel le Cleac’h respectively. Both are Vendée Globe winners (Gabart 2012, le Cleac’h 2016). Le Cleac’h is part of the exclusive club of triple winners of La Solitaire du Figaro (the unofficial world championship of solo offshore racing). He has been racing Ultims since 2013, this being his second boat.

Similarly, Gabart joined the Ultim class in 2015 winning many events with his MACIF trimaran, culminating in his record for sailing singlehanded non-stop around the world of just 42d 16h 40m 35s, incredibly just under two days shy of the fully crewed record.

Gabart has competed in the Rolex Fastnet Race twice before, winning on his IMOCA 60 MACIF in 2013 and then, in 2019, leading into the Plymouth finish line aboard his Ultim trimaran, only to be pipped at the post by Groupe Edmond de Rothschild, finishing less than one minute astern. “That was a little disappointing,” Gabart admits.

Charles Caudrelier and Franck Cammas on Maxi Edmond de Rothschild win the last Fastnet Race in 2021. Photo: Eloi Stichelbaut / PolaRYSE / Gitana

Neither of these Ultims competed in the 2021 race, when Charles Caudrelier and Franck Cammas on Maxi Edmond de Rothschild established the record for the new course to Cherbourg of 1d 9h 14m 54s.

Their Ultims are more than capable of bettering this and it’s possible a good breeze could even see the 14-year-old outright record for the most miles covered in 24 hours (908.2 miles/average speed 37.84 knots), also broken, given enough runway with suitable conditions and the will. If pressed, the latest Ultims could cover 1000 miles in a day (average speed 41.6 knots).

The top speed on Banque Populaire XI to date is 47 knots, but it is not top speed but high average speeds that Le Cleac’h says is the objective. “40-42 knots for one or two hours is very good, or 35-37 knots for 24 hours. We know that it is possible with our boat if the conditions are good.”

The performance of the Ultims has taken a massive leap in recent years, since new foil configurations have enabled them to fly.

For Banque Populaire XI getting airborne requires 12-13 knots of wind/22-23 knots of boat speed. Ideal conditions are no more than 20 knots as above this the sea state becomes too rough to use the foils effectively. Upwind in 15-17 knots Banque Populaire XI flies and will be making 27-30 knots. “That is the big step forward compared to the last Ultims, and that difference is very important compared to the older generation Ultims.”

“We regularly reach speeds of over 40 knots at less than 90° true wind angle (TWA),” says Gabbart. “In certain conditions, such as 25 knots of wind on flat seas, at 65°-70° off the wind, you’re doing 40 knots. That’s 60-65 knots of apparent wind speed. The maximum AWS in our log is not far from 70 knots.”

Of course one of these two foiling beasts being first to finish the Fastnet Race does require that they actually finish. The giant trimarans are at the very forefront of innovation and are famously susceptible to damage.

Reliability is improving, however, as foiling technology improves but even these hugely developed technological marvels the old adage holds true; ‘to finish first, first you have to finish’.

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The new foiling catamaran design is the result of Persico’s strategy to translate knowledge the yard gains from its work in aerospace, IMOCA 60 and America’s Cup spheres into very high performance cruising yachts. The structure is of high modulus prepreg carbon/Nomex, there’s an all-carbon interior, plus a Southern Spars rotating mast with Future Fibres’ ECsix and AEROsix composite standing rigging.

The boat is intended as a semi-foiler that can switch to full foiling mode, skimming 20cm above the water in appropriate conditions. The 7m-long righting moment foils are rake controlled and complemented by daggerboards for leeway control, plus T-rudders also with rake control. Design of the foils and flying system was done using the Gomboc VPP software that was instrumental in creating the AC75 foiling monohull and is now also widely used in the IMOCA class.

“The foil has the same purpose as the one used in the IMOCA class,” explains Ferdinand van West, lead designer of Morrelli and Melvin, “but it has been adapted to a catamaran and can be fully retracted.” The foils become effective in 9 knots of breeze and boat speeds well over 20 knots are predicted in just 13 knots of true wind.

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In stronger conditions downwind speeds of 40 knots and an astonishing 26 knots upwind are expected. For a more comfortable ride and greater safety factor maximum speeds can be dialled down via a fully autonomous control system, which can gradually lower the hulls and decrease speed to a comfortable level set by the owner.

A further advantage for a cruising yacht is that draught with the foils raised is a mere 65cm (2ft 2in), though with the foils lowered this increases to 5.31m (17ft 5in).

Despite the boat’s speed potential, it is primarily intended as a very spacious luxury cruiser with all the associated systems including more than 500lt of refrigeration space, a pizza oven and a whopping 64,000 BTU (approx 19kW) of air conditioning. This is powered by twin variable-speed 20kW diesel Fischer Panda generators, which also supply hotel loads the 2kW solar array can’t cover.

Twin 25kW Torqeedo electric motors, allied to a 40kW BMW I3 battery, provide auxiliary propulsion at a cruising speed of 8 knots, with the generators available for use as range extenders if necessary.

Construction has already started in Persico’s new facility at the Italian port of La Spezia, with the boat scheduled for launch in summer 2024.

Specifications

LOA: 24.1m / 79ft 0in
Hull length: 21.95m / 72ft 0in
Beam: 9.5m / 31ft 2in
Light displacement: 21,000kg / 46,300lb
Draught (foils raised): 0.65m / 2ft 2in
Draught (foils lowered): 5.31m / 17ft 5in
Price: POA
Builder: persicomarine.com

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Yachting World is the world’s leading magazine for bluewater cruisers and offshore sailors. Every month we have inspirational adventures and practical features to help you realise your sailing dreams.

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The post First look: Persico 72ft 40-knot foiling cruising cat appeared first on Yachting World.