– Leopard 45 and 51PC –
Australian sailors have always embraced new design innovations, especially when they lead to better performance, and more liveable accommodation spaces. The award-winning line of Leopard Catamarans achieves a totally new level of performance, comfort and style. Built in South Africa by well respected boat builders Robertson & Caine and designed by Naval Architects Simonis-Voogd, Leopard have set a new standard for contemporary cruising catamarans.
We recently celebrated 20 years at the Lightwave Family Reunion at Great Keppel Island, Queensland, with 18 Lightwave vessels in attendance and 60 people present. What a moment. What a sight.
What an effort from all involved.
Motor catamarans are a strongly growing sector for some very good reasons such as space and economy, as can be seen by the Fountaine Pajot MY 37, writes KEVIN GREEN.
The tide has turned in the marine industry, and multihulls are now the preferred choice for most cruising enthusiasts as well as many racers. The increase in demand for catamarans or trimarans has taken many traditional monohull proponents and builders by surprise.
As a marine surveyor of some years standing, I have seen my fair share of catamarans, both power driven and sailing craft, but I have to admit that a pleasant surprise was in store for me when I joined Murray Owen, CEO of MEC Yachts, Australia, to look over MarookAtta, a 15.5m luxury power catamaran, which had been recently been delivered to its new owner, at the marina at Versace, on the Gold Coast.
A long time ago ... back in 2007 we were approached by an experienced US sailing couple to design an unusual boat ... a catamaran intended for chartering built of aluminium with a ketch rig. No way! Several ‘experts’ in the field had told them it was impossible to build a cruising catamaran with halfway decent performance from this ‘heavy’ material. And then why would you top it all off with a slow, old-fashioned ketch rig! We at de Villiers Yacht Design had wide experience working with aluminium and alternative rigs so after about two seconds consideration decided to give it a go. Not without a modicum of angst as we had never before designed a sailing catamaran. The rest, as they say, is history.
Paradigm: (n) a distinct set of concepts or thought patterns, or a new way of looking at things (more modern meaning)
I usually write my articles after an adventure or incident that I was involved in – from the salty side of the story. This one is different. Twice in recent months I’ve been the one left ashore and the lessons I learned have given me a better appreciation of what goes on when things go wrong at sea and how those ashore are impacted.
Rapido Trimarans recently launched the Rapido 60, the world’s fastest production blue water cruising trimaran.
“Am I going to die Dad, am I going to die?” This is what my partner’s 10-year-old daughter kept asking him as he carried her on his back as fast as he could over the rocks to the nearby dinghy. She had just been attacked by a two and a half metre salt water crocodile and he was trying to get her back to our cat Hard Yakka which was anchored two kilometres down the Sale river. This near disaster happened in October 2005 in the remote Kimberley area of Doubtful Bay. I had got off the boat in Broome and flew home to Ireland for my sister’s wedding. Ric, my partner, and his two kids Simon and Chantal, along with a friend Peter from Switzerland were sailing from Broome to Port Douglas hoping to be there by December 25. (I was flying back on Christmas Day).
Powered catamarans like the Aquila 44 are comfortable cruising platforms that are growing in popularity for some very good reasons – such as their frugal fuel consumption combined with spacious hulls, writes KEVIN GREEN.
Powered catamarans have a lot of attractions for both the cruising boater and day sailor alike, who can enjoy the stability, space and fuel frugality, as can be seen here on the Leopard 43PC, writes KEVIN GREEN.
For those of you interested in the technical specifications behind ROAM this is a boat designed for performance cruising and engineered to take the punishment of the seas. Striking the balance between performance and cruising can be challenging and it’s difficult to suit every end user. The Spirited 480 is not designed for racing but it would certainly hold its own around the buoys in light trim.
Outremer’s flagship 5x cruised into Sydney Harbour recently, the first of these 59-footers to reach here, so I jumped aboard for a sail, reports KEVIN GREEN.
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