– Onboard a Longreach Power Catamaran –

Reach Further, Stay Longer

Introducing the new range of power catamarans designed and built for cruising Australia and beyond.

After many years of design and development, the ‘catamaran’ is now broadly accepted as the preferred and most desirable vessel configuration for cruising couples and families, due to the apartment living comforts, combined with performance, stability and low draft advantages.

For those without an affinity towards sailing, there are few options suitable in the motorboat market that offer the same living comforts and long-range cruising capabilities. It would seem the natural evolution of the ‘catamaran’ concept would be towards providing the same live aboard cruising comforts, stability, low draft and performance, but with the convenience of engine driven power.

Galley, saloon and internal helm option.

That is what the new Longreach range of power catamarans will offer ... a super-efficient, long-range power catamaran with modern apartment living and all of the systems and accessories included for couples and families planning to reach further and stay longer. Whether it be around Australia to remote destinations like the Kimberley, out into the South Pacific Islands, or exploring South East Asia. And while diesel still remains the most efficient and cost effective power source, the hull efficiency future proofs to explore new hybrid technology developments expected in the future.

Longreach Power Catamarans is a collaboration between Multihull Central, a leading Australian based cruising catamaran specialist who distribute performance brands like Seawind and Outremer catamarans, and Powerplay, a Thai based shipyard run by Australian James Dewing who has more than 20 years experience building displacement power catamarans and 40 years in the industry.

Flybridge with double helm seats and large entertaining areas.

At this stage, the Longreach family consists of a 58ft design and 44ft design building on Powerplay’s highly refined displacement hull shape that has been used on recent builds of up to 70ft in length, however the Longreach range will feature a reverse bow for additional buoyancy forward and additional waterline length for performance while incorporating docking keels for beaching. Each of these models are built to AMSA and/or Lloyds standards to provide an additional layer of robustness and allow commercial operations if one chooses to. There is also a hi-performance hydro-foiling version of the Longreach 44 available (non-commercial).

The layouts feature a huge full-beam master cabin forward with king bed the centrepiece, complimented by an ensuite with fresh water head and walk in robe for the live aboard owners. The saloons feature two large opening hatches forward for natural ventilation, with massive panoramic views from windows all around and cooled by air-conditioning throughout. The comfortable saloon lounge and dining setting looks onto a flat screen TV and 10 speaker sound system, but can convert into another bed with a telescopic table.

Flybridge with entertaining areas.

The galley opens out into the cockpit and features all of the appliances you would expect at home, including a large upright refrigerator with icemaker, dishwasher, convection microwave oven and of course stove tops. All of these appliances are powered with twin 130amp alternators and an 8kva generator, however you can upgrade to 4KW of solar panels on the flybridge roof packaged with lithium batteries and c-zone digital switching to keep your fuel burn even lower.

The cockpit features a large bench seat with dining table, breakfast bar with stools and of course, plenty of inbuilt shade everywhere. The pods either side can accommodate a barbecue, or bait tanks. There is also a neat dedicated dive tank stowage cabinet, plus a folding swim ladder mounted on the transom with comfortable teak step treads for the keen diver. This is alongside a 500kg capacity hydraulic swim deck that can be lowered with a tender into the water and lit by blue underwater lights.

Up top the flybridges have another huge entertaining area, wet bar and centrally located helm with twin helm seats protected by high quality clears forward. There is a 12” touchscreen chartplotter and integrated fishfinder, engine management screen, Yanmar VC10 electronic controls and hydraulic steering. There is access to the forward deck via forward steps down to the Muir anchor winch which can be controlled from an electric chain counter at the helm also. The LR58 also has the option for a Portuguese style closed helm flybridge with glass windshields forward.

Internal saloon with large chef's galley and island bench.

The Longreach family of high performance cruising catamarans inherit extraordinary efficiency and range from the hull shapes developed by Powerplay catamarans. At a cruising speed of 12kts, the Longreach 44 is predicted to achieve 1,100nm utilising its long range tanks with 4,400 litres of fuel. Drop that back to 8kts and you have an expected range of 3,500nm. While the Longreach 58 is predicted to achieve 2,000nm of range at 12kts with its 5,600 litres of fuel and long range tanks, or some 5,000nm around 8kts. Both displacement models are expected to have a top speed around 24kts. While the hydro-foiling LR44 is predicted to cruise at 25kts and enjoy top speeds in excess of 35kts (weather dependent).

The interest in the Longreach brand has been overwhelming with a record number of inquiries received by Multihull Central and the first two new LR58s already sold and under construction. Both of which have been sold to experienced cruisers who have explored far and wide on their respective sailing catamarans.

Peter Faulkner for example, who circumnavigated the world onboard his Lightwave 45 sailing catamaran, ordered LR58 hull #1 and is bringing his experience and input to the design and build specifications. While being a sailor, Peter and his wife Penny concluded that for their next cruising boat they want the convenience of long-range motor catamaran with the ability to reach higher speeds when they need to.

“Having cruised the east coast of Australia numerous times, we usually end up motor sailing at 5 or 6kts,” Peter explains, “The wind is either against you, or there is no wind or there is too much.”

“So if we are going to motor sail most of the time, we might as well get a motor boat, something we can go 10-15kts cruising speed, which will allow us to do 150 miles per day in daylight hours, then get into port and stay the night in comfort and then go on again.”

“We are doing quite long cruises and to get away with not actually having an overnighter to me is quite good, because I don’t enjoy them very much”.

“But at the same time I want a cruising boat that gives me range and to be honest with you, until we found the Longreach there isn’t many multihulls out there that can give us the distance”.

The monohull motor boats were not an option for Peter due to their higher fuel consumption and his observations of them at anchor.

“When we were in the Pacific there are many anchorages that are extremely rolly and it’s on the multihulls it’s comfortable, while the monohulls were rocking from one side to the other it was not at all pleasant”.

You can watch Peter’s full video interview and watch other videos and gain specifications by visiting www.longreachcatamarans.com

Production is in full swing with very limited availability still for 2022. Powerplay have increased production with a new factory and the first boats are expected to be launched and in Australia by mid 2022.