Over the course of 28 years, Performance Cruising has steadily grown into America’s largest and most successful production multihull builder. Starting in England in the late 1960s, Tony Smith was there at the onset of the multihull sailing revolution. Smith engaged in extensive research and development with foam-sandwich construction techniques and fiberglass molding to build a progression of custom sailboats all built to Lloyds 100A1 specification. By 1969, Smith had developed the legendary Telstar 26 trimaran and Telstar 35. Smith and his Telstar designs were successfully tested twice in the Round Britain Race; a race comprised of 1,800 miles of some of the most challenging ocean racing in the world.

Nearly 300 of the original Telstar 26 were sold throughout Europe in the 1970s until, in 1980, the company moved production to America. While ramping up production in Mayo, Maryland, a fire struck the factory and destroyed the original Telstar molds. Forced to regroup, Smith decided to move forward with the development of the Gemini cruising catamaran. Drawing from his years of sailing experience and efficiency in production, the Gemini 31, 3000, 3200, and later the 3400 Gemini cruising catamarans grew beyond a cult following to become one of the standard bearers of cruising catamarans.

By the early 1990s, Smith and his wife, Susan, were running one of the most successful boat building companies in America. In 1993 Performance Cruising was ready to introduce the most advanced cruising catamaran yet developed by Smith, the Gemini 105M. The 105M incorporated the best aspects of the previous Gemini models and went on to break new ground with advanced hull shapes, the first ever under-hung lifting rudders, asymmetrical lifting centerboards, and a new interior cabin design. Sales of the new 105M took off so that by 1997, Performance Cruising opened a brand new, custom-designed production facility on the water in Annapolis, Maryland.

The new factory provided a more streamlined approach to building the Gemini 105M. Smith successfully pioneered entirely new techniques for the efficient and precise assembly of the new Gemini so that as sales grew, the boat remained one of the best values on the market. The latest version of the Gemini cruising catamaran is the 105Mc and includes such advances as a new enclosable cockpit, a larger galley with double the work surface, and a new interior liner that has made the Gemini lighter, stiffer, and even better performing. The factory in Annapolis turns out a new Gemini every week so that today there are over 1,040 Gemini catamarans sailing in the U.S. and exported around the world.

Remaining at the forefront of comfortable performance sailing Performance Cruising is getting underway with the production of the Telstar 28 trimaran. This fast, comfortable, extraordinary sailboat incorporates some surprisingly traditional features, with a unique, 30 second, single handed retraction of the outriggers (18' to 8'6), one handed patented mast raising and lowering. As a second generation company Performance Cruising benefits from an unbeatable combination of experience and state of the art technical expertise and knowledge.

Performance Cruising Inc.—At the Forefront of the Cruising Multihull Revolution