In the few years since the Bali brand appeared as an offshoot of the Catana line of catamarans, it has grown rapidly. The original models are popular bareboat charter vessels in the Caribbean and the Mediterranean, and the new Bali 5.4, the largest of the line, moves the company ...read more
Sailing at 19 knots in 15 knots of breeze is not an earth-shattering experience anymore. I was thinking about that on a perfect late summer day in Narragansett Bay while we were slicing along on the most technologically advanced cruising catamaran I’ve ever seen—the Eagle Class ...read more
With new catamaran brands springing up like mushrooms, France’s Fountaine Pajot is something of an oak tree in the market, with a story that goes back to its founding in 1976. It is also one of the largest cat builders out there, sending some 600 boats down the ways in 2018. The ...read more
After sailing on Puget Sound and in British Columbia for over 30 years, my wife, Jeri, and I retired to Florida, bought a house on Punta Gorda and worked hard to get it straight. The walls had been painted, furniture bought and assembled, belongings packed, transported and ...read more
If a boat show could be described as intimate, the annual Salon International du Multicoque in La Grande Motte, on France’s Mediterranean coast, is it. Held in the latter part of April, the multihulls-only in-water show is a boon for builders, because the people who attend come ...read more
Variety is the spice of life. That said, surrounded by the seemingly endless variety of boats now plying the world’s oceans, it can be easy to take them for granted. It can also be easy to forget that many different sailboat types look the way they do not just “because,” but ...read more
Dragonfly 32 Evolution Denmark’s Quorning Boats has been systematically upgrading its line of folding, performance-cruiser trimarans in recent years as part of a long-term effort to incorporate the latest developments in yacht design, with the latest to receive this treatment ...read more
Coming fast on the heels of its predecessor, the Bali 4.0, the Bali 4.1 adds a number of improvements, many of them inspired by feedback from owners and charterers. She’s an evolution of a concept that has already proven popular and very many benefits from its builder’s ...read more
Two separate racing fleets were streaming into the docks and a party was in full swing at the head of Marseille’s inner harbor. A group of bearded musicians cranked out lively jazz tunes while throngs of sailors jostled around the drinks and snack tables. Sipping a rather good ...read more
It was after midnight when I realized my daysail with Tony Bullimore aboard his giant record-breaking catamaran, Team Legato, was not going to plan. The big cat was en route for a December dash from England across the Bay of Biscay to Barcelona and the start of a drag race ...read more
If the 2013 America’s Cup in San Francisco represented a cataclysmic moment for a new form of sailing, the 35th Cup not only took “foiling” to a ridiculously refined level of performance, it created an entirely new archetype of professional sailor: high-performance Olympians like ...read more
Annie Gardner & Eric Witte Port of Origin: San Diego, California Boat: Catana 472, El Gato Blog:ElGatoAdventures.com Lifelong sailors and racers who always dreamed of extensive cruising, we married two and half years ago and are finally doing it together. We both grew up in ...read more
I am both embarrassed and a little proud that I’ve had to abandon two boats in my life. To save face, I must add that neither vessel belonged to me, nor was under my command; still, the emotions involved are strong. The embarrassment, of course, is easy to understand. Any time ...read more
Five Farangs in Thailand A motley crew explores Thailand’s fabled Andaman Sea on a charter catamaran Read Paul Gelder's full story HERE. ...read more
Nuts & Bolts of an ACC 50 The basic dimensions of a 50ft ACC catamaran are: LOA 49ft 3in; Beam 27ft 9in; Wing Height 77ft; Crew 6; Wing Area 1,100 ft2; Weight 5,300lb. Hulls: Hull parameters are strictly controlled, and the hulls are therefore almost identical in appearance ...read more
The 8th edition of the International Multihull Boat Show at La Grande Motte in the South of France (from April 19-23) showcased around 60 catamarans and trimarans, with a couple of world premieres. What makes this small, intimate show unique, compared to Cannes and other ...read more
This exciting new cruising catamaran from South Africa is loosely based on a Dean 5000 cat that a Hungarian cruiser/entrepreneur, Tamas Hamor, sailed around the world and managed in the charter trade with his wife, Sara. After Dean failed as a business, Hamor worked with ex-Dean ...read more
The world of luxury catamarans is a small but intriguing one, and that of high-performance luxury cats is even smaller and more intriguing. The genre was defined more than 15 years ago by Peter Johnstone with his Gunboat brand, and now several other companies are dipping their ...read more
The new Bavaria Nautitech 46 Fly does not take its name from an ability to become airborne, but is the flybridge version of the original 46 Open. The flybridge opens a spacious area for skipper and passengers, provides excellent visibility in all directions and consolidates ...read more
High-performance sailing with luxury living set atop a carbon fiber platform – that pretty well describes the newly launched HH66 performance cruising catamaran. This Morrelli and Melvin design is built in Xiamen, China and soon will be joined by other models ranging from 55-88 ...read more
The growing popularity of catamarans for bluewater sailing has spawned a number of designs aimed at sailors who want some speed along with their comfort, yet either don’t want, or can’t afford to go down the high-tech carbon-fiber route. Builders like Catana and Outremer are the ...read more
Bali Catamarans is creating quite a lot of buzz in the sailing community with its unique layouts and chameleon convertibility. But there is more to the new Bali 4.0 than just novelty. It’s also a real sailboat. CONSTRUCTION Bali’s parent company, Catana, builds the Bali 4.0 of ...read more
If you want to get your catamaran vacation fix this winter (or next summer) and want a unique experience, consider one of the following 10 destinations. Maybe you’ve only got a week and want to stay close to home. Or perhaps you have loads of time off and don’t mind a long ...read more
Four decades after his time drifting about the islands of Caribbean, a lifelong sailor returns to the waters he once loved so much. Read the story A Multihull Boat Delivery to St. Maarten here ...read more
