Impressive but unlovely
I don’t really love catamarans…. Yes, I’ve got a soft spot for James Wharram designs, and am fascinated by Pacific Voyaging craft, but the modern Cruising Cat is a triumph of function over aesthetics. The boat below is no exception.
However, when one of these massive, shiny, floating apartment blocks is made out of (mostly) timber then its worth reading about, and taking on board the possibilities.
The Soyaslan CAT63 - photo credit Pozitif Studio
Turkish boat builder Soyaslan has launched what it believes is the world’s longest cold-moulded wooden catamaran.
The CAT63 measures 19.37m overall and was both designed and built by Soyaslan, with styling from Tumer Design Studio.
“We have good experience in engineering and manufacturing with this method,” says founder Can Soyaslan. “We have engineered and built cold-moulded yachts which are already 30-plus years old. To date, we have produced more than 100 boats and yachts.”
To build the catamaran, the boatbuilders built up the shape by forming sheets or planks of wood over a plug or frame.
The individual wooden elements were glued together with high-performance epoxy and later sheathed in epoxy for protection and longevity.
“In the final look, users cannot tell the difference between a cold-moulded yacht and a GRP or metal one,” continued Can.
“In practice, the durability and longevity of the hull is without comparison. Wooden yachts can last well over a hundred years, while the vibration, sound and heat insulation are much better.”
And he explained that weight for weight, there is little difference between cold-moulding and GRP.
The 63ft catamaran is powered by twin Yanmar 110hp engines, connected to ZF saildrives, providing an 8.5-knot cruising speed with more than 10 knots at full throttle.
The craft has a 60kWh bank of lithium batteries aboard and eight 430W solar panels.
Accommodation runs to two large double cabins and two twins for eight guests, and a further three berths for crew.
Check out this short video of the launch
And a boat tour with sailing footage.