Light Displacement vs Max Displacement

For Catamarans, weight is an important issue which affects performance more so than on monohulls {or half boats ;)}. The lighter the cat, the faster she will perform.

For racers this means stripping as much as possible to achieve the highest speed possible. For cruisers, this means "how much can I bring on board without sacrificing safety and performance". If you're cruising, you may have a tendancy to want to bring everything on board times 20 ... "just in case". That can add up quickly!

Because it is so important for the vessel's owners to have accurate information, the European Economic Community (EEC) regulations require a European builder to state both Light displacement AND Max displacement, something that was not required years ago and is not required in some other parts of the world. Here's what that means:

According the ISO 12217 and ISO 866 norms, the light displacement refers to:

- all structural elements

- all the comfort equipment included in the standard version of the boat (as mattresses, cushions, cockpit table),

- the heaviest engines available,

- standard batteries,

- electronics,

- standard deck equipment (ladder, winches, anchors chain and anchor, mast, boom, standard sails, sheets, halyards…).

According to norm ISO 14946, the max loaded displacement refers to the light displacement with in addition:

- the maximum number of persons that the boat can accept (75 kg each),

- all the extra equipment,

- the basic personal equipment,

- provisioning,

- all tanks full (fuel, water and grey tanks),

- Liferaft.

When you compare specifications from a builder, make sure you are comparing apples to apples (or light vs light and max vs max) and that they have the same definition of those terms. =)

Dream Yacht Design wins award for Wave Catamaran

The Silver A' Design Award was given to the creative team of the Wave Catamaran, Arch. Roberta Visintin and Arch. Cristiana Foytik, in the Yacht and Marine Vessels Design Category.

The design looks very interesting! Here's what the creator, Roberta Visintin, had to say..
“Thinking about the sea as a world in a continuous movement, we took the “wave” as a symbol of it. Starting from this idea we modelled the lines of the hulls which seem to break themselves to bow. The second element at the base of the project idea is the concept of the living space that we wanted to draw in a sort of continuity between interiors and exteriors. Through the big glass windows we get an almost 360 degree view, which allows a visual continuity with outside. Not only, through the large glass doors opened life inside is projected in the outdoor spaces."

Find out more at: Wave Yacht Design wins design silver award

Would you be interested this design??