Power Catamaran Comeback

Power Catamarans have been a hot topic lately, with many of my clients attracted to the trawler type cats as a transition from sailing but reluctant still to give up life on the water. To date, there have not been many made as very few manufacturers took on the task: Manta, Lagoon, Privilege, Fountaine Pajot, Leopard and PDQ had some success. Lagoon, having a strong financial force had the ability to create a new market backed with supporting research. However, their research led them to a different course - developing the hybrid diesel-electric systems for the sailing market. In 2007 Lagoon ceased the production of their Lagoon power catamarans to make way for the demand they anticipated with the new technology. As fate would have it, the market crashed in 2008 and virtually all motor yachts were on standstill for sale or were given away (for cheap).

Now, here we are in mid 2013 and the consumer market as a whole has been on a steady climb. So, naturally, some of the manufacturers are ready to talk power again. This time they're going BIG. Lagoon is developing their 62ft powercat (based on the current Lagoon 620 sailing catamaran) and Leopard is coming in with the 51 (based on their 48). These big cats should make a splash, particularly among those whose plans include vacationing on the water (maybe a little less so for the Great Loop crowd). In my experience, sailors and power boaters have a very different mentality, especially considering speed! Try it ... ask a sailor what he considers fast then ask a typical boater. The results won't surprise you. Speed has been one of the main issues for the power minded. The Leopard 51PC is said to come with two Standard 150hp John Deer 4 cyl - with an option to upgrade to 370hp Yanmar 8 cyl. Lagoon's will come with Volvo D4 260HP or Volvo 300HP engines and will debut in April 2014. Let's see if they can match the speed of a similarly priced yacht. If so, you might be seeing more catamarans with or without masts floating about!! If so, call me. I will bring drinks!