TURBO SUPERCATS

“People sail for fun, and no one has yet convinced me that it’s more fun to go slow than it is to go fast,” said visionary multihull designer Dick Newick in the last century. “We all want high performance with comfort and low cost. Since the three cannot be combined in one vessel, priorities must be established and compromises made.”

Now, Newick may belong to another generation, but his observation is as true today as it has ever been. This time round, though, buyers have the money to park the cost issue. A new cohort of boatbuilders like Gunboat, HH and Kinetic are mining a rich (if narrow) seam of demand for high-end cats that go like rocketships and offer genuine comfort, if not outright luxury.

Gunboat is the trailblazer here. Launched in 2002, the now iconic brand weathered stormy waters before being taken over and moved to France by the Grand Large Yachting group (which also includes Outremer). Its range has now stabilised at 68ft, 72ft and 80ft – much larger than it typically built in the past. But it has reached the size limit for this business model, according to managing partner Benoit Lebizay. “Beyond 80ft, you go into full custom,” he says.

HH Catamarans emerged 10 years later, building boats from