When I showed up for the sea trial of the Seawind 1170 right after the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis last fall, I was in for three surprises. One, they already had a passel of potential buyers onboard—a passel meaning 18 other humans in this case—which is hardly a typical sea trial arrangement. I wasn’t at all sure how the catamaran would respond with all the extra ballast.
But my worry led to surprise number two: No worries! The heavy load turned out to be a rounding error, and this 39-footer performed remarkably well in the flat water of the South River, slipping along at 6.8 knots in just 10-12 knots of true breeze on a beam reach with a full-hoist mainsail and the screecher on a continuous furler.
Surprise number three came when we turned and headed upwind, rolling out the self-tacking jib. I pinched up to 38 degrees apparent wind angle (AWA), and not only did we continue to move nicely, we
