The waves weren’t very big—maybe only two to three feet. But they were steep and tightly spaced. They’d been generated by a steady southeast wind and were shoaling through 10-to 15-feet of water to the stern quarter of the 46-foot power catamaran whose throttle I clutched in my right hand. Since this was my first time at the helm and conditions were iffy, I slowly nudged the Vandal 46 Explorer to around 12 knots while making way north from Bimini’s Gun Cay towards the crumbling wreck of the S.S. Sapona. Like any cat on the verge of planing in confused, following conditions, the Explorer wanted to bowsteer in the wave troughs; keeping her pointed towards the Sapona was tricky. “Give her a little more throttle,” urged Vandal’s U.S. Marketing Manager Ryan Sturgis.
When I pushed the twin Yamaha 425 XTO’s a little more, the result was, frankly, amazing. Just north of 15 knots, the 20,000 pound boat became what might be best described as a flying carpet. Not only did she rise up onto her twin asymmetrical hulls, but she was also lifted by a stainless steel foil bolted between those hulls. The lift generated by that six-foot wide, and nearly two-inch thick wing created a ride quite unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. The Vandal now had no problem climbing the backs of the waves, but after she crested them, I expected she’d plummet down into the troughs, but she simply continued on—planted to the water yet cruising above the waves almost as if they weren’t there.
My son Fritz and I had left for Bimini before dawn that late January morning from Fort Lauderdale with Sturgis. Fritz is an avid surfer and we were
