POWER SURGE

Power catamarans are increasing in popularity as well as size, with Asia showing a growing appetite for multihull motor yachts from production and semi-custom builders.

- NICK HUNG

It has been a whirlwind past 12 months for power catamarans and there’s a lot more to come in the coming months, with world debuts of new brand flagships set for this year’s Cannes Yachting Festival and Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show. Before then, tennis icon Rafa Nadal is due to take delivery of his 80 Sunreef Power in May (see REVIEW), eight months after the model’s debut at the Cannes show last September. Since then, Sunreef has announced it’s building new 100, 110 and 49M (161ft) models, and it’s also preparing to showcase its ‘entry-level’ 60 Sunreef Power at Cannes this year.

Lagoon premiered a red-hulled version of its Sixty 7 (see REVIEW) at Cannes last year, since when Simpson Marine has sold at least two to Asia before recently welcoming the brand’s flagship Seventy 8 to Singapore, the model’s first unit in the region.

Singapore is also home to Leopard’s new flagship powercat, the 53 PC (see REVIEW), which debuted in Miami in February. Singapore also has ties to Royal Falcon One as a residence of the developer of the futuristic 135-footer, which was designed by Studio F.A. Porsche, built in Sweden and displayed outside the Monaco Yacht Show last year.

Fountaine Pajot, which showcased its new MY 40 at last year’s Singapore Yacht Show, has launched its first Power 67, which will show at Cannes in September, while China-based Aquila is busy completing its first 54 and 70 models in Hangzhou for their debuts at Fort Lauderdale.

In China’s southerly Guangdong province, Zhongshan-based Kingship launched a customised 79ft aluminium catamaran late last year, while new brand ILIAD builds in Zhanjiang and will launch its 60 this year following the debuts of its 50 and 70 at Australia’s top shows last year (for more details on ILIAD, see separate article).