Evolution of the Modern Catamaran Multihull classes prosper at Caribbean sailing regattas
When sailors picture a racing multihull, they often think of a fantastic sailing boat with spartan accommodations. On the other end of the multihull spectrum, one finds production catamarans with luxurious living spaces but limited performance potential. There has not been much to choose from between those extremes… until now.
Multihull design technology has come a long way in recent years. It is now possible to design and build luxurious sailing catamarans that achieve high performance. In order to realize the performance potential of these very special craft, structural weight must be kept to a minimum. Advanced rig, hull, and appendage geometries must be carefully chosen to compliment each other. Holistic design and engineering of the complete package is essential.
Several examples of this concept are proving themselves to be very successful. Multihull design experts, Morrelli & Melvin Design & Engineering, Inc., are on the forefront of advanced multihull technology and have developed an award-winning range of high performance cruising catamaran designs.
While their new breed of cat is fully capable of crossing any ocean in the world with a high degree of safety and comfort, they are also capable of out-performing most racing monohulls of similar length. These catamarans typically have three or four luxury staterooms and huge saloons and cockpits.
It is inevitable that the owners want to race these fantastic boats. There will be six of the Morrelli & Melvin designed high tech carbon fiber GUNBOAT catamarans racing at Stanford Antigua Sailing Week this year. This will be the second year of participation for the GUNBOAT class in this prestigious event.
Morrelli & Melvin will have two of their designers sailing on GUNBOATs. M&M provided VPP based ratings for the class at Stanford Antigua Sailing week in 2007 and 2008, and for the Heineken Regatta held last month in St. Maarten.
M&M founding partner Pete Melvin has participated in all GUNBOAT class events to date. Senior Design Engineer, David McCollough, will be joining Pete in Antigua this year.
“It is exciting to see multihull classes prospering at prestigious events such as Stanford Antigua Sailing Week and the Heineken Regatta in St. Maarten. There seems to be a critical mass of interest in racing multihulls at these events.
These events represent an excellent opportunity for us to validate the performance and structural integrity of our design work. Pushing these fantastic high performance sailing yachts to their limit during racing provides us with boatloads of great feedback, which we leverage into continuous design and engineering evolution back in our design office.
It has been a pleasure to work with the folks at GUNBOAT and to get to know the owners and crew on the boats. The racing is plenty exhilarating, but there is a relaxed atmosphere at these events which makes it fun for everyone.” said Pete Melvin.
Morrelli & Melvin design a wide range of racing, cruising, and commercial yachts. Their designs have won the America’s Cup, numerous World and Continental championships, Round the World and Transatlantic records, and multiple industry awards.
Morrelli & Melvin Design & Engineering, Inc. Huntington Beach, CA USA 714.861.1320 ph, 714.840.0538 fax
Six Gunboats had a competitive week in the 2008 Heineken St. Maartin Regatta. See the CNN video coverage and details of 2008 Gunboat event (http://www.morrellimelvin.com/gunboat). Congratulations to the Gunboat class winners Safari, Cream and Lickity split.
Jan 2008
Gunboats Race St. Maarten
A fleet of high-performance, luxury Gunboats will be racing in the 28th St. Maarten Heineken Regatta to be held March 6-9, 2008. The elite and comfortable Gunboats designed by Morrelli & Melvin are expected to be some of the top finishers at the regatta.
Dec 2007
Chinese Production of Leopard and Moorings Cats
Robertson and Caine of South Africa has entered into a joint venture with Flying Eagle of Fuyang City near Hang Zhou, China to produce the Leopard and Moorings catmarans. Read the full story here.
Construction Commences, 100 ft Power Catamaran
Baja Boat Building of La Paz, Mexico started construction of a 100' Morrelli & Melvin designed power catamaran. Baja Boat Building is a new facility in La Paz, Mexico near Cabo San Lucas. George Clayton, lead boatbuilder, has been involved with many Morrelli & Melvin R&D shop projects. Baja Boat Building and Morrelli & Melvin are actively seeking additional boatbuilding opportunities. See the facility
Stars and Stripes Sets More Records
Stars and Strips sets more records with the fastest multihull finish on the Fort Lauderdale to Key West race. Sailors, Steve and Scott Liebel and their crew set a record of 8 hours 31 min 4 sec. Stars and Stripes is the soft-rigged sistership of the 1988 America's Cup Winner.
Pete Melvin extends his congratulations to the defending champion, Glenn Ashby, winner of the 2007 Ronstan A-Cat Worlds. Lars Guck and Pete Melvin, sailing Morrelli & Melvin A3’s, finished 2nd and 3rd in this hotly contested competition. Held in Islamorada in the Florida Keyes, the 2007 Worlds brought 98 of the world’s best catamaran sailors to this sailing classic. Stories and video at http://www.morrellimelvin.com/a3
Oct 2007
Gino Morrelli in Cape Town, Africa
Morrelli & Melvin continue their successful alliance with Robertson and Caine in South Africa. Gino has been spending most of his time in Cape Town since November of 2006, assisting R&C in establishing their new boat-yard in Atlantis on the Cape West Coast. M&M are consulting with R&C on the production of their latest series of M&M designed power and sailing catamarans. Robertson & Caine launched its latest Powercat, the Leopard 47 PC in December 2006. The company is already rated one of the world’s top builders of cruising catamarans. Says Gino about the increasing popularity of boat building in South Africa, “I hope by being here we will attract some more clients as South Africa is quickly replacing New Zealand as the place to get boats built”.
NACRA f18 is the North American Champion
The NACRA f18 designed by Morrelli & Melvin wins the North American championships with 1st, 2nd and 3rd. Read more at http://www.morrellimelvin.com/f18
Jul 2007
NACRA Takes Home the Hardware
The 2007 European f18 Championships were won on a NACRA f18. Skippers Heemskerk (NED) and Styles (GBR) ran away from the competition with 1st and 2nd place trophies. http://www.morrellimelvin.com/f18
May 2007
Eurocat 2007
Eurocat 2007 hosted by Yacht Club Carnac commenced April 28 and ended May 1, 2007. In the yellow fleet, the number one and two spots in the F18 class went to Mischa Heemsterk and Bastiaan Hentij, respectively, in Nacra F-18 Infusions. Congratulations!
1st at the 2007 A-Class North Americans
Lars Guck races to victory on his new Morrelli & Melvin A3 catamaran. The 2007 Westfield North American A-Class championships were held near Annapolis, Maryland. More details at http://www.morrellimelvin.com/a3
Leopard/Moorings 4600
The Moorings 4600 is showcased at the Annapolis Boat Show as a nominee for Boat of the Year. The Leopard is the private ownership boat with a slightly different cabin from the Moorings charter boat.
Apr 2007
Antigua Race Week
Gunboats 48 'Sailing Lickity Split', 'An Jella' and 'Cream' and Gunboat 62 'Looking for Elvis' will be part of the Multihull Racing class in the 40th Stanford Antigua Sailing Week. Follow this link
www.ybw.com/auto/newsdesk/20070330230832ywnews.html
for a firsthand account from David Pugh at Yachting World on board 'Cream'.
WindCat Launches
WindCat 5 and WindCat 7 (built at Island boats) launched with two more scheduled to launch by summer's end and two more on the drawing boards.
Gunboat 48 'Hammer' Launches
Gunboat 48 'Hammer' launched in South Africa.
Feb 2007
52' Kiapa Launched
Launched in Portland at Schooner Creek, new owners of 52' cruising catamaran Kiapa set sail for Seattle.
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