Home > News > The catamaran comeback: Top reasons why they are the perfect support yacht platform
Today’s catamarans are nothing like the boxy, heavy designs of the past. Sleek and stylish, modern catamarans, like those created by award-winning SHADOWCAT, are turning heads in the superyacht and yachting sectors – and for very good reason. More economical to operate, catamarans are faster, more stable, generously sized and can enter hard-to-access shallow destinations. For these reasons, and more, today’s sexy catamaran yachts are enticing new buyers.Photo: Clint Jenkins Photography Why go multi-hull?
In short, because they offer thalassophiles more. Based upon two generous hulls, catamarans offer significantly more stability over a monohull vessel. Support yachts, in particular, benefit from this fundamental feature. For example, the additional stability of SHADOWCAT’s unique catamaran hull – designed exclusively by world-renowned naval architect Incat Crowther – means that 70 percent more weight can be craned off the side, by way of knuckle-boom cranes for a single-point lift of tenders and beam cranes for secure lifts of larger vessels. This translates to greater safety and confidence during at-sea activities, such as the loading and unloading tenders or during crew transfers.
Along with the incomparable stability, catamarans create less draft, giving owners access to shallow atolls or the ability to anchor along any number of stunning beaches around the world, with smaller boats and tenders, SCUBA equipment, ATVs and more in tow.Double the fun
Speaking of toys, the catamaran hull design allows support yachts to carry more of them. With a 40 percent greater capacity than a similarly sized monohull vessel, SHADOWCAT’s fully bespoke catamaran designs include multi-deck storage for pleasure craft of many sizes, plus an optional helipad on the top deck, and more. Customisable for any number of luxuries, SHADOWCAT’s mid-deck offers ample room for center-console or speed boats, quad bikes, submarine, dive room and decompression chamber, fresh flower shop, personal gym, and wellness centre outfitted with youth-preserving hyperbaric technology, in addition to expansive lounging areas for guests and sleeping quarters for crew. The spacious design even has a special lifting platform designed for the quick launch of smaller vessels, such as jet skis. This commodious layout is made possible only because of the impressive design of the catamaran platform upon which the shadow vessel is built.
A catamaran hull design is also an environmentally friendly one, requiring less fuel for extended excursions. The needed fuel load for a SHADOWCAT catamaran hull is an estimated 40 percent less than that of a comparable monohull due to the vessel’s hull efficiency. Even with lower fuel usage, catamarans travel more quickly than monohulls. One of SHADOWCAT’s more recently delivered vessels, Wayfinder, offered speeds of 22+ knots, a highly competitive clip for a vessel of its size and class. This get-up-and-go is ideal when a vessel is trying to move ahead of foul weather or arrive at a desirable destination quickly to prepare for the mother vessel’s arrival.Space aplenty for crew
When it comes to accommodations, catamarans offer the greatest capacity and flexibility of any shadow vessel on the market. Making more room on the mother superyacht for family and friends, owners can opt to house all crew members and staff aboard a catamaran shadow vessel, dedicating space for privacy and rest for everyone. Trained receiving crew aboard the support vessel can assist with the loading and unloading of tenders and helicopters, without compromising service or space aboard the mother vessel. Crew aboard the catamaran support yacht can also shuttle between the two vessels aboard tenders, reducing the overall number of staff maintained on the mother superyacht. Catamarans are captivating, yet highly practical Catamarans generally make a lot of sense for the yachting industry, but especially for support yachts, because they deliver more by way of capacity, speed, stability and economy than similarly sized monohulls.
“Even before this trend really started to pick up, we crafted SHADOWCAT to be built upon one of the world’s most stable hulls, as designed by our partner Incat Crowther, because we knew it would provide owners with extreme confidence about the vessel’s stability when loading and unloading cargo,” said Robert Smith, CEO of YCTS, Ltd. and founding partner of SHADOWCAT. “Marry that stability with SHADOWCAT’s unlimited flexibility and customisation specific to even the most scrupulous owner’s needs, and it is easily the perfect shadow vessel.”
By all indications, the catamaran comeback is here to stay. Learn more about SHADOWCAT at theshadowcat.com or by visiting the company’s Stand AL 14 during the Monaco Yacht Show.About ShadowCAT ShadowCAT is an innovative, award-winning support yacht series, created with unmatched expertise and cutting-edge technology. With three bespoke catamarans in the series launched to date, ShadowCAT now boasts catamaran and monohull platforms, applying its state-of-the-art approach to design, engineering and construction. With naval architecture and design by Incat Crowther, of Sydney, Australia, and multi-award winning vessel construction by respected Spanish shipyard Astilleros Armón, the brand continues to provide fully custom solutions to the support yacht market segment. The first vessel in the series, Hodor, set the industry aflame with its win of the inaugural “Support Vessel of the Year” at the International Superyacht Awards.
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