January 26, 2009

FRANCK DARNET DESIGN - NEW WEBSITE ONLINE

Franck Darnet's new website is online. The talented yacht designer based in Nantes (France) is publishing the pictures and 3ds of his creations.

Nahema 120 Owner Suite

Franck Darnet has designed the interiors of the NAHEMA 120 and also of the Fenomen by NAHEMA (NAHEMA 150) project. The 3ds of the Fenomen by NAHEMA are published online for the first time and look quite amazing. Franck is also designing smaller cats interior for Outremer Yachting for the Outremer 45 and 49. The agency works for superyacht builders such as Sunrise Yachts in turkey on a very large project to be announced soon. Other work include of course monohulls yachts but also eco friendly hotels, high end motor-homes, shutles boats, submarines houses in cooperation with the Miami agency... The main interesting fact about the news website is that you can really look at large large size pictures and realise that the team has a lot of talent in all the fields.

NAHEMA 150 owner suite, much larger

January 20, 2009

CATAMARAN - KEY WORD IN GOOGLE TRENDS

I am actually working on a new blog enlarged to other yachting subjects. To check the efficiency of key words on Google I am using the Google Trends applications, check the following results for catamaran.






The picture above shows the results for the keyword catamaran on google since 2004, by countries, cities and language. New zealand, australia and France come first, which is not really a surprise since they are the catamaran countries. More surprising maybe are Spain and Netherlands ahead of the United states. In the city section I am just amazed to see Marseilles (south of France) ahead of Paris. Maybe because Marseilles is closer to the sea shore. In the language section Dutch is ahead of English, they must really like catamarans. Maybe the proof is with Hugo Lebreton SIG 45.

Look at the trend over the year 2008 now.

AS the google team says remember those are still approximations. If you want to know more and try your own stats go the Google Trends, you can "play for hours". This is funny to see that thetrends is decreasing over the years. I would have thought the opposite since catamarans are more and more popular. Maybe less people use google as search engine and have direct access to the websites. You can see that peeks also corresponds to important news, such as accidents, race results or the press release of SUNREEF YACHTS ONE FIFTY one of the largest catamarans project released in Newswire, a press release website I am also using with success for my clients.

You can also notice a seasonality where the search increases going close to summer time in Europe and US.

You can also do cross searches, try for example : sailing yachts and motor yachts.
Anyway a nice tools to play with and use to find strong keywords for your website or blog.

January 18, 2009

GUNBOAT - REALLY AMAZING VIDEO FROM CNN - DISCOVER THE MAINSAIL CHANNELT

Look at this amazing video of GUNBOATs racing during last years Heineken Regatta with an interview of Peter Johnston.



This video was edited by CNN mainsail channel. I just discovered this web tv about sailing managed by Shirley Robinson, double olympic gold medalist in Sidney and Athens. This is a quite interesting channel but the last videos date to the end of 2008, I hope there are more to come in 2009. They have published a sailor's guide of 2008 with the most memorable pictures of the year from superyacht to somelian pirats, through cowes week... very interesting.

January 15, 2009

TAKE PART TO THE LUXURY CATAMARAN BLOG

I would welcome any of you interested in writing about luxury catamarans in the blog whether or not you are a professional.


You can send me you texts and pictures. I will read them, post them for you in the blog of course mentioning who is the writer.

The posts should be about luxury catamarans wether sailing or motor on the following topics :
  • New projects not already mentionned in the blog.
  • Shipyards
  • Designers
  • Naval architects
  • Launches
  • Industry information
  • Technical information (which I not really doing right now because I am not a specialist)
  • Logbooks
  • Pictures of luxury cats with comments
  • Boats to charter
  • ....
The text should be in the word format with 2 or 3 low res images. You can use the following adress : writeaboutcats[at]gmail.com.

So be part of it...

January 13, 2009

DUSSELDORF BOAT SHOW - BOOT DUSSELDORF - LUXURY CATAMARAN EXHIBITOR

For those of you lucky enough to go the this year Boot Dusseldorf, I am just listing the luxury catamaran builders and designers present at the show.





JFA is building the VPLP 110 an amazing 110' fast and sleek catamaran. HALL 7A/B11

BERRET RACOUPEAU YACHT DESIGN will introduce for the first time Code[e] the most advance eco-friendly yacht available on the market. HALL 7A/B11

SUNREEF will be present for the first time in Dusseldorf to introduce their successfull catamaran range including the SUNREEF 102 DD and SUNREEF 114 actually being built at the yard in Poland. HALL 7A/C24

H2X, a shipyard located in La Ciotat who is continuing to build the NAHEMA 120 and has built the BRADLEY motor catamaran. HALL 7A/H26

ALUMARINE, the builder of the large luxury catamaran afloat DOUCE FRANCE will introduce the NOAH motor catamaran. HALL 7A/B11


January 8, 2009

DESIGN ISSUES - RELUCTANT TO CHANGE




Last month I was in a meeting with the general director of a large design company in France working mainly for the car industry and willing to expand his business in the Yachting industry. He had been touring the main boat shows for a year,and been in touch with some of the largest players in France and Europe. He finally told me that he had to postpone his plans (and my potential contracts, who said I've heard that before in the last 6 months) because he realized that most builders were quite reluctant to change. I told him I thought effectively that the business was in general very conservative, slow to move specially compared to the car industry and that I was surprised there were so few innovative breakthrough in terms of design in the industry, that companies innovating in this area would be successful. Of course the main example coming to my mind was Wally Yachts often copied but never matched. I've heard ten times "We want to be Wally", so why don't you do it. ? Wally has been innovating in terms of design and technology since the beginning, probably taking heavy financial risks, but the results is visible.





I also spend some times with people from Beneteau telling me that they thought all the production yachts were looking quite the same, including in the Beneteau range and that clients were lost in their choices. No kidding, this is basic marketing.

I am not the only one of course to think the same. Beneteau is already reacting and you should see in the coming year new concepts of monohulls coming out on the market.

BACK TO CATS - CILIAM


In the catamaran World design innovation has been a little bit more courageous n erms of design specially for one off project.


'CILIAM' a log 92' by VPLP interio By Anne Monique Bonadei


The first really innovative large catamaran to me is CILIAM the lago 92 designed by VPLP. This fast catamaran launched in 2003 features a beam large coach roof. This enable the saloon, dining and kitchen areas to be really spacious, (53 sqm) and the owner suite to be located at mast foot with a great view on the sea. This owner suite concept is now very common on large cats.


CILILAM huge salon/dining area


TSUNAMI



Greg Young is a well know for designing fast and exiting boats with a very innovative design. TSUNAMI an 85 footer was designed to be a fast charter boat. You might like the color or not but TSUNAMI features a new concept that Greg Young is applying in his catamaran project such as the TAG 60 being built in South Africa. In this catamaran range Greg has designed a unique cabin. He has incorporated the cockpit and the salon as you can see on the image below. The area can be opened to make a huge entertainment or close for more confidentiality as you wish. Check the video


TAG 60 cockpit/salon space.



SIG 45



The SIG 45 - Le Breton Yacht


The SIG 45 is a smaller but a very innovative catamaran of her size with a sleek design. A VPLP and Bjorn Johansson design, the SIG 45 is very modern both outside and inside. Designed to be fast and easy to sail, the platform is uncluttered both for maneuvers and entertainment while comfortable accommodations are located in each hull. The boat is built and equipped at the highest standards of quality. A real breakthrough.



SIG 45 - Photo Pierre Marie Bourguinat - Voiles et Voiliers




I have just mentioned launched catamarans, of course there are many innovative projects on the paper and a few being built actually. In those bad economical times maybe it is time to seat down, take a deep breath and really think how to innovate to be different and succeed in the future.

January 6, 2009

THE PROUT BRAND IS BACK - PROUT INTERNATIONAL NEW WEBSITE

I recently introduced the PROUT 93, a really good looking luxury catamaran. PROUT recently launched their new website.


The Prout 72

Prout's new website is really pleasant with lots of good 3ds of both the Power and the Sailing catamarans. The range is quite amazing with 8 different power and 9 sailing designs to choose from.


The Prout 98 power

For each design you will find a complete description and for some of them a PDF brochure to download. There are other interesting sections in this website. The first part introducing the PROUT brand and what it has become now, as well as the team behind. I also was particularly attracted by the news section and the last post about the market and latest sales around the world. A very good research job. They should have an RSS feed on that page.

From Prout International News :

"Catamaran Sales Continue To Be Robust

Sales of catamarans remain brisk, despite signs of a looming recession. Large catamarans continue to be sold worldwide. Of note, sales valued at greater than a million dollars seem sustainable. A 2009 Prout 72SVFS-04 sold for between $2 to $3 million Thailand most recently. Prout also sold a P-45S-05 this quarter. Meanwhile, a 2000 56' Aikane sold for $1.1 million in January, while a 2004 58' Catana sold for $1.6 million in February. Furthermore, the worldwide reach of sales illustrate that catamarans are popular throughout the globe.

In the U.S. alone this year, 14 transactions were recorded between January and March. U.S. sales in January included a 44' Lagoon 440 for $660K, a 44' Lagoon 440 for $540K, a 44' St. Francis Mark II for $405K, a 42' Lagoon for $598K, a 42' Manta for $296K, a 42' Manta MK II for $395K, a 41' Lagoon for $325K, a 40' Manta for $275K, and a 40' TRT Multihull for $160K. In February, a 44' Lagoon 440 for $689K was sold in the U.S. U.S. sales in March comprised of a 47' Alwoplast SA Crowther for $400K, a 47' Robertson and Caine for $265K, a 46' Robertson and Caine for $640K, and a 42' Fountaine Pajot Venezia for $214K.

Another hotspot for catamaran sales was the French West Indies. In January, a 56' Aikane sold for $1.1 million. In February, a 75' Fountaine Pajot sold for $672K, a 58' Catana Catamaran sold for $1.6 million, a 56' Fountain Pajot sold for $869K, and a 41' Lagoon Catamaran sold for $308K. Among other locales in the Caribbean, a 42' Custom Balicat sold for $200K in Trinidad and Tobago (January), a 41' Jeanneau Lagoon 410 sold for $295K in the British Virgin Islands (January), a 47' Lagoon sold for $390K and a 41' Lagoon sold for $397K in St.Maarten (February and March, respectively), a 45' Robertson and Caine sold for $255K in Martinique (February), and a 40' Robertson and Caine sold for $406K in St. Lucia (February).

In Europe, catamaran sales are healthy. France boasted a 43' Outremer Outremer 45' sale for $474K in January, a 50' Custom Class Multi for $395K in February, a 47' Oceanos for $316K in February, and a 45' Leopard for $356K in February. In the UK, a 50' Lerouge Custom sold for $821K in January. In Italy, a 41' Lagoon was sold for $442K in February. In Greece, a 43' Catana 431 went for $490k in March.

Catamaran sales found popularity far and wide; Prout recently sold a 2009 Prout 72SVFS-04 sold for between $2 to $3 million in Thailand, as well as a P-45S-05 this quarter. In the Seychelles, in January, a 44' Nautitech sold for $632K. In Australia, in February, a 43' Easton catamaran sold for $414K. In the French Polynesia, in February, a 50' Custom Pulsar Racing boat sold for $788K. In Mexico, in February, a 41' Lauren Williams Custom sold for $104K while a 40' Robertson and Caine sold for $285K. Other catamaran sales include a 41' Lagoon for $200K in January;a 46' Fountaine Pajot Bahia for $472K in February; and a 47' Robertson and Caine for $496K in March.

Clearly, catamaran sales continue at a vigorous clip, notwithstanding the impending recession. It seems like this luxury good's market is sheltered from the weakening economy. For specifics, please find attached listings of late model large catamarans sold between January 1, 2008, and March 30, 2008. If you have any questions or would like a complimentary appraisal on your yacht, contact Gary Fretz at 954.609.6282 or email boats@proutinternational.com."

As you can see we have an indication of the price for a Prout 72SV between 2 and 3 million U$ in Thailand, I guess it depends on the options. !! I agree that catamarans are doing quite well compared to monohulls in general.

The Prout 93S generous flybridge.

Lets wish a lot of success to the PROUT range and hope this famous brand which really is in the history of catamaran, will last for a long long time.

Identificateurs Technorati : , ,

January 4, 2009

EVOLUTION YACHTS - 34 M LUXURY MOTOR CATAMARAN

This 34 meters luxury catamaran is actually being built in Australia by Evolution Yachts.
I know the economic crisis is hitting hard and maybe a few projects of luxury catamarans scheduled for the coming year will have to wait. Nonetheless I believe catamarans in general, whether sailing or motor, are still on the good side of the yacht market and have a bright future ahead of them.



Designed by Sam Sorgiavanni Designs this luxury catamaran will feature a lot of entertainment space and an helipad on the upper deck.

She will cruise at 18 knots with up to 11 guests and 8 crews. The yacht has accommodation for 8 crew in the hulls and two upper deck staterooms with private balconies, 2 VIP cabins on the main deck and another guest cabin with an office/nanny accommodation nearby provide accommodation for up to 11 guests. As you can sea in the Evolution website the construction is well advanced and she should be launched by the end of the year





Reblog this post [with Zemanta]