EXCLUSIVE 76 - I HAD A DREAM of a perfect cruising catamaran Georges Benarroch

I spent the day yesterday in Les Sables d'Olonnes (they are getting ready for the Vendée Globe) with Georges Benarroch the brain behind the EXCLUSIVE 76. Georges is obsessed by details and perfection and it really shows in the EXCLUSIVE 76 to be launched in February 2009.

Designed by the Gilles Ollier's Design Team (designer of maxi catamaran Orange and famous cruising cat MAGIC CAT), buit by King Cat/VIP shipyard the specialist of the infusion process in France and with an interior Design by famous Yacht Designer Jean Pierre Fantini, the Exclusive is really well born. The most impressive to me was that Georges Benarroch before starting the project has chartered almost all the big cats around. He really loves chartering cats (who 's going to blame it). His obsession : he wants the Exclusive 76 to be the best cat of her size. Since he really likes confort here are a few details with images (thanks for the CD) that have been designed in the Exclusive 76.

Below : the guest cabins are modular you can convert the king size beds into two singles. The small table is on the side of the bed on the first image and in the middle on the second one.

Below : The cockpit hosts 3 tables, two small on one side and a large one on the other. This is so people can do their own things when they need to. To eat, you can put the two small tables together and with chairs around them you can seat up to 8 around one and 6 around the other and still have room to walk through. If you noticed there are small compartments in front of the image where you can put you mobile phone, cigarettes, keys.. Georges has lost to many phones at sea.

Below : The table rises into a dining table and lowers into a salon table. You can remove all the chairs to have a large place for a party. At sea the chairs have a special system to be fixed to the floor. The TV also raises and lower. In the Exlusive 76 all the furniture which can be in your way can be folded or removed.

Below. Crew quarters, galley are located forward and completely separeted from the guest. The skipper and crew cabins have been built to the same quality standards as the rest of the boat.

By the way, the Exclusive will also be a fast boat.

The ExclusivE 76, the yacht of dreams

Press Release From Exclusive Marine.

Thursday may 1st 2008

The ExclusivE 76, the yacht of dreams

The construction of the ExclusivE 76, a maxi-catamaran for long distance cruising, is continuing at the VIP/Composites yard in Olonne-sur-Mer (85) on France’s Atlantic coast. This twin-hulled yacht will soon emerge from the workshops to pass directly into sea trials, prior to heading to the large international boat shows. The fruit of several years of reflection on cruising sailing, the ExclusivE 76 has primarily been designed to convey its future owners in ideal conditions towards some heavenly horizons…A shallow draft!

The full impact of the ‘semi-custom’ concept, so cherished by Georges Benarroch, founder of the “Exclusive Marine” company, will come into play in 2008. Indeed, even though the size of the hulls will always be the same, it is possible for each future owner to imagine his or her own rig, interior layout (the cabins being highly modular) and the boat’s appendage configuration (keels or daggerboards). The first version of the ExclusivE 76 will be above all else a ‘luxury’ configuration. The teak deck, the refinement of the interior design, the carbon mast and boom are evidence of this.

A floating dream the ExclusivE 76, the first of its name, will be a high quality yacht. Whether it is in terms of pure performance on the water or the level of comfort, the ExclusivE 76 has a wealth of assets.

The design office managed by Gilles Ollier, designer of the ExclusivE 76, is predicting speeds in excess of 15 knots downwind. The deck/saloon lounge area with its 360 degree panoramic view will attain 70m2, a record in this category of yacht. Added to this is the shallow draft, with its retractable daggerboards which once lifted give a minimum draft of 1300 mm, and will enable easy access when sailing with family and friends to the world’s most beautiful bays, a unique feature of Exclusive Marine. “A catamaran already accommodates a lot more space than a monohull; so when it also benefits from a large bright saloon, very short daggerboards to get in close to the beaches, high quality interior design (furniture), we are reaching out to the very latest desires of the enthusiastic long distance cruiser. The ExclusivE 76 will be the highest performer in its category whilst providing maximum safety” explains Georges Benarroch.

A yard making great headway.To build a high class 76 foot craft isn't a simple matter. For a number of months the VIP/composites yard has been tackling the demanding specifications. Currently numerous elements are represented inside the ExclusivE 76. The cocoons of the ‘owner's’ and 'guest' cabins have been installed in the hulls so as to perform various tests. The seating, glazing and deck have also been positioned prior to a final fit. At the same time the 'crew' cabin (mounted without a cocoon), the installation of the engines and the electrics are nearing completion. Reminder: Gilles Payen’s cocoons, head of VIP Composites: “We have manufactured some cocoons, which are like large cases the size of the galley, the cabins... in which we will install the furniture… They will then be incorporated directly into the ExclusivE 76. This method, which is a novel addition to our working methods, will enable us to make faster progress in the construction of the yacht, whilst greatly facilitating the work of the specialised staff, such as joiners, electricians or plumbers…

A real challenge in our manufacturing process!”

• 70m2: the largest deck/saloon lounge area in its category
• 33 to 36 tonnes: the controlled displacement of the ExclusivE 76
• 23.20 metres: LOA
• 21.40 metres: waterline length
• 10.50 metres: beam
• 3 or 4: the number of cabins according to the future owner’s wishes
• 311m2: surface of the upwind sails
• 1.25 metres: draft (pivoting daggerboards)
• 2: the number of craft on order at Exclusive Marine
  
• Discover the latest information about the ExclusivE 76 at www.exclusive-marine.com

ExcluvisE dealer for the USA - Philippe Guillemin - www.willmarusa.com

Rights free photos for the press and the web: Denis Van den Brink and Guillaume Hennes

Press contacts: Denis van den Brink +33 (0)6 07 91 65 66 / Tanguy Blondel +33 (0)6 88 45 35 36

FIRST EXCLUSIVE 76 DEMOULDED

The complete platform of the first EXCLUSIVE 76, built for a private owner, has been demoulded at the King Cat /Vip Composite shipyard in Les Sables d'Olonne (France).

As you can see on the pictures the hulls and the platform come out of the moulds in one piece which is a guaranty of a strong platform/hulls connection a very important area of stress in a catamaran. A well performed infusion process, on that size of a catamaran, insures flawless hulls. The King Cat/ VIP composite shipyard is really specialized in the SCRIMP (Seemann Composite Resin Infusion Molding Process), having built the KINGCAT M272 and 220 JBOATS in 2007 !!! The SCRIMP was invented by Bill Seeaman and first used by famous US shipyards such as Sabre, Hinckley. The King Cat/VIP composite shipyard is being actually re-organized to increase quality and performance. In the coming weeks the Exclusive production team will focus its energy on the deck and the flybridge while on the side the interior fittings are being built simoultaneously in ready to fit in"cocoon kits". This process is now used by many shipyards. Basically, you build each part ofthe interior on the side of the boat while the plumbing and the electricity is done aboard so technicians don't get in each others way (like in plane building). So you build a bath room, the galley... and then you fit them in one by one. This unables to save time and to gain in quality because it is easier to work out of the boat than inside. The Exclusive marine website is changing with lots of news 3ds renderings. The Exclusive 76 has been divided in two version a classic and a design one. I prefer the classic version because it is warmer. I am still amazed by the amount of volume available both insided and outside on a catamaran of this size.

Exclusive Marine dealers for the US is Willmar USA.

Exclusive 76 - Owners Version

A second ExclusivE 76 is being built at the Kingcat Shipyard in France. While the first unit was built for Sparkling Charter, this new unit has been ordered by a European client for his own use. She features one owner suite in the port hull and two guests suites in the starboard hull. It was very important for the owner to offer real crew quarters. The two crew cabins have an independant access from the salon or through decks hatches,with their own heads and shower. I think the interior layout is quite a sucess for this size of catamaran.

Another very interesting thing about the Exclusive 76 is that it was designed from scratch (including the moulds) to accomodate many different kinds of layout, thus offering many choices without important modifications in the building process.

This Gilles Ollier design will be fitted with a carbon mast, boom, spar and bowsprit, as well as built-in swing keels, she should be quite fast under sail. This ExclusivE 76 number 2 should be launched end 2008.

Georges Benarroch, Exclusive Marine CEO ".. our client was attracted by the technical specifications, the flowing lines and the optimum use of capacity on the Exclusive 76".

There are many great 3ds of this exeptionnal luxury catamaran on the website of ExclusivE Marine. They are the work of Guillaume Hennes, check his website he is very talented.