Seawind Syndicates low cost entry to Cat sailing

by Media Services on 4 Oct 2006 The Australian built Seawind 1160 won the 'Best Sailboat' at the 36th Annual Newport International Boat Show in Newport, Rhode Island, USA last month.

Show organisers said the Seawind 1160 had made 'the most significant contribution to the experience of recreational boating', which this year had been interpreted largely on innovation and a product that 'brings something that is both new and exciting to the boating market place.'

Brent Vaughan, the Sales and Marketing Manager sees an exciting path forward for this Australian brand, with innovative products and now innovative ownership packages.

He explained; ‘Seawind Syndicates are proving very popular at the moment. The Seawind Syndicate program is a very simple way for like minded sailors to get regular access to one of our fantastic catamarans for a fraction of the cost of a new one. We operate on a self-management program which keeps the costs very low, yet we put a lot of time and effort into developing systems for a new Syndicate to walk into when they take delivery of a new boat, effectively giving them a turnkey start to the syndicate.

'It’s much like many ski-lodges in the Snowy Mountains. We organise a detailer, maintenance professional and schedule, berthing, insurance, plus the calendar rotation is kept on a dedicated website to make usage as easy and accessible as possible. After you make the one off payment for the boat (i.e. starting from $39,783) there are no management fees and you only pay your share of the upkeep and running costs which is less than $60 per week!

Vaughan explains; 'This is very cost effective boating and is much easier to justify for many customers who don't have the time or money to put into a new boat. We have one remaining share for a Seawind 1000 Syndicate based in Manly Qld, plus a new Whitsunday Syndicate on a new Seawind 1160 due for next year and we expect more locations to roll out within the next 12 months.

'Our website has more info at: http://www.seawindcats.com/index.pl?page=119

‘The Seawind name has been around since the late 70s. The Seawind that we know today started in 1982 with Richard Ward taking the helm and building a range of beach cats and smaller, that rolled out after that date. The 24 was the early boat and that sold 350 boats worldwide. But the 1000 was certainly the modern breakthrough and continues to be popular today. In 1994 we were awarded sailboat of the year for the 1000, since then we’ve had the Seawind 1200, the 1050, some of the powerboats and then in 2005, the 1160 won Sailboat of the Year in Australia (in 2005) and now in Newport.

'The boat’s design plays a huge role in the interest we are getting internationally, largely due to the way that the boat is laid out. With a conventional catamaran there is an inside saloon area and an external cockpit area and often quite a small door connecting the two.

'An amazing amount of space is made available by our tri-folding door mechanism, it lifts completely out of the way and you end up with a massive open plan living area. The internal layout has opened the whole boat up as well, it is full of light, and that combined with the modern finishes makes it really appealing inside.

'The boat is a good performer; it is a performance cruiser. It can do 7.5 knots to windward quite easily, and can get into the low teens on a good reach.

'The Seawind name has been around for a while in the US. There are more than 50 Seawinds in America; we’ve got owners of old boats coming back for an upgrade and new people interested coming through as well. Our products are unique and we fit our niche market extremely well, we know our market very well both here and in America.

'We are not necessarily the cheapest boats on the market but we are certainly one of the best, due to the design and also the quality. Currently we are exporting to both the east and west coast of the US, Mexico, Brazil, and customers from Canada. We’ve had success in Asia, Hong Kong, Singapore, and Korea. We are getting quite a bit of interest in Thailand and we will be at PIMEX in December.

'On our order books at the moment, we’ve got big orders across the ranger so there is a degree of lead time involved, but we continue to improve our production capabilities in Australia. We are implementing lean manufacturing as we speak, which is improving our efficiencies all the time, and we are converting to a faster production cycle in early 2007, and we are going from an 1160 launching every two weeks. With that plan there will be more production slots coming available.

'The Newport Boat Show is a start of a big promotional tour down the east coast of the United States, next is the Annapolis show, then the way down to Florida and the west coast to St Petersburg', Vaughan concluded.

Seawind 1160 East Coast USA Tour Dates

Seawind are excited to announce the following demo dates and boats shows that will be incorporated into a thorough tour of the East Coast of the USA aboard a brand new Seawind 1160. To book a showing or demo, contact Kurt Jerman of Seawind USA today on kurt@seawindcats.com or [1] 619-571-3513

Boat Show / Demo Date Location Boat Displayed

Newport Boat Show 14-17 September 06 Newport, RI - USA Seawind 1160

Annapolis Sail Boat Show 5-9 October 06 Annapolis, MD - USA Seawind 1160

Multihull Demo Days 10 & 11 October 06 Annapolis, MD - USA Seawind 1160

Virginia Beach Demo Day 14 October 2006 Virginia Beach, VA - USA Seawind 1160

Charleston Demo Day 21 October 2006 Charleston, SC - USA Seawind 1160

St Augustine Demo Day 24 October 2006 St Augustine, FL - USA Seawind 1160

Miami Demo Day 28 October 2006 Miami, FL - USA Seawind 1160

St Pete Strictly Sail Boat Show 2- 5 November 2006 St Petersburg, FL - USA Seawind 1160

Seawind Catamarans
Web: www.seawindcats.com
Email: info@seawindcats.com