Catana 59 - all the features, and then some

by Guy Nowell, Sail-World Asia on 5 Sep 2011 We received a press release from French builders Chantier Catana the other day, announcing their new 59' cruising cat.

If you like cruising catamarans, it looks great. Catana describe it as 'a revolutionary concept in recreational catamarans,' and tell of how it has lots of go-fast features borrowed from the world of racing multihulls. Carbon fibre, curved daggerboards, high aspect main and big headsails, reverse bow profile and so on.

And then, under 'Safety', they list the '10 exclusive features':

1. A very high freeboard
2. 360° visibility from anywhere on the boat (steering system, cockpit, salon or chart table)
3. Excellent height under the nacelle for sailing on heavy seas
4. Daggerboards for close-hauled sailing without the 'trip' risk
5. A very well-protected cockpit
6. Wide passageways
7. Toutes les manœuvres renvoyées au cockpit
8. All manoeuvres controlled from the cockpit
9. Lower centre of gravity
10. An ideal beam/length ratio for better stability

It's been a while since I was busy conjugating la plume de ma tante back at school, but still reckon that no 7 and no 8 are actually the same thing. Does writing it in French mean you get an extra safety feature?

Anyway, it looks like a jolly nice cruising cat, and if you'd like to know more then go to:

http://cgi.dolist.net/online.asp?l=2422-45347-7885-a9e7e179

'Never has a recreational catamaran moved so fast.' Or had so many Safety features!