june/july 2016cruisingworld.com66
SOUTH AFRICA MANUFACTURES 30 PERCENT OF ALL THE WORLD’S CRUIS-
ING CATAMARANS. HOW DO THEY DO IT? WE TRAVELED HALFWAY AROUND
THE GLOBE TO FIND OUT FOR OURSELVES.BY TIM MURPHYTHE ARTISAN
CAT BUILDERS
OF SOUTH
AFRICA
An Angelo Lavranos-designed Knysna 500 SE is outbound into the Indian Ocean
from Knysna Heads, once deemed by the British Admiralty to be the most dangerous
harbor entrance in the world.T
he warm Agulhas Current puts our Gulf
Stream to shame. Flowing southbound
out of the Indian Ocean and down through
the Mozambique Channel, it attains an as-
tonishing 6 knots by the time it crowds in
close to the craggy South African coast. Be-
yond that current lie the Roaring 40s and the
Southern Ocean, and beyond them, Antarcti-ca. Three ocean systems, very warm and very
cold, clash here, spinning off a regular train of
gales that come crashing into the current.
Several years ago, Duncan Lethbridge was
delivering one of his new St. Francis 50 cata-
marans along South Africa’s Wild Coast with
a novice crew as one of these recurring blows
was building up. He handed over the helm toMULTIHULLS 2016
You name it: razor-sharp bows, fl ared hulls, square-topped mains, open living spaces, for-
ward cockpits, advanced composites, fl ybridges, sun decks. There’s no end in sight to the
innovative ideas coming out of the multihull world. At a time when big-production-run
monohulls are starting to all look the same, naval architects are pushing out distinctive
designs and convincing sailors to make the leap to two hulls and three in record numbers.
Welcome to Multihulls 2016, Cruising World’s look at all the buzz about sailing and
living aboard this fast-evolving breed of boats.FEATURES
Out of Africa
page 66
Risks & Rewards
page 76
Categorically Cool
page 84DESIGN
Multiple Choices
page 92REVIEWS
Balance 526
page 96Fountaine Pajot
Ipanema 58
page 97
Voyage 480
page 98
Bali 4.3 Loft
page 99