Illustration courtesy of Xquisite Yachts
Xquisite catamarans are well known as comfortable, well-built long-distance cruising cats, with all of the luxury and accouterments one would expect—the antithesis, in other words, of minimalism. Which is why Xquisite’s new offering, the 30 Sportcat designed by François Perus, causes a double take of neck-twinging proportions.
With a rotating carbon mast, carbon deck beams, displacement of just 1,872 pounds, North 3Di sails, an interior whose greatest luxury is a mattress, and a construction methodology that lets it be dismantled and fit onto a trailer and inside a 40-foot shipping container, this little rocket is just begging to be sailed fast and fun—and that is precisely its purpose, according to Tamas Hamor, Xquisite’s founder and CEO.
“That was the goal—the best training boat for people to learn how to sail, but it’s fast enough for people who know how to sail to have fun,” he says. “Half of our owners buying new boats have never sailed before. We want to bring them here and teach them sailing.”
Part of this learning gap is covered by Xquisite’s two-week training period for all new buyers. But actually learning to sail is something different, and that’s where the 30 Sportcat comes in. Hamor wanted to create a boat that’s fun, simple, and exciting to handle without the complexities of daggerboards or foils.
“The boat is super simple to sail. Everything is small. You have to use your hands, you trim the sails, you feel the rudders. Just with two fingers you can steer the boat. So this is how you learn sailing.”
Another impetus was the establishment of Xquisite’s new base in Freeport, Bahamas, which was to be fully opened by this summer and will include a sail training school. Owners who are waiting for their boats to be built can come to the base and learn on the 30 Sportcat in the meantime. Hamor envisions fun regattas where a group of the boats sails to the Berry Islands, a quick 50 miles away, to spend an overnight on the water. With a 10-hp outboard (optional electric), the boat has two berths aft in each hull, sail storage forward, a portable toilet, and a small sink. It’s camping, he says, and that’s also part of the fun.
At $285,000 a whack, it’s also expensive fun, but that hasn’t stopped some Xquisite owners from already ordering the boats to keep at their homes while sailing their big cats elsewhere.
LOA 30’4” Beam 16’ 11” Draft 2’ 6” Displacement 1,872 lbs Sail Area (main, gennaker, and self-tacking jib) 860 sq ft
August/September 2023
