Sailing is both an art and a science, a sometimes-complicated pursuit that, once learned and mastered, can offer a lifetime of rewards. Sailing a catamaran well is an altogether different experience, as a light, fast cat can provide speeds and thrills that are simply unattainable on most monohulls.
As the founder and builder of the Xquisite line of bluewater catamarans, which can take their owners literally anywhere in the world, Tamas Hamor understands this fully. He also knows that taking command of a powerful cat requires a specialized skillset. How, he wondered, could he ramp up the experience level of potential Xquisite owners, while also exposing them to the unbound joys and singular satisfaction of commanding a superb sailing catamaran?
Enter the Xquisite 30 SportCat, the high-tech, beautifully executed answer to that seemingly simple question.
The 30-foot SportCat is a collaborative effort between Hamor and accomplished French naval architect François Perus, who conceived of the boat, and built its prototype, as his senior project while finishing his master’s degree in mechanical engineering. Perus is an engineer, but he’s also a devoted sailor, and he conceived of the SportCat as something he could moor off his family’s home on Brittany for fast, fun daysails, but with simple accommodations in the hulls for occasional camping cruising off the rugged French coastline.
Hamor realized that the SportCat would also be the ideal teaching boat for his new owners, some of whom had little practical sailing experience. With a small fleet docked at Xquisite’s base in Freeport, Bahamas, the SportCat would offer direct, sporty feedback of pure, powerful sailing on a responsive platform in glorious Bahamian waters while they learned to operate their larger cruising cats. The SportCat would also serve as the ideal little race boat for small overnight regattas to the nearby Berry Islands, further enhancing its vast potential.
Also, as a trailerable boat that can also be stored and shipped in a standard shipping container, the SportCat is also a vessel attractive not only to other sailing schools and day-charter operations, but also to private owners who know how to sail but who seek to enjoy a next-level sailing experience. In other words, the little cat can serve many missions.
To accomplish all this, the SportCat had to be light but strong, and built with the best materials and building practices. The hulls of the cat are a vinylester laminate with a foam core that employs bulletproof carbon-fiber in high-load sections. The rotating wing mast, which permits the spar to pivot to optimize the apparent wind angle, is also constructed with carbon. The state-of-the-art 3Di North Sails maximize the performance in all wind strengths. Yet with all this leading-edge technology, the SportCat is also simply laid out with easily accessible rigging and sail controls. And driving the boat, with the long tiller extension providing fingertip steering control, is a sublime experience.
The Xquisite 30 SportCat started off as a straightforward project by a singular, passionate French sailor. It’s evolved into a catamaran that will introduce the sport to a willing audience in countless ways.
For more information on the Xquisite 30 Sportcat, visit 30sail.xquisiteyachts.com.
