The International Multihull Boat Show was opened at the seaside resort of La Grande Motte in the South of France on Wednesday 19th April.
Lagoon catamarans on show
In the eight years since its inception this annual show has become the global meeting point of multihull afficionados from all over the world.
The eye-catching 5x, flag-ship of renowned Outremer Catamarans
Once again, Cornell Sailing Events has a stand under the banner of SAIL THE ODYSSEY.
From the nationalities of the visitors, it was quite obvious that it is indeed a global show. We had visitors from Mexico, Brazil, USA, Russia, Czech Republic as well as several other European nationalities interested in taking part in our rallies.
Among the boats exhibited two attracted my attention.
The first is the Explocat 52 being developed by the French Garcia boatyard that also built my own Aventura IV. The concept of the Exploration 45 design inspired this aluminium catamaran aimed at sailors attracted to exploring remote areas rather than just cruising in the tropics.
The other catamaran that caught my eye is not a sailing boat, but a fully solar-powered vessel. The Solarwave 64 catamaran is owned by an Austrian person who wants to have all the comfort and space of a large catamaran with zero impact on the environment.
The light-weight carbon-fibre Solarwave 64 is equipped with an array of solar panels charging a bank of lithium-ion batteries with a capacity of 100 kWh. This will ensure an autonomy of 10.5 hours under electric power. The outstanding feature of this concept is that the solar panels continue to charge the batteries while the vessel is actually under power, greatly expanding its range.
Jimmy Cornell with Jan Maarten Boissevain of Sevenstar Yacht Transport
Among the visitors to our stand was Jan Maarten Boissevain of this global shipping company specialising in yacht transport. The company is considering expanding its routes to provide a more targeted service to owners of cruising boats who wish to explore more remote and difficult to reach destinations.
