TEST SAIL:
Seawind 1160
Innovation and Performance
By Richard Hazelton
The Seawind 1160 catamaran
berths in the starboard hull.
has been around a while, winning
There is a chart table of sorts on
Australian Sailboat of the Year in
the port side, but, with navigation
2005 and Cruising World’s “Best
becoming entirely electronic, it’s
Multihull” 2007. So, when the
more of a laptop workstation.
opportunity to sail the first one in
The galley runs down the
Puget Sound was presented, we
starboard hull and is open to the
were anxious to jump aboard.
saloon, so there’s no feeling of
For a monohull sailor, the first
being isolated from the rest of the
step aboard a cat is like getting on
boat while cooking. The counter
a platform rather than a boat. The
is made of Polystonespace™ and
cockpit is so spacious and wide
space is impressive, although
that you’re struck with the idea
that includes the top access to
that it’s not really a boat at all but the freezers. Again, everything is
a small, floating island. With the doors Above: With doors stowed, the cabin and very clean and functional. No frills but
to the cabin stowed (more on that later) cockpit become one large living space. definitely a feeling of craftsmanship.
the cockpit and saloon combine to feel Below: Galley has good counter space and But, the true test is how she sails,
like a waterfront cabin and deck, with allows easy interaction with the saloon. so we headed out of Shilshole Marina.
shrimp on the stern rail “barby”. The first thing we noted was how
It is Australian. maneuverable the boat was. The
Touring below, the boat twin Yanmar diesel 29 HP diesel
is simple and functional. The saildrives acted like a bow thruster
beechwood interior, trim and (stern thruster), enabling us to
cabinetry is excellent. The more spin around in a small space.
you open doors and pull up Mainsail up, jib unfurled, the
cushions, you see that this boat boat took off nicely. In the light
was not just made for weekend to moderate breeze, we moved
sailing but for extended times quite well, about the same as a
aboard. performance monohull, faster
The boat we sailed (left layout than a cruiser of comparable
on following page) had the “island length. What surprised us was
queen” bed athwartships in the how responsive the boat was,
port hull, with two more double even with the two hulls, so we
48° No r t h , Se p t e m b e r 2009 pa g e 50
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100 |
Page 101 |
Page 102 |
Page 103 |
Page 104 |
Page 105 |
Page 106 |
Page 107 |
Page 108 |
Page 109 |
Page 110 |
Page 111 |
Page 112 |
Page 113 |
Page 114