Design
Enter stage right
For some time now they have been monitoring developments in this growing sector but now South African and Dutch designers Simonis Voogd have entered the performance multihull space... in some style
The performance luxury catamaran market has been growing quickly, with many designers and builders entering this sector. The plethora of new ideas being presented are exciting, driven by smart people using cutting-edge design and engineering tools, advanced composites and good old-fashioned boatbuilding insight and skills. The new KC54 from Kinetic Catamarans represents the latest in this genre, squarely hitting well-thought targets of quality, performance, comfort and style.
Concept history
It was in December 2018 that Bob Hayward and Leon Scheepers had recently bought the Harvey Yachts boatyard in Knysna, South Africa and had a 60-foot carbon catamaran designed by Simonis Voogd well into build. A meeting with Alex Simonis in Cape Town to discuss which project the yard should take on next evolved into a discussion of how to launch what they intended to be a new world- renowned brand: Kinetic Catamarans. With a strong cultural heritage in cost-effective boatbuilding in both carbon-infused composites and traditional materials, the challenge lay in what new product size to offer .
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To go large in size would appeal to a small market, whereas going smaller would have a broader appeal but more price sensitivity and less flexibility in features.
‘We are a semi-custom yard making performance carbon cats,’ says Scheepers, ‘so we are inherently more expensive than the production boats. Fifty-five feet seemed like the right target since it’s the upper limit for a cruising couple to handle comfortably, and keeping the boat under 55ft would help with marina berth spaces in some regions. Going smaller to 50ft might open us up to more buyers, but people are still going to want to load the boat with paddle boards, diving gear, washer dryer, etc. So we decided it was better to keep to the higher end of this range and asked our design team at Simonis Voogd to come up with a proposal in the 53-55ft range.’ But the gap between this and the 60-footer under build was too small so Hayward and Scheepers decided to add two feet to the 60. ‘This would also give us more space on the aft steps for getting on and off the tender, swimming, and fishing,’ says Hayward, who was taking this boat for himself. ‘Also, terminating the outer hull skin
Above: the next model from Kinetic Catamarans, the KC54, has the same design DNA as the larger KC62 and shares many of the same key features. These include a spacious forward
cockpit right in front of the interior helm station, a coachroof- stepped mast and large, fully glazed bridgedeck accommoda- tion offering uninterrupted 360° views
short of the stern creates a pad for stepping on and off the boat when it’s side-on at the dock. The 60-footer thus became the KC62.’
The Kinetic team then wondered how to define the DNA of the new boat and its yard and identify who is in its market – will this be a yard producing comfortable performance cruiser cats that you can race or a more racing catamaran with less features, that you can still cruise? This decision would go to the core of the KC brand. Active racing fleets of Gunboats, HHs and similar boats are on the US East Coast, in the Med and Caribbean. The first KC62 would also be out there racing, having also made a commitment to enter the LA-Tahiti Race. But exactly how broad is this market?
‘After a healthy debate we decided we are building performance ocean cruisers that you race,’ says Scheepers. ‘We want to target monohull sailors who are interested in the comfort of catamarans, but want a fast, responsive and fun boat to sail, as well as catamaran sailors who want to trade in for a quicker boat. Our boats will be comfortable but we will keep them light and as easy to sail as possible.’
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