The Evolution of Prodution Sailing Catamarans

The Story · 1950s to Present

How Sailing Catamarans Evolved

From plywood experiments in postwar Britain to carbon-fibre superyachts and global circumnavigations – a seventy-year story of designers and dreamers on two hulls.

1950s–1970s · Origins: the British pioneers

The modern sailing catamaran was born not from a shipyard, but from a garage. James Wharram, a young Englishman captivated by Polynesian voyaging canoes, built his first double-hulled vessel in 1955 and sailed it across the Atlantic with two female crew – a journey that made global headlines and seeded an idea. Wharram’s self-build ethos, borrowing directly from Pacific traditions, remains alive today in his still-published designs.

Alongside him, Derek Kelsall was pioneering foam-sandwich construction techniques that would define light, stiff multihull building for decades. Francis and Roland Prout took a more commercial path, founding Prout Catamarans in the late 1950s and producing the first series-built fibreglass cats in Britain – affordable, seaworthy and aimed squarely at families. Prout became the market leaders in the 80s before going bust in the early 90s.

Meanwhile, from Australia, Lock Crowther was developing high-performance designs whose influence would be felt most powerfully when French builders discovered them a decade later.

1980s · The French Revolution

France adopted the catamaran and industrialised it. The country’s sailing culture, its obsession with ocean racing, and a cluster of brilliant naval architects around La Rochelle and Bordeaux created a perfect storm. Fountaine Pajot, founded in 1976, turned from competitive sailing into volume production of cruising catamarans. Their timing was impeccable.

In 1984 – a pivotal year – two companies were born that would reshape the entire industry. Lagoon, backed by Jeanneau and later absorbed into the Bénéteau Group, deployed the VPLP design office to create a range of production cruisers that prioritised interior volume, safety and mass-market appeal. That same year, Catana emerged, using Lock Crowther’s performance-oriented designs to target a more spirited sailing audience. Barreau and Neuman took up the task later.

Philippe Jeantot – double winner of the single-handed BOC Challenge – brought racing credibility when he founded Privilege Marine through Jeantot Marine in 1985, with the design office Joubert-Nivelt (later Berret-Racoupeau) creating a line of elegant, ocean-capable bluewater cats for serious offshore sailors. The French built boats and they built an industry.

1990s–2000s · Global Expansion: South Africa & the Americas

As the French consolidated their dominance in Europe, Cape Town emerged as second hub of catamaran construction. South Africa’s skilled labour, competitive costs and an established fibreglass industry attracted investment. Robertson & Caine became the manufacturing engine behind Leopard Catamarans – branded for the American market through The Moorings and later Sunsail. The Leopard range became the world’s most popular charter catamaran, giving hundreds of thousands of first-time sailors their introduction to two hulls. Voyage and St Francis Marine completed a Cape Town cluster that rivalled France in output if not in brand recognition.

Back in France, Marc Lombard was designing for Nautitech, producing sportier cruisers, while Marsaudon Composites (now ORC) and Outremer explored the boundary between racing and cruising. In the United States, Chris White built a reputation for the Atlantic series – serious bluewater designs for a discerning clientele – and Tony Smith’s Gemini offered an affordable, trailerable cat that democratised the format for American sailors on a budget.

2000s–Present · Diversification: Performance, Luxury & Asia

The early 2000s saw the category split decisively along two vectors: pure performance and uncompromising luxury. Peter Johnstone founded Gunboat in 2001, working with the designers Morrelli & Melvin to produce carbon-fibre performance cruising catamarans – fast enough to embarrass monohull racers, comfortable enough for long passages.

Gunboat became a cult brand, its boats appearing on start lines from Newport to Noumea.

At the luxury end, Sunreef Yachts, founded by Francis Lapp in Gdańsk, Poland, reimagined the catamaran as a superyacht platform – expansive, highly customised, and increasingly specified with solar arrays and electric drivetrains.

In China, HH Catamarans (Hudson Yacht Group) started by working with Gunboat and then scaled up with racing pedigree and carbon construction building their own brand.

McConaghy Boats, offered another performance option out of China.

South Africa continued innovating: Balance Catamarans, founded by Phillip Berman and Anton du Toit in 2014, brought a fresh design and a focus on sailing performance within the cruising segment.

The wider South African ecosystem – Xquisite Yachts, Vision Yachts, Kinetic, and Knysna Catamarans – made the country arguably the most diverse catamaran manufacturing cluster in the world.

2010s–Present · The innovation era: new names, new ideas

Olivier Poncin’s Bali Catamarans – part of the Catana Group – disrupted the market with the tilting garage door stern, a feature so practical and widely imitated that it has become the new normal for cruising catamarans. The Bali range rapidly became one of the best-selling cruising cat lines in the world, demonstrating that thoughtful ergonomics could win market share as readily as raw performance.

In 2019, the Bénéteau Group launched Excess Catamarans with the VPLP design office – a performance pivot aimed at sailors who found Lagoon too space focused and Catana too uncompromising. Windelo entered the eco-segment with solar-electric hybrid catamarans, anticipating the industry’s inevitable turn toward sustainable propulsion.

Australia’s Seawind Catamarans – producing designs since the 1980s – shifted manufacturing to Vietnam, a move that heralded a broader Asian manufacturing wave. For the self-builders, Schionning’s designs kept the Wharram spirit alive – proven, buildable plans for those who still want to own their build story.

Meanwhile the grand French marques kept evolving. Lagoon and Fountaine Pajot now collectively account for the majority of production catamaran sales worldwide, their ranges spanning 38 to 83 feet, their build quality vastly improved from the fibreglass revolution that started it all.

The Big Picture: Seventy Years of Evolution

The journey from Wharram’s handmade plywood to Gunboat’s carbon superyachts is, at its core, a story about what happens when performance and practicality align. The monohull has centuries of refinement on its side; the catamaran has physics. Two hulls mean stability without a keel, shallow draught for anchorage freedom, and interior volumes that no similarly-priced monohull can match.

The designers who shaped this story – Kelsall, Crowther, VPLP, Barreau, Berret-Racoupeau, Morrelli & Melvin, Marc Lombard, Chris White – did so without the institutional support enjoyed by the grand monohull marques.

The builders who scaled it – Bénéteau Group, the Catana group, Robertson & Caine, the Cape Town cluster – built industries in the process. And the sailors who chose it have been vindicated by every ocean passage, every charter booking, and every happy hour on a wide, stable deck.

Here’s to the next 50 years!