Voodoo XF60 Review:

The Catamaran That Flies

Most expedition power yachts talk about crossing oceans and then hug the coastline. The Voodoo XF60 is built to do the distance at 30 knots. This 18m hydrofoil-assisted catamaran from New Zealand’s Voodoo Yachts was designed by their in-house team led by Mitch Pachoud. It grew out of a first Voodoo built around 2011 and more than a decade of foil and hull refinement.

The aim was a boat that could take advantage of a short weather window to complete a substantial passage. In 2022 the XF60 picked up a Good Design Award from the Chicago Athenaeum. A beam of 6.3 m gives it plenty of volume, and it sits low enough to give it a sporty look and feel.

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Construction

The XF60 is a moulded composite build, an epoxy composite, with an asymmetric planing hull. The star component is the carbon fibre hydrofoil, called the Xpedition Wing. It sits between the hulls, has evolved over five generations and carries roughly half the boat’s weight at speed according to Mitch Pachoud. He says it raises the boat about 30 inches. The foil keeps the hulls soft-riding and light on the water, while the hulls stay stable and roomy at rest.

Carbon also makes an appearance in the helm dash. The boat carries CE Category A (Ocean).

Power

Twin diesels supply the power through Voodoo-designed low-drag shaft drives. Engine choices run from 850 to 1,300 HP per hull. The first XF60, Playground, used twin 850 hp MAN engines for a 38 knot top speed. Rapide, the first with twin Volvo D13-1000s, reached 41.5 knots. The yard now claims speeds upwards of 45 knots: top speed is a function of the engine package and Voodoo are claiming that there is a 50+ knot option.

Cruising is the real selling point. At 30 knots the XF60 burns around 7 to 7.5 litres per nautical mile, and Voodoo says it is just as economical at 30 as it is at 20. That adds up to a range of more than 1,200 nautical miles from the onboard tanks. Slow to 8 knots and consumption drops to about 3 litres per nautical mile.

Rapide has proven the numbers. She ran from New Zealand to Fiji, 1,069 nautical miles, in 39 hours at an average of 27 knots. The boat gets on the foil much as a normal powerboat gets on the plane, and it leans into turns. Docking is handled by bow and stern thrusters, with a remote control for the skipper to use from the bow.

Interior and Layout Options

The cockpit and saloon run as one connected living space from the transom to the forward windows, with a large dining table under a sizeable overhang. The galley is U-shaped, with a dishwasher and a four-burner induction hob. A cocktail cabinet slides out at the push of a button. A ceiling panel hinges down to reveal fishing-rod lockers.

Access to the water at anchor is easy: the aft platform lowers lowers a metre below the waterline to reveal a garage for your tender, and the boat comes equipped with a dive compressor, watermaker and salt ice maker.

There are two layouts available. One has three cabins and three bathrooms, the other four cabins, two bathrooms and a day head. The four-cabin version sleeps up to eight.

Both feature a full-beam master suite forward with its own ensuite. Cabin access in one of the layouts runs through private companionways under the windscreen, so the saloon is not split in two.

Specs

More Specs

• Cruising speed: 30 knots
• Top speed: 38 to 45+ knots depending on engines
• Range: 1,200+ nm at 30 knots on layout
• Guests: up to 8
• CE category: A (Ocean)
• Designer and builder: Voodoo Yachts