Popular Multihulls
There are many types of multihulls in different categories. Among the small sailing catamarans, also called beach catamarans, the most recognized racing classes are the Hobie Cat 16, Formula 18 cats, A-cats and the ex Olympic multihull class called Tornado and the recent popularity of the Weta trimaran (NZ).
Pure power catamarans are becoming a common sight in international charter fleets in the Caribbean and Mediterranean. A new breed of catamarans has also now started to take shape in the form of the mega or super catamaran. This definition is reserved for those catamarans over 60 feet in length. It usually takes one year to build these huge vessels and often a large amount of customization takes place at the request of the owner who commissions the vessel. Perhaps the best known builder of these more luxurious vessels is Pachoud Yachts from New Zealand.
Larger boats include Corsair Marine (mid-sized trimarans) and Privilege (large, luxurious catamarans). The Seawind, Perry, Lightwave production catamarans from Australia, The largest manufacturer of large multihulls is Fontaine-Pajot in France (the much larger French trimarans of the ORMA racing circuit and round the world record attempts are included in this total).
In the powerboat part of the multihull spectrum we find a range of boats from small single pilot Formula 1 power boat series to the large multi-engined or even gas turbined power boats that are used in the off-shore powerboat racing series and that are piloted by 2 to 4 pilots.
Multihull Designers that have made their mark and are considered the pioneers of multihull design and the ones that have made multihulls so popular today are: James Wharram (UK), Derek Kelsall (UK), Loch Crowther (Aust), Hedly Nicol (Aust), Malcolm Tennant (NZ), Jim Brown (USA), Arthur Piver (USA), Chris White (US), Ian Farrier (NZ), LOMOcean (NZ). There are a number of more recent multihull designers who have created a range of designs popular because of the vessels' proven abilities.
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