• Admiral Catamarans are back in production! Here comes Celtic Yachts!

    Tweet Great news for luxury catamaran enthusiasts, owners and potential owners is that the  Admiral 38 foot and 40 foot catamarans are back in production again. Trading under the name Celtic Yachts, an experienced boat building team, Tim Duncan and David Baxter, have taken over production of the ever-popular 38 foot and 40 foot custom-built catamarans, designed by Angelo Lavranos. The second Admiral is in production at Celtic’s yard in Killarney Gardens, and the first one was launched last year and is berthed and sailing in Saldahna, where she is available for interested parties to view and test sail. Tim Duncan and David Baxter are the perfect team to build…

  • The Scape 51 Day Charter Catamaran: An Owner’s Perspective

    Tweet  Du Toit Yacht Design designed the Scape 51 – a 15.62m / 51 foot day charter cat – for Petro Jonker, an experienced Caribbean charter operator based in St Maarten. Quality Time, as she was named, was launched in November 2010 and Petro has loved every minute of owning her. She was built in epoxy E-Glass composite materials and was designed for back-to-back day charters in the Caribbean. The substantial sail plan and electric motors follow Petro’s brief for a performance-orientated, yet eco-friendly boat. Seating in the covered and forward cockpits easily accommodates 60 passengers. Petro’s charter company, Eagle Tours, is a family owned and operated sailing tour and…

  • Inside view into Tag Yachts & Catamarans

    Tweet Tag Yachts manufactures luxury yachts out of St. Francis Bay in South Africa. Compared to old, established boatbuilding companies based in Cape Town, Tag Yachts is relatively new in terms of production size and market share. Established in March 2007, Tag Yachts was conceived by Tim van der Steene. Tim is a qualified architect and a sailing enthusiast who started sailing at 9 years old. After his 7-year stint of managing private and charter catamarans in the Caribbean, he returned to South Africa and settled in St. Francis Bay. He decided to combine his knowledge in architecture and enthusiasm for sailing and started Tag Yachts. Tim collaborated with Leon…

  • Challenges Facing South African Boat Builders

    Tweet Take a look a this diagram representing some of the challenges facing the South African catamaran manufacturing sector in 2010 and beyond. While innovative, catamaran boat builders face unique challenges ranging from slow adoption of new technology, lack of skilled labor and the rising threat (or opportunity) of offshoring the building process to cheaper locales such as China and one day, Vietnam. We would be interested to hear reader comments on whether this is an accurate picture of the industry in 2010 and whether there should be any new threats, opportunities and statistics added to this representation. CLICK TO ENLARGECLICK TO ENLARGE Source:Adapted from COFISA Report on Western Cape…

  • West Coast Charters including Kraal Bay, Langebaan, Elands Bay & St Helena!

    Tweet TMT Charters has range of day charters, sunset cruises, a few overnight options — even a 7 day cruise — onboard a 40-foot Maverick catamaran that explores the rugged coastline of the West Coast, including St Helena Bay and Port St Owen. Johan and Marlene, own and operate “Catlyn”, a 2009 build, sleeps 8 and features a large master cabin and good headroom. They offer customized quotations depending on individual requirements and their suggested itineraries for a seven-day cruise cover stop-overs at Bird Island, Lamberts Bay, Langebaan & Mykonos, Elands Baai, Kraal Bay, Paternoster and more. As a benchmark, their “Overnight” package for six people is priced at around…

  • Tim & Susan Mahoney cross Atlantic on Knysna 480 catamaran

    Tweet Tim and Susan Mahoney recently completed a 6,000 mile trip from Cape Town to the Caribbean putting their Kynsna Catamaran 480 “Flamingo” through some serious stress-testing including reaching speeds of 19.6 knots while sliding down the face of a big ocean wave. Tim and Susan Mahoney are the Catamaran Marquee International dealers for North and Central America and launched “Flamingo” on 2nd February at the Knysna Waterfront. Their “log book” on the Knysna Catamarans website says the ultimate goal of their cross-ocean voyage was to reach Grenada in time to fly to Seattle for their daughter’s college graduation and allow their anxious crew to get home as well. The…

  • 105ft Racing Trimaran Eyes Cape To Rio Race in 2011

    Tweet The Royal Cape Yacht Club reports in their May 2010 newsletter that the legendary Cape 2 Rio Race scheduled for January 2011 has already generated 14 requests for entry forms including interest from Oman Sailing and their 105ft racing Trimaran, Majan. Named Majan, after the ancient name for Oman, Oman Sail’s new flagship, reportedly is a speed demon with a crew member commenting: “Majan is incredible: we moved from 20 – 30 knots in one gust of wind. We now look forward to showing the world what she can do!” And, the world better watch out — especially other teams in the Cape To Rio race! The Royal Cape…

  • Luxury Power Catamaran Charters in Cape Town – The Pride of Dean Cats

    Tweet While South Africa is not considered the world’s top catamaran charter destination, it undeniably offers some of the most dramatic sailing landscapes and spectacular settings — especially Cape Town. Tigger 2 Cape Town Charters takes full advantage of these natural selling points by adding luxury catamaran cruises to the mix aboard two separate 50-foot mega power catamarans that symbolize the construction genius of Dean Catamarans, one of Africa’s oldest boat builders. The company has been in operation for over 14 years and offer Tigger 2, a 53 foot catamaran cruiser that caters up to 45 guests and includes 2 onboard lounges, 2 sundecks and a 42 inch plasma screen…

  • Sabbex appoints Jason Bell as Project Manager

    Tweet The South African Boatbuilders Export Council (SABBEX) has recently announced the appointment of Jason Bell as new Project Manager for the group. He takes over from Veda Raubenheimer who stepped down as CEO to focus attention on her work for CTBi and the soon-to-be-established National Boating Association. She had been with the Export Council for four years. According to the SABBEX website Jason brings with him 15 years of international trade and marketing experience, having spent 8 years with the US Trade and Development agency and having handled various African infrastructure projects and the marketing of US goods and services in sub-Saharan Africa. He will direct all SABBEX’s international…

  • The Maverick 400 shines again at SABBEX award ceremony

    Tweet The South African Boatbuilders Export Council, SABBEX, reports in their May 2010 newsletter that Rudi Pretorius of Maverick Yachts was awarded the Best Sailing Craft for the Maverick 400. This is the second consecutive win for the model. The ceremony took place at the 2nd Annual African Boating Conference, hosted at Crystal Towers Hotel on April 15-16, 2010. The also report that Peter Cheales, the founder off the world’s largest customer review website, Hello Peter, gave a feature presentation. Sabbex also reported that they were present at the Miami Boat Show earlier this year although with a much smaller contingent of manufacturers due to prevailing economic conditions. If you…