A motor cat for ocean voyaging

Bob Escoffier has been managing Etoile Marine for many years now and has decided to go cruising: to do this, he has chosen...a motor catamaran! Designed by Patrick Balta, the catamaran will be 19.5m long and 8.3m wide. The displacement will vary between 30 tonnes unladen and 48 fully laden. Propulsion will be entrusted to two 280 hp Iveco engines and the cat is being built in plywood laminated with glass/epoxy on stringers and bulkheads. According to the architect, the consumption should be 13.5 l/h per engine at 10 knots, giving 2.7 litres/mile. The theoretical maximum range would therefore be 5,000 miles at 10 knots, and the top speed, depending on the load, around 13 to 14 knots. Enough for some nice voyages. We can't wait to test it 'for real'…

For more information: www.balta.fr