Multihull

Who's Who - Nicolas Harvey: The man who brought the catamaran to Four Winns...

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Article published on 29/09/2023

By Dominic Salander

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published inn°192nov. / dec.

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The Four Winns TH36, whose final version has just been officially released at the Cannes Yachting Festival, is the first catamaran from Four Winns. A major event, and even more so, knowing the project represented a real challenge. To mark the launch, we spoke to Nicolas Harvey, the Four Winns brand’s director. We talked about the project’s origins, philosophy, future prospects and the secrets behind one of the powercats of the future.

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Multihulls World
For those who aren’t (yet) familiar with the brand, could you introduce us to Four Winns?
Nicolas Harvey
- Four Winns is an American brand that is almost 50 years old, having been created in 1975 by the three Winns brothers and their father, in Michigan, USA. The boats are still manufactured in the same factory. It’s an iconic bow-rider brand. In addition to their elegance, Four Winns boats are renowned for being easy to handle, comfortable and well-equipped. The brand was bought by the Bénéteau Group in 2014, and since 2020 we’ve set about giving it a new lease of life. The idea is to retain the Four Winns DNA but give it a more international dimension and improve the user experience as much as possible. For example, 98% of bow-riders are sold in the United States, and we want to offer this brand more prospects by conquering new markets.

MW
The new TH36 is a catamaran, why did you decide to go down this route?
NH
- In fact, the Bénéteau Group wanted to get involved in the powercat market of this size, and it appeared that Four Winns was the most appropriate brand to carry out this project. In addition, as I said before, we really want to develop Four Winns by opening up new horizons. The Multihull sector is a fast-growing market, with very optimistic prospects according to industry specialists. A catamaran means more space on board, a more practical deck layout and greater stability on the water. It’s also more economical in fuel consumption and very practical to maneuver, thanks to its twin engines, while offering very pleasant sailing. In a few words, a catamaran is a bit like a deck boat on steroids, in that you get the best of both worlds.
For the TH36, we called on an expert in the field, Marc Lombard, a well-known naval architect in the multihull world
(Editor’s note: we just learned about Marc Lombard’s passing). The upper part and the design of the layout are by Garonni.
In the end, we kept the iconic Four Winns line, but in a much-improved version

MW
How did TH36 come about?
NH
- Once we had validated the project, we started looking for an architect. There are many talented architects on the market, but Lombard’s experience and reputation in the multihull sector made them the best choice. Next, we went in search of a designer. Here again, the Bénéteau group has been working with talented professionals for a long time, and for what we wanted to do on the TH36, it was the Garonni firm, with whom we had already collaborated on numerous projects, who was really the best candidate. They really listened to us and followed our specifications to the letter. In particular, it was very important to adopt the Four Winns brand codes - it’s a brand with a very strong identity

MW
How did you combine the brand’s heritage in this new concept, and how did you turn it into a boat destined for worldwide distribution?
NH
- We really had to immerse ourselves in the ...

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