The Entertainer

Visitors to this month’s On the Water Boat Show in Auckland will be able to check out the new Aquila 44 power catamaran – a vessel tailor-made for partying in style.

There are many attractive, interesting and innovative features on the Aquila 44 – and while they all add up to an impressive vessel, for me her overwhelming appeal is the way her clever design lends itself to stylish entertaining. She will accommodate a sizeable crowd across her spacious foredeck, large cockpit and saloon – and an expansive flybridge. And there’s an excellent “flow” between all these areas.

I caught up with the cat at the recent Sydney International Boat Show, where she drew plenty of admiring visitors. A sister ship is headed to our Auckland show later this monh. Be sure to visit both the Show and the Aquila. First, some background. Aquila cats are built in China in a collaborative initiative between three parties: Sino Eagle (the builder), Slovenia’s J&J Design and US company Marinemax. The 44 follows in the paw prints of a bigger sister, the 48, and a new 38 is about to make its debut. The vast majority of production is destined for the Caribbean and Mediterranean charter markets.

The 44 coming to New Zealand will be the third in the Southern Hemisphere – the first two are in Australia. Construction is resininfused fibreglass. Components are built in a humidity-controlled facility and cured in a kiln. Our review cat is in survey (1E, 4C, 4D and 2C) and certified to carry 20 charter guests – which she will do with aplomb.

But the most interesting part in this backgrounder concerns her hulls – which generated more than a few double takes in Sydney. The bows are fitted with underwater bulbs – common on large

ships. The cat is unquestionably the first medium-size recreational vessel I’ve seen equipped with them. So what’s with the bulbs?

Turns out the first few 44s off the production line didn’t perform as hoped – both in terms of speed and fuel efficiency. So began a rigorous trial-and-error programme which ended with bulbs being added in front. This was an inspired tweak, with more than a few benefits.

For a start, the extended waterline improved performance dramatically. Comparisons between a bulbless and bulbed 44 (both equipped with twin 225hp Volvo D4s) showed marginal improvements at low, displacement speeds (less than 10 knots). At 2,500rpm, for example, the bulbed cat registered 8.3 knots, only 0.3 knots more than the unbulbed sistership.

But the difference became much more significant as they

approached planing speed. The bulbed cat delivered 12.4 knots at 3,200 rpm, 3.5 knots faster than her unmodified sister. And at WOT the difference was even more pronounced: some 16.1 knots for the bulbed 44, versus 9.4 knots for her sister.

Our review cat (20 tonnes, 16 tonnes lightship) is equipped with gruntier engines: twin 300hp Volvos mated to V-drives. The Raymarine Hybridtouch chartplotter presented the engine data in clear, easilydigestible bites. At six knots – around a very lumpy Sydney harbour – the Volvos were ticking over at 1,150rpm and between them consuming 5.9 litres/hour.

At cruise speed (17-18 knots and 2,800 rpm) consumption increased to 76 litres/hour and at WOT (23 knots/3,200 rpm) that climbed to 79 litres/hour. She carries 1,150 litres of diesel in two tanks, with an additional 350-litre reserve tank.

So depending on the urgency of your next appointment, you could eke quite a distance from those engines. And using the Volvo data on the chartplotter, you should be able to “plan” the speed of your journey and its necessary pit stops fairly easily.

The 44’s also available with 375hp Yanmars which, I’m told, deliver a top speed of 25 knots. Though Yanmar is one of my favourite engine brands, I’d struggle to argue persuasively for the upgrade.

NO MORE SLAMMING

But perhaps the most impressive benefit of the bulbs concerns the 44’s seakeeping. The bulbs are hollow and the added buoyancy up front seems to counteract any pitching tendency. While this makes for a more stable, comfortable motion, it’s the lack of “slamming” that I found more intriguing. Water slamming into a cat’s wing-deck is both fairly common and uncomfortable.

As suggested, Sydney Harbour was pretty miserable, running a heavy swell generated by a stiff southerly. The 44’s wing-deck only sits about 700mm off the water, but it’s fitted with a pronounced “V-shaped wavebreaker” that deflects head seas sideways rather than taking them on the chin. This deflection phenomenon also adds a bit of “lift” to the ride.

Whatever the physics, the bulbs’ buoyancy and wavebreaker work well together – and definitely minimise the slamming. Very cool.

“A fun cat tailor-made for partying.”