Seawind 1600 is definitely your choice, if you want the performance of a monohull, the pointing ability of a monohull, but the living space of a catamaran.
Sailing Yacht Ruby Rose reviewed
About the channel
Nick and Terysa share a huge passion for travelling and adventure. Terysa first started the blog simply as a journal for herself and to track their sailing experiences. Terysa fell in love with filming, editing and story-telling. She now shares her own stories of how Nick and her settle into live-aboard cruising lifestyle. To balance her long-term cruising life and reality (the money), Nick and Terysa started a YouTube channel “Sailing Yacht Ruby Rose” and turned it into a full-time job. Their channel has grown quickly, with a great following from sailors, and those aspiring to start such a life…
In this comprehensive review of the Seawind 1600, the couple inspected the boat presented at the International Multihull Show at La Grande Motte. There they critiqued her according to the five categories below, scoring each of them on a scale of 1-10 points.
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Safety and design
In this category, the couple looked at following factors: helm position, visibility, safety features, practicality while on watch and underway, and finally liferaft position. Unlike many other catamarans, the Seawind 1600 offers twin helms, with unrestricted visibility especially while docking.
The couple mentioned one of the problems that you might have while on watch is how you can set up the watch station. And they were impressed with the solution offered by the 1600 – particularly the protection from the elements offered by the partial hardtop bimini and side clears. Additionally, Terysa loves the comfort of the helm seat with the pull-out bar beneath it to rest your feet, take pressure off of your thighs and allow a little more bloodflow – a thoughtful touch of designer.
Designed as a performance catamaran, the daggerboards are recessed into the hull, which means they are not obstructing the deck, so you can move around freely without hazards. Furthermore, all the lines lead back to the cockpit making it safe and practical to trim and adjust your sails.
This is definitely a true sailors boat.
Points: 10/10
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Build quality
Five points that were assessed in this category, including; joinery, fittings & latches, engine bay layout and space, the steering mechanism, and general robustness.
The Engine bay is large and easy to access. Everything is well engineered and well labelled, which makes future maintenance easier.
The infused vinylester hull is built with extensive use of carbon, so it is extra strong and light, with Kevlar delivering abrasion and puncture resistance. [All of that is standard]. The boat appears very robust throughout – the strong locker and hatch lids making a good example. The walkway [longaron] between the trampolines is a really clever addition. The gooseneck is also well engineered or even overengineered and well executed.
In the cockpit, the mainsheet is controlled by 2 winches with a fantastic power winch in the centre to control all the lines. Similarly, all the lines are tailed into bins keeping them out of the way. The cockpit joinery, cushions and stainless steel are all really high quality. There is a lovely touch from the designer in the shape of a folding table with adjustable pedestal. The solar panels on the roof are all recessed and there is also a guttering system for collecting fresh rain water (a smart backup system).
The corian in the galley is routed and of excellent quality. And the cabinetry throughout was high quality veneer with solid wood edges.
Point: 9/10
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Interior Design
If you like minimal, modern design, then Seawind 1600 is clearly your choice, and it is to Nick and Teresa’s taste as they frequently mention. The saloon is a lovely and bright space with a lot of ventilation (four forward facing opening hatches). This is very important if you are planning to live in the tropics. And you also get great wraparound windows which give you fantastic visibility, plenty of natural sunlight, and they can be shaded to reduce heat. The settee is large and u-shaped design, which offers plenty of room for a couple or even a family of 4 – and it does convert into a bed. The coffee table can be fold out into a dining table. There is also room for a flat-screen TV and there are some storage space just underneath the area.
While seated at the nav station, even from the inside, you can see the sails, and the horizon. You can even check your trim from the inside.
There is direct communication between the cockpit and the galley through three large windows that can be opened up completely for a perfect ventilation.
In the cabins:
There are two single beds in the guest aft cabin (to port) which can be easily converted into a queen-sized bed. One thing that Terysa loves is the pair of recessed fans overhead as it provides important relief and ventilation. In the bathroom, you get a separated shower area. What she loves the most are the opaque windows that could prevent people walking along the deck being able to look down and see what you are doing in the bathroom. A bit of privacy.
One weak point of this catamaran is the forward guest cabin, which is quite small as it is a single bedroom. However, it’s a known and unavoidable tradeoff when seeking a boat with good performance.
Over in the master cabin, there is plenty of ventilation with four hatches, the twin recessed fans again, and access to communicate with the cockpit.
The Seawind design team put LED lights throughout the entire boat, which give a nice warm and visual touch to the whole design and is pretty practical as well. The master bathroom is larger than the guest side, with separate shower and mirrored cupboard doors that make the room look more spacious. One only issue is that there is no screen for the shower [optional].
Point: 8/10
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Performance
Point: 9/10
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Value of performance
Point: 6/10
Total 42/50
Closing notes
Beautiful, well-thought-out boat – Nick & Terysa
As they shared in their video, even though comparing with other 50 ft catamaran the sleeping space is smaller, it is a trade-off that facilitates many other well-designed and well-engineered features for a performance catamaran. And from their perspective, they will be very happy to make such a compromise.
There are two main points that push Terysa from like to love the boat. Firstly, Seawind 1600 offers the best ventilation for her. Another point is the frosted glass window on the ceiling of the bathroom because she has experienced twice embarrassing moments from this issue so far. Therefore, this is a very thoughtful feature from Seawind design team.
Negative points:
Sail drives vs shaft drives. Yet Seawind 1600 has both retractable daggerboard and rudders, but it still leaves the sail drives exposed. There is no protection at the bottom of the propeller and the bottom of the sail drives and the ground if someone wants to take it to the ground.
Secondly, because the design is modern style, there are some corners on the cabinetry. If you are thrown around the sea way, you are going to want not to have many corners. That being said, this is a really minor point.
Sailing Yacht Ruby Rose’s video link:
Thanks Nick & Terysa for such a comprehensive review of Seawind 1600. And it is great that you love our latest flagship boat!
Come to see yourself this week at the Sanctuary Cove Boat Show – Pier D/E1.
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