Browsing: Larry Graf

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Aspen Launches All-New 35-Foot Power Cat

Aspen Power Catamarans just launched its all-new 35-foot C108 cruiser, powered by asymmetrical Yamaha outboards, and it hit a top speed of 25 knots and a fuel-efficient cruising speed of 19 knots, producing 2 nmpg. Larry Graf, Aspen’s founder and “chief adventurer,” designed the new proa-type cat so it could be trailered to new cruising grounds It has a beam of 10’ 8” and a combined boat and trailer weight of 12,500 pounds, so it could be towed by a ¾ ton pickup. Aspen owners are an adventuresome type, and some wanted a three-cabin boat that they could trailer easily…

Cruising Life
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Trends 2020: Ten Top Power Cats

All of a sudden, it seems, power catamarans are taking center stage in the U.S. cruising community. You now see them almost everywhere, and more and more people are talking about them at boat shows, on blogs, and on the docks. It’s easy to see why. Most obvious, is that power cats offer space – a lot of it. The salons resemble living rooms at home, with all the comforts of home. The decks are filled with lounging, dining, entertaining and private areas everywhere – on the foredeck, the aft deck, up on the flybridge, often even down in the…

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Aspen Launching New 35-Foot Power Cat with 3 Cabins

Aspen Power Catamarans is starting work on a new 35-foot C108 cruiser, with three private staterooms and Aspen’s trademark asymmetrical proa hulls, powered by one 200-hp Yamaha outboard and one 70-hp Yamaha outboard. Larry Graf, the founder, president and “lead adventurer” of Aspen Power Cats, says he will have a mockup of the new 35 at the Seattle boat show, from Jan. 24 to Feb. 1, with finished production models ready shortly after that. The new 35 has a beam of 10’ 8”, which adds 8 inches to Aspen’s earlier C107 model. The wider beam also adds interior volume and…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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Aspen Power Cat Cruises 1,092 Miles Through Canada’s Wild Northwest Territories to the Arctic Ocean

You don’t need to ask Larry Graf what he did on his summer vacation this year. Graf, the president and “chief adventurer” of Aspen Power Catamarans, and Peter Robson, a Canadian journalist, drove a new 34-foot, twin outboard Aspen 1,092 miles down the Mackenzie River through Canada’s remote and wild Northwest Territories – where there are more bears than people – to the Arctic Ocean. The trip took six days and 22 hours. The Mackenzie is the largest river in Canada, and the second largest in North America, after the Mississippi (see the map, below). There are no electronic charts for…

Cruising Life
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Larry Graf Starts Aspen’s Newest Adventure: 1,120 Miles Down the Mackenzie River to the Arctic Ocean

Larry Graf is at it again. The founder, chief designer and self-described “lead adventurer” of Aspen Power Catamarans is just starting his Aspen Arctic Adventure, cruising some 1,120 miles down the Mackenzie River in Canada’s remote Northwest Territories to the Arctic Ocean. First, he has to trailer his ride, a 34-foot Aspen L107, 1,171 miles from the Aspen factory in Burlington, Washington, to Hay River and the Mackenzie. The Mackenzie River is the longest river in Canada, and the second largest in North America, after the Mississippi. It flows through a region with few people but lots of forests and…

Cruising Life
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Aspen Launches New 34-foot Cat with Two Offset Yamaha Outboards

Aspen Power Catamarans is launching its new 34 Aspen C107 with two outboards at the Seattle Boat Show that opens this Friday, Jan. 25. The new Aspen, with the company’s patented asymmetrical proa hulls, is similar to its previous C100 model, except that it has a 200-hp Yamaha on the starboard hull and a 70-hp Yamaha on the port hull, instead of the earlier single-diesel application. Larry Graf, Aspen’s CEO, founder and “chief adventurer,” started testing a 32-foot outboard-powered prototype last summer, in response to the increasing popularity of outboard cruising boats. The trick was to get the right balance…

On Watch with Peter Janssen
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On Watch

New Aspen Power Cat Knot Wafflen’ Finishes 10,000 Mile Tour of U.S. from Alaska to Annapolis By Peter A. Janssen They made it. The 10,000 Mile Tour is over. Knot Wafflen’, the 40-foot Aspen Power Catamaran that left Anacortes, Washington, last May, on a voyage around the United States, is home in Annapolis, Maryland, some 10,540 nm and 1,001 engine hours later. And its owner, David Jenkins, who calls himself a serial entrepreneur, is happy. “The boat was as advertised,” he told me. “It held up as I thought it would, based on my factory tour of its construction. Mileage,…

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Aspen Tests New 32-foot Outboard Prototype: Top Speed of 27.5 mph, Burning 21.1 gph

Here’s a first look at Aspen Power Catamaran’s prototype of their first outboard-powered cruising boat, a 32-footer with a 200-hp Yamaha on the starboard side and a 25-hp Yamaha on the port side. The outboard boat is built with the same asymmetrical proa hull as all other Aspens, where the port hull is significantly thinner and lighter than the starboard hull. In all of Aspen’s diesel-powered boats to date, all the machinery – the engine, gears, shaft and prop – is on the starboard side. In its first test, in calm conditions with two people on board and 85 gallons…

Cruising Life
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Aspen Power Cats’ 10,000-Mile Tour Already Reached Alaska, Now Heading South

Aspen Power Catamarans’ epic 10,000-mile tour is off to a good start, with Knot Wafflen’, the company’s new 40-footer, already having cruised from Anacortes, Washington, all the way up to Glacier Bay, Alaska. It’s now in Prince Rupert, British Columbia, on its way south, before ultimately circling most of the U.S. and ending up in Annapolis in October, 2018. The owners of the boat, David and Sue Ellen Jenkins, are both from Annapolis, and were looking for a major adventure after Jenkins, who calls himself a serial entrepreneur, sold Golden Malted, the largest waffle company in the U.S. Referring to…

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Aspen Power Cats Launches New 28-Footer With Same Proven Proa Hull

The latest from Aspen Power Catamarans is something different: Not a cruising boat, but a 28-footer that can serve as a tender, a second boat, or a fun primary boat for running around and having fun. Whatever you do with it, the new L90 LX does have the same creative proa hull that Larry Graf created for all his larger, Aspen cruising cats, a hull that has proven be stable, fuel-efficient and seaworthy. As a tender, the L90 LX is easy to tow; it’s light in weight, only 5,800 pounds, and the twin hulls make it unusually safe and steady.…

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