New England yacht designer Chris White is well known for his innovative multihull designs, mostly on the sailing side of the cruising coin. But he also has drawn and built numerous cruising power cats that are stylish, fast and provide both a very stable ride and excellent fuel efficiency.
Over the few years, Chris has partnered with Bill Koffler at Aquidneck Custom Composites in Bristol, Rhode Island to create two 72-foot custom sailing catamarans and the Sprindrift 45 power cat. Currently Chris and Bill are building the new Sprinfdrift 47 Flybridge power cat for a very experienced cruising couple who will liveaboard for six months of the year.
The new design takes the basic DNA of the 45 and expands upon it. While the hulls are two feet longer, the deckhouse has been elongated by four feet to accommodate a much larger galley and living space.
The sleeping cabins are similar to the 45with the master suite in the starboard hull and the two guests cabins to port. The aft guest cabin benefits from the longer deckhouse by having more headroom over the berth and a larger area with full standing headroom. In the 47, the forward guest cabin has upper and lower bunkbeds.
The 47 is for experienced cruisers so Chris has put a utility room at the aft end of the starboard hull. His will have a washer-Dryer, a workbench, and storage for tools, spare parts and all materials and supplies to make repairs in remote anchorages.
Another benefit of the longer deckhouse is the added space on the flybridge now becomes the third functional social area in addition to the saloon and aft cockpit.
The Spindrift 47 is powered by twin Cummins 480-horsepower diesel engines with newly designed Hamilton Jet Drives. The boat is targeted to have a top end speed of 38 knots and an efficient cruising speed of 28 to 30 knots. According to Chris’ calculations and vast experience, the new design will be roughly 50% more efficient in terms of miles-per-gallon than a comparable monohull. That will be attractive to long-haul, off-the-beaten-track cruisers.
Aquidneck Custom Composites has a long history of building high-tech, infused, cored hulls and decks that are light, stiff and extremely durable. This build technique helps Chris keep the boats light, a particular passion, and thus improves efficiency. Bill also is noted for the fine finish of the composite surfaces. The interior of the boat has been subcontracted to Jim Thompson Marine Carpentry who is also a master of building light, cored-panel joinery, bulkheads and interior furniture.
Bill built molds for the 47’s hulls, deck and various parts so 47s can be built on a semi-custom basis instead of as one off’s that a built from scratch.
It is easy to image the new Spindrift 47 cruising south from New England next fall both offshore and in the ICW, popping across the Bahamas and then running right down to the Ragged Islands for a few weeks of cruising, lobstering and spearfishing away from the madding crowd. That’s what I would do.
