Nearly two decades ago, Seawind Catamarans walked off with top honors in Cruising World’s 2007 Boat of the Year contest multihulls category. Judges praised the couple-friendly liveaboard layout, sailing performance and bluewater-voyaging safety features of the Seawind 1160, a catamaran they also recognized as being that year’s most ­innovative entry.

Many of those same noteworthy features—refined now over the launch of several subsequent models—are be found aboard the Seawind 1370, which this year’s panel of judges named 2025 Best Midsize Multihull.

Like its predecessor, the 45-foot 1370 is well-suited to be a couple’s liveaboard go-­anywhere cruising boat, with a versatile Solent sail plan that has a full-batten square-top main, a self-tacking jib and a screecher. The two headsails are on furlers, so changing gears to match conditions is manageable for a shorthanded crew.

For sea trials after the Annapolis Boat Show, Seawind’s sales and marketing manager, Mike Rees, brought along a colorful asymmetric chute as well. That, of course, was set as soon as we were aboard. With the mainsail still stowed in its boom pouch, we were off to the races. The 1370 skipped along at close to 9 knots on a broad reach, giving a good hint of what a run in the trades might feel like. Later—with the main raised, the screecher unfurled, and the breeze down to the midteens—our speed while reaching was in the 7-plus-knot range. Beating upwind with the self-tacker, we still managed 6 or so knots at just under 40 degrees off the wind. That ain’t bad for a cruising cat with fixed keels. For the performance, you can thank the collaboration between the Seawind team and Yacht Design Collective, which did computer modeling for hull design and performance. 

I really like the helm setup that all Seawinds have. The twin wheels are to either side of the cockpit on the bridge deck, adjacent to the hulls. Just forward of each wheel, removable windows let the helmsman see through the salon, providing good visibility in all directions. Comfortable seats are shaded and protected from the elements by the Bimini top and cabin house, or the skipper can choose to sit outboard in the breeze, atop the hulls, where visibility is equally as good and where you get a real sense of what monohull sailors like to call “sailing.” The 1370 we tested had engine controls at either wheel—a nice touch for docking.

The cockpit itself is quite spacious, with a bench seat running across the transom (there’s stowage for gear and toys underneath), a sink at the starboard end, and a propane “barbie” grill to port. Seawinds, after all, were first built in Australia, though Aussie owner Richard Ward has since moved the factory to Vietnam and opened a facility in Turkey. 

Overhead, a composite arch supports the after end of the Bimini top and anchors a track for the mainsheet traveler, which can be adjusted with a side-wind winch mounted on the side column.

In good weather, a clever trifold door between the salon and cockpit can be raised and stowed under the Bimini top, truly opening up things to the great outdoors. The 1370 is a galley-up design, with a U-shaped Corian counter (molded GRP counters are standard) just inside the doors. A sink faces aft, and to starboard are an induction cooktop and electric oven. Cooking underway would be a joy.

Forward in the salon, two ports open wide to let breeze pour through the interior. To starboard, a nav desk/command center offers a well-protected watchkeeping station for cool nights or when the elements are unruly. To port, an L-shaped couch surrounds a table that swivels to allow for various seating arrangements, or that can be lowered to create a lounging area for movie night or a berth where an off-watch crewmember can nap but still be nearby if needed.

The owner’s hull is to port, with a best-in-class head and shower compartment aft. A queen-size raised athwartships berth is amidships, where ­motion underway will be ­minimized. A walk-in closet is in the forepeak behind a ­watertight bulkhead and sail locker.

The starboard hull offers an assortment of crew and stowage possibilities, with a double berth aft, and a head and shower compartment amidships. Forward of that, a fore-and-aft bunk is inboard; space in the forepeak can be used for an additional berth (bringing sleeping accommodations to nine) or as stowage. 

Base price for a 1370 is $820,000. The boat we visited in Annapolis had a $1.15 million price tag, which included options such as twin 57 hp Yanmar diesels with saildrives (40 hp motors are standard). The boat runs on a 24-volt electrical system; four gel-cell batteries are standard, and lithium is an option. They are kept charged by engine alternators and 2.5 kilowatts’ worth of solar panels.

Seawind uses PVC foam coring in its infused hulls, decks and other composite parts, and vinylester resin throughout. Carbon fiber is added in a number of areas to help keep weight down and add strength where needed. Interior woodwork on the 1370 is light-colored ash and bird’s-eye maple. It all looks ­really good. 

Looking around the 1370, I remembered having toured the earlier Seawind 1160 when that year’s Boat of the Year ­judges took note of details such as 30-inch-tall triple lifelines, solid handholds wherever they were needed, and a layout that was practical, comfortable, and safe. This time around, I saw a lot of those elements and more—only better. 

CW Editor-at-Large Mark Pillsbury was a 2025 Boat of the Year judge.

Take the Next Step

Price: $1.15 million (as tested)
Website: seawindcats.com

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Before he became a cruising sailor, Aussie yacht designer and boatbuilder Richard Ward was a surfer. Yes, the driving force behind Seawind Catamarans for more than four decades now was already more than a little familiar with the abundance of inviting point breaks up and down the coast of New South Wales. His surfing experiences have played a major role in his design career. He creates clean, straightforward lines that translate into easily driven hulls. His innate love of the ocean, also informed from the nose and rails of a surfboard sluicing down waves, is icing on the cake. 

Seawind’s latest offering, the 39-foot Seawind 1170, is a compact package that combines well-tested features from previous models with a fresh helping of new technology. In spirit and layout, it is expressly geared toward cruising couples. Cruising cats seem to be getting larger and rangier; delivering all the necessary amenities and performance in a vessel under 40 feet is a challenge—one that the 1170 addresses quite nicely. 

In profile, the cat looks sleek and contemporary. The bows are raked slightly aft, and the generous freeboard is accented by a reverse sheerline. There’s a fixed carbon bowsprit for setting a code-zero-style screecher forward, and there are molded-in steps from the deck to the waterline in the transoms. A chine in the hull that increases the interior volume in the belowdecks staterooms extends almost the length of the waterline, and is aligned with the parallel windows in the hull. The solid coachroof extends aft over the entire cockpit, offering protection from the elements. The visuals all come together nicely. 

The first two boats off the line, including our test boat for the 2024 Boat of the Year contest, were built in Seawind’s longtime Vietnam facility. Going forward, the boat also will be produced in the company’s new boatyard in Turkey. The infused hulls and deck are vinylester with a PVC foam core that is cut with kerfs to accommodate the curved surfaces. The bulkheads are composite laminates, and there is carbon reinforcement in high-load areas. Molded ­channels in the coachroof serve as a gutter of sorts for catching rain, and a hose with a filter can be led directly to the water tanks to get topped off in the squalls.

The test boat we inspected had a CZone digital switching system, a set of lithium-ion batteries, and a full suite of coachroof-mounted solar panels (all options). A company representative said that this arrangement offers the juice necessary to power an air-conditioning unit overnight. 

The owner’s stateroom occupies the entire port hull, with an island berth forward and an en suite head with a walk-in shower aft. To starboard, the straight-line galley is sandwiched by a pair of double staterooms fore and aft. This galley-down plan opens up the main cabin, with a wraparound settee whose port side doubles as a day bed and the bench for the navigation station. An offset table can be spun around to seat guests or dropped down to make a double berth—a good option for the off-watch crew to stretch out on passage but still be close to everything. The coachroof windows can be raised to let plenty of fresh air course through. 

Topside, the features will be familiar to Seawind fans, including a trifold door that can be raised to the underside of the coachroof to integrate the cockpit and main cabin into an open space. The twin wheels are mounted well outboard and on the same level as the cockpit sole, providing terrific 360-degree visibility of the entire boat when sailing or docking. The mainsheet and traveler arrangement is overhead on the coachroof to keep the cockpit uncluttered. All the gear is top-shelf, including the Harken furlers, Gori propellers and Maxwell windlass. 

We sailed the boat on a pleasant fall Chesapeake Bay day with a breeze between 8 and 12 knots. The 1170 acquitted itself well. With the self-tacking Doyle jib employed sailing to weather, we touched almost 6 knots. When we stashed the jib and swapped over to the screecher, things got lively. On a tight reach sailing at about 60 degrees apparent, the boat zipped along at more than 7 knots. Cracked off to a beam reach, the speedo notched up to nearly 8 knots. Steerage was sweet and light, and it was a lot of fun dashing from one helm station to another on tacks and jibes. 

All in all, the 1170 did ­everything we expected it to do, with style and panache. The seasoned surfer responsible for it wasn’t around that day, but his spirit and intent most certainly were evident.

Seawind 1170 Specifications

The post Sailboat Review: Seawind 1170 appeared first on Cruising World.

One of the things I like best about baseball is watching a batter swing for the fences, and at the crack of the bat, he knows that he can afford to take a leisurely jog around the bases because he just hit the sweet spot.

I had that same kind of feeling one day this past February when I stepped from the dinghy onto the transom steps of the new Seawind 1600 catamaran. Right away, I knew I was about to go for one fine sail—and on a near-perfect day to boot. Blue sky. Thirteen knots of breeze. Could it get better? Not until the sails were up.

Built in Vietnam, at 52 feet LOA the 1600 is ­Seawind’s largest catamaran. It was ­designed by Reichel Pugh as a luxury catamaran with equal measures of cruising comfort and sailing performance. Let’s talk about the sailing first.

The 1600 sports a square-top full-batten main and solent rig with a screecher for light-air reaching and a self-tacking jib for heavier breezes or sailing upwind. There’s an option for an inner forestay and furling storm jib, and also a sprit for flying a spinnaker, which we did on our test sail (more on that in a moment).

Headsail sheets are led to winches adjacent to each helm station. There is no traveler. Instead there are two mainsheets that run through blocks on either side of the stern and then to a central winch on the transom, where reefing lines are also led. This mainsheet arrangement provides lots of control over a big and ­powerful sail.

On a beam reach with the screecher set, our GPS speed hovered in the high 7-knot range, and when the chute went up, so did our speed, to 8.5 knots and a little higher in any puff we caught. The 1600 uses Lewmar Mamba steering, and the helms felt as smooth as could be. Headed ­upwind and home, we rolled out the self-tacking jib and still made a respectable 6.6 knots, and thanks to ­retractable ­daggerboards, were able to point quite well.

So now, on to the comforts.

The Seawind comes in either a three- or four-cabin layout. On this boat, the owner’s hull was to starboard and included a queen bunk aft, lots of storage, and a spacious head and shower up at the pointy end. The opposite hull had two cabins. The forward one felt a bit narrow because of the fine entry of the bows, but still, it had a double berth and adequate storage space. The aft cabin had two single berths and a filler that turned them into a double. A shared head was amidships.

With windows all around, the saloon was a bright and sunny place to be. ­Opening ports forward allow a breeze to blow through, and large ­sliding windows at the ­aft-facing ­galley permit the cook to join any party ­taking place at the large dining ­table located to starboard out in the cockpit. There’s an ­indoor table with U-shaped seating as well to port of a ­forward-facing nav station.

The cockpit is covered by a Bimini that is supported by stainless posts aft and short carbon-fiber risers forward. It provides lots of shade, and the breeze blows through the space between the hard awning and cabin top. This space can be closed off, as can the cockpit sides and back with clear panels. Eight solar panels sit atop the Bimini and keep the battery bank fed (though AGM batteries are standard, the boat we sailed had an ­optional lithium-ion system).

Furniture throughout the boat is built using a honeycomb foam core and ­veneers to save weight and for strength. Hulls, deck and Bimini are all cored and infused using vinyl ester resin. An outside layer of Kevlar is added to the hulls for protection and to strengthen the areas around the daggerboards; carbon fiber reinforces the chainplates, bulkheads and stiffeners.

For power, the 1600 comes standard with 57 hp Yanmar diesels; the boat in Miami had a pair of optional 80 hp Yanmars that pushed us along at just over 8 knots at cruising speed and better than 9 in get-home-fast mode. With the larger engines and lots of other options, the 1600 carries a price tag of right around $1.2 million, delivered to the US East Coast. For that, you can enjoy your own sweet spot.

Mark Pillsbury is CW’s editor.

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If Goldilocks were in the market for a cruising catamaran, I’d advise her to check out the new Seawind 1260. At 41 feet length overall, it’s big enough for a couple with kids or occasional friends aboard, small enough to be easily handled and maintained by a shorthanded crew — and it can sail, which to my mind makes it “just right,” as the storybook gal is known to say.

On a boisterous morning last winter after the Miami International Boat Show, I jumped aboard for a short sea trial on Biscayne Bay, just before the boat was due to cross the Gulf Stream to winter over in the Bahamas. In the protected waters of the bay, a northeast wind gusted to 20 and higher and sent the Seawind surging ahead with every puff. These were fine conditions for a test sail, but a lousy prospect for crossing the stream, although I learned later that the boat fared just fine.

With the full main ­hoisted and the self-tacking jib ­unfurled, we had no trouble pushing the speedo past 8 knots closehauled while the breeze was up. Later, with the wind down to about 14 knots, the speedo still hovered at a little better than 8 on a broad reach back toward the barn. Better than the speed, though, was the feel of the wheel as the boat sliced through the water. Sports car were the words that came to mind as I jotted down notes so I’d recall the feedback that came from the helm.

Seawind builds its catamarans in Vietnam, along with Corsair trimarans, a brand it also owns. The Seawind range includes the 38-foot 1160, the 1190 Sport (a 39-footer) and the 1600, a Reichel/Pugh-designed 52-footer that is its flagship.

The 1260, outfitted as the boat we sailed was, carries a price tag of $525,000, delivered to the United States with optional 39 hp Yanmar diesels (29 hp is standard). The boat shares many of the same attributes as its smaller siblings, notably a trifold hinged saloon door that lifts and is stored on the underside of the ­Bimini for true indoor/outdoor ­living; twin wheels affixed to the main bulkhead to either side of the door, just behind electric windows that lower to further open up the interior; large glass ports at the front of the saloon that open to provide excellent ventilation throughout the boat; and a galley-down design (more on that in a moment), which is somewhat of a rarity on cats these days.

Nearly all the structural parts of the 1260 are foam cored. Hulls are infused with vinylester-modified epoxy resin. Elsewhere, polyester resin is used in the deck, Bimini (made in a two-sided mold so both sides are finished), bulkheads, and interior cabin and furniture modules. Compared to earlier models, Seawind has removed as much wood as possible, and now it tabs in items such as shelving in hull lockers to increase the overall stiffness of the boat.

A hallmark of earlier ­Seawinds was a large stainless barbecue grill integrated into the railing and seat across the back of the cockpit. That has been replaced on the 1260 by a couch across the transom. On its port side, a grill has been located in a covered locker; to starboard, there’s a sink in a similar space.

At either helm, windows have been installed overhead in the Bimini, which is particularly appreciated when hoisting sail to avoid snarling the main’s full battens in the lazy jacks. Underway, the person steering can sit and be protected from wind, rain and sun while still having a 360-degree view, or can perch atop the hull with one hand on the wheel and enjoy the breeze and a clear view of the telltales.

Indoors, a U-shaped couch wraps around the front of the saloon and surrounds a transformerlike table that’s mounted on a gas shock so it can be easily raised for dining, lowered and turned sideways for entertaining, or dropped farther still to make a large berth.

The sides of the saloon slope outward, so the space above the hulls is open amidships. This benefits the galley, located in the center of the starboard hull. The cook has room to work but remains a member of the party; food can easily be passed up, or after-meal clutter down. The standard galley comes with a stand-up fridge and 180-liter top-loading ­freezer on the inboard composite counter, and a double sink and stove-top outboard (an oven is optional). Standing at the sink, the view out of the large port in the hull is spectacular.

There’s a guest cabin with a queen-size berth and head and shower compartment forward of the galley. Aft, there’s a smaller cabin with a double bunk. Access to the port engine is beneath it. If I were the owner, I’d seriously consider using this space as a workshop/catch-all area because I found storage overall to be at a bit of a premium.

The owners have the port hull to themselves. A large head and shower compartment are located aft, with access to the starboard engine through a door in the shower’s wall. An electrical panel and storage locker are amidships. Forward, there’s another great view through a hull port located at the foot of the athwartship queen bed.

With performance that’s usually expected only in the realm of cats with daggerboards, comfortable living accommodations and fine finishing touches like triple lifelines on deck, the 1260 is the result of a number of good compromises.

And, it can sail.

Mark Pillsbury is CW’s editor.

The post Seawind 1260 Catamaran Review appeared first on Cruising World.

In recent years, Seawind Catamarans of Australia has ramped up its presence in the U.S. marketplace, and its efforts have been rewarded both commercially and critically: Its 38-foot 1160 model was named Most Innovative and Best Multihull in CW’s 2007 Boat of the Year contest. Its latest offering is the Seawind 1000XL, a 35-foot-6-inch cat that packs a lot of boat into a relatively compact package.

The XL might well stand for “extra long,” for the new Seawind is actually an offshoot of a previous version, the Seawind 1000, a 33-footer that was first introduced Stateside in the mid-1990s and that resonated with cat sailors in Florida, where many of the 50 boats sold in the United States can be found. The 1000XL gained its extra 2.5 feet aft via a set of extended transom boarding steps with added buoyancy; to port, a folding swim ladder has been incorporated into the extension.

There are several other fresh features in the XL as well, including a pair of large windows forward in the main cabin that were formerly fixed but now open and close on gas struts; a boom cradle on the hardtop, so the spar can be cinched down tightly when motoring or at anchor; and a single-line reefing system that, like all other sheets and sailhandling lines, can be controlled from the helm station.

Other rather nifty items include the twin 9.9-horsepower outboard engines, which are stashed under the dual helm seats and can be raised or deployed quickly and easily; the retractable bowsprit for flying downwind sails; and the drop-down forward ladder that’s accessed through a hatch between the trampolines, a particularly handy feature when nudged right up on the beach.

The layout is focused around the central cabin, with a huge, U-shaped settee that can serve as a giant berth when the dining table is lowered and inserts are added. It’s a versatile space that merges directly with the cockpit in an open floor plan when sailing or on the hook, but it can be closed off with a curtain for privacy. In the port hull, there’s a large double berth amidships, with a second double forward. The galley, with a 12-volt refrigerator and freezer powered by twin 120-volt solar panels, is to starboard, again with double berths found in the bow and stern.

We sailed the boat last October on Chesapeake Bay, and while the breeze hovered in the 8- to 10-knot range, the boat’s performance potential was readily on display. Though we were sailing without instruments, we estimated speeds when we were heading upwind under the self-tacking jib at just around 6 knots. Cracked off on a beam reach, with the unfurled screecher as well as the jib, we easily coursed along at a good 7 or 8 knots. This is a boat that we’d love to sail in some breeze, preferably across the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas, where it’s hard to imagine a better vehicle for a season in the islands.

Seawind 1000XL

Seawind USA
(619) 571-3513
www.seawindcats.com

Herb McCormick is a Cruising World editor at large.

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