The New Gunboat 66 is launched… with Quantum Sails, of course!

Gunboats are legendary. They are best known for being highly luxurious, cruising catamarans with performance that embarrasses most racing keelboats! Originally designed by the same team who designed world record-breaking cats like Playstation, these all carbon world cruisers can reach upwards of 35 knots under sail.

Gunboat has now gone up a step from the renown Gunboat 62, and has just launched the first of six contracted Gunboat 66’s, Sugar Daddy. Like her predecessors, she was built in Gunboat’s facility in Cape Town. And of course, Sugar Daddy’s sails are made by Quantumsails in Cape Town.

Gunboat 66 underway

The Gunboat 66 has all the luxury of mega yachts twice her length. At the same time, her construction is high-tech, more so than her predecessors, in fact so that all luxuries are encased in carbon structures. Several of Gunboat’s repeat customers and boat owners have given their input into the development of the Gunboat 66 and over 300,000 Nautical Miles worth of sailing and therefore experience in earlier Gunboats defines much of the Gunboat 66 series.

So how does one make high performance sails for a highly luxury cruising cat that can achieve top speeds in excess of 30 knots?
This is something which Quantum Sails in Cape Town do with ease and with the solid experience of making sails for the Gunboat 62 series.

The Gunboat 66’s sail inventory consists of:

• A fully battened, Fusion M mainsail made from TT Carbon with Vectran fibres
• A Fusion M, self-tacking, Solent Jib made from TT Carbon with Vectran fibres
• A  trinquette jib made from TT Carbon with Vectran fibres
• A storm jib, made from Dacron
• A blast schreecher, made from Technora
• A VMG schreecher, made from Technora
• A 2.5 oz asymmetric spinnaker
• A 2.5 oz symmetric spinnaker

All halyards and sheets are stipped, race-style, high-tech spectra

The Construction of the Gunboat 66

Powering along in Table Bay

When one looks further into the construction of the Gunboat 66, one can only be amazed, and at the same time not surprised by her incredible performance:
The composite construction is vacuum-bagged, easy foam sandwich and honey-comb Nomex with carbon fibre inner skins and Kevlar outer skins for impact resistance.

All spars are carbon and all shrouds are Kevlar.

The two forestays are Aramid, with custom Facnor furlers. The steering wheel is custom-made from carbon, and the rudders and dagger boards are retractable and made from carbon fibre.

With the dagger boards retracted, the Gunboat draws only one metre, creating incredible cruising opportunities. And with her legendary sailing performance, she will certainly be the boat of choice at all Gunboat regattas and events.
With a motoring speed of 11 knots, she is versatile and ideal for high luxury cruising, racing and circumnavigating.

The luxurious interior of the Gunboat 66

The Gunboat 66 boasts four en-suite cabins, crew quarters, dedicated engine rooms, and her signature loft-like main saloon with a 360 degree view. Wow!
The finishes are nothing but the best.

Internal layout of the Gunboat 66

Gunboat customises the interior layout to each individual owners needs.
The Gunboat 66 has two cockpits, and the forward cockpit is designed to allow easy solo watch-standing with everything a watch captain will need for piloting, navigation and sail handling.

It goes without saying that the Gunboat 66 comes with luxuries as water makers, a walk-in panty, water heaters, ample freezers and refrigeration, Iridium phone, satellite and Wi Fi and all the bells and whistles to make her as comfortable, luxurious and high-performance as possible.

So where is Sugar Daddy off to?
From Cape Town, she is off to the Caribbean and will cruise the East Coast of South America before rounding Cape Horn. And Antigua Race week next year is a definite…..

For more information on Quantum Sails in Cape Town’s Fusion M and other racing sails, contact Tony Strutt at Quantum Sails in Cape Town on telephone + 27 21 5931620 or at email tony@quantumsails.co.za

For more information on Gunboat, go to www.gunboat.com or contact
Chandler Collins, Gunboat Marketing & Promotions, Cell: +1 401 662 7991, Email: chandler@gunboat.com or chandlercollins@mac.com or Skype: echancollins