community weblog - [ The Gunboat 62, Comfort at Speed ]

  Last summer an e-mailed video clip made the rounds of the sailing community. Set to the Venture's classic surf tune "Wipe Out," it showed a large performance cruising cat,  Peter Johnstone's Gunboat 62 Tribe,  tearing past an 80-foot raceboat moving at top speeed on a beam reach. The multihull community loved the clip; the maxi-boat's project manager was less enthused. For many, however, it was a first glimpse of Johnstone's brainchild, a South African-built, Melvin and Morrelli-designed cat that's more worthy of the title performance cruiser than almost any other on the water today.

Johnstone had spent some time on the largest, fastest cats in the world (Team Adventure, PlayStation), and had previously owned a 68-foot sled refurbished for cruising, so he knew the rewards of high-speed sailing. When he decided his monohull was too uncomfortable when the weather got ugly, he knew the path to follow.   more...