Seawind 1160 Lite Catamaran

[Andrew Grace]

Hello everyone,


For those of you that maybe interested in Seawind or Corsair Marine,

Currently I have a new Seawind 1160 lite under construction in Vietnam and was able to visit the factory last week and review the build to date and see some of the new 2016 models in production;

Below is some info of the trip.

Disclosure:
I have previously worked within the marine industry and for Seawind in the early 90's but currently do not have any affiliation with the company so read this review as you may. Previous boats that I have owned included, Moody 36, Crowther 33, Sailfish Power Catamaran.

Decisions:
Last 2 years we moved to live in Asia full time and had been looking for a new cat for the past year, finally deciding after looking at many options of cats available that the Seawind offered the better options for construction & the type of sailing that we like doing in the tropics.

Will post some pictures and video of the 1160 and factory tour once I have returned home from travelling this week.

Seawind Factory Visit:

As the plane touched down in HoChiMin I was looking forward to visiting the factory the next day and seeing the status of our 1160 Lite, previously Shane and the team at Seawind had been keeping the construction updated with regular photos and production status reporting but I was now keen to see the vessel in real life.

It had been just over three months since signing the contract earlier in the year and time had passed quickly with now only 8 weeks to Launch in HCM (Jan 4th) and this was one of the final opportunities to go over the boats layout details prior to launch date.

Being based in Singapore the flight was a short 90 minutes to HCM however the only complication as always is with visa and immigration, anyone travelling to Vietnam should make sure to preprint and fill out their arrival visa paperwork prior to landing as there always seems to be a huge lineup at the visa collection and payment counter, this is additional to all the online pre visa paper work you also need to organize before catching the flight. USD 45 poorer for my efforts and now cleared of customs I caught at Taxi into the District 1 area, there are many choices of great places to stay with excellent dining and entertainment options throughout the City.

Next day I arrived at Corsair marine which was a 30 minute taxi ride from District 1 (Dependent on traffic). Having worked in the marine industry and for Seawind catamarans back in the day during the early 90s I was also very interested to see how the facility in Vietnam compared to the previous location in Wollongong. To my surprise the factory is actually a significant improvement over my past experiences with boat production, the site is very well laid out with separate laminating, assemble sheds, and supported by a high quality workforce of Expats and locally trained staff.

Across both the Corsair and the Seawind Sheds were a hive of activity with numerous vessels at various stages of production. The Corsair shed was running flat out with the new Pulse dominating the production floor, awesome looking lines on this trimaran with forward sloping bows. The Seawind shed was also a hive of activity with Six , 1160’s at various stages of completion (including my own) , and two new models in production, Seawind 1190, Seawind 1600 & the new Seawind 1160 Resort.

One aspect that I really appreciated was the ability to chat and interact with the local Vietnamese workforce teams that are building the boats (most staff are bilingual). They take real pride in their work and the attention to detail on the finer finishing of key aspects within the boat are of a very high standard, the impression was that the level of quality now being achieved by the teams in Vietnam are significantly higher than from my time previously at Seawind in Australia.

Boat inspection and tour now completed the next steps are for a planned Launch of our new 1160 in Ho Chi Min early January followed by sea trials in Nhan Trang and then a 800 Nautical mile voyage back to Singapore. I am also looking forward to spending some sailing time together again with Richard Ward (Seawind Catamaran Daddy and Multihull Guru) as he has also put his hand up to join us on the voyage back to Singapore .



Andrew Grace

[Andrew Grace]

Some Pictures:

[weavis]

Lovely boat Andrew!

[Red Herring]

Hot damn! Any more pics???

[Andrew Grace]

Originally Posted by Red Herring

Hot damn! Any more pics???

[Andrew Grace]

Originally Posted by Andrew Grace

Attachment 112751

[Andrew Grace]

Originally Posted by Andrew Grace

Attachment 112752

[amytom]

Are they putting in Hondas instead of the Yamahas now?


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Andrew Grace]

Originally Posted by amytom

Are they putting in Hondas instead of the Yamahas now?


Sent from my iPhone using Cruisers Sailing Forum

The Hondas are actuall the standard spec. Some owners had gone for the yamaha 25hp upgrades however I prefer the Hondas as they are less noise running at low revs and fit better in the engine pods

[Aushammer]

Hi Andrew. I also have an 1160 LIte on order due May 2016 heading to Queensland. Can you tell me what options you got and also sail plans especially MPS or whatever?
Thanks

[Andrew Grace]

Originally Posted by Aushammer

Hi Andrew. I also have an 1160 LIte on order due May 2016 heading to Queensland. Can you tell me what options you got and also sail plans especially MPS or whatever?
Thanks

Great news on your 1160 order,

The base boat comes standard with more than my Crowther was fully kitted so depends on what expectations you have, but for cruising longer term there are a number of items to add from the base boat.

We will mainly be doing weekend and the occasional 2 week trips , the sail plan has been setup for sailing the tropics, sub 20 knot wind ranges, most winds here during the trades are between 10 to 15 , occassional sometimes in the 20s but more squals. With this in mind have decided to not have a roller furler on the jib as the schreecher will be the main go to sail, (will have the standard hanked on jib).

All the 2016 models now come stardard with the new window designs and the settee redesign (wider and raised back seating)

List of $ upgrades on our 1160

Sails:
-Bow Sprit and Asymetrical Spinnaker with Top down Seldon furler.
-Screecher on Seldon furler

Other:
-Solar Panel Upgrade - increased to 800w (4 pannels)
-Freezer x 2
-12 inch chart plotter & Autopilot (B&G)
- 4 G Radar
- Composite Steering Wheels
- Fusion Sound System
- Gas Hot Water Heater
- Deck Wash
- Safety Equipment
- Life Raft
- Anchor Windlass

Will add the following later in Singapore:
-Watermaker
-Diving Compressor
-Dedicated Dive Rib

[Aushammer]

Thanks Andrew. Appreciate all your advice.
Choosing a Seawind was always an easy decision as I have chartered several. For tropical sailing they are exactly what I want. The hardest part is the options.
Do you mind just a few more questions?
1. Power outlets-did you just go standard (I think 4 x 12volt and 4 x 240) or get extra and if so where?
2.Are you getting 1 or 2 gas bottles?
3. Why the asym spin on bowsprit rather than off bows?
4. Doesn't sound like you think any advantage to upgraded outboards??
5. My concern with big plotter is always being superceded every couple of years. I decided on stanard 7 inch vulcan and the display with iPad. iPad seems cheaper when need a screen upgrade.I can get about 4 iPads for cost of upgrade to large screen.Any thoughts?

I am getting the small standard self tacking roller jib because I will do a fair bit of solo sailing.
Appreciate your thoughts. Hopefully I have covered everything .

[Andrew Grace]

Originally Posted by Aushammer

Thanks Andrew. Appreciate all your advice.
Choosing a Seawind was always an easy decision as I have chartered several. For tropical sailing they are exactly what I want. The hardest part is the options.
Do you mind just a few more questions?
1. Power outlets-did you just go standard (I think 4 x 12volt and 4 x 240) or get extra and if so where?
2.Are you getting 1 or 2 gas bottles?
3. Why the asym spin on bowsprit rather than off bows?
4. Doesn't sound like you think any advantage to upgraded outboards??
5. My concern with big plotter is always being superceded every couple of years. I decided on stanard 7 inch vulcan and the display with iPad. iPad seems cheaper when need a screen upgrade.I can get about 4 iPads for cost of upgrade to large screen.Any thoughts?

I am getting the small standard self tacking roller jib because I will do a fair bit of solo sailing.
Appreciate your thoughts. Hopefully I have covered everything .

Agree re the Options, previously there was not much that you can read online specifically for the 1160 Lite,

1. Power outlets-did you just go standard (I think 4 x 12volt and 4 x 240) or get extra and if so where?

For the 12 volt outlets I decided to upgrade all of these to USB Sockets, also added USB on the starboard helm station for the Ipad (IPAD mount system with RAM bracket Mounts) . I do not own any appliances that use the traditional 12 volt plugs so changed all to USB. For 240v decided to go with 7 outlets , total of 12 socket points as each outlet has 2 plug slots. 1x Port bedroom , (Forward area), make sure you request they move this location forward as the standard location is right where your steps are up onto the bed, I wanted the location moved forward so I wasn’t crawling over the charging devices. 2 x outlets in the Desk area, 1 x outlet on Starboard Side Settee, 1 x Outlet in the Galley, 1 x Outlet in the Aft Stb Bedroom , 1 x Outlet in the Forward Stb.


2.Are you getting 1 or 2 gas bottles?

Decided to go with 2 Gas bottles to enable longer term cooking, with the outdoor Targa BBQ setup. Did not add an Oven as all cooking will be done outdoors on the BBQ, The Galley is really only a zone to prepare Salads, Drink, Coffee etc , not the main cooking zone.

3. Why the asym spin on bowsprit rather than off bows?

By going with the Bowsprit option you can then run a top down furler system with a torsion line setup. The furler can then be used for both the Screecher (62m2)and the Spinnaker (110 m2) based of the different tack fittings on the furling drum. Both Spinnaker and Screecher have been supplied by Lonely Planet Sails. The main benefit the top down furler delivers is with spinnaker handling, becomes very simple , and I considered this more important than having a dedicated jib furler as the jib on the Seawind is only 22 m2. From my past sailing on my previous cat I am now more likely to use the bigger kite with the Top Down furler than if I had to run a spinnaker sock. The other reason is that storage of the furled spinnaker is a lot easier to handle on deck than a Spinnaker in a sock.

4. Doesn't sound like you think any advantage to upgraded outboards??

From feedback received from other owners the Yamahas give about 1 knot faster under power however they are noisier than the Hondas. The Hondas also fit easily into the engine pod bays and have good access for cleaning & flushing / Maintenance while its very hard to fresh water flush the Yamahas (can be done but difficult). Have also decided not to add seating on the helm stations as I feel the seats clutter the outdoor cockpit space and prefer to have the cushion tops on the engine bay seats only. From the 1250 's that I have seen the seating works OK but the 1160 really don’t need the seats. Also you should note that with seats installed over the engine bays you cannot open the access panels fully to service the engines. (ie general maintenance & Fresh water flush)

5. My concern with big plotter is always being superceded every couple of years. I decided on stanard 7 inch vulcan and the display with iPad. iPad seems cheaper when need a screen upgrade.I can get about 4 iPads for cost of upgrade to large screen .

Initially I had your exact same setup, Vulcan with IPAD however the V7 is not compatible with Radar so you have to move to the bigger screens. For Australia east coast you don’t really need radar as AIS would suffice so the V7 with IPAD will work well (Maybe even go with an IPAD Pro...)

6. I am getting the small standard self tacking roller jib because I will do a fair bit of solo sailing.

My feeling is a furler on a blade jib is a waste of time as the jib is so small, however a number of Seawind owners previously have replace the standard jib to be overlapping for better light wind performance and if you do this it would make sense to keep the furler.

cheers
Andrew

[Andrew Grace]

Access with Honda Engines installed.

[Strikhedonia]

Congratulations, your boat is looking great!