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When I showed up for the sea trial of the Seawind 1170 right after the U.S. Sailboat Show in Annapolis last fall, I was in for three surprises. One, they already had a passel of potential buyers onboard—a passel meaning 18 other humans in this case—which is hardly a typical sea trial arrangement. I wasn’t at all sure how the catamaran would respond with all the extra ballast.
But my worry led to surprise number two: No worries! The heavy load turned out to be a rounding error, and this 39-footer performed remarkably well in the flat water of the South River, slipping along at 6.8 knots in just 10-12 knots of true breeze on a beam reach with a full-hoist mainsail and the screecher on a continuous furler.
Surprise number three came when we turned and headed upwind, rolling out the self-tacking jib. I pinched up to 38 degrees apparent wind angle (AWA), and not only did we continue to move nicely, we tacked through the wind easily. Cruising cats aren’t known for their pointing ability, so this was impressive, especially for a boat with only mini keels rather than daggerboards. Our upwind sailing that day became memorable and stayed with me even months after the sea trial.
So, if you haven’t seen or sailed a Seawind lately, you’re in for a treat. Much of this handy performance is due to a hull redesign; the Australia-based catamaran builder has brought a contemporary flair to their line, upping their game with modern aesthetics and more pleasing topsides. The latest model to receive this treatment is the 1170, designed by Seawind CEO Richard Ward and on the smaller end of their offering, which makes it easily manageable by a couple, but also built fully ocean-worthy as a CE Category A multihull.
Sharp reverse bows clear the waterline at rest. They give the design a fine entry and better upwind capability, while the hard chine above creates greater interior volume, especially aft. Headroom throughout has also been enhanced by this redesign.
All the tooling is new, done at the company’s Vietnam facility where they have been building Seawinds for 13 years (although the 1170’s tooling has since been moved to the company’s new 56,000-square-foot factory in Izmir, Turkey, for all future production of this model).
The vacuum-infused construction is a mix of vinylester resin with carbon fiber reinforcement in key structural areas. These strong but lightweight composites are the work of New-Zealand based Gurit, which is also responsible for other models in the Seawind line.
The decks are clear with only gradual level changes, and there are three deep lockers on the foredeck for fenders, lines, and other garage gear. The cabinhouse is low, which keeps the center of gravity close to the waterline. It also means that a single step and an optimally placed handhold make short work of accessing the cabintop, where the boom is low enough for even vertically challenged sailors to get full access to the mainsail.
The windows are more stylish, giving the small boat an aggressive profile, like she means business. All lines are led aft to the cockpit so you never have to leave its shelter no matter what’s happening on the outside.
There are a few pluses and minuses to the cockpit layout. The helms are fully protected and have direct drive with cable steering for a good feel on the wheel, although our test boat felt stiff to me. The hardtop has fixed hatches above each helm for clear views of the mainsail, or you can poke your head out to the side and see the headsail as well. The helm seats are wide enough for two, and the backrests swing forward to create aft-facing seating when it’s time to relax.
The aft bulkhead windows directly in front of the helms are removable and slide into a dedicated storage slot nearby; once they’re removed, the driver can reach in and interact with the navigation display, which is mounted inside on a swing arm on the port side. This has an added benefit: When the boat is locked up, nobody can reach the screen, so it’s more secure. The wheels are mounted on the aft bulkheads but they’re still close to the transom so it’s easy to see back when docking in reverse. The helms are also close to the salon for direct communication with the relief watch if needed.
Visibility forward is a mixed bag. The cabinhouse has plenty of windows, but there are wide expanses of fiberglass between them that can create blind spots. A trifold cockpit door compacts into one pane that’s winched up on a line to the hardtop where it’s out of the way and secured with a safety latch. The bad news is that the system is manual and needs cranking; the good news is that the system is manual and isn’t likely to break or get stuck mid-way like electric versions of this concept found on other catamaran brands.
With the door snugged up under the hardtop, the salon becomes a part of the cockpit and vice versa. Inside on the main deck is a narrow outboard-facing nav station to port and a large central dinette that can also be made into a bed. Storage is plentiful under and behind the banquettes and outboard near the windows.
The layout features three cabins and two heads. On port is the master stateroom forward with a raised athwartship bed and loads of stowage cubbies and lockers. A large head is aft with a separate shower stall that also provides access to one of the engine rooms.
Two guest cabins are on starboard separated by the galley, which occupies the middle of the hull. A double stateroom with a wet head is forward, and a wide single cabin is aft. This boat is compact, which results in two issues. First, the beds in the two forward cabins are actually over the bridgedeck rather out in the separated hulls so there’s only a thin bulkhead wall between them and not much privacy. Second, the master head will have to be shared with both the occupants of the aft starboard cabin as well as day guests if you don’t want people filing through the guest accommodations forward to reach the starboard hull’s head. Interior headroom has been increased throughout, with 6 feet 5 inches in the cabins and another 2 inches in the salon.
The galley-down arrangement is polarizing. You either love it because it takes the galley out of the living area, which opens up the main salon space, or you hate it because the chef is removed from the party. Regardless of your point of view, there’s no arguing that it’s a practical solution that keeps the cook low in the boat and secure with lots of bracing points.
The sailplan includes a self-tacking jib and a screecher on a continuous furler. You can add an asymmetrical spinnaker attached at the carbon fiber sprit that extends from a robust longeron. The mast measures 61 feet 7 inches, so it’s ICW-friendly. The mainsail traveler is on the hardtop with a handy winch integrated into the arch so the cockpit is kept clear.
Our test boat had 900 watts of solar panels integrated into the hardtop, which will keep the batteries topped up even with most systems working. Outfitting options include air conditioning, a watermaker, a washing machine, and oversized alternators combined with a lithium battery bank to eliminate the need for a generator.
Base batteries are gel, but Mike Rees, Seawind’s international sales and marketing manager, says anyone who’s planning on sailing more than coastally is opting for a lithium package, which the boat is set up to accept easily. “When we do the lithium bank, we bolt on an additional high output alternator which is 120 amps that goes through the regulator and to the house lithium. So you have two times 120 amps coming out, which is huge,” he says. “You don’t need a generator.”
The Seawind 1170 is powered by twin 29-hp Yanmar diesels with saildrives. The engines did a fine job on flat water, but because the bridgedeck clearance is only 26 inches, it’s hard to say how these motors would perform pushing 20,000 pounds of displacement into sloppy head seas. At wide open throttle and 2,900 rpm, we motored at 8.9 knots, but we found a more economical cruising speed at 2,400 rpm and 6.5 knots.
The base price of the Seawind 1170 is $510,000 and as tested, it was closer to $630,000. That’s a bargain for such a good-looking, beachable, and slippery multihull cruiser. Rees says that while many people who are just getting into multihull sailing think they need larger boat to cover ocean miles, the 1170 is a smaller cat that’s built to ocean-crossing standards but makes more sense in terms of cost, maintenance, and handling.
“This is a great boat for a couple to take on. It’s manageable financially, its manageable in terms of the size,” Rees says. “Why do you need 45 feet? It’s nice, but if you haven’t got the skills and are just getting into it, this is what we are saying you should be starting with.”
Most of the solutions aboard are immensely practical, so couples looking for a compact but agile offshore cat should put this model on their shortlist. And, with eyes more firmly on the U.S. and European markets, Seawind’s new location on the Aegean Sea creates a customer service base out of Europe, so that owners can pick up their boats and immediately be in terrific cruising grounds with access to a variety of marina facilities.
LOA 39’3”
Beam 21’4”
Draft 3’9”
Air draft 61’7”
Displacement 20,200 lbs (light)
Upwind sail area 941 sq ft
Power 2 x 29-hp Yanmar
Designer Richard Ward
Builder Seawind Catamarans, seawindcats.com
Base price $510,000
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April 2024
