Stealing the catamaran's thunder

There are now three models in the versatile Takacat line-up. Photo / Supplied

Inflatable outboard-powered catamarans are not new. Stick around any popular beach for a summer and you are bound to encounter that combination of adrenalin and madness known as Thunderboat Racing.

In it, teams of two young people (only the young have the requisite levels of bravado and insanity) roar around a series of buoys, some of which are set just metres off the beach, in powerful inflatable catamarans. With one on the tiller and the other leaning sidecar-like out in the turns, they follow a Le Mans style start with several hair-raising laps before concluding the craziness by driving their boat, at full speed, as far up the beach as they can reach.

They then leap out and run to the finish but, compared with the previous few minutes' action, this is simply too boring to mention.

Given that these "Thundercats" seem so superbly suited to this purpose, one would have thought that some bright entrepreneur would have taken the next step and designed something similar for people with brain cells that actually talk to each other.

Well the good news is that they have, albeit, until recently, relatively under the radar.

Takacat is a reasonably young company, established in 2007 which is based in Takapuna and which, yes you guessed it, designs and builds catamarans. Specifically, they produce outboard-powered catamarans for those of us who like to keep our bodies inside the boat, while we are under way, and who prefer to approach a beach at something more akin to a slow idle.

The company is driven by Greg Sowden, who also designs the boats and, while they don't have the highest of profiles yet, that is something Sowden wants to change.

He has already made a rather impressive start. One of his models, the Takacat Explorer, was chosen as the safety and support craft for the World Rowing Championships at Lake Karapiro last year. While most of the eyes were understandably on the rowers, some of the "right" ones were also on the Takacat. As a result, Sowden will be taking 10 of his Takacat Explorers to Bled in Slovenia, for this year's World Championships.

Sowden believes that it is the Takacat's stability and low wake characteristics that have made such an impression on international rowing event organisers.

However, being known as the preferred choice for rowing regattas is not the end game for Sowden. With 90 countries competing in Bled at what will be the build-up to next year's Olympic games, he is hoping to further fuel the international interest that has already seen him secure a Finnish distributor.

He is also hoping that that interest will stretch across all three of his model ranges and the wide variety of uses to which they can be put.

Sowden describes the Freedom as the company's high performance series. These models all have an additional inflatable "under-tube" running parallel with the main tubes. "At the bow, this under-tube shapes into a sharp V that slices through choppy seas," he says. "These additional under-tubes also help create airlift to enhance top-end performance and provide precision-tracking and tight cornering."

Either side of these under-tubes are open cells that create a double ballast system.

While describing the Freedom as a "fantastic all-round sea boat", Sowden says the Explorer is the most versatile design in the Takacat range. It has no under-tube and boasts a shallow draft and low maintenance.

He says the Explorer is easy to use and versatile with a slightly livelier ride than the Freedom and a very quick take-off.

"It also has more of a slide when turning, rather than the precision tracking of the Freedom," he says. "It provides a lower centre of gravity when under power and still benefits from the airlift that creates a smooth ride."

The Explorer series is apparently also ideal for beach launching, hopefully of the more sedate kind.

The third model in the range is the Takacat Lite. As its name implies, it is light and portable and designed primarily as a tender.

"The Lite rows really well and provides excellent performance under power with small motors," says Sowden. "It's a great little tender for the yacht, the campervan or the bach with exceptional stability and safety."

Sowden says that, since he launched the Lite at last year's Hutchwilco New Zealand Boat Show, it has proved extremely popular.

"Many boat owners, day trippers and campervan owners have bought and been very happy with the Takacat Lite, as have firms such as Riviera (R Marine) and Intrepid Cats NZ."

Sowden says he plans to show his new Explorer range at this year's boat show, at the ASB Showgrounds on May 12-15. "While the Explorer was launched in time for the World Rowing Championships, it has not appeared at a boat show before."

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