Voyager Catamarans – Better by design
Voyager Catamarans is a family owned business, established on Queensland’s Gold Coast 20 years ago designing and building a range of modern power catamarans suited for today’s world.
Design engineer (and company founder) – Derek Appleton, engaged specialist Naval architects to take advantage of state of the art technology to create advanced new hull designs producing superior sea keeping abilities with more efficient performance.
Voyager provides a personalized friendly service that works hard to identify each customer’s needs, and then helps them to effectively achieve their goals.
Design
The advantages of catamarans have long been recognized by Sea Rescue and Commercial operators, but the interest and demand of pleasure boaters had been largely ignored with only boxy looking, or pure fishing designs with few creature comforts being previously available. Voyager catamarans brought power cats into the 21st century. They are sleek, fast, soft riding and dry, and are appointed to offer a level of style and comfort normally only associated with top ranking mono-hulls. The innovative layouts are roomy and practical with the maximum use of space embarrassing other vessels.
Construction
All hulls have a structural lay up equivalent to 2C offshore survey and feature solid glass to the waterline, and the extensive use of high strength, light weight sandwich composites in the topsides, decking, floors and bulkheads. Glass laminates are engineered with layers of hand laid multi-axial woven glass cloth ensuring uniform thickness and maximum strength.
Safety
The safety and stability of catamarans has become legendary offshore and can tackle conditions that have other boats heading for home. The buoyancy of twin hulls situated at the sides of the boat also allows crew to move around and stand on the sides without virtually any movement. Their twin engine set up gives much better maneuverability and the safety of a second engine, which is actually compulsory in some countries.
Performance
Voyager designs feature many improvements over earlier generation catamarans including greater forward buoyancy, progressive full length wave breaker, internal spray chines, and higher tunnel clearance. These vessels are able to maintain higher average speeds in poor conditions while providing very stable and reassuring sea handling.
Efficiency
The greatly improved dynamics of the hulls gives unmatched rough water handing, while the air & water vapour is exhausted cleanly out the back and alleviating suck back effects that can exist on other boats. The efficiency of the hulls can also be clearly seen in the very small wake left when traveling at speed.
Economy
Voyager’s semi-displacement cruising catamarans can operate on a quarter to a third, of the fuel consumption of equivalent mono-hull boats, and with fuel costs continually on the rise, this is becoming a major factor in the purchasing decisions of new boat owners.
Modern construction reduces overall vessel weight, which improves performance and reduces fuel consumption, helping these vessels to perform well even with lower horse power.
Environmental
An obvious benefit of the very efficient design and low fuel consumption is also the much lower pollution generated, but a less obvious one is the important reduction in the erosion of river or estuary shores from the very low wash (not to mention the comfort of other waterway users).
