The Build Journal – Meet the Builder series
Darren doesn’t waste words. But ask him a question about boats, cats, or builds, and he’ll always make the time to walk you through it properly. I still ask him things every day. So do owners. So does anyone who shows genuine interest. He clearly enjoys it. There’s a quiet pride in passing on what he knows, whether that’s a current owner trying to understand their boat better, or one of the team learning the trade from someone who’s spent a career doing it properly.
Darren Grono has been building catamarans since 1988. He started at Seawind Catamarans on the Australian factory floor, working on 10 to 12 metre sailing cats when most builders his age were still learning to read a plan. From there he went to the Australian Maritime College and came out with a Marine Engineering qualification, which means his understanding of what he’s building isn’t just hands-on instinct, it’s structurally grounded.
What followed was a career that’s almost impossible to summarise without it sounding like a list. So here’s the list, because it earns its place: racing catamarans to 65 feet at Innovation Catamarans; 60-foot performance cats at Catafoil Yachts; superyachts up to 120 feet at Warren Yachts in Brisbane; commercial survey aluminium cats at Coral Coast Marine Construction; wake and ski boats at Malibu Boats Australia; Z-bow commercial cats and barges at Alumarine; trailer cats from 7 to 9 metres at Power Catamarans. Up and down the east coast, across every material, fibreglass, foam-cored laminates, aluminium, and every category of build.
In 2006 he came to Voyager Catamarans for the first time. In 2022 he came back. That return says something I won’t try to put better words around.
Always looking for better
The thing about Darren is he’s never quite finished thinking about a build, even one that’s already proven.
Take the V930 Series 2 currently under build in the shed. After SCIBS last month, we added 150mm to the cabin height. It’s now a permanent change to the build standard. The idea wasn’t new, Darren and I had actually been talking about it before the show, but standing there listening to serious offshore cruisers confirmed what we already suspected: headroom matters, and 150mm is the difference between comfortable and genuinely liveable offshore. That’s the pattern with Darren. No two Voyager builds are identical, because every boat we complete makes the next one better, from owner feedback, from his own instinct, and from conversations with people who actually use these boats in real conditions.
It’s already happening again. We’ve been talking through ways to reduce weight on the V930, particularly useful if you ever want to trailer a boat that size. I can’t give away exactly what’s changing yet, we’re saving that for a proper reveal, but the pattern’s the same as the roof: less talking about it, more doing it.
He doesn’t say much about that. He’d probably rather you just come and see it.
Come and see the work
Inspections by appointment at Pacific Point Marina, Steiglitz, Gold Coast.