Seawind Venturer 38

There's a place for power catamarans that few other boats can fill, but as cruising conveyances in tropical climes they really go with the territory. Little wonder, then, that this working version of the Seawind Venturer 38 was bound for a charterfleet in the Whitsundays. Also offered by the factory with an owner-driver layout, the Venturer could just as easily accommodate a cruisy couple on a tropical odyssey for days, weeks or months as it could up to eight people for a holiday away.

What's so good about the cruising power catamaran? Where to start? Perhaps first and foremost they are easily-driven boats that require modest engines to attain fast 15–20 knot cruise speeds. Having said that, this charterboat was set up as a displacement cruiser with an 11-knot top speed. Think no licence required and especially low fuel burn.

Next, powercats are generally low-wash boats, which is good for the environment, especially when inshore cruising up narrow channels like those in Southern Queensland. Also, they are shallow-draft craft, a detail that could be a real blessing in skinny water. Should you make a wrong turn, no worries, the skegs will protect the props when you go aground and churn the bottom into mud soup.

The power catamaran always offers a surfeit of comfortable deck space. Of course, outdoor areas are exactly where you want to be on hot summer days and nights. The Venturer's decks lend themselves to entertaining, outdoor cooking and dining, sightseeing and carry cruising amenities such as tenders, paddlecraft and even pets.

Indoors, meanwhile, you are sure to find a central saloon with views - read protected living areas - not to mention accommodation in each hull that is perfectly private for heading away for a holiday with family or friends. The layout on this Cruiser version has four cabins and one head. However, the Sports version has twin staterooms and twin head, not to mention motors up to twin 250hp for a top speed of more than 20 knots.

With Seawind being a semi-custom boatbuilder, you can create pretty much whatever you want inside the Venturer 38. Owners' boats might include an 8kVA genset in the lazarette and four air-con units. There is also room to increase the fuel capacity, downsize the water tank, and fit a desolator.

CRUISING BASICS
While the Australian boatbuilder is best known for its sailing cats, there is growing interest in the power catamaran from investors, weary sailors and time-poor professionals. Like a would-be buyer, I spent quite some time getting to the bottom of things on this Venturer 38. Fundamentally, it scored well in the power, fuel and water stakes. The engineering met survey standard and there was pretty good access to most equipment should something go wrong.

As mentioned, this charter-bound boat had small engines that actually required yet more governing to make the boat a no-licence-required driving option. The engine rooms held modest Volvo 75hp diesel motors, but they are deceptively accommodating of twin 125hp or even 250hp Volvo or Yanmar engines.

 The watertight engine rooms are aft in each hull, with motor access under bunk cushions. The motors had a glass fuel filter and reasonable access to the dipsticks, but had solid Volvo sea strainers - I would much prefer glass bowls that let you make at-a-glance cooling system checks. Not that any of these will concern the charterer. Motor maintenance will occur mostly in calm water back on dock.

If needed, a motor can be removed through the cockpit via large hatches. Access to the hydraulic steering was through a separate removable aft panel. Being in survey, the boat had external fuel shutoffs and manual engine-room venting shutoffs.

On the power-making front, the boat didn't have an invertor and, as such, there was no microwave oven - these are options for owners' boats - but it did have a battery charging via a 90amp alternator and six 105amp batteries for the house demands and two separate engine-start batteries, plus an emergency parallel facility.

The electrical system was pretty simple, with twin control panels, one of which was dedicated to dayboat use. The holding tank had a good chartering capacity of 500lt and could be emptied simply by switching on the macerator once the seacock in the portside engine room was opened.

Each hull had a water tank and a fuel tank. The owner wanted extra water capacity for bareboat chartering and the boat carried 1000lt of water, but only 500lt of fuel - an interesting comparison to the usual 800lt of water and 1200lt of fuel on owners' boats.

The fuel, water and waste-tank gauges were easily monitored alongside the day switch panel. The boat also had four high-water alarms for its watertight bulkheads and two collision bulkheads.

Another requirement of warm-climate cruising boats is refrigeration. The charterers of this boat, be they thirsty types or keen fishers, will find a 133lt galley fridge, a second 60lt galley fridge/freezer, and a huge dedicated 12V freezer in the saloon with thick foam insulation. There's also a foam-insulated moulded box in the bridge to which owners could add a fridge plate.

Hot water came to this boat via a heat exchanger and Shorepower connection. All the boat's cooking appliances ran off twin gas bottles kept in a vented locker in the foredeck. The gas lines had solenoids so you could switch the system off in the galley.

BUILDING BLOCKS
Construction of the hull comprised solid GRP below the waterline and foam-cored composite decks above the waterline. The bulkheads were glass-encapsulated marine-ply and, along with all the internal furniture, they were glassed to the hull.

 The hull features a central wave-breaker in its tunnel and skegs back aft to protect the props. While we chugged about at 11 knots, the boat didn't seem to pitch or hobbyhorse - that's probably due to the sub-surface bulbs extending forward of the bows.

The finish on this boat was also somewhat less glamorous than owners' boats as it leant more towards low-maintenance. Charters are tough on boats, so the galley counters were topped with laminate, there were lots of wipe-down gelcoat surfaces, and moderate use of myrtle timber joinery for doors, cabinetry and tables.

Storage space was in abundance wherever you looked. Each of the four cabins had hanging space and a series of lockers, there were storage cupboards in the saloon, and loads of shelves, cupboards and drawers in the galley.

But the biggest storage compartments were outdoors. You could actually climb inside the port and starboard foredeck lockers that formed the forward sealed part of each hull. The portside locker had a mounted spot for the RIB's 6hp outboard, while the starboard locker had the gas bottles and room for cleaning gear, fishing tackle, dive gear and more.

Meanwhile, alongside the central anchor-chain locker was a receptacle big enough to carry two domestic-sized garbage bins. Thus, your waste during liveaboard boating trips can be stowed well away from the living and cooking areas.

OUTDOOR LIVING
Safe, survey-height bowrails with lifelines traced the periphery of this 11.6m by 5.3m catamaran. The deck was covered in non-skid and the walkways going forward of the cabin were wide enough to use at sea.

The cat's foredeck is the place to be when anchored and cruising for views. There's oodles of room for any amount of crew on the flat surface and, unlike a sailing cat, no central trampoline. That means more space for deckchairs and doing sundowners. Anchored, nose to the wind, the foredeck will remain breezy. The two pulpit seats on each bow will also come in handy for dolphin or dugong spotting.

The cockpit is somewhat smaller than I imagined, with a relatively low moulded rear flybridge awning that lanky crew might clobber with their craniums. But it is practical. The two opposing lounges/daybeds can seat four to six people and the faux teak decks (Flexiteak) will be easy to keep clean.

There's room for a table and chairs, access hatches to the valve sets for the engine-driven bilge pumps, plus a manual bilge pump, and the mandatory stainless steel gas barbie aft, where the smoke billows downwind. The cat has moulded steps down each hull, a swim ladder and handheld deck shower.

The tender, a substantial 12ft RIB, swung from stainless steel davits between the hulls. The attachment points were on tracks that let you slide the tender farther aft for easy dispatch. A series of pullies and jammers are used to launch the boat and lock it back on the davits.

Due to public liability issues when in charter mode, the RIB must be towed astern, and the centre section of the deck between the hulls forms a useful area for wetting a line or just hanging out.

INDOOR ACTION
Views extend from the six-person L-shaped lounge in the saloon in all directions but down. Covered in a smart camel-coloured Warwick fabric, the lounge is positioned before a big timber table ready to host cards, drinks or dinner.

Abundant hatches direct fresh air and light inside, and there are also sliding saloon windows, all with flyscreens. A separate two-person lounge is nearby, as is a navigation area, storage locker and entertainment centre.

Stepping down from the saloon, each hull has a forward cabin with a double bed in the bow. The cabin sides are lined in simple frontrunner. The aft cabins have smaller double beds. There are no outboard-side hatches for cross-flow ventilation, yet the engines live under each aft mattress.

The portside head had an upgraded electric loo from, understandably, saltwater flush for charterers. The small shower stall comprised a curtain on a circular track. Charterers will probably find it easier, if not more exciting, showering on deck. Owners should think about a bigger shower stall.

The starboard galley was accommodating thanks to plenty of food-prep and storage space, twin fridges and a three-burner gas stove/oven. There is no 240V power for appliances when away from the marina, as there's no genset or invertor. At such times, someone will have to be on toast-grilling duty on gas grill. And don't burn the toast, as there's no extractor fan over that gas appliance.

CRUISING DOWN THE HIGHWAY
The ladder to the bridge is easy enough to negotiate, though the trailing edge of the hatch has to be negotiated with care. The seating in the bridge is ample for six people on the two low-slung L-shaped lounges either side of the central helm console.

There was plenty of shade at midday thanks to the moulded GRP hardtop sitting on stainless steel struts.

The helm seat was raised to a commanding height and I noted clear vision over the bow and to the transom. And with the engine shafts so far apart, the boat was a breeze to turn on its length, even though the propellers on these baby Volvos weren't counter-rotating.

The twin 75hp motors pushed the 7500kg (dry) cat hull to a top speed of 11.2 knots at 2800rpm.

As a displacement boat, the Venturer 38 created a fair old wake out the back. For its intended purpose, the twin 75hp motors produced a useful 8.5kt cruise at about 2000rpm, where fuel consumption will be very low (Volvo claims 5lt per hour per motor at these revs). Frugality with fuel, among a lot of other things, is what you want from a cruising powercat.

Unfortunately for me, on a day when the ocean was boiling with more fish than the dinner table of a Catholic family on Good Friday, I didn't have a line to throw in. Charters won't be so unlucky, however, and I forecast many memorial days and nights eating fresh-caught mackerel, swimming at breakfast and lulling about the decks.

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