World's first, “green” catamaran available for Charter.

Waypoint, A Lagoon 410 S2, will be powered by ‘green’, silent-running, odorless electric power offering a range of cruising and cost benefits to the catamaran owner and charter guest respectively.

Waypoint will be available from November 15th 2003. Early indicators show that the yacht will achieve a 50 % increase in charter bookings over other bareboat models due to its electric propulsion system and customized owner’s layout.

The Catamaran Company is currently offering daily charter rates on Waypoint from $518 in the low season, to $820 in the high season. A typical charter runs for 7 days.

BENEFITS TO THE CHARTER GUEST
Charterers will effectively be sailing upon a ‘green machine’ – an efficient, non-polluting, highly responsive craft that will offer little noise or odors.

Families and couples will enjoy a heightened sailing experience not found in traditional diesel-powered catamarans.

Combined with the unique owner layout of the 410, there will be further savings in galley and cockpit space. Seven people can now be accommodated onboard, as opposed to 6 on traditional owner layouts.

Waypoint will include a generator and air conditioning unit.

“If you combine the attraction of clean, green, electric power with the owner layouts on the 410, one can expect a significant increase in demand from our discerning international charterers, “ said Kimberly Lee, Marketing Director, Catamaran Company.

This highlights the growing trend of bareboats assuming many of the characteristics of smaller crewed yachts - minus the crew!

BENEFITS TO THE CATAMARAN OWNER
Designed for 150,000 hours of maintenance-free operations, yacht owners can expect to save thousands of dollars in maintenance fees as well as reduced fuel and operating costs with savings of between 50% and 90% depending on running conditions.

Electric motors offer other advantages like increased speed in light winds and enhanced stability in open seas which adds more incentives for owners and charter guests to do extended cruises.

As the electric motor is primarily powered with batteries, a generator is included with hybrid systems. If an owner wishes to go totally green, solar panels and wind generators can be used instead of a generator to augment power for both configurations.

STRONG INTEREST FOR 2003
The Catamaran Company, exclusive dealer for Lagoons in Florida, has sold 3 owner versions into the charter fleet since the beginning of 2003.

Sales are expected to grow steadily in line with the huge amount of interest shown thus far on the company website.

The Catamaran Company will be releasing regular updates on the progress of Waypoint and new developments pertaining to the performance of the engine in charter.