Lightweight performance leisure catamarans

AFRICAN CATS builds comfortable lightweight performance leisure catamarans through epoxy resin infusion for sailing enthusiasts that demand the highest levels of performance, comfort, speed, security and reliability. Our secret? We employ an innovative approach to boat design and construction that spans the gamut from materials and techniques to beauty and ergonomics. Read about our design philosophy and how we build the boats. The more you look at the details of how we put these crafts together as well as the standard equipment list, you will agree that an accurate description of our boats and attitude is: ‘AFRICAN CATS –  Energy efficiency in sailing’

History

After successfully launching and selling a number of non-sailing related businesses Gideon Goudsmit couldn’t find a production cat to his liking. Rather than build a custom boat for himself he built a company to build his ideal boat and share his vision with others.

Although he has over 40 years of cruising experience, he understood that in order to build the right kind of boat he needed to hire the right professionals. Armed with the knowledge of how to run a business AND what makes sense in a boat, he assembled a company designed to produce a catamaran using modern design techniques and materials.

Sailing

While the physics of sailing haven’t changed over the last several decades, our understanding of it has been refined.  In parallel with this deeper understanding came the development of many new materials and construction techniques. The past couple of decades have seen the acceptance of the cruising catamaran into the mainstream of sailing. While these boats were able to deliver on the promise of comfort and room, for the most part they fell short on the promise of fast sailing. In the seventies Hobie Alter changed the sailing world by launching the Hobie Cat series of beach catamarans. These boats were embraced by hundreds of thousands. The guys and girls who sailed these cats eventually outgrew them. They became older, had families and generally moved into a lifestyle where the deficiencies of a small cat (wet, easily tipped and requiring a level of agility that many loose with the passage of time) made them unusable. None of these sailors left the catamaran scene because they suddenly wanted to sail slower. Anyone who has ever owned a fast beach cat has come up against the problem of finding a worthy follow-on boat. They had no choice. That is, until now! We invite you to enter the world of  AFRICAN FASTCATS…