Seawind Celebrate 25 years

by Brent Vaughan on 11 Feb 2007 Seawind Catamarans, Australia’s largest manufacturer of cruising catamarans, celebrate 25 years of non-stop business with owner and Managing Director, Richard Ward at the helm.

In 1982 Richard started his boat building business following several years at sea cruising through the South Pacific, after his earlier career as a Chartered Accountant working for firms including Arthur Andersen.

Richard comments, 'The boating industry is quite fickle at the best of times, however it’s through our innovation in design and construction plus a superior quality finish that keeps us growing both in Australia and internationally.'

Early success was gained with manufacturing smaller beach catamarans including the extremely popular Maricats and the Seawind 24 which had been built since the 1970’s. From here the company grew and started building larger custom designed catamarans including the 65ft Sydney Crystal and the lightning fast Formula 40 catamaran.

However the biggest breakthroughs came in the early nineties with the launch of the 28ft Seawind 850 which was an instant success and lead the way for the award winning Seawind 1000 that was launched in 1994, winning Australia’s Boat of the Year which was the first time the award had been given to a catamaran.

This model continues to be very popular with over 170 boats now sold and carries the unique combined saloon and cockpit that has become Seawind’s trademark.

Other models including the Seawind 1200 and Seawind 1050 Resort plus the Venturer power catamarans have all been recent models built by Seawind, but the Seawind 1160 leads the way as Seawind’s next big success story being recognized in Australia and the USA as a winning formula.

The Seawind 1160 was judged as both 'Best Multihull Cruiser' and 'Most Innovative' in the USA for 2007 by the Cruising World Magazine. The Seawind 1160 has also won the 'Best Sailboat' of the Newport International Boat Show in 2006, plus the 'Australia’s Best Sailboat of 2005' by the Australian Marine Industry Federation (AMIF).

Seawind were also recently recognized as the 'Best Overall Business', 'Best Manufacturer' and 'Best Innovation' by the Illawarra Business Chamber in 2006 for the outstanding success the company has achieved and the employment and economic activity that Seawind have brought to the local economy. Seawind currently employ 80 staff including 13 apprentices with another six having been recruited for 2007.

Seawind are also the principal sponsor for the Seawind F18 racing catamaran World Titles to be held in Yeppoon, Queensland, wich starts next weekend.

For more information, see the Seawind Catamarans website www.seawindcats.com or contact:

Seawind USA Seawind Catamarans Australia
Kurt Jerman Brent Vaughan, Marketing Manager
kurt@seawindcats.com brent@seawindcats.com
[1] 619 571 3513 +61 (0)2 42859985