Measure twice. Cut once.
by John Curnow, Global Editor, SailWorldCruising.com 1 Apr 22:00 UTC
Perhaps even measured thrice? Yes. On reflection, I think we can absolutely lock that one in. So then, let's consider all this. Now that initial quantum was keeping the ambition in check. No headlines. No elongated rig. No overtly aggressive sail plan. No balsa core. No daggerboards. No flying of hulls.
Instead, make it quieter, deliberate, and focused on endurance, simplicity, ease of handling, and the confidence to set off across an ocean with just two people aboard. i.e. Genuine off-grid cruising with diving and spear fishing taking front and centre. Performance will be measured in sustainable 24-hour runs, not the constant monitoring of load cells (but they are there on the stays). Yes. This is most definitely the raison d'etre for Evening Star.
This particular Schionning Solitaire 1520 (54' LOA) has been built by Mahi Boats at Gold Coast City Marina to exacting standards, so as to keep performing seamlessly when out in the greater Pacific, and even further.
If the triumvirate of any build consists of quality, speed, and cost, then it is the former that has reigned supreme here. The latter two were certainly subservient to the big master. As Evening Star was just about to enter her Commissioning phase, a lot of the panels were off, which is the perfect time to have a wee inspection, and it was distinctly evident throughout that the measuring tape had out twice throughout its entire creation.
How so? Placement of things is one thing. Weight low and central. Ergonomics is another. Knowing that crossing a deck under way can be challenging, so bring all the control lines into one position, and make them easy to use. Finish is literally the final arbiter. Take a high-gloss, flat and large white panel, and have it sitting in low light. If it had not had 20 sanding discs used on it before the topcoat went on, you'd have more waves in it than the ocean. It didn't. Just like the slate under the green felt...
As a way of thinking and operating, rather than a mere insurance policy, just get the best of the best involved. As a bonus, you just end up looking better yourself. TEAM - Together Everyone Achieves Max. To that end, Gurit did the structures, McConanghy's MC1 did the stick and oh-so-gorgeous Park Avenue boom, Rope Solutions did the running rigging, Harken the deck gear, E-combi hybrid drive, and North Sails for the rags.
Don't forget, from the crew at Mahi, to each and every supplier, it is the people that matter, and their reputations are what count when it comes to the final tally.
Start at the core
H is for healthy. As in a healthy respect from compression load from the lid mounted stick, which is why there is a compression post in the saloon. The team at Mahi carefully considered the owner's intentions against the original plans with unis running across the boat. So, together with the renowned and esteemed Gurit they came up with an H structure under the mast that created a carbon box beam in the wing deck bridging the two hull internal topsides and was supported by reinforced longitudinals that tied the forward and aft bulkheads in the main saloon.
Evening Star is not a boat designed to perform brilliantly for a season or two before requiring significant maintenance. It is designed to endure - mechanically, structurally, and operationally.
Julian Tankard was instrumental in the design of Evening Star, and Nui Foure led the build team at Mahi Boats. You would successfully argue that they are the Q and A of the company's QA. Tankard's own career could easily be the subject of its own Editorial, but suffice for now to just say America's Cup campaigns, electric ferries, aerospace infrastructure, sailing team bases, charter operations, driving all manner of vessels, and a whole lot more. This brought a level of systems thinking that is rarely applied to cruising yachts. His experience is evident not just in the engineering, but also in how the boat behaves as a whole.
Tankard explained. "Quite possibly, THE priority was making sure we could make it easy and trouble-free for the clients when they're sailing shorthanded."
That statement is deceptively simple, but it carries enormous weight. Designing for shorthanded sailing is not just about reducing sail area or adding furlers. It requires a holistic understanding of how every system interacts, how loads are managed, and how decisions are made on board, often in fatigue, at night, and/or in changing conditions.
In this case, the result is a boat that can be effectively managed by one or two people without sacrificing safety or capability. The sail plan is deliberately conservative, the systems are highly integrated, and the ergonomics are designed around long periods on watch. There is a height difference between the two owners, yet one will not have to reach for ropes, neither will the other feel like they are sitting in them, due to the helm arrangement and a step for added access.
"Having a comfortable helm seat for being on watch for four hours or five hours at a time is pretty important, as is the overall amenity and style of the accommodations," noted Tankard. It is this attention to the human element, often overlooked in technically driven projects, that elevates the design.
There is a pragmatism that you might say extends to the way Evening Star has been considered from the outset, but in reality, it is more like imbued into its very nature due to the detailed thinking that has gone into her composition.
Carbon reinforcement is used selectively, like only where it provides meaningful benefit. Think Chainplates, compression post, or Longeron, whilst the rest of the structure remains efficient and manageable, which is code for avoid unnecessary complexity where it is not required.
Systems
Definitely not a production boat, nor a stripped-out racer, but absolutely a quality, and luxurious haven that can change its address at your behest, Evening Star is about her capabilities. Trainspotters might see the splendiferous furlers, or the boom, but lift the aft bunks, and to Starboard you have a single, 48V E-combi electric drive. Apart from the whole unit not being much larger than just one of the pots of the Diesel it replaces, it is also not a whole lot bigger than the raw water sea strainer that sits in front of it. That will give you an idea as to the heat involved.
Bite is from 504mm auto-pitch screws by Brunton, with sixes and sevens the main fare, and you could punch a bit higher for working in a channel or breeze with the smelly on.
As an engine room, it has copious amounts of space to work around, but of course there's nothing really to do there. No dipstick check, for instance... What it does show is the dedication to getting the weight into the middle, and on the Port side, the 110hp Yanmar ICE sits in front of the motor/generator.
No doubt, this is one of the biggest and best ways to highlight the level of thinking that has gone into the most custom of bespoke craft. How so? Well, the whole electrical system was designed around said 48V the propulsion needed. In turn, this allowed for the use of other 48V components like the bow thrusters and furlers to be piggybacked in. However, they take space with the cables and add weight.
Instead, how about using a copper bus? "We built solid copper busbars along the inside of each hull and across the front of the boat. It is a lot more efficient way of getting power around the boat than giant cables on cable tracks. They're a rectangular cross section, mounted on the inside top sides of the hulls, right down the length of the boat, and then across and back to connect the two electrical rooms at the back, as well as the conveniently placed batteries around the front bulkhead of the saloon. So, then we just run out the Longeron to the control boxes for the furlers and also out to bow thrusters, all from that front busbar."
Tankard adds, "We do have four different voltages on the boat - 12, 24, 48, and 230V, so it can get a little bit complicated. It is effectively six pairs of batteries to invert into 230V for the domestic fridge, dishwasher, and washing machine, along with 50Hz GPOs throughout the craft. Most of the other stuff is on the boat 24-volt (two AGMs in the Starboard electrical room), along with a few 12-volt components, especially the electronics and around the helm fed by the Port electrical room, where there is also a separate battery to start the ICE."
"The system is undeniably sophisticated, but it is structured in a way that remains logical and accessible. For an owner-operator, that balance is critical. Intricacy is acceptable if it is organised and reliable; it becomes problematic only when it is opaque or fragile."
"The propulsion setup reflects the same philosophy. A single diesel engine provides primary propulsion and charging capability, supported by twin electric drives for manoeuvring and redundancy, as well as being capable of regeneration when under sail."
Neither are radical, and certainly not cheap, but rather they should be considered practical, offering flexibility without unnecessary risk. They do very much underscore the overall ethos of the owners, the project, and the very build itself.
The other power
The on board systems define how a vessel lives, but it is the rig and sails that define how said craft covers off the miles. Here again, the focus is on simplicity, reliability, and autonomy, along with durability and longevity.
Ben Kelly Global Multihull Segment Leader for North Sails is deeply proud of the work here, not just his designs, but how they played their part in making the whole project come together, which is so true of all of the specialist involved. "The owners were always looking to go far afield, and shorthanded, with a requirement to not go onto the foredeck all that often whilst under way. The sail and rig plans had to really embody the autonomous nature of their sailing, and be very user friendly, like the Harken switch track cars for the main, so that it can go into the boom all on its own with low windage," said Kelly.
"Instead of getting a fiberglass one design package, this is a fully tailored boat that's going to have a bit more speed, but is going to have all the hardware for them to be able to weather the storm. Evening Star doesn't need too much horsepower. It's a detuned boat in a reasonably light platform, when compared to production boats, and the carbon-reinforced hull and carbon rig are part of that, as well as having everything that opens and shuts for the owners, and the sails are the same. We've gone with 3Di Ocean fully moulded sail packages for the pinhead, but roachy mainsail, jib and staysail."
"The code sails are furlers. There is a 3Di Code 55, which is essentially a big triangle, and this is a coverall, or 'Screecher' as it is known in Australia. Being flat, it has a tighter, neater furl, with a UV protection strip, so that it can be left hoisted. This has a ProFurl power furler on it. You know it can't unfurl. You've got security, and that's what these owners required. Best of all, you can arrive at an anchorage, get a good furl, then pull the anchor the next morning, unfurl and off you go to the next destination."
"After that is the panelled, Helix furling gennaker. In the North Sails range, this is the sail that has the widest range of angles, and it will set in downwind when it's eased and tweaked, with the luff also having a little bit of projection. Then at the other end of the scale, it is a reaching sail with a tighter luff set, sheeted on, and sheeted inboard. It is a top-down furling sail. The project is all about sail handling and ease of use, so it's to be dropped, because it's a fuller, bigger sail, and they don't furl as tight. So, hoist, deploy, furl back up, drop, and stow away afterwards."
"Given Evening Star's various sheeting and tweaking options, it means her owners can sail a wide range of angles and strengths with a limited number of sails."
Control
Chris Anderson from Rope Solutions is another of the key suppliers who really enjoyed the project and the quality outcome it has delivered. "Mahi Boats laid really good groundwork - reached out to the right suppliers and the right people in the industry, which meant that the flow-on effect for us was that knowing you could use good quality rope, which you know is going to work, and last," said Anderson.
Invariably, this is a discussion about cores and covers, for not all ropes are created equal. "This was about making sure the covers had a blend of standard polyester and Technora®, which increases the longevity and the toughness and the stretch. Then for the cores, we went a step up from the standard SK60 Dyneema® to 75 strength, just to add that longevity and less stretch to handle the loads that 3Di has given it does not stretch, and as the boat is not over canvassed in any way, shape or form, there will be terrific longevity to be had."
"So, that was one side of it, and then the other was working pretty closely with Mahi and Julian, especially about the layout and the design of all the systems. This was looking at how the reefing was going to work, where that was running to the cockpit, and then the running of the sheets and self-tacking sheets and what they were going to use for locking things down and those sorts of things."
"They had gone through the process of selecting good quality deck hardware - blocks, winches, jammers - which then makes it a really easy and good decision with the ropes, because the jammer quality affects the rope quality and the cover, and therefore the holding power."
"The final aspect was integration into the furling arrangements, for job, Screecher and Gennaker, with the Staysail on a simple, endless line hand furler," added Anderson.
Consideration
In an industry often driven by spectacle, speed, scale, and visual impact, this catamaran represents a quieter, more thoughtful approach, where quality is the direct descendant of considered thought and vast experience being applied correctly. There's no single feature here that is more immense than another, but rather it's about a thousand small decisions, each made with clarity and discipline. It is the result of planning, integration, and a refusal to compromise on quality.
You might very well argue that the real and final measure here is one of ease. Evening Star is engineered to be a true owner/operator blue water cat. Q.E.D
If you want to see what is happening in the other Hemisphere, go to the top of the SailWorldCruising home page and the drag down menu on the right, select the other half of the globe and, voila, it's all there for you.
Finally, stay safe, love your yachting, and be respectful to oceans and other sailors alike.
John Curnow
Global Editor, SailWorldCruising.com