"Here, Kitty Cat"

We admit to not being "multihull savvy" (actually not "anything savvy") but we do try to report on multis that we find interesting, and this is one.

It is designed by Pete Melvin of Morrelli & Melvin and Jeremy Laundergan of Askeland Engineering, and is known as the Morrelli & Melvin A2 A-Class Catamaran. It is a development of Waterat, the A Cat they designed in 1996. Melvin won the A-Cat World Championship with the Waterat in 1997 and the design went on to win five consecutive North American Championships.

The International A-Class Catamaran is a high-performance “box rule” International Sailing Federation design specification dictating an 18-foot long, 7½-foot wide catamaran with 150 square feet of sail area and a minimum weight of 165 pounds. The class has been steadily gaining popularity in the US since the World Championship was hosted in Long Beach, CA in 1997.

Morrelli & Melvin, (PlayStation, Stars & Stripes, Formula 40s, Alinghi), will build the A2 in their new Development and Prototype facility and are now accepting deposits for the A2 A-Cats. This new boat is all carbon, has a carbon rig and will cost 15 grand. For more info go to www.morrellimelvin.com

07/14/2003