Neo 410 Cat and Neo 560 Cat, the new fast, comfortable, Italian catamarans

Neo Yachts also enters the world of catamarans with the new Neo 410 Cat (12.48 x 7.65 m) and Neo 560 Cat (17.01 x 8.55 m).

Neo 410 Cat and Neo 560 Cat, concept

“But without compromising,” Paolo Semeraro, a strong sailor and founder and owner of the Italian shipyard that has made performance boats its trademark, assures us. “Catamarans are an old passion of mine and I have always followed them with interest, even from a professional point of view. We have designed several sails with Banks Sails for multihulls and I have been responsible for several rigging and deck plan upgrades to make them more efficient.”

Continues Semeraro:“We realized that there are basically two types of catamarans on the market. Either the ‘seaside villas,’ where the mast is an optional extra, or the ultratuned racing ones, where interior comfort is spartan with ocean-sailing berths.

Hence our challenge. Producing catamarans without betraying Neo’s DNA that is, to produce light and fast composite boats with structural elements, with a great righting moment, on board of which you have to forget about the engine, even in breezy conditions.”

“To sum up,” Semeraro continues, “a catamaran, to be a ‘Neo-style fast cruiser,’ must be:

• light
• Wide to create much righting moment
• have generous sail area
• generally sail with a hull above water to decrease wetted surface area.

Based on these concepts and a comparison with the VPPs (speed prediction programs comforted by real data) of our already very fast monohulls, we have designed cat boats that go in some cases even faster than our monohulls, yet offer almost twice the interior roominess.”

“As is always the case in our projects, the first ‘brief’ revolves around the final displacement. We know that that boat, within that size, shall not exceed tot kilos of displacement. All subsequent work, which our engineering department does closely with the naval designers (in this case Nove Architects) and interior designers, has to undergo the weight element.”

Features and interiors

Let’s start with the Neo 410 Cat: “The design,” Semeraro reveals, “was born at the request of a customer who wanted a sport catamaran: it is designed by Eng. Lorenzo Bergamini for naval architecture and by Architect Marco Colangiuli of Neo Yachts for interiors and aesthetics.

It will be made of carbon fiber, weigh little (less than 4 tons) and feature a large beam (7.65 m), which greatly increases its righting moment. This is the key to making sure that while it does not glide, it can sail faster than a monohull of the same length (also because of the lower drag, of course, given the absence of a keel).”

The Neo 560 Cat, on the other hand, is an ex-novo design where the theme of performance is complemented by that of total interior comfort. Once again, a carbon fiber “bolide” but with significant space below deck and an XXL square. All, in 14,000 kilograms of displacement. Not bad for a 17 meters.

“Both models,” Semeraro explains,“will be offered in two versions: the one with 4 cabins and 4 bathrooms (two per hull) or the “owner’s” version where one hull is dedicated to the owner suite and the other to the guest cabins. There will be solutions borrowed from the Neo monohulls (such as the latest Neo 570c), such as a central island galley, full-width sofas in front of the mast, and removable tables to gain weight in racing.”

Learn more about Neo Yachts catamarans.

Want to learn more about the Neo 410 Cat and Neo 560 Cat? Visit Paolo Semeraro and the Neo Yachts & Composites team at Boot in Dusseldorf (Jan. 21-29), at booth 16A57. To book your visit, or get info, write to info@neoyachts.com