Seawind 1170: Top 10 Best Boats Nominee Walkthrough

The new Seawind 1170, at 39 feet on the smaller end of the company’s range, is designed to be easily managed by a couple but also built fully ocean-worthy as a CE Category A multihull. The interior design is based in what Seawind has found to be proven brand characteristics—twin helms protected in the cockpit with direct communication to the salon, a clever trifold door that can lift into the overhead to fully open the space between salon and cockpit, galley down to allow maximum space for the salon, including a spacious nav station, large windows all around with sturdy opening windows forward for ventilation, and collision bulkheads. Where things have been updated are in the hulls themselves with a reverse bow for better upwind capability, a step in the topsides to allow more interior volume—especially in the aft cabins—and more headroom throughout. Composite and structural engineering is by New Zealand-based Gurit, who also engineered the 1160 and 1260. All the tooling is new; hulls are fully infused with vinylester resin, and carbon reinforces key structural areas to minimize weight while enhancing performance. The first few hulls were built at Seawind’s operation in Vietnam, but the tooling has been shipped to a new, 56,000-foot facility and customer service center on the Aegean Sea in Turkey, where the 1170 is now being built. @SeawindCatamarans