SIG 45 - catamaran for agent 007

Test drive of the sailing catamaran SIG 45

Two of them were built, one in the States and one in Europe, so we got it for a test drive.

Amazing history of creation

Hugo Le Breton did not want to compromise on the yacht of his dreams and created a masterpiece. The recipe was simple enough - to find like-minded people, people who understood and felt Hugo's idea. The designer was chosen VPLP, an architectural firm with the strongest track record in the field of multihull yachts. On account of their trimarans ORMA, Groupama, the pinnacle of their work is the trimaran Oracle for America's Cup and the largest cruising catamaran Hemisphere... Moreover, he himself was involved as a consultant. Bruno Peyron, the winner of the Jules Verne Cup, who bypassed Orange 2 around the world in 50 days. Finally, interior design work Bjorn Johanssonwho has won several awards for his creations in the superyacht world.

And as a result, the implementation

An explosive cocktail would not be ready without a worthy manufacturer. Skilled craftsmen were needed in working with a carbon case, they were found in Italy. Indian yachts, whose lineage is replete with names such as 60 'GROUPE BEL, IMS 46', BRIBON, also make decks for Wally and Swan... The Italians approached the matter with a twinkle and gave out 5.5 tons of displacement to the mountain, this weight accounts for 134 square meters. m of main sails. Voila! And the boat rushes faster than the wind.

Test drive of the sailing catamaran SIG 45

On the water

Outside SIG 45 possesses ideal proportions, it is felt that the marketer's hand has not been applied here for a second. They were not allowed to this creation. And this is nice, because after the crisis you rarely see a truly distinctive and beautiful yacht. So you can admire this boat for a long time.

Entering the huge cockpit, we find a rotating mast, 5 winches and quite normal controls. Nothing supernatural, i.e. a yachtsman with average experience can handle SIG quite well. Yes, I foresee immediately the exclamations of our "experienced" yachtsmen, watching a photo of a kata on one float, about overturns, etc. SIG has a rollover prevention system, which itself deflects the sheets in the event of a dangerous roll or a sharp gust of wind. Like this!

Test drive of the sailing catamaran SIG 45

Further more - we find electric motors in the housings Oceanvolt, for such a weight and such contours there are plenty of them. And, accordingly, there are no problems with the voltage of 220 V, the diesel generator gives out power in excess. Comfortable cabins are not inferior in comfort to large cruise boats, a convenient navigator's seat, and on the other side the galley is not small in size. This boat cannot be called Puritan.

We go out to sea: slight hum of electric motors, and it feels like we are floating in air above water. Sharp floats provide excellent comfort on the wave. There are no nuances in raising the sails, everything is just like on a regular cruiser. Burning with impatience, we raised the mainsail in seconds, manually, without any winches.

Test drive of the sailing catamaran SIG 45

What happened next can only be described in one word - pleasure. We enjoyed the wind, the sea and the yacht!

Setting the sails It didn’t take much time and after half a minute we accelerated the catamaran to 8 knots with a wind of 7.5 points, we were going in full hauled, 70 degrees. The speed was virtually unchanged up to 35 degrees! This is out of reach for a cruising catamaran! I sat on the windward side, the tiller did not break out of my hands, there was no tension in the boat's behavior.

Tacking passed very easily, I forgot to mention that we had an automatic jib, so we coped with the change of tacks together.

It should be noted that the wave height was approximately 0.8 m, but there was no splashing on the beam, the shape of the hulls was perfectly streamlined. This can be traced by the wake.

SIG 45 disposed to walking, instead of the planned two hours we ironed the bay all four. A couple of times we turned around a 42-foot cruise Katana sailing in full sail. Yes, this boat gives the joy of communicating with the sea, I don't want to get off it. We did not get yesterday's strong wind, but even in a weak catamaran behaved excellently. Greg, a shipyard worker, said that he accelerated and kept the speed on this catamaran at 29 knots, well, I tend to believe him.

Conclusion

SIG 45 conquers with its uncompromising attitude in everything. The high cost does not allow it to go mainstream, but it justifies all the money spent on it. Owning and maintaining order on a yacht is not a hassle. The catamaran perfectly keeps balance, sailing on it is safe for the family crew.

Test drive of the sailing catamaran SIG 45

Data sheet:

• Architect: VPLP
• Design: Hugo Lebreton
• Builder: Indiana Yachting (Italy)
• Material: foam / carbon / glass / epoxy sandwich
• Length: 13.70 m
• Width: 8.40 m
• Displacement: 5.5 t
• Draft: 0.9 / 2.4 m
• Mast height: 23 m
• Mainsail: 94 sq.m
• Genoa: 35 sq.m
• Spinnaker: 150 m2
• Gennaker: 105 sq.m
• Price: 849,000 euros
• Swimming category: A

Advantages and disadvantages

pros

+ good design

+ quality materials

+ great move on all courses

Minuses

- price

- boom-sheet winches could be larger

Text: Alexander Goron. Photo: Alexander Goron, Lebreton yachts

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20.01.2013