After celebrating 21 years of design, and with thousands of sea miles under our beams, we thought it high time we designed a new flagship that brought into play all we have learned in that time. The result is the Dazcat Southern Ocean 65.

The idea was to create a comfortable cruising catamaran, with global range and capable of extreme performance, for four to six people. (That might not sound like very many people but we believe less is more when it comes to extended cruising.)

With the Southern Ocean as her playground she features very high freeboard and wet deck clearance to help keep everyone drier in big seas, and her slightly reverse bow gives her an assertive, spirited look that also maximises waterline length. Sister company Multimarine’s experience of building the VSV MarySlim got us thinking this is a good way to go, as may be obvious from the very long, thin, sharp hull lines with flared and sharpened hull chines, which shed water and expand the interior volume centrally to make a comfortable living space.

The twin central saloons are raised to provide excellent visibility and spaciousness, the elevated soles providing cover for all engine systems; keeping weight central and improving the ride. Deck space is open; we consider there is more than enough room in the hulls to make a bridgedeck canopy redundant, and the more space there is the more one tends to fill it, which would make the boat heavier and slower. So for purity’s sake the SO65 is open deck, with the galley and nav station amidships in the starboard saloon.

Luxury en suite double aft cabins with king-sized beds have large port lights to give light and views. This is a boat for the seriously adventurous who will most probably want to sail themselves, and this is a boat that will be a lot of fun to sail. But sometimes, as life gets busier, it can be nice to have someone to help so we have designed the SO65 with crew quarters forward, comprising bunkroom, workshop, separate heads and a sail store. These can be additional guests quarters if there are no crew aboard.

The rig has been designed primarily for off wind sailing with a tall fully-battened square-top mainsail positioned well aft, and four different roller furling foresails permanently fixed to make gear changes easy and fast, keeping your speed up for fast passage making. There are also a variety of spinnakers and racer sail combinations to maximise downwind sailing potential. The mast is a carbon wing with three sets of aramid shrouds and soft luff roller furlers. The boom is a carbon Y shape for easy sail storage and reefing.

There’s nothing wrong with wheel steering, but, for a real buzz, the SO65 is tiller-steered. We love the feel and fast response and control of the boat that tillers give, backed up by two separate autopilots so you can decide whether to steer or trim.

Safety features have been carefully considered, given the range of the boat; there are no shops in the Southern Ocean and help can be days away. The most important features are the easy and fast to use sail formats and control systems, but we have also included integrated electronic management systems with back ups, technologies that have been developed in conjunction with solo sailors who race the world and know exactly what’s needed and what isn’t.

Other safety features include false bows designed to shear off on any large impact, without leaking and without preventing the boat from sailing on; crash boxes and reserve buoyancy compartments and high sealed beam compartments combined with watertight bulkheads and companionway hatches are in case of inversion in a serious collision. This might sound extreme, but there is a lot of junk in our oceans and not all of it comes up on radar, or is visible until too late. We consider it our responsibility to come up with worst case scenarios and plans to survive them, so you don’t have to worry and can get on with enjoying your boat.

The Southern Ocean is one of the few remaining vastnesses in a rapidly shrinking world, which is what makes it such an attractive place to explore, and inspired us to design the perfect platform for adventuring. To see specifications go to the Designs page.