SOUTH AFRICA

SUMMARY

After more than 2 years of searching in Europe we gave up here and extended our search radius. Namely to South Africa.

From Cape Town to St. Francis Bay and back again. 10 days Catamaran Power Shopping in South Africa. This is how you can describe this trip. In the end we were ready for vacation, but it was definitely worth it.

We first had to digest the bitter disappointment at VAAN in the Netherlands. It's really frustrating when nobody else seems to have your own wishes and requirements and therefore doesn't build a ship that suits you. Many of the well-known shipyards were sometimes close, but then the quality wasn't right. And if the quality is right, the rest is lacking.

So in November 2022 we set out for Cape Town. The plan, within 10 days, to visit all the shipyards that we are interested in and perhaps find our suitable cap. And imagine we were successful! But more on that later, first a few words about the shipyards.

VISITED SHIPYARDS

The shipyards are sorted according to our route. We landed in Cape Town and drove to Jeffrey's Bay by rental car that same day, where we spent our first night. From there we then worked our way back to Cape Town, i.e. from Jeffrey's Bay back to Cape Town.

ST FRANCIS MARINE: A small shipyard in St. Francis Bay. She builds 4-6 ships a year and at the time of our visit only has one model on offer, the St. Francis 50. However, a 46-foot version should be available from early 2024.
VISION YACHTS: One of our favorites in terms of design, layout, seaworthiness. Also Vision only builds the Vision 444 as the only ship. A maximum of 8 pieces per year are built. As with St. Francis and most other shipyards, they work with forms and vacuum infusion.
CURRENT MARINE: The first shipyard to build its ships based on Schionning Design plans. The CM 46 is the only ship currently being built. A real racer, light and fast but absolutely useless to live on.
KNYSNA YACHT COMPANY: After we were able to look at a Knysna 500 SE from the outside in the port of Knysna, it was clear to us that this is not for us.
SHELTER MARINE: Unfortunately, they didn't have a building slot for us, but they also build ships from Schionning Design, among others. Very friendly contact and what I saw in pictures, also a reasonable boat builder.
KINETIC CATAMARANS: Outside of our budget, we didn't visit the shipyard either, but we were able to take a look at a KC54. Unfortunately only from the outside, but what you could see was the highest quality!
BALANCE CATAMARANS: Probably one of the shipyards that has the best marketing at the moment. With 5 or 6 models and dozens of ships per year, Balance is no longer a manufacturer. So the Balance 442, which we were considering, became a mass product, unfortunately.
SCHIONNING DESIGN: Is not a shipyard but rather a designer and kit manufacturer. Around 600 different models have been built since the 1970s. Partly at professional shipyards, partly in self-construction. What they all have in common swords, light weight and fully customizable.