The flying Perch Cat 72 is a reality, with the signature of American Magic

In a sailing world that sometimes appears a bit static on the recreational innovation front, it must be emphasized that instead the performance and racing front is a frontier that is being pushed further and further. Only yesterday we told you about the Metis 45 project, but there is another very big new development that will soon see the water and is already a reality:the Persico Cat 72, a futuristic cat foiling, straddling the line between performance and sport cruising, built by the Italian Persico Marine to a design by Morelli&Melvin.

Perch Cat 72, guarantees American Magic

It seems possible that the futuristic cat made in Italy is destined for the patron of American Magic, Hap Fauth, whether it will then be one of the new “Beautiful Minds” in the series we do not yet know, or whether it will have a different name, but what is certain is that the catamaran is on its way to Florida, destination Pensacola, American Magic’s base, where testing will begin. It is no mystery among other things that Pete Melvin is one of the most important members of American Magic’s design team, not to mention then that the Morelli&Melvin firm has a long tradition in high-performance multihulls, having designed, for example, Oracle’s that won the America’s Cup in 2010. Hap Fauth is one of America’s richest men, an industrialist who owns the Churchill Companies fund he founded in 1982 and has been passionate about racing since childhood. He has long been “paired” with another American paperon, Doug DeVos, one of the heirs to the giant Amway, together they have embarked on the America’s Cup challenge of American Magic with the New York Yacht Club. In fact, the cat could be destined for DeVos as well, but between the two the “serial” owner was always Hap Fauth. Persico Marine has not been open about who the real recipient of the catamaran is; we will have to wait a little longer to find out officially.

Perch Cat 72 – Flying Maxicatamaran

The new Perch Cat 72 (24.10 x 9.5 m) promises to be revolutionary. Equipped with foils, it will be able to reach 40 knots of “airborne” speed (36 knots with 18 knots of air!), but with interior space and comfort worthy of the best cruising catamaran. Designed by U.S. multihull specialists Morrelli & Melvin, with interiors by British studio Design Unlimited, we will see her in the water in August 2024. The project traces its roots back to 2015, when the owner “challenged” Persico to build a high-performance, ultra-fast and comfortable catamaran.

22 meters long (bowsprit excluded) and 9.50 meters wide, the Perch Cat 72 is constructed of high-modulus prepreg carbon sandwich and Nomex core. Carbon was also chosen for the interior, which is extremely light and complete with everything, made in hi-tech style. When outfitted, with a Southern Spars single-cross rotating shaft and Torqeedo Deep Blue electric motor (two 25KW units), the Persian Cat 72 will have a total weight of about 20 tons, including the battery pack.

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“We are proud to participate in this innovative project,” said Paul MacDonald, commercial director of Southern Spars New Zealand. The mast will be fully customized to meet the specific needs of the batca, using our latest design, engineering and manufacturing techniques. The mast and boom will be made of high-modulus carbon and will incorporate our ECsix and AEROsix composite rigging technology from our subsidiary Future Fibres to create a fully integrated package. For this project– MacDonald continues – a special wing mast tool has been made, underscoring Southern Spars’ commitment to the high-performance multihull market. Production of these elements will begin in late May at our state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Auckland .”

Perch Cat 72 – How it will fly

To develop the piloting system, the owner and designers turned to the simulation software that enabled the design of the AC50 and AC75, Gomboc, the VPP optimization software. Gomboc was instrumental in the creation of the AC75 and is now widely used in the IMOCA class. The Persico Cat 72 is equipped with “RMFoil” or Righting Moment Foil, which are two foils over 7 meters long with automatic lift control, two drifts with anti-roll function and rudder blades with horizontal T-lifts. This foil system is combined with the Gomboc Flight Control System that manages the foil angles of attack. “The RMFoil is the most obvious feature of the Persico Cat 72 ,” said Ferdinand van West, Lead Designer Morrelli and Melvin.

The foil serves the same purpose we saw on the IMOCA class, but has been adapted to a catamaran with the ability to be fully retracted. Using Gomboc simulation software as a design tool, we were able to make a quantum leap in development and immediately saw impressive numbers. We made a careful trade-off study to ensure that the Persian Cat 72 would be a safe, all-around performance boat, even in light wind conditions when the RMFoil is not used. The decision was to optimize the design to be a semi-foiler, but also able to be fully foiling when conditions permit.”

The most innovative aspect, however, lies in the electronic flight management system: the Perch Cat 72 is in fact designed for skimming, that is, gliding about 20 cm above the water. The RMFoil is activated from 9 knots of wind and can skim the water at well over 20 knots of speed with only 13 knots of wind. To ensure safety and reliability, the fully autonomous control system can gradually lower the hulls and decrease the speed to the owner’s preferred level, thus enabling sailing in absolute comfort.

Data Sheet

Overall length 24.10 m
Hull length 21.95 m
Waterline length 21.45 m
Maximum beam 9.5 m
Draft (foils down/up) 5.31 – 0.65 m
Displacement 23 t
Light displacement 21 t
Fuel tanks 2 x 550 l
Water Tanks 2 x 450 l
Hull construction Carbon/FRP and Foam/Nomex Sandwich
Superstructure Carbon/FRP and Foam/Nomex Sandwich
Electric motoring 2 x Torqeedo 25KW
Foiling speed 22 knots
Maximum speed 40 knots
Design Morrelli & Melvin
Interior Design Unlimited
Yard Persico Marine

Mauro Giuffrè

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