This dedicated cruising catamaran from South Africa boasts an amazing list of standard features – including all sails, electric winches, a genset, a watermaker, air conditioning, a huge 900-watt solar array and a washing machine, to name just a few – all for the remarkable price of $1.2 million, an extremely competitive sum for a boat that is so well fitted out. What most impressed our judges, though, was the quality of the boat and how well-thought-out it is.
INDEPENDENT & Public - 19 catamarans - 3 boat shows - dedicated app - NO DEALER BIAS
The story of how the Xquisite X5, the most fascinating and technically advanced yacht in the 2017 BOTY contest, came to be (and how it arrived at the Annapolis boat show) is at least as interesting as this special, intriguing catamaran. It’s a tale of chasing dreams, of youthful sailors and entrepreneurs, of translating lessons learned circumnavigating aboard their own cat into a vision of what modern multihulls can and should be. It’s also a tale with a happy ending, with the Xquisite X5 unanimously earning the prize as the Most Innovative Boat for 2017.
The Xquisite X5 catamaran is this year’s systems winner in recognition of its beautifully engineered digital switching system and numerous other thoughtful touches, such as universal wall outlets (which will accept European and American-style plugs), USB ports in every cabin, fabulous access to all the systems and wiring, and a universal input isolation transformer, which enables the boat to be plugged into shorepower anywhere in the world.