Powercat – The Power of Two²

March 2009 – Multimarine buys Powercats

MCL are very pleased to announce the conclusion of a successful bid to buy the assets and brand of Powercats, after it suffered cash flow problems that put it into the hands of receivers at the end of last year. Investment in new tooling had not been given the time to pay for itself, the company becoming a victim of bank belt-tightening despite having two boats nearing completion, a full order book and a hot new product, the 695; a day boat with two berths, head and galley, just under 7m long, that was very well received at Seawork 2008 and the Southampton Boat Show.

“Barry had put everything into developing a fantastic range of boats that are far ahead of the competition,” acknowledges Darren Newton, MD of Multimarine, who has known Powercats’ founder Barry Philpott for a long time. “They have sold 100-odd boats and have a very loyal following from their customers – it’s rare you find them second-hand as they’re so good their owners just keep them. I can’t believe this happened. Seeing the new 695 at its launch at the Southampton Boat Show I was so impressed with it, and felt Barry’s hard work in pushing Powercats boats for the last 10 years, and the addition of the 695 to the already very successful 525 design, would confirm Powercats as the market leader in both the leisure and commercial power catamaran world. “Now we have the opportunity to carry on producing and developing these innovative craft and think it is simply a must, and we hope to work alongside Barry in the future development of Powercats. As a Cornish brand ourselves we also we felt it was imperative to keep Powercats based in Cornwall. The marine industry,especially here in the south west, has taken a battering, but we are well-placed to come out the other side.”

We are only a recent player in the power boat market, but entered it in style with the award-winning wave-piercer MarySlim, winner of the Judges’ Special Award at the IPC Motorboat of the Year awards in 2008, as the best example of British innovation, design and construction, an award we shared with the boat’s designers and owners. This was followed up with the Dazcat Power 15, a wheelchair accessible power catamaran launched at the end of 2008, with reviews to be released. Likewise she is in a class of her own.

Simon Baker, our Senior Project Manager, looks forward to developing the production of Powercats, which will broaden the range of boats Multimarine can offer, alongside our sister company Dazcat’s brand of performance multihulls. Our expertise in bespoke one-off builds is second to none but we have gained invaluable experience of production methods through the development of our production company Voyager Catamarans, and will be using a combination of skills to maximise efficiency in the manufacturing of the Powercat range, both leisure and commercial.

Given the current economic climate in the UK, Multimarine will be looking to take advantage of the weak pound to develop our export markets, working with a network of agents to promote our products worldwide and open up new opportunities for our innovative business group. We look forward to furthering employment opportunities in the marine sector for years to come.

Top and middle: the open Powercat 525 has been widely used by port and harbour authorities - here they are being used as safety boats at the Gig Regatta in the Isles of Scilly last year. Powercats originated in the Scillies, where they are perfectly suited to the changeable conditions; above: the cuddy 695 is a big hit with fishermen, both leisure and commercial