FOR SALE: SEAWIND 1200 CUSTOM CATAMARAN
The Seawind 1200 was this Australian company’s flagship until the 1250 model was released, but the 1250 owed much of its heritage to the very successful 1200.
Bella Via is a pre-loved, custom-built 1200 that cost its owners $A160,000 above the normal purchase price in 2004.
This beautifully presented and comprehensively equipped catamaran is not just ready to cruise, it’s actually doing it! The boat is presently being cruised in New Zealand waters by its original Canadian owners, Mary and Paul Major, who have been voyaging in the South Pacific for the past nine years and have kept the boat in as-new condition.
This boat is for sale: Seawind 1200 Custom Catamaran for sale
The Seawind 1200 was a class act out of the moulds and came with high levels of standard equipment. A white-sail area of 100m², OAL of 12.1m and a displacement of only eight tonnes made it a considerably better performer than the 1000 models.
Sail handling was easy, thanks to Spectra halyards, roller-reefing headsails, two-speed self-tailing winches and a central mainsheet winch. Bella Via adds the wing-a-wing convenience of twin forestays and furlers.
Several below-deck layouts were available but Bella Via is top-shelf, with an owner’s port hull layout comprising large bathroom and shower recess, office and master cabin with walk-in wardrobe.
Guest cabins, bathroom and a large galley are in the starboard hull. Twelve hatches, four more than standard, ensure good airflow below decks and Bella Via has eight fans as well.
An open saloon design means the galley is in easy contact with the saloon. A huge dining and lounge area opens onto an equally-sized cockpit with targa-bar and windscreen. An infill panel and side clears can enclose the cockpit in inclement weather.
The steering station and helm seat are on the cockpit port side and there’s ample seating space around the cockpit recess. Bella Via is fitted with an autopilot twice the capacity required by a boat of this displacement and carries a duplicate system, just in case.
As with most cruising cats the foredeck trampolines are generously sized and Bella Via boasts twin bowrollers on the forebeam. The boat has no less than three oversized anchors and a robust windlass to match.
The standard engine package on Seawind 1200s was a pair of 18hp Volvo Penta auxiliaries, but Bella Via has the optional 30hp Yanmar upgrade with three-blade Gori folding props. Both enginerooms have dual fuel-filtration with cross-over valves.
Fuel capacity in twin, special-build, survey-approved tanks is 760lt and water capacity in twin tanks is 470lt – unlike the standard arrangement – and Bella Via supplements its water tanks with a Spectra watermaker.
Another Bella Via feature is a specially-designed davit sling for the tender’s outboard motor. Anyone who’s tried to lower an outboard safely onto a tender will appreciate this innovation.
The Seawind 1200 was an interesting choice by the Majors when they made their decision in 2005. The couple had a long family history of racing and cruising in monohulls, but when Paul suggested a long-term cruising lifestyle Mary agreed, provided the chosen boat had ample living space.
Extensive world-wide research led them to the Seawind 1200, thanks to its combination of seaworthiness, performance, space and value for money.
When we checked out a new Seawind 1200 in 1999, we were impressed with the boat’s turn of speed in breezes more than 10kts, even when using white sails only. Bella Via has a cruising gennaker as well, so reaching performance should be excellent for a cat of this size.
Sail handling was easy and the Seawind 1200’s shallow-draft hulls with midship-located stubby keels, let it spin through tacks without the need to backwind the jib to get the head across.
We were also impressed with its pointing ability, matching the upwind angles, if not the outright speed, of performance cats. Although upwind pointing ability isn’t high on the cruising sailor’s wish list, it’s handy to know that your boat can beat off a lee shore if it has to.
As we said at the outset, Bella Via looks much younger than her nine years and is being offered at a recently-reduced ($36K off) price that’s not much more than half her replacement cost – and there’s literally nothing to spend.
SEAWIND 1200 CUSTOM SPECIFICATIONS
FOR SALE $459,000 ex GST
YEAR BUILT 2005
MATERIAL FRP sandwich hulls and deck
TYPE Sailing catamaran
LENGTH 12.1m
BEAM 6.5m
DRAFT 1.1m
FUEL 760lt
WATER 470lt (plus watermaker)
CONTACT Bill, phone +61 417 004 800, email: yachtbellavia@gmail.com or visit bellavia.ca