The Voyager Trust boat is a Dazcat 1500. Dazcat is a part of the Multihull Centre situated on the tidal banks of the River Tamar opposite the historic port of Plymouth. They can lift and store multihulls up to 30ft wide and 30 tonnes in weight with a custom trailer and are one of the very few UK yards that can handle boats of this size and shape.
Dazcat catamarans are built at the Multihull Centre and the accessible Dazcat 1500 is the latest in a extensive range of catamarans built by them. The Dazcat range includes the Dazcat 1495 and 1295 as well as the Dazcat Ocean Cruiser and all their boats have had extensive success in MOCRA and other offshore racing events. However, as well as these production boats, the Dazcat team have built a number of bespoke accessible boats.
Impossible Dream
Impossible Dream was created by Mike Browne, a paraplegic who dreamed of a vessel that could sail the world’s oceans and be fully operational by a person in a wheelchair. She was designed by Nick Baily and built by Dazcat in 2002. Impossible Dream remains at the forefront of barrier-free sailboat design. While under Mike Browne’s ownership, Geoff Holt used Impossible Dream to become the first quadriplegic to sail across the Atlantic. He sailed independently and was only accompanied by his personal care assistant. His record setting sail took place in 2010, breaking down barriers and inspiring others with disabilities. Geoff has since gone on to set up and run the charity WetWheels enabling thousands of disabled users to get on the water. Impossible Dream is now based on the east coast of the USA. She was taken over by Deborah Mellen who founded the non-profit Impossible Dream Inc. Under her leadership, the Impossible Dream opened a new chapter in her historic life.
Artemis
Another accessible boat built by Dazcat was the Artemis. ‘Artemis’ is a fully wheelchair accessible sailing boat, set for circumnavigation and exploration. Her design incorporates a number of innovations including a radical sail configuration, aimed at enabling singlehanded sailing from the wheelchair and much, much more.
Artemis was built for Tom Hughes. His enthusiasm for exploration, on and in the water and on land, is apparent in everything he does. He is a technical dive instructor, trained in using a re-breather (no bubbles) so he can get closer to marine animals. Artemis is therefore also a dive platform and comes equipped with a compressor and bottle storage. Another unique feature is a bespoke landing craft type tender that can carry his 4×4 ‘terrain-hopping’ wheelchair/ buggy.
All this experience with designing and building these innovative boats will be brought to bear on the design and build of the Voyager Trust Dazcat 1500. For more information on Dazcat and the Dazcat 1500 build, have a look at the Dazcat website.
