Brokerage boat of the month: Hemisphere sailing catamaran in Tahiti

Every month we place a spotlight on one of the best-designed brokerage boats that have joined the market, changed agents or have had a significant price drop. For November, the 44.2-metre Pendennis sailing catamaran Hemisphere is our Brokerage Boat of the Month.

Built in 2011 and refitted in 2023, Michael Leach Design and VPLP are responsible for Hemisphere's interior design and naval architecture respectively. She is newly listed for sale with Henry Craven-Smith of Burgess at €46,000,000 and is lying in Tahiti, French Polynesia.

BOAT's brokerage editor says:

Hemisphere is a unique vessel, designed by the world's leading multihull naval architects VPLP with a spectacular, spacious interior (and styling of exterior guest areas) by multiple-award-winning Micheal Leach Design. Handsome lines, top performance and vast deck spaces above and below deck make for a unique explorer sailing yacht, which is ready to go in Tahiti. She is perfect for live-aboard world cruising, with extensive dive equipment, a substantial chase boat and clever tender stowage between the hulls. The icing on the cake is her sundeck/flybridge with Jacuzzi and commanding views from the twin helms, shaded by biminis.

The broker says:

Burgess' Henry Craven-Smith described the sailing yacht for sale as: "The world’s largest catamaran (until 2024*) with superyacht quality experience. A highly capable world cruiser, Hemisphere has circumnavigated the globe several times. Renowned for her off-the-beaten-track capabilities, she has assisted in the filming of National Geographic documentaries. She also boasts an enviable charter reputation, ideal for any commercially-minded owners should they wish to enter her back into the charter market."

Key features:

• World's largest sailing catamaran (*until superseded in 2024 by Art Explorer)
• Sensational interior by Michael Leach Design
• Designed for off the beaten track exploration
• 16.4-metre Custom Sports Fishing tender (by separate negotiation)
• Two principal suites, five guest cabins in total
• Huge deck spaces and vast watersports inventory

The designers say:

Mathias Maurios, partner naval architect at VPLP, who was lead designer and project manager for Hemisphere, said: "Hemisphere was until recently the largest sailing catamaran in the world. Our experience in racing multihulls as well as in large cruising catamarans, such as Douce France  and Ciliam, contributed to the design of this very first superyacht cat. An experience that provided a data bank which informed the architectural choices and inspired innovative solutions for Hemisphere, like the benefit of a full-beam coach roof afforded to the interior, while giving to the exterior an attractive design."

Although there were structural complexities due to her size, Maurios noted that one of the main challenges was to hide an 8.5-metre tender accommodating 12 people, which was stowed in the cross-deck. This solution, he said, was "a totally novel concept."

"Although speed was not a priority,  the client was interested in achieving a certain level of performance from his yacht, both under sail and motor," he continued. "VPLP provided him with a sailing yacht that can reach estimated maximum speeds of about 20 knots. The hull resistance and wave interaction was tested in CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) and while attention was paid to performance, the hull form was strongly defined by the sporting / live-a-board programme of the yacht."

The synergy between Michael Leach Design's interiors and the exterior styling by VPLP was certainly a success, he said, adding that the construction of Hemisphere was "superbly executed by Pendennis Shipyard with whom we would love to work on another multihull superyacht."

Mick Leach of Michael Leach Design remarked: "A lot of input came from the owner’s wife. She knew what she liked instantly, which was great. She wanted everything to be as practical as possible as she wanted to enjoy the boat and for guests to feel as relaxed and comfortable as possible."

Mark Smith of Michael Leach Design added: "The interesting aspect to the Hemisphere interior was the design brief of ‘six-star Polynesian style’ given by the client, whereby the interior design not only had to have visual impact but textural aspects were important too – plus it also had to be able to cope with that sort of wear and tear. On top of all this was the all-important aspect that we had to create and manufacture an interior that could handle the vast changes in humidity due to the outdoor living lifestyle the client also requested."

Price comparison:

BOATPro data shows that there are no comparable yachts for sale to the 44.2-metre Hemisphere, built in 2011 by Pendennis and asking €46,000,000 with Burgess. She is quite unique in brokerage listings and the 46-metre Art Explorer, delivered in 2024, is unlikely to join the market any time soon. Smaller sailing catamarans for sale include the 31.1-metre Ipharra, built by Sunreef, for sale with NEXT Yachting asking €4,400,000. and the 33.5-metre Mousetrap, built by JFA Yachts, for sale with Fraser asking €16,950,000.