Full circle as hull number one meets hull 19
Phoenix Marine marked a rare milestone last month when their first ever luxury catamaran from 2016 teamed up for a maritime ‘selfie’ with the latest Xquisite X5 Plus hull out of the Atlantis yard — side-by-side in the V&A marina.
What makes the occasion all the more remarkable is that hull number one has returned home after a six-year circumnavigation. She has been completely refitted with the state-of-the-art equipment and upgrades.
“Even the digital switching system has been flashed up with the latest of the latest digital technologies,” confirms Phoenix Marine MD Clinton Johns.
The first Phoenix 50’, marketed and distributed as the now famous X5, was launched in January 2016 and began life with owners Wojtek and Elena Czyz. Wojtek is a former professional German footballer who suffered a freak accident that led to the amputation of one of his legs – but he went on to become a paralympian gold medallist, before turning his attention to the high seas. The boat travelled to France, across to the BVI, through the Caribbean, the Panama Canal, the Pacific Ocean, to New Zealand where she stayed for the initial Covid-19 lockdown. She arrived back in Cape Town earlier this year for a refit ahead of a new life with a new owner.
“She was carefully dismantled and our team went over every single curve, system, and spec to learn as much as possible as this was a rare opportunity,” Phoenix Marine said in a social media post.
The yacht’s refit coincides with the launch of the company’s hull #19, an upgraded X5 Plus, a design that has already garnered international awards in the form of Best Large Multihull and Best Systems titles in 2017.
The new-and-improved X5 Plus is lighter (D/L dropped from 144 to 126), more energy-efficient (electrical system redesign), and boasts a modified rig to increase sail area. “The combined programme brought the weight down to where the boat floats nearly three inches higher than before,” confirms the Xquisite website. “This in turn makes it able to carry more equipment provisions without degrading the boat’s sailing ability. This is perfect for the mission of the Xquisite X5 Plus, ie long-range cruising. More payload means you can load up more food, water and supplies, not to mention the parts and tools to handle anything you might run into off the grid,” the website says.