IZIBOAT TESTED
Rupert Holmes sails an innovative catamaran design intended to widen participation in sailing among those with little time to get on the water in more conventional craft
Many of the world’s best ideas result from visionary individuals with a dogged determination to see their projects come to fruition. François Tissier is one such person. His passion is to make sailing as easy as possible and therefore accessible to as many people as possible.
Yet he believes much of the marine industry is looking in the wrong direction. Tissier argues that so many people today are time-poor that a boat that’s hugely enjoyable to sail –whether alone, or with the whole family–but that can be rigged and de-rigged with the minimum of effort is long overdue.
He even extends this thinking to the skills needed to be competent and safe on the water. Chatting over a beer after we came ashore from the test, off the Ile de Ré near La Rochelle on the Atlantic coast of France, he said that maybe only three out of 1,000 people on the island take part in sailing or watersports. Yet if it was possible to create a boat that’s genuinely easy to sail, the time commitment needed to learn could be reduced dramatically and huge numbers of additional people would be able to get afloat.
This is the background behind the 4.8m (15ft 9in) IZIBoat, a catamaran that’s the result of a two-decade quest by this former competitive windsurfer turned cruising sailor to create a vessel that can be safely sailed with a minimum of expertise whether single-handed or with the family.
In the past that has arguably been achieved with dayboats that have relatively small sail areas that enable families to get afloat, but at the expense of speed and excitement.
By contrast, the IZIBoat is a lightweight design, with low wetted surface area, enormous stability and a generous 270kg (595lb) payload. It’s therefore capable of carrying enough sail to provide an exciting ride. Tissier claims a total of 14 innovations that have previously not been seen on a boat of any kind. These range from the removable wheels on short axles that eliminate the hassle of a separate launching trolley, to the wide transverse bench seat that makes for easy family sailing. The rig, rudder mainsheet and joystick steering are also important factors–more on these later.
Easy sailing
The concept is a tall order, but one thi
