The CONCEPT 63 Catamaran is a thoroughbred cruising catamaran, conceived as a fast, long distance cruiser for a small crew.
She delivers exceptional performance under both sail and power and very comfortable accommodations.
While not currently in production, the Concept 63 is available on a custom basis. Call Chris White for details.
Longer is Better
The design focus for the Concept 63 was to take advantage of the benefits of long slender hulls while retaining cruicial ease of handling by a small crew.
A Catamaran sails best when her hulls are very narrow for a given length. Slender hulls slice through waves more easily than wider hulls, with less pitching and rolling.
The disadvantage to very narrow hulls is that the accommodation in the hulls is constrained by their smaller size, making it impractical to design a cruising cat of less than 60' with very fine hulls. However, if the boat is 60' or longer while keeping the overall weight at the lower end of a practical cruising displacement, the result is an extremely efficient hull form that because of it's length, has plenty of internal volume to provide excellent accommodations.
Accomodation Plan
The sleek C-63 carries two large deck houses, both with excellent views, great ventilation and generous 'elbow room'.
Standard configuration features a spacious master cabin in the aft house with an adjoining private head and shower in the port hull. This is a very practical and comfortable cabin underway. It has immediate access to the sailing cockpit and nav station, but is removed from water and engine noise. 
The starboard hull adjacent to the master cabin can be configured to suit the owner. A dressing room, a child's cabin, or a fourth private cabin are all possible.
The spacious forward cabin measures 13' long by nearly 20' wide and is the "living room" of the boat. It incorporates the large, functional galley with ample work space and storage, dining and lounging space and a spacious and functional navigation station. The navigation station is immediately inside the deck house to starboard, convenient to the cockpit helm. Large windows on all sides provide panoramic views and numerous ventilation hatches to keep the "house" cool in the hottest weather.
The forward half of each hull is devoted to a private double cabin. Both cabins contain upper and lower bunks, a hanging locker, dresser, seat and storage spaces. Each double cabin has its own private head and shower.
Sailplan
The C63 has a modern ketch rig with fully battened main and mizzen and roller furling jib. The ketch rig divides the overall sail area into smaller, easily managed sails, and keeps the center of effort low which is appropriate for the moderate overall beam of the boat. The ketch rig also offers substantial advantages for offshore sailing; a reefed mizzen makes a great riding sail in a gale either hove to or hanging on a parachute anchor. Ketch rigged boats are also quite fast, only giving up some windward ability in very light air compared to a sloop rig. Masthead height is less than 65' from the waterline. This offers great flexibility when cruising the U.S. East and Gulf coasts, as the rig height is less that the controlling height for bridges and power lines of the Intracoastal Waterway. The spinnaker and mizzen staysail can be flown in light winds for robust off wind speed. Using both of these sails should enable reaching speeds of nearly 1.5 times wind speed in light wind conditions.
Power
The diesel engines are located in dedicated engine rooms, with standing headroom, and all 'round access to the engines. There is plenty of room for auxiliary machinery such as a gen set, desalinator and air conditioning, as well as a work bench and tool storage. Engine size can vary from 45HP to 100 HP. Twin 45's will yield 10 knots. The larger engines have the capacity to push this cat to 14 knots.
Propellers are protected by the draft of the hull. Beaching this cat poses no problem for the props.
Dinghy Deck
The aft deck is one of the most frequently used and functional spaces on the boat. It's a great outdoor work and play space, with room for out of the water dinghy stowage, fishing, organizing snorkeling expeditions and other watersports.
Safety Features
As with all proper multihull designs, the Concept 63 is unsinkable. Each hull incorporates two collision bulkheads forward and a third watertight bulkhead aft. Violation of any of the watertight subdivisions means only a slight variation to boat trim or heel, typically less than 1 or 2 degrees. While not recommended, it would be possible to safely sail long distances with both bows flooded forward of the collision bulkheads.