Design and Construction
Schionning Design laid out the 1280-S as a performance-minded cruiser rather than a volume carrier. The owner-built example Duality used a single head to save both weight and construction time, a deliberate choice that also reshaped the interior arrangement around bridge deck cabins. The hulls themselves are foam-cored fiberglass with foam-cored decks, and the build of Duality ran almost three years from kit arrival to launch, with the owner handling most of the work and a friend assisting on fairing, painting, and some hardware fitting. At 9,921 pounds displacement with a 22.31-foot beam and a 1.31-foot minimum draft, the platform is beamy but built light, and the capsize screen of 4.15 with a sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 36.55 places her firmly in the lively end of the multihull spectrum.
Rig and Handling
The rotating carbon mast supplied by Current Marine defines the 1280-S sail plan, which the owner documented as a 66-square-meter mainsail, a 33-square-meter jib, a 75-square-meter screacher, and a 135-square-meter asymmetric spinnaker. That inventory lets the boat pretty much sail at wind speed across most normal angles, both upwind and downwind. In flat water with 19 knots of breeze she has shown 19.5 knots of boat speed, and upwind she settles around 9.5 to 10 knots while tacking through 90 to 95 degrees. The daggerboard hull form and low minimum draft give her the kind of offwind acceleration and close-angle capability that the slimmer-hull directive was meant to deliver.
Accommodations
Bridge deck cabins give the 1280-S a raised, central living space distinct from the lower hull quarters, and the single-head layout keeps the plan open and build-light. The owner reports that Duality exceeded expectations for sleeping space, storage, and room for a few toys, which on that boat included a 2.6-meter tender carried on the davits with a 6-horsepower outboard. The emphasis throughout is cruising utility without the mass penalty of a second head or fuller hulls.
The Verdict
The Arrow 1280-S is a purpose-built performance cruising catamaran that succeeds on the terms its originator set: slimmer, longer-waterline hulls and a stripped, single-head interior yield a boat that sails at or above wind speed and tacks efficiently upwind. The foam-cored construction and kit-build path keep weight down, though the light build and owner-driven completion mean condition depends heavily on the individual hull's execution.
Pros
- Slimmer hulls and longer waterline deliver strong performance per the owner's documented speeds
- Rotating carbon mast with large screacher and asymmetric spinnaker inventory
- Bridge deck cabins with good sleeping and storage in a weight-conscious layout
Cons
- Single head limits accommodation flexibility versus twin-head cruising cats
- Owner-built completion quality varies with the builder's skill and time invested
