Hull Design and Construction
Reichel/Pugh's brief was to build a cruising catamaran that genuinely sails like a performance boat. The result is plumb bows with a fine entry and a hard chine running aft to the transoms, a combination that sharpens the hull form without surrendering interior volume. The transoms slope gradually down to a pair of substantial swim platforms, making water access easy and the overall stern architecture practical.
Construction employs vacuum infusion throughout, combining vinylester resin with carbon-fiber reinforcements above the waterline. The hulls themselves receive an outer layer of Kevlar for puncture resistance, and carbon fiber stiffens the chainplates, bulkheads, and key structural members. Interior furniture is built on honeycomb foam core with veneers to save weight and add strength. The result is a boat that feels stiff and responsive on the water rather than ponderous, which matters enormously for a design pushing 14,000 kilograms.
Daggerboards, Draft, and Upwind Ability
The defining technical feature of the 1600 is its captive daggerboard system. Unlike conventional drop-boards that protrude through the deck, the 1600's boards recess into the deck with flip-up sections that cover the lifting mechanism, keeping the working deck clean and reducing windage aloft. The control for raising and lowering them runs to a dedicated cockpit station, meaning the crew never needs to go forward in a seaway to manage the foils.
With both daggerboards and retractable rudders raised, the boat draws just 54 centimeters — a minimum draft that allows entry into shallow bays, lagoons, river systems, and protected anchorages inaccessible to most 50–55 foot catamarans. When deployed, the daggerboards transform the upwind picture. In testing conditions, the 1600 pointed quite well for a cruising catamaran, and the Sail Magazine test found the boat sliced easily through tacks with its square-top main and self-tacking jib combination.
Rig, Sail Plan, and Handling
The sailplan pairs a full-batten square-top mainsail with a self-tacking solent jib as the workhorse upwind combination, supplemented by a screecher for light-air reaching and an optional spinnaker or gennaker for downwind work. There is no traveler; instead, two mainsheets run through blocks on either side of the stern to a central winch on the transom, giving the crew substantial control authority over a large and powerful sail. Reefing lines share that central winch, a tidy arrangement for shorthanded sailing.
Headsail sheets lead aft to winches positioned immediately outboard of each helm station, so sail trim never requires leaving the cockpit. Under sail in breezy test conditions, when wind piped up to 16 knots, boatspeed reached 8.9 knots on a beam reach. With the spinnaker set, speeds reached 8.5 knots and higher in any puff. The heavily laden Sail Magazine test boat — fully tanked up with 14 people aboard — returned those numbers, making the performance figures conservative rather than optimistic.
Helm Stations and Cockpit Layout
Seawind's cockpit arrangement is one of the more thoughtfully resolved in its class. Twin helm stations are elevated for visibility yet still benefit from the protection of the hardtop, a combination that matters greatly on night watches and in deteriorating weather. Each binnacle accommodates large multifunction displays and engine controls. Because docking controls can be fitted at both stations, whichever way you need to enter a tight berth, you can see where you're going — a small detail that eliminates considerable stress in marinas.
The cockpit itself sits on a single level with an L-shaped dinette to starboard, a settee to port, and a refrigerator adjacent to the saloon door. All halyards and reefing lines run underneath the cockpit sole, eliminating deck clutter and the associated offshore hazards. Side decks are clean and unobstructed. Triple-wire lifelines are fitted as standard on passagemaking specification boats.
Accommodations and Interior
The 1600 is offered in both three- and four-cabin configurations. In the three-cabin layout, the owner's suite occupies the entire starboard hull — queen berth aft, head and shower forward, with an optional combination washer and dryer. To port, guest accommodations provide two single berths in the aft cabin and a double forward, though the forward cabin feels a bit narrow given the fine entry of the bows. A shared head serves the port hull.
The saloon is genuinely liveable. The navigation station offers a vast work surface, good forward visibility, and a swing-out chair — described by the Sail Magazine reviewer as the envy of any anchorage. The galley sits aft of the nav station and faces directly out onto the cockpit for passing food and drinks, while the arrangement provides ample surfaces for bracing when cooking offshore. Opening ports forward and large sliding windows at the galley promote ventilation across climates. Five large foredeck lockers and generous storage throughout address the provisioning demands of extended passages.
The Verdict
The Seawind 1600 is a rare design that resolves a genuine tension: it is fast enough to satisfy sailors who have owned performance boats and comfortable enough to satisfy couples planning multi-year liveaboard passages. The Reichel/Pugh hull form, vacuum-infused construction, and captive daggerboard system are not marketing language — they are decisions that show up in real-world sailing performance. The 54-centimeter minimum draft with boards and rudders retracted and the sheltered twin-helm arrangement are features with daily operational consequences. That said, the forward guest cabin in the port hull is constrained by the hull's fine entry, and buyers expecting symmetrical accommodation across both hulls in the three-cabin layout will need to adjust expectations.
Pros
- Reichel/Pugh hull design delivers genuine upwind pointing and fast passage speeds under sail
- Captive daggerboard system keeps decks clear and controls reachable from the cockpit
- Minimum 54 cm draft with boards and rudders retracted opens anchorages unavailable to most comparable catamarans
- Vacuum-infused vinylester construction with Kevlar hull protection and carbon reinforcement at structural points
- Twin protected helm stations with excellent visibility and full sail-trim controls at each position
- Purpose-built for shorthanded sailing with lines routed to cockpit and autopilot integration at the nav station
Cons
- Forward port cabin is narrowed by the fine bow entry, making it the weakest berth aboard
- Port hull shares a single head between two cabins in the three-cabin layout
- The daggerboard casing modestly intrudes on the port shower stall
- The standard AGM battery bank requires upgrading to lithium for serious off-grid cruising, adding to the cost of a significant base investment
