Multihull Meeting: A gathering of like-minded people
What unites them is their specific passion: their boats have at least two, maximum three hulls - and there is hardly any other option for them. The Northern European representatives of this group meet regularly at the IMM, the International Multihull Meeting.
It is a meeting of sailors for sailors and anyone interested in multihulls. The event is organised by the Multihull Germany Association. The IMM is an excellent platform for exchanging experiences, as the website states: "In addition to sailing together, sporting regattas and an extensive side programme for families and visitors, the participants' boats can be viewed."
A reunion every two years
They come together every two years, most recently in Karlstad, Sweden. Due to corona, the meeting has been postponed by a year. The joy of the reunion is correspondingly great. 46 ships from seven nations with 140 participants have travelled to Bremerhaven. Of these, 28 catamarans, 16 trimarans and one special design. The proportion of self-builders and self-builders is comparatively high in the scene. As far as the diversity of the ships is concerned, they are literally broad-based.
First item on the programme: a sausage trip to the mudflats - an excursion with a surprise. After the Kaiserschleuse lock, most of the sails go up - despite moderate conditions. It's hardly surprising that a few ships skip the squadron trip. The sky and the North Sea are not in a celebratory mood and have turned grey spontaneously. The current pushes outwards, wind and waves from the front. You have to like it. For the more ambitious sailors, however, the detour is a good opportunity to impressively dispel the stigma that multihulls don't cruise properly. This may be true for overloaded charter cats.
Multihulls can cross after all
At IMM, most owners would probably disagree more or less vehemently. Well, the turning angle of the boats may not be the world, but the missing 10 or 20 degrees when cruising would easily be made up for by the speed. Jan Wölpers impressively demonstrates this with the "Mai Tai 2". Although it is not allowed to cross in the fairway in front of the Bremerhaven container terminal. That's the theory. Wölpers sails an Athena 38 from Fountaine Pajot. And in front. The layman is amazed, the expert marvels: even the four or five Dragonfly trimarans have a hard time catching up with the Frenchwoman. They have to compete with the related "Raban" (a Contour 34) - a Canadian trimaran that scores points not only in terms of looks - despite or because of the reef in the main. Sometimes less sail means more speed and more moderate braking of the leeward swimmer under water.
Almost two hours later, the field at anchor and then the crews move even closer together as they fall dry. There's sausage and beer for everyone.
The participating boats can be viewed
The next day is open ship. As part of the multihullers' mission, the aim is to recruit new members for their club, break down prejudices and arouse interest in multihulls. A Dutchman takes the opportunity to offer his spruced-up cat for sale, but only because he wants to expand. Enja Nørttrup-Greve and Kent Johansen, a Danish couple from Kerteminde, present a cat called "Njord", which is said to have originally been built by legendary designer James Wharram. To believe and verify this, however, you would have to do some archaeology on board. Visitors are presented with a modern cat with elegant wooden fittings from the remaining stocks at the X-Yachts shipyard. A multihull could hardly be more metamorphosed.
A few boats away, Frank Schernikau invites you aboard his sleek Contour 34 SC. His trimaran is one of only two of these German-built vessels that were built in Canada between 1997 and 2000. Below deck, the ship has a very airy New England style. Lots of white combined with teak. "The trimaran was imported to the UK as a new yacht in 2000," said the owner. "There it was stolen from the mooring in the Solent and used as an escape vessel across the Channel to France." The "Raban" is now used by the Schernikau family as an express boat for extended holiday trips. Last year she travelled directly from the Elbe to Norway.
If you want to know exactly, attend lectures
In the afternoon, it's time for the self-builders at the IMM. The city of Bremerhaven has provided modern office space at the harbour especially for this purpose. Lectures are held. And reasons will be displayed like commandment boards: "Why catamarans?" is the headline on the poster. The old question of faith is to be finally clarified by multi-missionaries.
Their best reasons are:
- Level surfaces for living and travelling (sitting, walking, cooking, sleeping).
- Convenient operation of rudders, winches and sheets.
- Well suited for two families (privacy possible).
- Safety and reliability (unsinkable, two independent engines, etc.).
- High cruising speed (cruising downwind, high upwind with low drift with leeward engine and counter rudder).
- Shallow draught (fall dry upright).
Under "Why Trimaran?" only one, albeit convincing, point is listed on the poster:"Outstanding speed potential!" Not a word about little space below deck and high prices.
Unfortunately, the interest of the unconverted is only moderate. Most visitors just want to look and take photos. And none of the participants at the multi-meeting need to be proselytised. Karl Kramer, one of the owner brothers of the cat "Düppelmors II", begins his presentation on self-building with an encouraging quote:
Don't be afraid to try something new. Remember, the ark was built by an amateur, the 'Titanic' by professionals!"
In just 19 months of construction, they only took two weeks' holiday - strictly timed - and adhered to a strict daily rhythm with nine cordless drills, as Berndt Kramer, the brother, had already revealed. It had to be done comparatively quickly. Because: "What good is it if the boat is finished and the family is broken afterwards?" The project can be seen in a documentary on YouTube.
Intact family is a keyword for the next speaker: Tobias Lütke is a former Waldorf teacher and appears deeply relaxed. Almost Buddhist. He has been building a 14 metre long cat for three years, reconstructing a piece of his own past, so to speak.
The kit for the large-scale project comes from Australian designer Schionning and is due to enter the water for the first time in 2024. Lütke wants to go back to the roots or hulls, he says. In the 1970s, he was the first German family to sail around the world for three years on a trimaran with his parents and two siblings. Without publicising it or marketing it commercially.
"In any case ... these three years of sailing in the Passat have left a lasting impression on me," says Lütke sentimentally. They are his own foundation, so to speak. He wants to get back on the water, live on his self-built boat and then see. Sounds good and promising.
In any case, after a weekend with the Multihullers, you're almost inclined to switch camps or at least give it a try.
