James Wharram was the first to sail the Atlantic from west to east - on a catamaran that he developed himself. That was at the end of the 1950s. Since then, he has designed many more cruising catamarans, selling more than 10,000 blueprints between 7 and 20 metres in length. His principle was always: "Keep it simple".
You will look in vain for luxury in his designs; Wharram himself lives on a catamaran whose toilet is a bucket. His goal was always to be able to live and sail from the sale of his designs. Ever since he signed on to a fishing boat as a young man, the sea has never let him go. He describes it as "my Neverland", a no man's land where dreams come true. He sailed the seas for decades with two German women - both of whom he would have liked to marry at the same time.
Today he is 85 years old, but he continues to sail, accompanied by his Dutch wife Hanneke. In this interview, James Wharram, the man with the leather hat, talks about his long, adventurous life, his travels and his views. He talks about his life with two women as a "threesome", about the magic of his constructions and his most important designs. And he explains why he doesn't appreciate today's modern catamarans so much.Now in the new YACHT, issue 16/13.
