Making a dream into reality.

 

For many years, my brother, Phil, had a dream to sail around the world.  He had to wait for his wonderful wife, Marianne, to retire, as that had much to do with their funding of a life at sea.

While waiting, he focused on learning everything he could about sailing life.  Many people buy a boat and then learn to sail.  His journey had been different.  At ten years old, he built his first boat.  We went to school in a British forces school located in a former German naval base on the north sea of Germany.  He sailed from our school in Wilhelmshaven in northern Germany to Denmark.  Here is a picture of him at the helm after a storm ended.

Then we moved to Bonn, Germany the then capitol of West Germany.  Our house was right on the Rhein river as was the American Embassy school we attended.  We watched the huge amount of traffic on the river from our front window.  We saw many barges with families living aboard, sightseeing boats with tourists, large motorboats with day sailors enjoying the river, and my brother in his 11’ kit Mirror  sailboat he had built.  

He sailed up and down the river at 13 years old by himself and with friends among the heavy and large traffic.  Here is a picture of him sailing in Germany.

When he returned to live in the U.S., he  focused his love of the sea by scuba diving.  He started with a basic open underwater class, eventually became an instructor, and opened his own dive shop.  He also created an underwater film class for PADI.

After selling the dive shop, he bought jet skis and an 18’ Hobie Cat to again get out on the water.  He did yearly trips to Lake Powell with his jet skis and rented houseboats.  He took his Hobie Cat on sailing trips to a nearby lake and the Pacific Ocean.

Then he got serious about his dream to sail around the world.  After much research, he decided he wanted a catamaran.  He knew his wife Marianne would be most comfortable on a cat plus wanted to share his journey with friends and family.

So, he started researching every catamaran and their manufacturer he could find.  He made spreadsheets of what he was looking for and weighted his choices.  In the end he decided on a Fountaine Pajot Salina 48.  While a production boat, not built for speed, it did sail well.  He looked into purchase prices and calculated what it would cost to update an older Salina and discovered that it would fit their budget.  He was getting within a couple years of purchase when covid hit.  Prices on catamarans skyrocketed, and
all his careful planning went out the window.  It was back to the beginning.

Phil was an avid watcher of sailing videos starting with Distant Shores.  He saw a video series, MJ Sailing, about a couple who were building their own catamaran from a kit.  He revisited an idea he had previously abandoned.  Again researching, he found a catamaran he was interested in, a Schionning Designs cat, the Solitaire 1490.

However, there were some things he wanted to change about that model.  He contacted Schionning and they were more than happy to help fulfill his dream. 

One of his many talents learned while waiting to live his dream was 3D computer modeling.  He set about modeling his dream boat based on the Schionning design.  The more he investigated the Solitaire the more excited he became.  Not only could have what he wanted in a catamaran, but the Solitaire was an amazingly fast boat.  Performance was the one thing he wished he could have but could not find in a comfortable reasonably priced cat. Then he found the Solitaire; a very safe, fast, comfortable, catamaran.  It was within his budget and comes from a 35-year-old company, Schionning Designs, known for offering safe and fast catamarans.

The only problem was the daunting task of building it himself.  Luckily, his original plan for sailing around the world included his friend Brian as XO and alternate captain.  Brian loved Phil's new plan to build a catamaran and agreed to quit his job to construct the boat with Phil.

In July, 2022, Phil and Marianne paid their first deposit on their semi-custom catamaran kit from Schionning. The goal is to build the catamaran in two years or less.  Schionning likes his design so much they are giving it a new number and they think it will be a very popular design.

Phil's 3D concept model (left) was sent to Schionning and soon, they came back with renders of the actual design model (below).  A meeting was held with the very knowledgeable and friendly Schionning Designs team on Zoom about some changes they recommended and some additional modifications Phil desired.  Currently Phil is waiting on the next set of renders.

Working with Schionning is the first step on the way to fulfilling the dream of a lifetime.  He couldn't be happier.

~ My name is Rhonda.  I will be joining my brother Phil, Marianne, and Brian for long periods as they sail around the world.

If you are interested in Phil's Schionning Solitaire Catamaran, please subscribe to our channel S/V Lynx to get notifications for our upcoming videos. Here is a link to the S/V Lynx Youtube channel, or you may find it on the home page of the website, www.svlynx.com.   You can watch some of his dive videos while waiting for the construction and voyage videos to start coming out.