CATAMARAN WINDSURFER: Cup Holders Included

I went windsurfing exactly once in my life about 20 years ago. The guy who rented me the thing, on a beach in Greece, groaned a bit when I explained I'd never sailed one before. He complained he'd be towing me back upwind with his skiff after my hour was up. I stuck my nose up in the air a bit and assured him I could figure out how to sail a board to windward. And I did, and he was so pleased he gave me another hour for free.

I really enjoyed myself that day, but never pursued the sport. It seemed it would be hard to get really good at it, and you also have to be very willing to get wet. In Greece that's fine; in New England I'd really rather not. But here's a new take on the windsurfer that has raised my eyebrows a bit. Watch the video here and you'll see this Serenity Catamaran Windsurfer from Starboard is both very maneuverable and incredibly stable. You can step on and off, and there's no need to go swimming. It also looks reasonably quick in a light wind.

There are several other features I like. The stand-up paddles provide auxiliary power (a concept I strongly favor in all types of vessels). You can carry a passenger or two. Plus it has cup holders and storage compartments, so you can pack a lunch and take it for a little daysail mini-cruise. Mount a GPS chartplotter on that granny bar up front and you can light out for parts unknown. Starboard evidently isn't shipping these things yet, but expects to soon. Call me crazy, but I think they've got a real winner here.

Meanwhile, coincidentally or not, you've no doubt heard by now that the next America's Cup competition will also feature multihulls, with hard wingsails no less. Though I gather some AC fans are not too pleased about this, it was (you may recall) exactly what I was hoping for. If they pick San Francisco as a venue, they're going to have some wild racing.

So I'm keeping my fingers crossed.