Trinidad is home to a new performance catamaran builder

By Sandra Chouthi

French builder Frederick Lagache chose Trinidad over Turkey, the U.S., and Martinique to set up his catamaran construction business. Lagache opened the $2-million Aikane (pronounced arcany) Trinidad Ltd. in March 1997. The name comes from an old Polynesian word which pirates used to mean "a mother of honor."
         "Boats carry people, and the name sounds and looks good," said Lagache, 47. He set up the business in Chaguaramas-the base of Trinidad's yachting industry-with French financial expert Stephan Krymer.
         Lagache said they picked Trinidad because it's located south of the hurricane belt, and the island nation has established markets in North America, Europe, and the Caribbean.
         "And now the South American market is opening," Lagache said, "so Trinidad is very well located."
         Aikane Trinidad occupies 24,000 square feet of warehouse space (a former U.S. Navy seaplane base) opposite a heliport with "the widest launching ramp" that leads into the Gulf of Paria.
         Those are the conditions under which Lagache and his 34-member work force will start building 56-foot catamarans with epoxy resins, glass and PVC foams, vacuum bagging, and carbon.
         Lagache said the worldwide charter market has led naval architects and builders to design mainly charter catamarans, with an average of four double cabins and four heads in short-hull vessels.
         But he wants to shake that tradition and make a different style of catamaran-sleek, elegant, long, easygoing fine hulls, and with a high bridgedeck clearance.
         "It is a totally new type of boat, very light and fast cruising. The secret of a good catamaran is to be very light, elegant, and sharp," he said. "The fastest sails of its class around the world, for sure."
         The company has created more than 80 molds, and Lagache expects to start building the boats three at a time, the first being ready for delivery in December. The client for the first boat, a Frenchman, has paid $620,000. It will be on display at the Miami boat show in February of 1999.
         "Until we show the first one, it will be difficult to convince buyers and investors of the quality of the product," Lagache said.
         He expects to sell most of the "composite" boats to Europeans and Americans, especially in New York, Miami, and Seattle but assured that each one will be an "ambassador for Trinidad."
         "If I sell five boats a year, the company will take over rapidly. My ambition is to build 80- to 100-foot boats."