Oca is the fifth unit from the new Sunreef 60 line and could eventually cruise through Asia

In the Brazilian tribal language of Tupi-Guarani, Oca means
house. It’s an entirely fitting name for the fifth Sunreef 60 sailing catamaran, which was designed to be a comfortable home at sea for a young family with world-roaming ambitions.

The 18.3m cat with a 10.2m beam is a new breed conceived by the Polish builder to blend long-range cruising capabilities, high-performance sailing, luxurious amenities and comfortable accommodation for a family or charter guests.

The model slips into the builder’s current range of sailing cats, above the 50 and below the 70 and 80. The latter was premiered with the first 60 at last September’s Cannes Yachting Festival, revealing a new design ethos.

“The 60 follows the design guidelines of the whole range, which means having high bulwarks, a bow terrace, an aft platform, free-standing furniture. Only the proportions change as the size of the yacht changes,” says Sunreef’s interior designer Marta Kaszuba, who carried out the layout modifications and interior design on Oca.

The interiors blend seamlessly with the outside, the aft glass doors sliding back to open up an enormous indoor-outdoor living area. “The aft platform, aft cockpit and saloon are flush, creating one enormous space,” she says.

The Sunreef 60 fits in with the 50, 70 and 80 in the Polish builder’s new range of sailing catamarans

Oca also has more than a few amenities that you won’t usually find on a 60ft sailboat, such as a foredeck lounge and jacuzzi up on the flybridge.

FRONT LOUNGE

The 60 is also the smallest Sunreef yet to have a bow terrace, a tranquil space found just forward of the pilothouse with an L-shaped settee to starboard and flanked by two sunpads. This lounge area is the ideal height to enjoy the views as you cruise, but it’s lowered for protection from sea-spray and a sense of privacy.

You can access it from the side decks, but the terrace is best accessed directly from the saloon, with a door leading out to the foredeck. When this forward door and aft glass doors are all open, the main deck is transformed into one glorious open-air living room, inviting in the breeze and allowing easy movement.

“Starting with this range, the forward terrace will be on all Sunreef boats,” says Aleksandra Chabros, Charter Manager for Sunreef Yachts Charter. “This has become a new norm and I keep hearing from charter clients, ‘I only want a boat with the front lounge’.”

The aft platform holds a 3m tender that can ferry five guests to shore. This platform is flush with the aft deck, so when the tender is launched the cockpit space is extended. Likewise, when the platform is lowered to the waterline, it connects between the dual staircases that lead up to the main deck and creates a wonderful beach club.

The large cockpit offers access to the flybridge via an elegant semi-circular staircase

It’s also the hub for watersports and Oca packs plenty in her toy box including Seabobs, kite-surfing equipment (the deckhand is a kite-surfing instructor) and an eFoil.

Sunreef is proud of its ability to offer clients truly customisable layouts, not merely options to choose between. As Oca is designed to go the distance, layout modifications include a laundry room in the port bow and a walk-in provision pantry attached to the crew quarters in
the aft port hull. Other changes were made with safety in mind, such as choosing a white non-skid surface on the side decks instead of teak.

CRUISE AND CHARTER

This summer the yacht will be based in the south of France, Sardinia and Corsica, then in the winter will cross for the Caribbean season. The plan is to then start heading around the world, to Asia and the South Pacific.

The owner is an avid yachtsman who plans to do some ocean crossings himself, yet he’s also hired a very capable crew of three to look after Oca and her guests.

Captain Tristan Bataillard and chef Louise Dagger cut their teeth crewing on much larger yachts, but traded in their roles on a 60m motor yacht to manage the programme on a 60-footer, bringing a wealth of big-boat knowledge with them. Indeed, Dagger’s cuisine is as good as or better than any found on yachts many times Oca’s size.

The 60 is the smallest Sunreef yet to have a bow terrace, with an L-shaped settee to starboard flanked by two double sunpads (photo from Feel The Blue)

The owners did their homework before selecting Sunreef, comparing a number of catamaran brands.

“Sunreef was not my first option when purchasing a new boat, but I have grown to like Sunreef more by the day,” the owners say. “I strongly believe Sunreef has already become a game-changer in this niche market due to the high quality of product and service level.”

Once the owners had decided on the yard, they heard about Sunreef Yachts Charter Management and an idea was sparked. They could put their yacht in the charter market, allowing charter guests to join when the family isn’t on board, while the owners and guests alike could enjoy cruising in far-flung locations as the yacht made her way around the world.

HOMELY INTERIOR

The interior is certainly homely, but at the same time avoids the trap of being overly personal, as seen on many yachts used for both private cruising and charter. The owners worked closely with the Sunreef design team to create an interior that would be comfortable yet sophisticated.

The decor is a symphony of taupes, creams, whites and sandy tones, while colour drops in with a splash of baby blue and sky blue throw cushions. Each stateroom is defined by the colourful soft goods, in either green, purple, blue or yellow. There’s even a sense of the outside world being brought inside, a subtle beach motif without a hint of any seashell prints.

The light decor and big windows around the superstructure create a bright, inviting interior, which also includes a door to the foredeck

There are three staterooms in the starboard hull, two accessed 
via the forward stairwell and one aft, each with its own en-suite.
The master takes over the port hull, and in total Oca can sleep eight guests. Future owners can choose an alternative cabin arrangement to suit their needs.

Materials are elegant and simple, such as the pearl beige oak floor and silver-grey oak furniture. The well-arranged saloon has an alabaster marble decorative wall, with clean white kitchen counters.

To starboard is a sofa and table, which can be raised for dining or lowered. Just behind the sofa is a raised settee, a bit like an indoor sunpad, which enjoys views out of the wraparound windows, an ideal place to curl up with a book.

A long central island dissects the saloon fore to aft, serving to both separate the galley and provide plenty of prep space for the chef. Oca’s crew enjoys involving guests as much as possible, such as offering cooking lessons for the kids.

“Even if people want to help cook sometimes or make their own coffee, we accommodate them. We try to be a high standard, but we want people to feel at home,” says the Captain.

The master suite is in the port hull, with a double bed facing the window

BIG PERFORMER

On paper, 18.3m might not sound big, but what the Sunreef 60 lacks in length she more than makes up for in space with her hefty beam. Catamaran owners will attest, two hulls are certainly better than one, and the 60’s volume is particularly impressive.

“Theoretically, it’s a 60-footer. However, even compared to other catamarans, her volume is that of a 70-footer,” Chabros says. “It’s all in the construction, since the hulls are higher and thinner, the saloon is higher, allowing the shipyard to create 225sqm of living space.”

The design is also key to her performance attributes, explains the Captain. “Because of the thin hull and the high, narrow bow, she doesn’t hit the waves but cuts through them, so you feel much less impact.”

Bataillard piloted Oca on her 3,000nm shakedown cruise from Poland, with particularly rough weather in the Baltic Sea. “She fared fine,” he says, noting a maximum speed of 10 knots when on beam reach with 15-20 knots of wind.

Oca will cross for the Caribbean season, then slowly head to Asia

Her sail plan is ample, with a 112sqm mainsail, 90sqm genoa and 185sqm gennaker, while she can make seven knots with the twin 110hp engines.

In inclement weather, the Sunreef 60 can be piloted from inside, with a helm that has everything except the wheel, so the yacht can be controlled from here when on autopilot. The main helm station is up on the flybridge, which has a grill, dining table, sunpads, and – a truly rare find on a yacht this size – a jacuzzi with glass panels.

You can easily imagine Oca moored in a picturesque bay, the
kids splashing around in the spa tub or snorkelling in the sea as their parents watch over them from a comfortable seat in their sophisticated, spacious and abundantly liveable home.

The original article appears in Yacht Style Issue 47. Email subscribe@lux-inc.com for print subscription enquiries or subscribe to the Magzter version at: www.magzter.com/SG/Lux-Inc-Media/Yacht-Style/Fashion/

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