New Boat Report: Invincible 37 Catamaran
Imagine a company known for building high-performance center consoles investing in the design and construction of power catamarans. Invincible Boat Co. of Opa-locka, Florida, did just that.
“It was a bold decision, given that power catamarans are considered a niche market,” says vice president of sales Bill Cordes. “But [company founder Alex Lipworth] saw it as an opportunity to reach customers who fit in our core demographic of serious fishermen and divers. We hang our hat on building the fastest, driest and most comfortable open fishermen, but that claim doesn’t have to limit us to building a single hull form.”
The Invincible identity, Cordes adds, is in the performance. “Whether someone is in the market for a monohull or a catamaran, they can expect an Invincible to excel in rough conditions, maneuverability and speed while maintaining excellent fuel efficiency.”
The builder’s first model was a 40-footer that took the power cat platform to new levels of performance and handling. Invincible followed up this year with a 37-footer that borrows heavily from the investments in technology incorporated into its big sister. The hulls for both boats were designed by Morrelli and Melvin Design and Engineering, a leader in performance multihulls, using computational fluid dynamics software and advanced simulation techniques.
There typically have been two schools of thought regarding power cat design: symmetric and asymmetric. Symmetric multihulls utilize identical twin hulls with a void between them that channels water and air. The resulting soft ride is what attracted people to these cats.
Asymmetric multihulls are akin to taking a deep-vee hull, cutting it down the middle and pushing the halves apart, creating the tunnel. This form is popular in offshore racing because it affords great speeds, but the design has handling deficits.
Invincible power cats use a hybrid semiasymmetric design that takes an asymmetric hull and adds a series of ventilating steps and running surfaces. It combines the performance of an asymmetrical design with more predictable handling.
The 37 has a 12-foot beam that carries well forward. The rectangular single-level deck area provides considerable space for fishing and a full complement of angling amenities. The center console has triple helm seats and a rocket launcher that incorporates a rigging station and a roll-out cooler. It weighs in at 14,000 pounds and is powered by four Mercury 350 Verado outboards. With half of the 550-gallon fuel supply and five crew on board, the boat has a 74 mph top end at 6,500 rpm and a 0 to 30 time of just 7 seconds. And while the speed is impressive, the boat’s pinpoint handling characteristics and dry ride are even more so.
It can be rigged with up to four live wells, one in the transom and three in-deck, along with two insulated fishboxes, dozens of rod holders, a T-top with outriggers and an optional coffin box. Each Invincible cat is built to order, and the list of standard and optional equipment means personalization is at the heart of the process. The 37 starts at $470,000.
