Accessible Family Catamaran. The Dazcat 1295xl from commissioning to delivery.

MANGATA 5 – D1295 XL

The story of how this remarkable family came to own a bespoke, accessible family catamaran – the Dazcat 1295xl from commissioning to delivery.

The ‘5’ in ‘Mangata 5’ is not, as you might assume, an indication that it’s the 5th boat with this name or that the family have owned. Far from it. It is in fact a bitter sweet and highly poignant reminder to the family with three young children that now they are five but over the next two decades they may be destined to become four, and then three.

‘Mangata’ is the Swedish word for “the glimmering, road-like reflection that the moon creates on the water”. For me, Dazcat Media, this image creates an analogy of the uncertain but ethereal route that they will travel together. She has a very special role to play in their lives and here at Dazcat we’re proud that they chose us to design and build their accessible family catamaran, Mangata 5.

‘XL’ is for the extra width she has been given, along with her bigger coach-roof and interior adaptations to make this a more disabled accessible catamaran as required by her family. We love the XL look, her lines on the water…and she’s already proven she can go fast, more or less keeping pace with the two D1495s during the Royal Western Yacht Club’s Pantaenious Triangle race during her test sailing. She’s also shown us she can handle some fairly big gusts and seas during her delivery up to her home port in north Wales. Below decks, the delivery crew came to the firm conclusion that one of the adaptations, the head just inside the saloon, made perfect sense – a convenient step in from the cockpit!

To understand her fully, how she will be used and the part she will play in their lives, you need to get to know her family and the background to her commissioning. Owners Ali and Tom are also keen for people to learn more about the illnesses that affect their family. They hope that by talking about it they can help to build a greater understanding, ultimately helping people with both visible and invisible disabilities to exist in our world more comfortably and easily, with greater sympathy and less discrimination.

For this family with three young children, all with significant special needs, new situations and strange places are highly stressful for everyone. Ali and Tom love sailing and find that being on the water gives them the best ‘recharge’ and escape from their high pressure professional and family lives. The children, each in their different ways, also get great pleasure and benefit from life aboard, and so Mangata came to be commissioned. She signals the start of a new chapter, yet to be told. Here, I bring you the story so far.

Early in their relationship Ali and Tom went on a sailing holiday and decided that if they could share life aboard together they could share their lives. So they married, with the intention that they would continue to sail as they grew their family. But things changed for them when at the age of two their eldest son was diagnosed with the cancer genetic disorder Fanconi’s Anaemia. He developed bone marrow failure and repeated serious illnesses over a number of years. As his condition deteriorated he became transfusion dependent and any plans for sailing became impossible.

Circumstances progressed…as their son’s condition worsened his younger sister who had always been bright and bubbly also became unwell. She developed seizures, fitting repeatedly as the first indication that something was wrong. She lost her speech and became very withdrawn. She was diagnosed with the neurodevelopmental disorder Rett Syndrome. This is a rare genetic disorder that affects brain development, generally affecting girls, resulting in severe mental and physical disability, also with a shortened life expectancy.

Meanwhile, her older brother became even more ill and his life was under threat. A bone marrow donor was unable to be found on world search. IVF was suggested as an option to having a healthy child that might also be a bone marrow match but this proved unsuccessful. At this point Ali and Tom decided to take a chance and pursue a natural pregnancy. Ali became pregnant with their third child who thankfully didn’t have Fanconi’s Anaemia and turned out to be an exact match for their eldest. Their eldest son came through a successful bone marrow transplant with his younger brother being the life-saving bone marrow donor. He however remains with a high subsequent cancer risk as a consequence of his Fanconi’s Anaemia and also has difficulties relating to a diagnosis of Asperger’s Syndrome.

There was a further twist. As their youngest son turned two, he was diagnosed as poorly verbal autistic. This disorder causes significant communication and behavioural challenges. Ali and Tom found themselves managing three children with very special needs as well as maintaining their full time, high stress professional lives. They needed some way to escape from the daily, never ending focus on special needs, health issues and disabilities, a way to revitalise themselves. They returned to sailing and in particular flotilla sailing holidays in the Greek islands. The children loved it in their different ways:

The eldest boy loves fishing and nature and viewed sailing in this context as the ‘best holiday ever’. will happily spend hours gathering objects of interest and entourages of other children as he enthrals them with his ‘show and tell’ nature talks. Their daughter loves the rocking and rolling of the boat, the wind in her hair and the water rushing past. Tom tells me that the stronger the wind, the happier she is a girl after my own heart! The youngest son loves swimming off the boat with ‘sailing boat, yes’ being a key phrase of his limited vocabulary.

But travelling with their children is no easy matter. Regardless of how well prepared they are, navigating their way through the necessary public transport routes of trains, airports and aeroplanes, the unfamiliarity of it all from start to finish creates massive stress for the whole family. The strain on the children manifests as both physical and emotional and causes them to react in ways difficult to manage in public. In Tom’s words they inevitably become “a travelling circus”. Mangata 5 can slowly become familiar to them all, part of life’s routine but providing an essential escape, a means to regularly benefit from the therapeutic effects of the sea without the trauma of unfamiliar travel.

Initially they looked at a great range of monohulls but they soon realised that monohulls were just not suitable for their family’s needs. Just getting their daughter up and down steps is challenging especially if the boat is moving. At some point during their search someone suggested they look at multihulls. They hadn’t previously considered multihulls at all and having no prior experience of them had no idea where to start. They only knew they didn’t want what Tom describes as a ‘floating caravan’. They wanted a boat that could sail safely while also serving their particular needs as a family so they started looking around online. At first they contacted some of the better known French companies but they found that there was little experience to make the adaptations they needed. They were starting to lose heart when our friends at Multihull World suggested they talk to Dazcat designer Darren Newton, here at the Multihull Centre.

Our yard, based in a small Cornish village on the banks of the river Tamar, is the oldest multihull specialist yard in Europe. It turned 50 last year and although it has has evolved over the years it retains the distinctive eccentricity unique to multihull enthusiasts. The site provides storage for over 100 multihulls during winter and has always been home to a colourful mix of well-known designers, creatives, dreamers, adventurers, talented builders and engineers and everyone else in between. When Multimarine and Dazcat took over the yard in 2013 it also became a yard that produces meticulously handcrafted, high performing yachts built to order. As well as the regular Dazcat range, Multimarine Manufacturing LTD have built a number of accessible boats and are considered world leaders in this area and we currently have two others in build. On entering the site there is no clue to the stunning craft that are taking shape inside the unconventional collection of sheds. The offices are disguised in static caravans and there is no bling or executive sheen to be seen. I’m very aware that this may not be what a potential customer, about to spend large sums of money on commissioning a boat might expect to find, so I took the opportunity to ask Tom what their first impressions were. He told me it’s the first boatyard they ever visited so they had nothing to compare with, but admitted they were a little surprised at first. Then surprised in a different way once they had been on a tour of the sheds and seen what lay within! He told me that Ali’s summary of the situation was that the yard is “all about the building of the boats and not about the hard selling”.

Tom laughs here and says that there were many conversations involving directors Daz and Simon before the project was commissioned. Of course, we do have a genuine care for our customers and boats and we need to be sure that it is the right decision for each individual. These observations, along with the fact that we are a UK builder and Daz’s willingness to work with them to make sure the boat suited their needs, meant they found themselves commissioning a multihull not having owned any boat previously.

Theirs was an unusual situation for a Dazcat owner as most do come with previous boat-owning backgrounds, but we know that Tom and Ali’s primary purpose is to care for their family, and that includes looking after themselves and their new boat. They will take all the time they need to get to know Mangata 5 and for the family to settle in with her and it may be some time before she takes them out on an extended voyage. Initially they plan to stay close to Conwy Bay, where she will live. There’s plenty for them all to see and do there with beaches, wildlife (including the magical sounding Puffin Island), piers, castles, as well as a super friendly marina with great facilities. They hope she’ll become a home away from home but with much more potential than a holiday house.

With Matt Baker from the build team as skipper Tom accompanied the Dazcat delivery crew on her trip to her new home. Matt has extensive sailing and instructing experience and provided a constant source of guidance and information for Tom regarding the sailing and manoeuvring of the boat, safety, systems, electronics and anything else that came up. It’s likely he’ll return in due course to do the same for Ali and the Dazcat after sales service will continue to support them with any questions or problems they have relating to the boat. A fellow multihull and Dazcat enthusiast who keeps his Rapier on the same marina, has already very kindly offered to help them and be their ‘multihull buddy’ while they get used to her.

The saloon based head and wet room will provide the necessary quick access to the toilet required by their daughter, with the facilities for Ali or Tom to clean her down if needed. The raised bunk with considers next to the saloon area will give her a safe place to relax while still maintaining a 360 view to the outside of the boat as well as being able to interact with anyone in the saloon or galley area. It’s also next to the master cabin so her parents will be able to keep a close eye on her overnight. The choice of décor and upholstery in the saloon area immediately gives a feeling of warmth and security, inducing calmness and a sense of relaxation. The traditional Dazcat style of modern functionalism will make it easy to keep clean and maintain. The saloon and cockpit seating has been adapted so the two youngest children can be strapped in when necessary. There are also opening gate clips leading from the cockpit to the sterns, providing safety while sailing but also easy access for getting their daughter on board. These changes to our ‘standard’ layout are modifications that will enable the family to enjoy their space in safety and comfort.

The five are following their Mangata. I could only barely imagine their feelings as they took final possession of their boat. The mix of excitement, fear and overwhelming anticipation for the next chapter. We have huge respect for this family and their step into the unknown, certain in the path they want to take in pursuit of their quest for the soothing, restorative energy that only the sea can provide. Initial reactions from Ali and Tom, when they took possession of her are “a lot of love and attention to detail has gone into the boat…she is beyond our expectations…she has completely changed our life focus…we would like to thank everyone who has put their heart and should into the making of Mangata 5”.

Thanks to all our suppliers for helping to bring Mangata 5 to life: Matrix Composite Material Company, Marineware Ltd., Harken, Aquafax, Allspars, Diab, our local North Sails  approved loft Highwater Sails, Scott Bader Co. Ltd. Fibreglass Supplies Ltd Spinlock Dan Bailey, Nanni Engines, B&G, Harken, PR Systems, AR Peachment,  Smart Rigging, Osculati . Carbon mast, bowsprit and seagul striker, rudders and daggerboards are all made in house.

Written by Oriel Butcher (aka Dazcat Media)