What Is a Power Catamaran? A Complete Guide
Fast facts:
- A power catamaran is a twin-hulled motor yacht with no sailing rig; the OceanWalker S60 is 18.87 m (60 ft) with an 8.38 m (27'6") beam.
- The S60 carries four en-suite guest cabins plus two crew berths and a flybridge of more than 500 sq ft.
- Twin 2 × Volvo Penta D6-440 diesels (880 hp) give the S60 an 18-knot top speed and roughly 1,500 nm of range.
- A 22-panel, 9 kW solar array and 32 kW generator run the S60's house systems quietly at anchor.
- The OceanWalker S60 is priced at €3.2M with all options included and is available now as a Mediterranean demonstrator.
What is a power catamaran? The two-hull design explained
The clearest way to answer what is a power catamaran is to start with what it is not. It is not a monohull with two propellers, and it is not a sailing catamaran with the mast removed as an afterthought — it is a hull form designed from the keel up around two narrow, low-drag hulls set wide apart, connected by a bridgedeck that carries the accommodation and, on most builds, a flybridge above. Each hull is slender enough to cut through water efficiently; the width between them, rather than the depth of a single hull, is what generates the interior volume.
Because there is no rig to support, the structure above the bridgedeck answers only to the builder's imagination, not to mast-step loads or a boom's swing radius. On the OceanWalker S60 that freedom becomes four en-suite guest cabins plus two crew berths, 6'11" of headroom throughout, and a flybridge of more than 500 square feet doing duty as a genuine second living deck. Twin diesels — the S60 runs 2 × Volvo Penta D6-440s at 880 hp combined — sit one in each hull, driving independent shafts, which is also what makes the type famously easy to manoeuvre at low speed.
It is worth being specific about what is a power catamaran versus what simply looks like one: a monohull with a wide swim platform or a houseboat with twin outboards is not a power catamaran, because neither derives its stability and volume from two full-length, load-bearing hulls set at working beam. The defining test is structural, not stylistic — if the accommodation and structure genuinely span two hulls rather than sitting on one, the boat qualifies; if it doesn't, it's something else wearing a catamaran's silhouette.
Why a power catamaran feels so stable
Stability is the trait most buyers notice first, and it follows directly from the design. A monohull rights itself by rolling against ballast deep in a single keel; a power catamaran resists rolling in the first place because its two hulls sit far apart, so any heeling motion has to lift one hull's buoyancy against the other's — a much stiffer proposition than a monohull's pendulum action. The practical result is a level ride at anchor and underway, with far less of the side-to-side motion that causes seasickness on a comparable monohull.
This is also why the type suits guests who are not experienced boaters: drinks stay on tables, children move around confidently, and meals happen at anchor without the boat rocking underfoot. It is not that a power catamaran cannot move in a beam sea — no boat is immune to that — but the baseline motion at rest and at cruising speed is measurably calmer, which is precisely what buyers coming from a monohull describe when they step aboard one for the first time.
Ask a naval architect what is a power catamaran's stability advantage reducible to, and the answer is righting-moment arithmetic: with the hulls set 8+ metres apart on a 60-footer, the boat has to lift far more buoyancy to heel a given number of degrees than a monohull relying on ballast alone. That is a structural fact of the beam, not a feature that can be added to a narrower hull form after the fact.
The space a power catamaran actually gives you
Ask what is a power catamaran's single biggest advantage over a monohull, and most owners answer in one word: space. Beam, not length, is what a catamaran sells, and the numbers make the point directly — the S60's 8.38 m beam is roughly 45% of its overall length, a ratio a monohull of the same length cannot approach without becoming unseaworthy. That width becomes a bridgedeck saloon with water views on three sides, a flybridge functioning as a genuine second deck rather than a sundeck afterthought, and cabins built into hulls wide enough for a proper double bed and en-suite head rather than a wedge-shaped berth.
The vertical dimension benefits too. With no rig loads to carry, the coachroof and saloon can be taller and more heavily glazed than a design built around a mast step and boom — which is why a power catamaran of a given length routinely out-volumes a sailing catamaran of the same length, let alone a monohull. Buyers often describe a 60-foot power catamaran as living like an 80-foot monohull, and the beam-driven arithmetic above is exactly why. Framed simply, what is a power catamaran's space advantage comes down to: beam sold as living area, not just as a stability number on a spec sheet.
Performance, range and how a power catamaran actually runs
Twin diesels set one in each hull give a power catamaran two independent, widely spaced propulsion points — which is why the type is famous for docking confidently without a bow thruster, simply by working the throttles against each other. The OceanWalker S60 pairs its 2 × Volvo Penta D6-440 diesels (880 hp combined) with an 18-knot top speed and roughly 1,500 nautical miles of range at cruise — enough for the Balearics, the Ionian or the Dalmatian coast without a fuel stop.
The slender hulls that make a power catamaran stable also make it efficient: less wetted surface per tonne of displacement than a comparable monohull means lower fuel burn at a given speed, and a shallower draft opens anchorages a deep-keeled boat can't reach. The S60 layers a 22-panel, 9 kW solar array and 32 kW generator on top of that efficiency, running air-conditioning and house systems quietly at anchor without the generator cycling constantly — a detail that matters more, day to day, than the top speed on the spec sheet.
Range and fuel efficiency are also where what is a power catamaran's design pays off most concretely: two slender hulls moving through the water present far less wetted surface, at a given displacement, than one wide monohull — so the same tank of fuel simply carries the boat further, all else being equal.
Power catamaran vs sailing catamaran, in brief
The two share a hull form but differ in everything above the bridgedeck. A sailing catamaran keeps the mast, boom and running rigging that a power catamaran deletes entirely — gaining low-fuel passages under wind power, at the cost of rig maintenance, sail handling and reduced deck space. Since so much Mediterranean cruising is short powered hops between anchorages rather than long trade-wind passages, many buyers find the power catamaran the more honest match for how they actually cruise. Our full power catamaran vs sailing catamaran comparison weighs both sides in detail if you are still deciding between the two — but if your question is simply what is a power catamaran versus its sailing cousin, the one-line answer is: the same twin-hull stability and space, minus the rig, plus a schedule you control rather than the wind.
What is a power catamaran going to cost? The numbers
Prices vary widely by builder and length, but a real, published example grounds the range better than an industry average. The table below sets out the OceanWalker S60's specification — the only figures here that are not builder-published are marked as typical for the class.
| Specification | OceanWalker S60 |
|---|---|
| LOA / beam | 18.87 m (60 ft) / 8.38 m (27'6") |
| Guest accommodation | 4 en-suite cabins + 2 crew berths |
| Headroom / flybridge | 6'11" / 500+ sq ft |
| Propulsion | 2 × Volvo Penta D6-440 diesel (880 hp) |
| Top speed / range | 18 knots / ~1,500 nm |
| Solar / generator | 22 panels, 9 kW / 32 kW |
| Price | €3.2M, all options included |
| Availability | Available now — Mediterranean demonstrator |
Related models scale the same design up or down: the larger OceanWalker X62 and the more compact OceanWalker X53 apply the same twin-hull, no-rig logic at different lengths, so the space and stability arguments above hold across the range. See the full specification page for every model side by side.
Who a power catamaran is actually for
A power catamaran suits an owner whose real cruising pattern is coastal and social: short hops between anchorages, guests aboard who are not experienced sailors, a flybridge used as often as the saloon, and a schedule that answers to a calendar rather than the wind. It particularly rewards owners who want to run the boat themselves — the twin-throttle handling that makes docking easy shorthanded also removes the need for crew experienced in sail trim.
It suits less well an owner whose plan genuinely includes long, wind-powered ocean passages, where a sailing catamaran's fuel-free range under sail is the point rather than a compromise. If you are weighing what is a power catamaran best used for against your own cruising ground, the honest exercise is simply totting up last season's actual hops rather than the passages you picture in the abstract. For most Mediterranean and coastal owners, though, the honest answer to what is a power catamaran is: the boat built for the way they were already going to use it. See the Multihulls World archive for independent coverage of how the category has grown, and if you want to see one in person, the annual Cannes Yachting Festival Guide is the single best place to walk several side by side.
What is a power catamaran? Buyer FAQ
What is a power catamaran, in one sentence?
A power catamaran is a twin-hulled motor yacht — two hulls joined by a wide bridgedeck, driven by engines with no sailing rig — that trades a monohull's single deep hull for beam-driven space and stability.
Is a power catamaran more stable than a monohull?
Generally yes. Two hulls set wide apart resist rolling far more than a single hull balanced on ballast, giving a level ride at anchor and underway that most buyers notice immediately compared with a monohull of similar length.
How much space does a power catamaran have compared with a monohull?
Considerably more for the same length, because volume comes from beam rather than depth. The OceanWalker S60's 8.38 m beam produces four en-suite cabins and a 500+ sq ft flybridge that a 60-foot monohull cannot match.
How fast does a power catamaran go, and how far?
It varies by build, but the OceanWalker S60 runs twin Volvo Penta D6-440 diesels to an 18-knot top speed with roughly 1,500 nm of range — enough for most Mediterranean passages without refuelling.
Is a power catamaran harder to dock than a monohull?
No — usually easier. Twin engines set far apart in separate hulls let the helmsman work the throttles against each other for precise low-speed control, which is why the type is known for confident shorthanded docking.
See the OceanWalker Models in person
The clearest way to understand what a power catamaran offers is to stand on one — the Mediterranean demonstrator is available for private viewing now.
Book a Private Viewing