Hands Supporters

Dolphin Catamarans

Jr. Pimenta (left) and
Philippe Pouvreau of Dolphin Catamarans

A strong, fast, and ocean-capable boat is central to the Hands goal of bringing

resources to out-of-the-way coastal communities, and Dolphin Catamarans, based in Aracaju, Brazil (about 900 nautical miles northeast of Rio de Janeiro) has built us a great vehicle. Jr. Pimenta, a lifelong sailor, started the family-owned Dolphin Catamarans with the dream of building a performance catamaran for long-distance sailing. Soon Jr. found Philippe Pouvreau, a French multihull yacht designer and builder, and together they've created the Dolphin 460. The boat features light-yet-strong fiberglass composite construction, a beautifully finished interior, and plenty of sail area for fast passages under sail. Jr. and Philippe have customized Hands Across the Sea with an interior layout and sailhandling features that serve the specialized needs of Hands. We looked at a lot of catamarans

for Hands, but the design of the Dolphin 460 — and especially the building skill and dedication to excellence of Jr. and Philippe — led us to start our Hands voyage in Brazil in mid-November, 2007. And of course, we've been keeping the Hands Log updated as we go!

The Multihull Company

Phillip Berman of The Multihull Company

The first boat we sailed across an ocean, a 28-footer named freelance, was small and of traditional design: one hull, a ballast keel, and limited interior space and cargo-carrying capability. With two hulls, twice the passagemaking speed, and six times the living and storage space, a catamaran seemed the

right choice for Hands.

Phillip Berman, president of The Multihull Company, has been instrumental in answering our many questions about catamarans and in guiding us to the right choice of an ocean-going catamaran and the equipment necessary for Hands. Phil is a former Hobie cat champion and author of numerous books on catamaran racing, and his years of sailing experience and knowledge of a wide range of boats have proven very valuable in helping us launch Hands Across the Sea.

North Sails

North Sails developed a high-aspect, selff-tacking Solent jib to make sailhandling easier and increase windward efficiency. The mainsail features a powerful roach.

Sails are crucial equipment for sailboats. We approached North Sails for Hands' sails because only North Sails has the leading

North Sails brought an unbeatable combination of experience and technology to designing the sails for Hands

sailmaking technology, 3DL™ molded sails, and we knew we'd find the industry's most experienced sail designers and sailmakers. Dan Neri at North Sails, a veteran cruising sailor and sailmaker, advised us on how to achieve a sail inventory that would be fast, allowing us to make ocean passages quickly, yet be durable and easy to handle. The large size of the sails on Hands Across the Sea means that making them as easy to handle as possible by our two-person crew is crucial. Thus Hands carries a self-tacking "Solent" jib, which is far easier to tack and to reef than a 150% genoa. The Solent jib's high-aspect profile is efficient for closehauled work, and the sail has a boom to make it a versatile

The mainsail and jib can be aggressively reduced in size; the smallest reef size is for gale conditions or heaving-to.

performer when reaching and when roller-reefed. The 777 square-foot full-batten mainsail, the boat's primary sail because it is used in all wind strengths and on all points of sail, has a substantial roach for passagemaking speed. For sailing in light air, North Sails designed a low-stretch, light-but-strong "screecher" (a large, overlapping genoa flown from a bowsprit) of Cuben Fiber™ carbon-fiber material; the sail features high-tech bonded (not sewn) seams. For long downwind passages we'll be flying our North Sails Code 2S Symmetric spinnaker, made of North's NorLon .75-ounce nylon. The spinnaker is controlled with a North carbon-fiber Snuffer.

The sails on Hands are truly state-of-the-art cruising sails — the right combination of performance, easy handling, and durability — three elements must be in balance when "Mom and Pop" are sailing a boat of this size across oceans. The folks at North Sails have supported our dream of Hands Across the Sea, giving generously of their expertise and technology to help speed us on our way.