Yacht Charley 2 Is One Cool—and Big—Cat

At 184 feet (56 meters), the yacht Charley 2 has made history in Australia. She is the largest power catamaran to take shape in the country. Simultaneously, she’s the second-largest superyacht from Echo Yachts, which has a shipyard in Western Australia.

With a volume of 1,041 gross tons, the massive megayacht is the second power cat that her owner tapped Echo Yachts to construct, too. The shadow vessel Charley saw delivery in 2017, a 151-footer (46-meter) with a 701-gross-ton volume. Despite her smaller stature, she set a precedent as well. Specifically, she became the largest resin-infused fiberglass vessel built in Australia. The owner didn’t come to Echo Yachts again just to build bigger, however. The One2Three Naval Architects studio, for instance, custom designed her hull and calculated ways to make it more efficient. This in turn permitted using smaller engines than what Charley had. The build and design teams further recommended aluminum construction.

Of course, just as her predecessor focused on support service and toting adventure-oriented toys, the yacht Charley 2 is similarly focused. Among her land and sea toys, the owner has two Pioner Multi landing craft, for example. A few RIBs are aboard as well, as are PWCs and a custom 39-foot (12-meter) catamaran tender. This tender comes outfitted with sonar equipment to support wreck-finding and -diving missions. The cat tender further launches and retrieves via a platform aft. Plus, the platform lends an extra benefit for the crew. It makes it easier to access more of her aluminum surface for cleaning and maintenance.

With a decompression chamber and a touch-and-go helipad, the yacht Charley 2 takes advantage of her larger stance. She has a bigger captain’s cabin and extra crew cabins compared to her predecessor. In total, 19 crew berths are aboard. She also has an extra double guest stateroom, bringing passenger head count to 18. There’s more refrigerated and frozen stowage space, along with more general stowage. In fact, what Echo Yachts calls tunnel storerooms sit in each hull, with access to each foredeck.

On the technical side, notably, the yacht has 15 kW of solar panels. Echo Yachts says these panels should provide a third of the yacht’s electrical demands during the daytime. Electric bow thrusters (versus hydraulic) and other electric deck gear, meanwhile, should operate more quietly. And, although not tech-oriented in the same sense, the yacht Charley 2 has a doggie relief area.

For perspective, the project got started three years ago. Sea trials should begin in early September. Delivery takes place before the end of the year.

Echo Yachts echomarinegroup.com

One2Three Naval Architects one2three.com.au