Echo Yachts ASC57 Yacht, Builder’s First Sailing Superyacht: World's Largest Sailing Superyacht Cat

UPDATE, OCTOBER 17, 2024: Construction on the Echo Yachts ASC57 yacht recently began in Australia.

Our original article has new details and new images. Read on below.

Echo/Dykstra 57M Sailing Catamaran, a.k.a. Echo Yachts ASC57 yacht

The Australian shipyard known for its power catamarans and trimarans is branching out into sailing superyachts. The Echo Yachts ASC57 yacht is no ordinary sailing yacht, either. She’ll be the largest sailing cat in the world upon delivery.

That delivery date is approximately another two to three years away. Echo Yachts is keeping the specifics close to the vest, however, along with a host of other details. It does say, though, that the 187-footer (57-meter) is entirely aluminum. The project further reunites the shipyard with One2Three Naval Architects, which has longstanding experience in multihulls. The studio is providing structural engineering and naval architecture. Echo Yachts and One2Three Naval Architects most recently joined forces for the yacht Charley 2, which splashed in 2023. She’s the world’s largest power catamaran, in fact, at 184 feet (56 meters) and a volume of 1,041 gross tons.

Bearing twin masts, specifically as DynaRigs from Southern Spars, the Echo Yachts ASC57 yacht is for an experienced sailor. The owner will cruise long range under sail, too. The DynaRig has proven itself over the years as an easy-to-use system. A single control panel handles all operations and allows deploying sails quicker than conventional ways. According to Echo Yachts, the Echo Yachts ASC57 yacht will carry nearly 18,000 square feet (1,660 square meters) of sails. In combination with lightweight aluminum construction and the catamaran hull, the system should make the yacht pretty efficient.

Lending more sailing-specific expertise, Dykstra Naval Architects is providing styling and collaborating with One2Three Naval Architects for naval architecture. Dykstra has a long record of designing large sailing superyachts, including the groundbreaking Black Pearl. (On a related note, Black Pearl employs the DynaRig system.) Notably, besides relying on the wind, the Echo Yachts ASC57 yacht project will incorporate a regenerative power system, with two shaft gensets and a battery bank. The system will handle a variety of electrical needs for silent sailing. Additionally, it will handle these needs when the main engines, with controllable-pitch propellers, are operating.

Mark Stothard, Echo Yachts’ owner and director, says, “This new superyacht will truly elevate the term ‘green superyacht design’” thanks to those technologies, her hull form, and her sailing capabilities.

The build and design teams pledge to release more information as the project progresses. For now, they say a helipad and abundant watertoys will be aboard, similar to Charley 2. She not coincidentally is a significant source of inspiration for this project.

Echo Yachts echomarinegroup.com

Dykstra Naval Architects dykstra-na.nl

One2Three Naval Architects one2three.com.au