Faidapiu

Schionning Arrow 1500

First of its kind

For several years we searched for the perfect retirement cruiser. We wanted a catamaran that could sail – so light with long waterline – with a personalised layout for the two of us – so proper bedroom and kitchen – and with simple sail handling yet trilling to sail.

It became Faida+ (Faidapiu) the first Arrow 1500 launched in November 2020. After a year in the north of Europe and two years of light wind cruising in the Mediterranean, it was time to stretch her legs and cross the Atlantic.

Full tour of Faidapiu

Faidapiu is an Arrow 1500 designed by Schionning. A "performance" catamaran with its 49 feet (14,95m) waterline weighing less than 9 tons, narrow hulls and daggerboards. We like sailing, in particular with little wind. It is what Mediterranean Fabio is used to and it is the best way not to break things. The forces on a catamaran are really quite impressive so much better to cruise in light winds.

It is a flat sandwich panel build, made of closed cell foam with glass fibre on either side and infused with epoxy. The panels and the boat were built by Balticat in Arnis, Germany, in 2017-2020. The 'furniture', electricity, hardware and in fact everything that isn't white was done by us. As was the white canoe boom, based on Mick's design from Sail Surf Roam.

Advantages of customisation

The advantage in having a boat built is that you decide exactly what you want, where you want it and what brand it should be. We set out - and think to have achieved - the simplest possible cruising catamaran for two. Some layout decisions raise eyebrows, such as the absence of a steering wheel and the (only) head (=bathroom) at saloon level. Yet the reason behind it is simple: we are just the two of us, so the autopilot always steers and a gravity toilet doesn't get blocked (in theory...). Other "oddities" are the absence of gas for cooking and of a separate generator. Our conservative electricity consumption (we do not have air conditioning either) is supplied by the solar panels on the roof and on the front deck. For heating, needed in Europe's winter, we have a fisherman's diesel stove in the saloon.

A lean concept

Our concept was to keep it simple and light. So no lines are brought aft, the anchor chain is small diameter but high strength, the light-switches are on the lamps themselves, the sails are laminate, instrumentation is kept to a minimum, steering is direct. Nothing was added without considering weight vs. cost and benefit vs. complexity. Needless to say we were not always in complete agreement 😉

Faidapiu was built at BaltiCat in Arnis (Germany) from July 2017 till December 2020. We were living on 650km distance in Warmond (The Netherlands) but managed to visit her often!

In October 2021 we move to Arnis for two months to help get the boat ready for transport to The Netherlands.

At Christmas 2020 we motor Faidapiu from Arnis (Germany) to IJmuiden (The Netherlands). We motor because the boat was far from finished and one of the things that misses is SAILS!

The trip went through the Kiel Canal before crossing the North Sea.

Once Faidapiu is in IJmuiden (The Netherlands) we start with the endless list of jobs needed to get her sailing. We do this is IJmuiden in the winter of 2021. In spring 2022 we sail from The Netherlands to Rosignano Solvay (Italy). There we do the rest of the jobs and finally we set out and sail the 29 March 2023.

After three years of cruising we have accumulated quite some gadgets!