Inside the Aquila Factory: Assembly, Quality Control & Global Delivery
The finale of our exclusive factory series. In Episode 4, every element we’ve explored across…
The finale of our exclusive factory series. In Episode 4, every element we’ve explored across this four-part tour — the R&D, the craftsmanship, the lamination — converges on the assembly line, where an Aquila catamaran finally becomes the finished boat you see on the water.
Catching up on the series?
Episode 1 — History, design philosophy & the R&D facility. Episode 2 — Parts warehouse, fabrication, woodworking & upholstery. Episode 3 — Gel coat, lamination & vacuum infusion.
As the exclusive distributor for Aquila Sailing Catamarans in North America, Mexico, and the Caribbean, The Catamaran Company is proud to close out this factory series with the most satisfying episode of all — the one where everything comes together.
Step onto the mezzanine level of the Sino Eagle Shipyard’s main assembly hall and the scale of Aquila’s operation hits you immediately. Aquila catamarans stretch as far as the eye can see — a full cross-section of the lineup at various stages of completion, including the new 50 Sail, representing the brand’s growing sailing catamaran range.
Three dedicated assembly lines run simultaneously: one for smaller power cats, one for larger power cats, and one specifically for the sailing catamaran range. The linear layout is deliberate — from the mezzanine, you can trace a single hull’s entire journey from raw structure at one end to finished, road-ready vessel at the other.
“This is my favourite bit. Welcome to the assembly line — where you get to see Aquilas as far as the eye can see.”
— Monty, Host, The Catamaran Company Factory Series
The first stages of the assembly line focus on structural integration. The stringer grid system — laid during the lamination phase — is now joined by the bonded bulkheads, which slot into the hull using a mortise-and-tenon inspired joinery system. Each bulkhead is notched precisely to fit, then laminated in place, creating a connection that is both mechanically interlocked and chemically bonded.
The result is a hull that resists twisting under load — a critical quality for catamarans, which by their nature experience torsional forces that monohulls do not. Anyone who has driven an Aquila through open ocean swells will recognise the benefit: low vibration, high rigidity, and the reassuring solidity of a vessel that feels engineered from the inside out.
The foil — connecting both hulls — adds a further structural dimension. It contributes rigidity as well as hydrodynamic lift, but integrating it into a catamaran hull is, as Elaine Raz puts it, not an easy feat. Aquila has been developing and refining its foil system longer than any other manufacturer in the segment, and the results — proven through extensive R&D testing — place them clearly ahead of the market.
“Adding a foil onto a power catamaran is not an easy feat. We failed a lot at it, but we’re very proud of where we are now — leading the market by far.”
— Alain Raas, Global Brand Director, Aquila
With the structural work complete, the hull moves into the MEP phase — mechanical, electrical, and plumbing. Fuel tanks, built in-house in Aquila’s fabrication shop, are fitted first. Electrical runs follow, then fireproofing walls and sound insulation batting. Plumbing comes next, and then engines are installed before the deck mold is set and capped onto the hull.
Every component at this stage is barcoded and scanned into Aquila’s MEES production management system as it is installed. This creates a live, timestamped record of what has been fitted, by whom, and when — giving the production team complete visibility over each build in real time. The system extends to the warehouse, the upholstery shop, the woodworking floor, and every other department — so nothing enters a hull without being tracked.
By keeping fuel tank fabrication, electrical assembly, and systems integration all in-house, Aquila avoids the delays and quality inconsistencies that can arise when these tasks are outsourced. It is the same philosophy that runs through every part of the shipyard: control the process, control the outcome.
As the hull progresses down the line, the transformation accelerates. Cabinetry and woodwork from the joinery shop are fitted out, followed by soft furnishings and upholstery from the fabrication building. Lighting, stereo systems, and the finer finishing details come last — the touches that shift a vessel from impressive engineering to somewhere you genuinely want to spend time.
For a yacht-line model, this entire process — from the very first gel coat application to the boat leaving the building — takes approximately three months. For a brand whose catamarans are entirely handmade, that timeline reflects not just efficiency but extraordinary coordination across every department in the shipyard.
“We incorporate a lot of automotive approach to what we do, but at the end of the day it’s important to remember: these boats are all handmade. For some, three months may sound like a lot of time. But in reality, when you’re hand building something, that’s actually a very quick process.”
— Alain Raas, Global Brand Director, Aquila
One of the standout features to appear during the final fit-out stage is Aquila’s patented tender crane system, now standard across the 42, 46, 50, and 54 Yacht models. Rather than mounting the crane visibly on the aft deck — cluttering the transom and creating an awkward retrieval process — Aquila’s engineers integrated it directly into the flybridge deck structure.
The crane booms out, lowers to the water, hooks onto the tender’s bridle, and lifts it cleanly aboard — without the operator needing to contend with waves, swell, or the timing challenges of a submerging platform. It is a solution born directly from real-world boating experience: the kind of frustration that only comes from having actually tried to retrieve a tender in a rolling anchorage.
It is also a clear example of what makes Aquila different. Features like this do not come from a design brief written at a desk — they come from a team of genuine boaters who use the product, identify problems, and engineer solutions that are cleaner, more practical, and more durable than what came before.
At the end of the assembly line, every Aquila catamaran undergoes a final quality control process before it leaves the building. Smaller and sportier models — from the 28 up to the 47 Machai — pass through an indoor rain simulation system, where water is poured over the entire boat to check for any leaks or ingress points. Larger yacht-line models go directly into the river alongside the shipyard for full water trials and quality checks.
It is a level of pre-delivery testing that relatively few manufacturers offer. Most have a test tank; fewer immerse the whole boat in spray. For Aquila, it is a non-negotiable step — because the confidence that comes from thorough testing is part of what an owner is buying when they choose the brand.
Behind the assembly line’s large screens, Aquila’s MEES production management system brings together all the barcode data collected across every department and every build stage. Each hull is represented by a completion percentage that updates in real time as workers scan each task. The production manager can see at a glance which slots are upcoming, which boats are on track, and exactly where each hull sits in the process.
That data flows directly to the sales team and through to the global dealer network. As Nick Harvey, Aquila’s sales director, explains: the last thing a dealer or customer wants is to discover a week before delivery that the build is running five or six weeks behind. The MEES system eliminates that uncertainty — giving everyone in the chain the same accurate, live picture of production, shipping, and delivery timelines.
“Having all these systems fully integrated gives everyone the reassurance that we are going to deliver that dream on time and as per the specifications required.”
— Nick Harvey, Sales Director, Aquila
Once a boat passes quality control, it leaves the building and is loaded onto a freighter bound for one of Aquila’s dealerships across the globe. With a manufacturing base in China, commercial operations in the US and Asia, and a growing presence in Europe, Aquila is a genuinely integrated international brand — not a local manufacturer with export ambitions, but a global company that happens to build its boats in one of the world’s finest shipyard facilities.
For Nick Harvey, the expansion into sailing catamarans adds a further dimension to that story. The global sailing catamaran market is — perhaps surprisingly — twice the size of the power catamaran market. Aquila’s entry into sailing opens conversations with existing dealers who have sailing backgrounds, and with new dealer partners around the world who want to join a brand that is, as Elaine Raz puts it, going from nobody to front of the pack in just over a decade.
“It’s been incredible to see Aquila from birth to where we are now — leading the charge in catamaran manufacturing. Going from nobody in 12, 13 years to now being front of the pack is just a testament to the team we’ve built.”
— Alain Raas, Global Brand Director, Aquila
Whether you are drawn to the power catamaran lineup or the new sailing range, if any model has caught your attention across this series, you can explore the full Aquila range on our website or speak directly with one of our specialists — we are here to help you find the right boat.
Thank you for following along across all four episodes. Subscribe to our YouTube channel for more factory tours, yacht walkthroughs, and catamaran content from around the world.
Ready to Find Your Aquila Catamaran?
As the exclusive distributor of Aquila Sailing Catamarans in North America, Mexico, and the Caribbean, we know this lineup inside out — because we’ve been inside the factory that builds it. Whether you’re dreaming of island hopping, extended cruising, or life aboard, our team is ready to help you find your boat.
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