The Aquila 50 Sail, the first sailcat from this popular powercat builder

I took a shuttle to and then stroll through the Sailor’s Cove location of the Miami International Boat Show to check out the docks devoted to the sailboats (and a few superyachts). My first impression was, woah!, big, charter optimized, luxury catamarans are almost the entire industry of new sailboat builds in sight. Among this burgeoning class of sailboats is the Aquila 50 Sail. This sailing cat attracted my interest as she is the very first sailboat ever built by the popular powercat manufacturer Aquila. The Hangzhou City, China-based boatbuilder has been around for decades and is most commonly associated with the Aquila Power Catamarans that range from smaller and sport models to luxury power yachts. Their power catamarans are also popular charter boats at Marine Max Vacations in Tortola, BVI. Can a power boat builder cut it in the sailboat world? After thinking about the market realities of today, do they even want to? In the case of Aquila the answer is yes and the Aquila 50 shows this in not just an afterthought. At first glance, my first impression was that Aquila knows the luxury sailing catamaran market to which they are entering very well. Everything about the Aquila Sail 50 is about luxury accommodations and ease of walking aboard, from the stepped sterns aft, throughout the massive cockpit and salon, to the generous foredeck and covered flybridge. Every space feels jumbo-sized and connected while also secure. From the entrance aft, one can go forward past a table, seating spaces, bar-style seating across from the galley, and more, into the palatial salon, and on to the bow. One can also go up and over the cabin through the flybridge both to the port and starboard via gentle steps that are as good as sidedecks even if they aren’t technically sidedecks.

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Once forward to the bow, one notices that the foredeck is huge with an almost “passion pit” style layout for padded lounging, or messing with the anchor. The builder claims this exterior foredeck is larger than other cats in this class and it sure seemed that way to me. On this particular hull, there were entrances belowdecks to a utility cabin in the port bow and a guest cabin in the starboard bow. The aforementioned salon is also accessible from the foredeck. Crew can also get around easily without scrambling. The hardtop flybridge may look a little boxy from afar, but onboard the commanding view is awesome. I’ve had to peek over or around the cabin house from the helm of several popular sailing catamarans and it is annoying no matter how nice a boat is—especially for a sailor who wants an easy line of sight to tell tales, and luffing canvas from the helm. On the Aquila 50 Sail, the skipper is positioned about the foresail tack and is nearly under the gooseneck like a center cockpit layout. The working lines all lead to the flybridge and while I didn’t get to sail the Aquila 50 Sail, I bet you feel like you’re in control. One can also keep an easy watch on crew and guests from this perch.

Like most luxury catamarans, the cabins and heads are held below within the hulls and are extremely nice: spacious with good headroom, private, and with a high level of finish. Aquila offers four, five, and six-berth layouts for this boat. It is powered by either a twin 50-horsepower Saildrive diesel engine package or twin 50-kW Deep Blue Torqueedo inboards with Hybrid Ocean DriveTM. The sailboat is rated to hold 30 people which makes it a good candidate for a chartering outfit.

There’s a lot more to say about the Aquila 50 Sail, but this is just a peek for now. Overall, I think the Aquila 50 Sail is a strong first showing from the power catamaran builder. Aquila also announced 44 Sail (2026) and 65 Sail (2027) builds incoming, so they are just getting started in the sailboat market. Keep an eye on these boats.