Owner’s Manual

WHEN I FIRST BEGAN imagining my own catamaran, I knew almost nothing about naval architecture.

Looking back, I believe that may have been one of my greatest advantages. I was not trying to improve an existing boat. I was simply trying to create the yacht I would have wanted to find myself.

I grew up in a small village in Alsace in France, far from the sea. My professional career began in the electrical industry, and after several years in Saudi Arabia managing large-scale projects, I returned to France with the ambition of building my own company.

A few years later, I decided to develop that business in Poland. Many of my friends did not understand the decision. They would tell me there was nothing there. I saw it differently. When there is nothing, there is also space to build, create and grow.

Sailing entered my life almost by accident. A friend invited me to sail a Hobie Cat north of Warsaw, and it was a revelation. I caught the sailing bug. That passion soon led me to acquire my first catamarans and, together with my son Nicolas, to establish a charter business in Madagascar.

The more time I spent on board, the more obvious something became. Catamarans were spacious, safe, and perfectly suited to family cruising. Yet they did not offer the level of refinement I expected from a true luxury yacht.

I searched for that ideal catamaran. I never found it. So, I decided to build it.

When I met the naval architect who would help me develop the project, his first question was simple: "What size?"

I suggested a different approach. Instead of starting with dimensions, why not begin with the way owners would actually live on board? We would imagine the spaces, the light, the comfort and the volumes first. The yacht would then take shape around that vision.

This is how the concept of the first Sunreef 74 with a flybridge was born. It was built at the historic shipyards of Gdańsk and at that time, it looked like nothing else on the market. When the yacht was launched, I had the feeling that we had created a new category of yacht.

The hardest part, however, would be to convince everyone else. And the Monaco Yacht Show was the perfect place to introduce this new philosophy.

For a young company like Sunreef, exhibiting in Monaco was a major milestone. The show brought together yacht owners, industry professionals and the most established names in international yachting. We wanted to be there. We wanted to show the world what we could build.

So we left Gdańsk by sea, bound for Monaco. The journey quickly became a marathon.

Our priority was simply to keep moving. The fuel stops looked more like Formula 1 pit stops than leisurely yacht excursions: arrive, refuel, carry out a few checks and leave again.

Every hour counted.

Everything went relatively smoothly until Gibraltar. Then the weather deteriorated. We encountered four- to five-meter waves. The yacht and the crew were seriously tested, but turning back was not an option.

We had to reach Monaco.

And we did, after fifteen days at sea, and one hour before the show opened.

We were proud. We had built a yacht that was different, based on our own vision of luxury catamaran design, and we were convinced that visitors would immediately understand its potential.

The reality was more complicated.

Nobody wanted to come on board.

Back then luxury was strongly associated with the monohull. A catamaran seemed unusual, even confusing. And there was another obstacle: very few visitors could imagine that a luxury yacht could be built in Poland.

That first Monaco Yacht Show in 2003 taught me two things: we should never try to hide where we came from and that an excellent product is not enough.

You can build one of the best yachts in the world, but if nobody knows your brand, your story or what you stand for, convincing those first clients is extremely difficult.

We therefore had to build two things simultaneously.

Yachts. And a brand.

And there was one person who could embody this: Lech Wałęsa. The former president of Poland and Nobel Peace Prize Laureate had been an employee of the Gdańsk shipyards, and was one of the country's most internationally recognized figures.

I contacted him.

My idea was to transform our origins from a commercial weakness into a fundamental part of our identity and international communication. We began telling that story in different parts of the world.

Over the years, the perception of Sunreef and of Polish yacht building changed profoundly. Owners from around the world began coming to Gdańsk. The yachts became larger, more sophisticated and more ambitious. The company became increasingly international.

But the DNA remained the same: trying to do something different.

Luxury catamarans are now firmly part of the yachting landscape with owners looking for the same things: more space, more freedom and a different way of living at sea.

When I think back to that first Monaco Yacht Show, I do not remember the limited commercial results. For me, it was about finding our challenge.

You have to keep building.

You have to keep moving.

And, one day, the world catches up.

By Francis Lapp