Astus Boat Club grows racing culture with trailerable trimarans

The club that turns ownership into a racing pathway

Astus Boat Club is showing how a trailerable trimaran can do more than deliver speed. It can build a repeatable, low-friction route into multihull sailing, where ownership, racing, and cruising all feed the same community instead of pulling in different directions.

Founded in 2021 by Astus trimaran owners, the association has grown from a small circle of enthusiasts into a group of around 60 owners. Multihulls World had already put the number at more than 50 owners and supporters in 2024, and the latest figure confirms that the model keeps gaining traction. The new Trophy system reinforces that momentum by rewarding both participation and results in regattas open to multihulls rated under the Multi 2000 rule.

That detail matters. A club structure like this lowers the barrier to entry in a way a solo boat purchase often does not. The boat can live on a trailer, the costs are easier to spread, and the racing calendar becomes more accessible because the class is organized around actual participation, not just ownership.

Why the Astus formula works for club sailing

Astus Boats has built its trimarans around the idea that a multihull can be practical without losing its edge. The company describes the boats as suitable for both solo racing and family cruising, which is a rare combination in a market that often forces sailors to choose between performance and convenience.

The Astus 26.5 is the clearest example of that thinking. Released in July 2025, it is presented as the flagship of the range and as a cruising trimaran that remains transportable on a suitable trailer. Its telescopic floats, economical operation, and ability to be stored at home all point in the same direction: fewer marina dependencies, more freedom to move, and less overhead tied to ownership.

Astus Boats also frames the 26.5 as a step up in comfort for coastal cruising, not just a faster toy for short-course racing. In practice, that makes the boat a fit for sailors who want one platform that can cover club racing, weekend cruising, and the everyday logistics of keeping a boat manageable.

The boat at the center of the story

The design numbers help explain why the boat has become such a useful ambassador for the class. Multihulls World lists the Astus 26.5 at 7.90 metres overall length, 5.80 metres of beam, and 1.20 tonnes of displacement, with VPLP as naval architect.

Those dimensions sit in a sweet spot for trailerable multihull ownership. The boat is large enough to feel serious on the race course and comfortable for coastal sailing, yet still small enough to remain practical for owners who do not want to depend on a permanent berth. That balance is exactly what makes the club model compelling: the boat is accessible, but not limited.

Astus’s long-running collaboration with VPLP has also sharpened the formula. The partnership began with the Astus 16.5 in 2016, and the result has been a line that combines style, performance, and a clear emphasis on usable speed. For sailors looking at multihulls from the outside, that blend is often what makes the first purchase feel possible.

A demanding race that rewarded smart sailing

The club’s point comes into focus at the Golfe Morbihan Tour in Brittany, France, where the Astus presence was not just symbolic, it was competitive. Organized by the SRV, the race drew 63 entries overall and brought together a striking mix of classic rigs, foiling boards, monohulls, dinghies, and cruising multihulls.

The course itself demanded more than raw pace. The Golfe du Morbihan is known for complex currents, and this event was described as technically demanding because of strong flow, counter-currents near beaches, headlands, and rocks. Crews had to think about routing and timing, not just sail fast in a straight line. That kind of race rewards judgment, local awareness, and a boat that stays manageable when the tide starts to bite.

Within the cruising multihull category, six Astus boats lined up. The group included four Astus 20.5s, one older Astus 22, and the featured Astus 26.5. Aboard the 26.5 were Pierre Breban, the association president, Jean-Hubert Pommois, the shipyard head, and Jérôme at the helm.

The result underlined the class’s usefulness in real competition. Even with the course shortened because the easterly breeze was light, the crew still had an excellent outing and secured a podium finish. That is the kind of outcome that matters for a club fleet: the boats show up in numbers, they stay competitive across age and size, and they keep people coming back.

What the club model changes for multihull buyers

Astus Boat Club is not just a social circle around a brand. It is a working answer to the question many sailors ask before moving into multihulls: why buy alone when a club model can do so much more?

The answer is in the details that keep owners active. A trailerable trimaran cuts marina dependence, home storage helps control costs, and the club’s Trophy system gives regular racing a reason to continue beyond one big event. Add in a boat that can race hard one weekend and cruise easily the next, and the ownership proposition becomes much more realistic.

That is why the Astus story resonates beyond one regatta. A community of around 60 owners, a growing trophy structure, and a 26.5-foot-class trimaran that can be towed, launched, raced, and stored without drama all point to the same conclusion: the smartest way into multihulls may not be buying a boat in isolation, but buying into a fleet that keeps the boat moving and the racing alive.