Custom Boat forms Chinese joint venture for power catamarans over 60 feet

A client request in China has turned into Custom Boat’s clearest move yet into large power catamarans. Mauro Corvisieri traveled there to meet the needs of an owner who had already commissioned a C.Boat 27 SC, and that visit grew into technical consulting, then into a deeper partnership with a Chinese shipyard, and now into a joint venture for a new line of power cats over 60 feet.

The trigger was practical, not speculative. Corvisieri said the Chinese yard stood out for its fiberglass work and furniture installation quality, two yard-floor details that matter long after launch. Custom Boat contributed on cabin soundproofing, electrical system layout, inspection-friendly assembly methods, and aesthetic touches intended to give the hull a stronger Italian identity. In a segment where buyers live with noise, service access, and build quality every day, those are the details that shape the ownership experience.

The move also fits Custom Boat’s own history of selective, high-touch production. Corvisieri says the C.Boat brand was born in 2004 and later became Custom Boat Monaco as the business internationalized. He has said the company built and sold just seven boats from 27 to 37 meters over the last 14 years, a reminder that this has never been a volume-first yard. Company and dealer listings describe Custom Boat as a Monaco-based builder of custom steel and aluminum superyachts, while C-Tender has produced open yachts from 40 to 60 feet since 2017.

That makes the catamaran step less of a pivot than an extension. A new power-cat range over 60 feet would give Custom Boat a larger multihull platform without abandoning the bespoke DNA that has defined the brand since the early C.Boat years. It also places the company closer to a part of the market where buyers are asking for more space, more range, and more efficient hull forms, but still expect a highly individualized finish.

China matters here for more than one reason. It is the place where the relationship began, but it is also becoming a signal of where larger power-cat growth is headed. Oceanwalker says it is already building the 19th hull of its S60 power catamaran and expects another 50 to 60 units over the next five years. Granocean has also shown that fully custom larger cats can come out of Chinese yards, including a 32-meter concept revealed in 2023. For Custom Boat, the joint venture suggests that the next wave of big power-cat development may come from exactly this kind of cross-border pairing: Italian design language, Chinese production depth, and a client relationship that opened the door.