Has a powercat powerhouse switched teams? Aquila’s founders say they’ve always been sailors at heart. BoatU.S. Magazine checked out the builder’s first sailboat.

It’s not every day that a powerboat builder tries its hand at sailboats – usually, it goes the other way around. But Nick Harvey, chief revenue officer of Aquila, told BoatU.S. Magazine that sailboats have always been part of the plan.

Founded in 2012 by Lex Raas, Aquila is best known for its large powercats frequently found among tropical charter fleets. But despite going all-in on powerboats for the past 15 years, the Raas family have always been sailors – in fact, Lex was a founding member of Leopard catamarans, alongside South African boatbuilders John Robertson and Jerry Caine. The Aquila 50 Sail shows what happens when sailing, powerboating, and charter expertise come together to create something that feels genuinely novel.

Much thought was also put into hangout spaces and ease of movement around the boat. Aquila integrated a bar seating area into the indoor/outdoor transition zone between the saloon and aft dining area, a signature design feature from its powercats. The hardtop-covered flybridge – which is a sectioned-off perch where only the skipper can sit on many catamarans – is instead an expansive hangout for the whole family. Still, the helm itself and all sail controls are out of guests’ way, and the sightlines are among the best I’ve found on a cat this size. A clever slope plus two steps allows for direct transit from the flybridge to the foredeck without walking all the way around the side decks.

Design and construction are smart throughout, with little wasted space. Most notably, there’s no wood in the hull: both hull and deck are 100% foam-cored, a technique that is common on powerboats and some high-performance sailboats, but still rare on cruising sailboats. The foam is impregnated with vinylester resin, which is stronger and creates a tighter bond with the fiberglass than polyester resin. The bulkheads, also foam-cored, are hefty, full-beam, and molded in one piece.

Aquila has two more sailboat models in the works, a 44 and a 65, with the 44 set to premier in Annapolis this fall and the 65 sometime in 2027.