About Aspen

Aspen builds 28′ sleek, fuel efficient cruisers, and has tested design plans for a 36′ and 54′.  The Aspen has a modern Proa Hull design which ensures one of a kind speed and fuel efficiency. The power-proa hull has 35% more interior square footage than mono hull designs providing more spacious living areas. The efficiencies of their new hull includes 70% less drag than comparable designs and is equipped with solar panels capable of recharging batteries at dock or anchor. The 28′, C90 Cruiser, burns 4-4.5 gallons per hour at cruise speeds of 18-20 mph. The Aspen Power Catamaran is the latest in innovation, fuel economy and green boating.

Designed by Larry Graf and his engineering team with more than 30 years of combined catamaran design and cat boating experience, you can be confident the construction details are just right. We understand your goal is a relaxing, adventuresome, comfortable boating experience. In many ways, the Aspen Power Cat is the perfect balance for the environment; comfort and efficiency.

Benefits of Owning an Aspen:

• Unparalleled Fuel Economy – The 28′ prototype weighing in at 6,500 lbs. cruises comfortably at 16 knots, burning a stingy 3 gallons per hour. This level of fuel economy is in a class by itself!
• Smooth Ride in Any Seas at Any Speed – Aspen’s hull was designed with great care to insure a soft ride at trawler speeds and at full cruise, eliminating the low speed tunnel thump often seen in older designs.
• Lots of Space With a Beamy Dual Hull Design – Every Aspen boat has the room of a mono-hull, 20% longer.
• Single Engine Affordability – All the advantages of a catamarans with a proa design that uses just one, very efficient, diesel inboard. It is the best of all worlds. The performance and ride of a catamaran at the price of a mono-hull.
• Exceptional Resale Value – A critical consideration, Aspen’s fuel efficiency combined with premium quality insures a strong resale market for your boat, especially in a world with uncertain fuel prices.

Technology and Goals

Award winning Innovative boat designs that genuinely enhance the boating experience are rare.

Aspen Power Catamarans is that rare breed of cat.  This new series combines the revolutionary efficiencies of a patent pending hull with the latest technology and design amenities to make boating more enjoyable and affordable.

At Aspen their goal is to maximize your precious moments on the water by building the world’s most efficient and earth-friendly boat that is also attractive, comfortable and easy to handle. With more than 30 years combined experience, their design team has pushed through old paradigms to develop the next generation of boating.

After considering many designs, the team settled on a completely new hull design and drive system that can be described as a “single diesel power proa.” While identical in profile, the hulls are very different in plain view, with one hull 35 percent thininer than the other. Additionally, the design utilizes only one engine, shaft, prop and keel. The design’s non-symmetrical or asymmetrical hulls are shaped to compensate for the engine torque. Since both forces are proportional to speed and thrust, the boat runs straight. We call this the SeaGlider system.

The benefits of the SeaGlider technology are significant. While the thinner proa hull is only 35 percent thinner, its actual drag is approximately 50 percent less. This fluid dynamic relationship results in “a little thinner equals a lot less energy.” This hull also has none of the typical, twin engine, appendage drag seen on most boats. Drive gear such as the keel, shaft, rudder and prop typically add another 20 percent drag.

Beyond this, the single engine design saves dramatically on machinery weight and complexity, which in turn saves on the required structure component sizes, necessary fuel and the corresponding weight. All these savings reduce the boat’s weight by approximately 40 percent. The result of less weight is much less drag.

Aspen offers boaters a perfect haven due to its balance of environmental and performance efficiencies in combination with its roomy layout and exceptional comfort. The aspen hull and its many benefits are all rooted in solid engineering principles and creative innovation.

Design Concept

The Aspen hull design begins with a very efficient semi-displacement, high-speed starboard drive hull that has significantly more beam than a standard catamaran. This extra beam allows for a spacious engine and machinery installation and easy access for service. The spacious drive hull also gives expansive stateroom accommodations.

The port side proa hull is 35 percent finer than the drive hull and has no underwater drive or rudder appendage drag. Both hull shapes are asymmetric and tailored to efficiently balance the drive forces, allowing for straight tracking and a balanced helm in all sea conditions. The net effect of this combination is a dramatic leap forward for power catamaran technology in both space and efficiency.

If you have owned a modern, twin-engine, power cat and run it on one engine, you have been surprised at its high level of performance, tracking and handling. The Aspen hull with its single engine tailored shape exceeds the performance of a twin engine cat. Aspen’s patent pending proa design tailors the hull and drive for ideal performance with a modern, electronically, fuel-injected Cummins 380 HP diesel engine.

Construction Features and Goals

The Aspen series is the culmination of a passionate design team’s dreams for the ideal cruising boat. We boat year round, constantly looking for the next amazing anchorage, cove, or remote waterfront village. For everyone’s boating pleasure, we are pushing the innovation envelope for convenience, comfort and a thoughtful use of resources.

CONSTRUCTION DETAIL/ SAFETY

Quality boating starts with careful attention to the following areas:

Electrical

The Aspen Power Cats solidly engineered electrical system is the backbone of the product. Key to its success is the use of  tinned marine copper wire, supported by a full array of other topnotch materials and equipment such as yacht grade, Blue Seas Systems 12v and 120v panels, breakers, and hubs. Beyond the core system, we invest exclusively in   premium, internationally recognized products and vendors  for electrical components to insure their long-term availability and service.

Machinery Installations, Engines, Generators & More

At Aspen, we start with the belief that our special breed of owners will use their boats aggressively for many years and that they can expect superb performance with minimal service. To insure this level of satisfaction, we use only the finest products in our systems. For example, we use engine mounts that are 3/8” plate welded both sides and stringers made of  high density glass reinforced XL10 foam, which is 2.5” thick and wrapped with .25” of solid glass. Our exhaust systems are 6” with exceptionally quiet water-lift, muffler systems, the prop shafts are 2” oversized, we use marine grade stainless steel and the marine air conditioning and the 1/4″ thick U.S. aluminum fuel tanks are standard. Respectively, the Aspen 39′ and 48′ use 5Kw and 8Kw Westerbeke generators.

Composite Construction

The composites utilized in an Aspen Power Cat are a thoughtful balance of modern high technology Vinyl and Isothalic DCPD resins, S- glass, Kevlar, and cross-linked PVC cores of thickness that vary from 1/4″ to 2.1/2″. When handled properly, this class of materials will build high strength, lightweight hulls and decks that should last more than a century. While 100 years may exceed your personal expectations, the quality and stability of the construction materials insure your boat’s lasting strength, aesthetics and resale value, making the true cost of ownership among the lowest in the industry.

Kevlar Reinforced Bows: Aspen’s bows include an unusual extra degree of reinforcing behind the 6 alternating layers of matt and roving doubling over at the bow from each hull side we include a layer of Kevlar. This material is exceptionally strong and on severe impact will not fracture. In actual high speed collisions with immovable objects in past boats with a similar construction, we have found the Kevlar binds the core laminates in a way that makes them stack and work as one unit. Without the Kevlar, they tend to open on severe impacts.

Bow Collision Foam Compartment: The bows of each hull have the first 3 feet boxed in with glass wrapped Coosa composite board. These are then foam filled 6 inches above the waterline. In a severe impact, this area maybe damaged, but with its’ construction the boats watertight integrity can stay intact.

Double Bottom Hulls: Because our owners tend to go on long trips exploring remote areas, we have included a double bottom construction method. After the hulls normal lamination procedure and thickness development, we go back in and add two layers of closed cell cross-linked Dinincell foam; one 1/2″ thick, the second 3/4″ thick. Each wrapped in glass and resin. When complete the hull bottom impact area is approximately 2 inches Thick! There are small areas in each watertight compartment where we have created bilge pump wells 8″x 8″ so the pumps are able to completely evacuate the bilge, but 92% of our Aspen hull bottom is protected.

6 Water Tight Compartments: Each Aspen hull includes three water tight sections, each with its own automatic 550 gph bilge pump. Should an event occur that the double bottom is breached, the design limits the area that can fill with water. The pumps are also typically mounted on aluminum bilge pump brackets/sticks that have the attachment point up near the service access rather than down deep in the hull. The engine room includes a 7th 1100 gph bilge pump with its’ own power, float switch and warning horn at the dash.