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Tirla has been owned by Fae and John since the summer of 1997. She was originally launched by the builder/owner in 1993. She is based on the James Wharram Pahi 42 catamaran design known as the "Captain Cook" class. However, several significant changes were made to the base design. Tirla does not have the typical Wharram flexible beam system and overall at 13.62m is a metre longer, has a deeper draft and at 7m is also wider. She was built in
Faversham, Kent, England.
Full safety equipment and extra gear is carried, such as solar panels, watermaker and a sailing dinghy. Radar, radio transmitters,
Navtex, GPS and other electronics aid navigation. There is also a sextant, charts and lead line! Additional equipment includes six anchors. The twin Yamaha engines and additional tankage give the boat long range under power. When sailing these engines are raised clear so there is no propeller drag in the water. With full advantage being made of all sail combinations she can keep up a high average speed.
She has twin Wharram Tiki rig masts and the hulls are double diagonal marine ply and epoxy covered with glass
fibre. She is further strengthened by carbon fibre at stress points. Build weight was 5.25 tons but with full cruising equipment and all stores aboard weighs some 7 tons; very much lighter and potentially much faster than the monohull equivalent. Her ideal environment is amongst the warm trade winds and islands of the world's oceans and also the Mediterranean.
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