Celebrating our issue #200!

The Story, The People
In 1985, two sailing enthusiasts and an investor set themselves a challenge: to publish a magazine specifically about multihulls. 40 years and 200 issues later, the story of Multihulls World - and so that of Multicoques Mag - is being retold.
All aboard, Cap’tain! From left to right, the current Multihulls World team: Julie (Digital Manager), Maria (Sales Manager), Emmanuel, (Editor in Chief), and Gwen (Marketing Manager).
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Emmanuel van Deth
Publié le 30/01/2025
Par Emmanuel van Deth
Numéro : 200
Parution : Mar. / May. 2025
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Multihulls World #200
The summer of 1984. Two members of France’s Union Nationale des Multicoques (National Multihulls association) were writing the association’s latest newsletter. André Manchon was the owner of a Tornado, and Gilles Abeloos of a Victress 40 - Piver design. They we’re almost done, when Gilles suggested to André that they ought to set up a more professional publication, along the lines of the British magazine Multihulls International, or the American Multihulls. The project started to take shape: an agreement was reached with UNM to take on the title Multicoques Magazine, and the pair were supported by an investor, Jean Gravel. The adventure could begin. In May-June 1985, Number 0 was produced in André’s kitchen, in his bungalow in Deuil-la-Barre, near Paris. It was sent to the members of the UNM, to Gilles’ clients in foreign magazines, to sports catamaran associations, to potential advertisers, to boat-builders... The young team received a few subscription orders and a few advertising contracts. The next thing was to get down to business and get started on issue number one. The problem: neither André nor Gilles had the slightest experience in producing a magazine, its publishing, its distribution, and so on. Faced with this (significant) challenge, the pair called on a nautical photojournalist from the SIPA agency, Gilles Klein. He showed them how to get going, helping set up the layout and content. Number 1, with one of his photos of Formule

TAG on the cover, was also created in André’s kitchen, using scissors and glue sticks. Following an agreement with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry as a business start-up, André found an office to rent in Cergy-Pontoise, where could benefit from a shared secretary, a photocopier... all the essentials. Several issues would be published from this new address. Gilles Klein, of course, but also Christian Février, Erik Lerouge, François Salle, Jean-Luc de Moras, Philippe de Gorostarzu, Charles Chiodi (Multihulls), Jack Heming (Multihull International), Dick Newick and Derek Kelsall all took part in the launch of those early editions. Those first issues of Multicoques Mag featured racing, beach-cat sailing and cruising. We discovered the presentation of the Bénéteau Blue 2 and the Catana 40. Boat tests – the Bourbon and Catana 40 - started in #2 with the journalists making their first tacks and gybes as boat testers. Ever since, the magazine has closely followed the development of today’s biggest boat-builders, practically all of which were born in the 1980s. For the next edition, at the beginning of 1986, the editorial staff proposed a “Boat Show Special” edition to coincide with the Paris Boat Show, known as “Le Nautic”, until its demise in 2022. This special issue was to become our famous Buyer’s Guide, now published every December.

Jean-Christophe Guillaumin

22 Years at the Helm of Multihulls World!

Jean-Christophe Guillaumin, a media professional, took over the helm of Multihulls World and Multicoques Mag in 1997. A salt-water adventure, with a watch that was to last more than 20 years.
“Back In 1996, Corinne Consani and I were in the West Indies, running the magazine Créola. My own project was to set off with my family aboard a multihull. On monohulls, I get as sick as a dog! The plan was to go for two or three years. I was a subscriber to the magazine, but suddenly I wasn’t receiving it any more... In 1997, I bought the two titles, Multicoques Mag and Multihulls World. My idea was to produce the magazine that I wanted to read. How to set off with your family, the choice of multihulls, their equipment... most of the articles I ordered and published were the answers to my own questions. At the start, the editorial line was ocean racing, sport catamarans and cruising. At the time, the market for cruising multihulls was still pretty small – there were 5 at the Cannes Boat Show, compared to 60 today, and you’d see the same ratio in any anchorage. My aim was to find an economic model with these three themes, to widen the readership and build bridges. Bit by bit, the world of sport catamarans was becoming more specialized, more professional, and so we concentrated on cruising – Multihulls World and Multicoques Mag became the medium for multihull cruising. We arrived at the right time - it all exploded at the beginning of the 2000s. Builders became more professional, as did we, with the advent of digital media. Up until 2008, we were experiencing year-on year increases of 20%. More readers, more reports, more photos; everything that dealt with multihulls advanced. The high point was the creation of the International Multihull Show, with which we have had a very strong link since the first edition. But the real stroke of genius in the history of the magazine was the English-language version, and we owe that to André Manchon.”

Philippe Echelle

Multihull Tester from 1998 to 2020

Passionate about everything that goes fast: skiing, cars, and of course multihulls, Philippe tested almost 200 new boats for Multihulls World until his retirement in 2020.
“My first boat test for Multihulls World was in 1998. Jean-Christophe called me to suggest as a journalist that I should check out a small 9-meter (28’) Wharram catamaran: a featherweight at 680 kg (1,500 lbs) on the water, which we pushed up to

22 knots. In the end, he offered me to write the story and take the pictures - I packed them up and sent them off to him in a shoebox... I did a second test in 1999, for the Switch 55. And then one thing has led to another: to date, I’ve done nearly 200 multihull tests and 400 articles in all. I’ve had the chance to follow the evolution of multihull dynamics - even though this was already underway, with the historical players already present. It was the golden age in the development of multihulls, especially for French boat builders. For a long time, I questioned the concept of the nautical industry, but today we are there. We can also note progress in design: before, there were just two options... Between racing boats and the marginal multihulls, I had the chance to mix very varied worlds. For me, life starts at 20 knots. Following a delivery trip on Lejaby Rasurel which included an hour spent at 20 knots, I stopped racing on monohulls! After that, it was wonderful to discover the world of cruising. Rather than spending 100 days sailing, I preferred to sail 100 days on 100 different multihulls. I never ask around before doing a test, I never read anything. I appreciate more than anything the discovery, and I’ve never gotten tired of it. I learned a lot in the shipyards, from the architects, I learned to work on multihulls. A wealth of experience. During all these years, I’ve been able to see the conquest of reliability. Today, multihulls hold their own, even when the going gets tough. Part of the reason is the increase in size. Previously, discomfort was the norm: you’d end a week’s cruise with bruises and band-aids everywhere. Today, you can serve up 10 meals in less than an hour, shower, warm up, and sail at the speed of a racing multihull from 20 years ago. Not on every model, of course, but 400 miles a day under autopilot, it’s a revolution! I’m not a fan of electronics - for me it cuts off contact with the sea, and I’m all for letting go - except for the watermaker and the autopilot!”
Test report on the Tiki 28 which appeared in MW18, <br/>Philippe Echelle's first boat review for Multihulls World.
Test report on the Tiki 28 which appeared in MW18,
Philippe Echelle's first boat review for Multihulls World.

Emmanuel van Deth

Editor-in-Chief in the Digital Age

At the helm of Multihulls World since 2018, Emmanuel is truly passionate about multihulls... and a relentless player in this digital transition era!
“I signed my first editorial in Multihulls World #164, in January 2019. Just 6 years ago, but that’s an eternity in the world of the press! Just think, in less than a decade, all our long-held certainties of “print media” have been swept away. First of all, our paper magazine was overtaken by digital. This first change had been well anticipated by the previous team, as the digital versions of Multihulls World have been in operation for 25 years. My first editorial action was to give priority to boat tests - there have always been those, of course, but the magazine didn’t exhaust the possibilities. In some issues - such as #171 - no fewer than 7 boat tests were published! Our network of journalists is now operational in the USA, Australia and France. In fact, in 6 years, we have published over 200 tests - our average has risen from 10 to just over 30 test reports a year. The special issues we’ve launched are part of this dynamic. At the same time, all the old tests that hadn’t been digitized have now been scanned. As a result, all 600 multihull tests that we’ve published over the past 40 years are now available! My second project was to focus on video. Most of our articles are now accompanied by a quality video, and our social media enables us to share our content with an ever-expanding audience. However, there’s no question of abandoning your historic magazine: thanks to our widespread QRCode system, it’s more connected than ever!”

Gwen Dorning

The “Swiss-Army Knife” of the Magazine since 2018

As a Franco-American, Gwen is the perfect interface to represent our international magazine. With her finger on the pulse of the latest trends, she also has a mastery of the business: she’s our indispensable Marketing and Sales Manager. Gwen is also a jack-of-all-trades: content creation, design, video - she can do it all!
“Multihulls World and I go back over 13 years now... but I used to be on the other side. For almost 10 years, the magazine was my favorite medium for communicating with our catamaran buyers. Then one day, after an interlude managing flotillas in Croatia, the phone rang. The former directors of Multihulls World, who were almost like adoptive parents to me, asked me to take over. I was flattered, touched and genuinely intrigued by the challenge ahead. A new team, a new modus operandi, an approach to the customer that was identical yet unknown to me... I was now their source of information, the driving force to make their dream come true.

So, after a few team adjustments, restructuring of tasks and work tools, we set off on a wild adventure: that of giving the magazine a facelift, without losing its essence or the loyalty of our readers. One of the most important points was to take over customer service myself: there’s nothing nicer than having your questions answered immediately! But it also enabled me to recognize the magazine’s strengths, and its weaknesses, and adjustaccordingly. Then, another major step, the switch to direct sales, whether it’s our loyal or occasional readers, everyone receives their magazine at home. No more paper waste (we’re now saving 72 tons of paper a year), a lower magazine price and higher quality: what more could you ask for? And in the same vein, we’ve also brought out a Forever Green Special Edition in response to today’s changing world and the explosion of more environmentally-friendly Green products and models over the last 5 years. So we’re keeping the momentum going, and hope to satisfy your cruising and multihull desires for many years to come!”

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MM233 - octobre-novembre 2025

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