Aspen Power Catamarans Boats

Founded on Innovation

Aspen Power Catamarans was founded by Larry Graf, who began engineering and design of the Aspen hull form in the fall of 2007 and built the first prototype in a shop alongside his house in the spring of 2008. Graf had previously founded Glacier Bay Catamarans, which grew to the world's largest power catamaran builder with 358 boats per year, 205 employees, and 35 dealers in 7 countries. The first Aspen prototype completed sea trials in September 2008, and the first production model — the C90 — debuted at the Seattle Boat Show in January 2010, where eight boats were pre-sold. In 2011, the C90 won the Innovation of the Year award at the Miami International Boat Show. Aspen is a family business: Larry Graf serves as Founder, Designer and Lead Engineer alongside his son Nick (Sales Director), son Steve (Financial Controller), and son-in-law Brandon (Service Manager).

The Patented Proa Hull

Aspen's defining technology is a patented Power Proa hull design (Patent No. US 8,109,221 B2). The two hulls, while identical in profile, are very different in plan view — one is 35% thinner than the other. The non-symmetrical hulls are shaped to compensate for the offset thrust and torque of a single engine, so the boat runs straight. With only one engine, shaft, prop, and keel, appendage drag is reduced by 20%. The combination of the new hull design and reduced appendage drag increases efficiency by as much as 70% over monohulls. In October 2014, the hull design was judged the best multihull in the world in the 30- to 39-foot category by the AIM Marine Group Editors. Aspen has demonstrated the design's capabilities in expeditions including a non-stop circumnavigation of Vancouver Island (557 miles in 47 hours consuming 267 gallons of diesel, winning the Pacific Challenge) and a 10,502-mile tour from the Pacific Northwest to Annapolis, Maryland averaging 19.5 mph and 1.48 mpg.

Built in Burlington, Washington

Aspen builds its models in a modern 70,000 square foot campus in Burlington, Washington with a team of more than 44 skilled boat builders. The company moved to its own Burlington facilities in 2015 and has since expanded with additional assembly, lamination, and service buildings. In 2018 Aspen received the Family Business Award for Innovation from Seattle Business Magazine, and in 2019 the Manufacturer of the Year Award in the small company category from the same publication.