100 Years of Sailing Obsession

Invented in the early 1900s in the area around Barcelona, the patí vela – a wooden, hand-made catamaran without a rudder – is experiencing a renaissance of renewed interest. Their adrenaline-pumping high speeds, need to use bodyweight for maneuvering and adherence to traditional craft makes the patí an obsession for the tight-knit group of “addicts” who build and sail them.

Rafel Figuerola, owner and lead boatbuilder of the Club Patí Vela Barcelona, says the result of arduous months in the workshop is a boat personalized to a specific sailor, a boat with “soul.”