Sir Richard Branson just set a new record in the British Virgin Islands with his 105-ft. carbon fibre catamaran Necker Belle.

While manning the helm Branson had the distinction of captaining the largest multihull to ever participate in a BVI regatta.

While he didn’t actually win the race, he added one more honorific to his considerable list and got some great advertising for the stylish craft, which charters out at $100,000 per week. Originally built in 2003 it was relaunched in 2009.

A London tour guide company has revealed plans to build the city’s largest sightseeing boat ahead of the 2012 Olympics.

City Cruises, which runs river sightseeing tours in the British, said May 27 that it would launch its new 600-passenger vessel on the River Thames by Spring 2012, describing it as a “next generation leisure and tourism vessel.”

The design, which will be London’s largest scheduled sightseeing vessel, is being built at a cost of £4 million and will ferry passengers between popular tourist spots such as Parliament, the Tower of London and Maritime Greenwich.

For the ultimate luxury hotel experience nowadays, it seems travelers need to pick a property with a catamaran.

The Four Seasons Resort Bora Bora has just launched Navigator, its custom-built catamaran which will be on hand to take guests wherever they choose in the sparkling blue seas of Bora Bora island.

The boat, which is the largest capacity craft on the French Polynesian island, boasts a full bar, dining tables, rooftop sundeck, bathroom and showers, along with a dual sound system on both decks for late night parties.

The sixth edition of the Prestigious Asia Boating Awards will be hosted this year at the Hong Kong Gold Coast Yacht and Country Club.

For the first time ever, the Asia Boating Awards, the top event of the yachting calendar in Asia, will be staged in Hong Kong at the upcoming Hong Kong Gold Coast Boat Show on May 8, 2010.

Organised by Asia-Pacific Boating and China Boating magazines, the awards recognise the best yachts globally as well as top Asia-based yacht builders, Asia-based regattas, Asian marinas and yacht clubs, best maritime city in Asia and Asia’s top yachting personality.

This is the sixth edition of the Asia Boating Awards, having being staged in Singapore and Bangkok with the last two editions taking place in Shanghai.

What its makers say is the world’s biggest boat powered by the sun was unveiled in Germany on Thursday ahead of its planned circumnavigation of the globe in 2011 — the first under solar power.

“This is a unique feeling to see in front of me today a boat which I so often dreamed about,” said Raphael Domjan, the boat’s future skipper.

The sleek, 31- by 15-metre (100 by 50 foot) catamaran, known as PlanetSolar, 35 metres by 23 metres when flaps at the stern and the sides are included, will be “silent and clean,” say its makers, also called PlanetSolar.

The vessel will be able to achieve a top speed of around 15 knots, (25 kilometres per hour), and can accommodate 50 people on its round-the-world voyage.

The 70 Sunreef Power Sea Bass is making its U.S. debut this month at the Miami Yacht and Brokerage Show.

This luxury-latent catamaran was made for high seas with its spacious interiors and plentiful deck space.

In-house teams handled both the naval architecture and interior designs of the70-foot yacht.