For Sale, an ORMA 60, $26,000

Who Bought Kevin Costner’s Trimaran?

It’s the kind of advert that doesn’t exactly go unnoticed. For a start, a 60-foot trimaran on offer (even when it’s dismantled into its individual parts like a jigsaw puzzle) for just $26,000, is not something you see every day. And when you discover that the multihull in question was one of the props for the film Waterworld starring Kevin Costner, then it’s worth telling the story in our Golden Oldies section...

The sailing trimaran in the film Waterworld was capable of reaching 15 knots. ©VPLP/DR

A fake floating atoll simulates a post-apocalyptic situation where the planet would be all but covered by the oceans. ©VPLP/DR

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Published 27/09/2024

By Emmanuel van Deth

Subscribers Only

Issue: 198

Published: nov. / dec. 2024

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Did you know that the men who started Lagoon also built the two trimarans used in the famous film Waterworld? An incredible project which involved delivering two 60 footers to the other side of the world in less than six months...

“For me, the Waterworld adventure began with an initial encounter with Jeanneau America in January 1993,” recalls Bruno Belmont, Product Development Manager for the Bénéteau Group. Kevin Costner’s agency was looking for information on Pierre 1er, Florence Arthaud’s trimaran built in 1990 by Jeanneau Techniques Avancées and winner of the Route du Rhum that same year. VPLP, the trimaran’s architects, had also been approached by Universal Pictures. The film production company wanted to start shooting a big budget film - Waterworld. The challenge was to design two versions of the same trimaran: “The first would be used for the sailing shots on the water and would need to reach speeds of around 15 knots; the second, which would be used to shoot the onboard scenes, particularly those requiring special effects, would need to be equipped with a number of gadgets, including a telescopic mast for 360-degree shots”, according to VPLP.

At the beginning of August 1993, while the entire Jeanneau management team was on vacation, Bruno signed a particularly challenging - but lucrative - contract for the delivery of the two platforms. The two trimarans, each 60 feet long, were built using the Pierre 1er, molds. The deadlines were very tight, and all the components had to be transported in a Boeing 747-400 Cargo to Hawaii, where the film was shot, between February and March 1994. There, the two boats were “weathered 500 years” by the film’s team of painters while the fake atoll took shape... Bruno was then called in to take the helm of the two trimarans throughout the filming - the JTA director’s daily routine consisted of a catamaran-springboard for water-skiers towed by an aircraft and a whole host of jet-skis. This ‘nautical’ shoot proved to be extremely trying for everyone involved, and the weather was no exception, with a hurricane destroying the set for the final scene. It took a further 6 months of filming and an extra $75 million on top of the original $100 million to complete this blockbuster, which was a moderate success - but at least recouped its costs.

The purpose-built sailing trimaran was then bought by an American owner, H.L. Enloe, who raced her on numerous occasions. It was then lost and found 30 years after the film’s release, in Naples, Florida, in the Gulf of Mexico. The advert published in May offered the multihull, completely dismantled, for $26,000; the seller seems to have struck a deal since then... but who is the buyer of this legendary trimaran? Get in touch so that we can share the rest of this incredible story!