If you're still dreaming about your last multihull vaca-tion, then that's partly down to this man. Despite thefact that he has never been front page news in thesailing world, he has played a vital rôle in the hugegrowth in the number of multihulls that now sail in the world's most beautiful waters. FromSouth Africa to France and from the States to Asia, he has worked alongside some of thesailing world's most influential people. Here is a modest look back at the unusual careerpath of a man whose outlook has always been firmly turned towards the future.

He arrives a few minuteslate to the lobby of theMiami Beach Holiday

Inn, having already called toapologise. A tireless worker,despite the fact that it is only8.30am, this is already LexRaas's second interview of the

day. It's the middle of the Yachtand Brokerage Show, yet hestill manages to spend overtwo hours with us lookingback over his incrediblecareer. This Johannesburger'ssleek physique hides a steelyresolve to take on anything.

When international anti-Apartheid sanctions againstSouth Africa started to bite in1984/85, he saw his burgeo-ning business as officialBénéteau importer nosedivefrom 40 boats to zero. It wasthen that he made a hugedecision: he sold up, and withhis wife and children, movedto Saint-Gilles-Croix-de-Vie inFrance. He was counting on apromise made by Bénéteauboss François Chalain to takehim on at the company'sheadquarters. First stop wasthe Netherlands where hepicked up his Dutch passport,the nationality of his parents,and the only way that a subjectof a country that quite rightlyhad pariah status could worklegally in Europe. FrançoisChalain was as good as hisword, and it's from here thatLex would experience theground-breaking advancesmade with the Océanis range:the stairs in the transom brea-king with the closed backboards of the First range ofboats, fixed cockpit tableswhich, despite the horrifiedreaction of the traditionalyachting set, he managed topush through, and which arenow standard on all boats as akey element of onboard com-

fort.It was Lex Raas who was sentto the States in the late 1980sin the wake of the Osmosiscrisis, to ensure a comprehen-sive after-sales service. It wasthere that Lex encounteredAmerican-style "customerservice," in other words: eve-rything revolves around theclient. Although catamaransat that time were only a tinypercentage of the charterfleets, Lex was convinced thatthey were the future of yach-ting, but that they weren't pro-perly adapted for their inten-ded use. Now at Moorings, hehired a cat, and effectivelymetaphysically deconstructedit in an effort to understandhow an everyday sailor woulduse it. The mainsail track inthe cockpit? Too dangerous. Itshould be moved further backonto an arch, well out of thechildren's way. What aboutthose tiny engines advocatedby the hardcore sailors? Theywere replaced by much morepowerful models, capable oftaking you where you want,when you want, even when thewind isn't blowing in the rightdirection. Why should the boatrenter spend his time goingfrom transom to bridge tocockpit? Lex decided that for

PROFILE

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Text and photo : François Trégouët

AN UNASSUMING

VISIONARY

LEXRAAS

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leisure clients there shouldn't be morethan two steps between the sea wherethey are swimming and a cold beer! Hesuggested a walk around with directaccess to the cockpit. The perpetual scep-tics were convinced that it wasn't possible.Lex proved the contrary by using a reinfor-ced rear beam. Next up, instead of leavingthe galley down in the hull, he brought itup into the main deck of the salon area.And when he wasn't reinventing thewheel, Lex could still find the time to lookfor inspiration in the work of others, with aview to taking their concepts to anotherlevel. For example, the roof steps inspiredby Kronos de Wauquiez: on the Moorings

boats they doubled up as a sun-shade aswell as seats. The Christopher White des-igned front cockpit was also adapted forcharter use. These are all elements thatare typical of today's Leopard range, yetmost of them were already to be found onthe first Moorings 4500 in 1997. This was afour cabin/four bathroom boat that madepeople sit up, with American CruisingWorld magazine immediately crowning it"Charter Boat Of The Year!" It wasn't thatlong ago, but it constituted a mini-revolu-tion which influenced, and is still influen-cing the design of many multihulls. Itmerely proved that the charter marketdeserved its own dedicated boat.Lex Raas can boast numerous qualitiesthat are crucial in business: intuition;good judgement and an ability to adaptproduct design "on the hoof." He also hasno problem with getting personally invol-ved. When the Moorings board initiallyrefused his catamaran idea, he turned upthe next day and suggested that he resign.He left that meeting with an agreement tobuild 17 boats! As there was no "traditio-nal" shipyard that was prepared to backhim, he turned to his old South Africanmates, John Robertson and Jerry Caineand their eponymous yard, and their loyalassociate Ellie Perch. Admittedly, theyhad never built a catamaran, nor did theyhave a suitable shipyard, but that wasn'tgoing to stop them, and compared to themonumental tasks being taken on byothers in the young Rainbow Nation, thescale of their challenge must have see-med laughable. Time proved that theywere right. Today they are the world'snumber two shipyard, and Lex Raasplayed his part, even though he doesn'twork for the company any more. It's downto the fact that he has no equal when it

comes to second-guessing what sailorswant before they even know it themselves!In the same way that our brains take deci-sions 5 seconds before we are aware ofthem, Lex Raas is 5 years ahead of all ofus holiday skippers when it comes to kno-wing what we will be asking for furtherdown the line.... In 2010 after 10 years running Mooringsand Sunsail, he left the group, taking ayear's sabbatical to travel around theworld with his family looking for inspira-tion. Being on holiday is no reason for ourgray matter to take a break, and Lex'sbrain would appear to be constantly atwork. The result of his deliberations, was

that motor-powered catamarans werewhere the next big advances would bemade. Once again faced with scepticismfrom the market leaders, he didn't give upand endeavoured to get the best people onboard. That meant J&J in Europe for thedesign, Sino Eagle Group in Asia for theproduction, and for distribution in theStates, the biggest market, Marine Max.And so, the Aquila range was born. Today,after only two years, two models arealready available, and there's a fabulousfactory, built from scratch, capable of pro-ducing 75' catamarans.Despite being serious when talking boats,intense when putting things into perspec-tive, and precise when relating importantdates and names from his career and pri-vate life, his face lights up as soon as hisfamily is mentioned. There's no hiding hispride in his 4 children and 9 grandchil-dren who he feels lucky to have close tohim in Florida. Just like Lex, who took partin his first regata aged just 4 (!), and sailedanything he could get his hands on, espe-cially if it had at least two hulls, they areall water sports fans. But when he openshis own photo album, rather than showyou pictures of them, it's his other pas-sion that he wants you to see. His secretgarden. What makes him tick. Outside ofhis professional sphere yet tantalisinglyclose: Polynesian pirogues. His enviablephysical condition must be partly down tothe club he runs and sails with here inFlorida. But you can't keep a good mandown! Just like his new 45' pirogue for 6rowers.. Made from sculpted carbon, itwill weigh less than 60 kilos. And ofcourse, it will sport his company's logo,because you are what you are, and here inthe States, even at the weekend you keepyour corporate hat on!

It's a rare combination of South Africandetermination, American business acu-men and a European sailing culture whichhelps Lex Raas to develop his great ideas.Focus groups and surveys can tell youwhat your clients want now, but none ofthem can tell you how this will have evol-ved in five years. Like Steve Jobs, LexRaas has that rare gift of being able toanticipate developments rather than fol-low them. Thankfully Lex Raas's egodoesn't get the better of him, and he is atpains to assert the good fortune that hasallowed him to work alongside people forwhom he has the greatest respect:Annette Roux; François Chalain, ChristianEstovici; the Xiong family... Not only arethey great bosses but also wonderfulassociates that he has managed to workwith and to whom he is eternally grateful.Having revolutionised the charter sector,and therefore simultaneously changed theaccepted framework of the yachting mar-ket with sailing catamarans, is Lex goingto pull it off again with motorised catama-rans? It would seem from the most recentindiscretions from the market leader andother actors in the business that theiranalyses are finally catching up with hisinstinct. Lex Raas is still ahead of thegame. He may not wish to look into hismultihull crystal ball for us, but he justlets slip, with a hint of mischief, that he iscurrently working on new projects whichare very different to anything that's cur-rently being made. For Lex, the future isnow, and we are all eager to see what itbrings!

35

HE HAS NO EQUAL WHEN IT COMES TO SECOND-GUESSING

WHAT SAILORS WANT BEFORE THEY EVEN KNOW

IT THEMSELVES!

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