Sailing SV Delos

Yes, Brian and crew are building a fully custom aluminum catamaran and documenting every stage in an ongoing YouTube series that has run well past 70 episodes. The build covers structural welding, systems installation, and interior fit-out, giving fans an unusually transparent look at what it actually takes to construct a bluewater cruising catamaran from bare metal.

The original Delos is a Hallberg-Rassy 53, a Swedish-built offshore cruiser known for its heavy-weather capability and quality construction. The crew sailed her across multiple oceans over more than a decade, and she became one of the most recognizable vessels in the sailing YouTube world before the new catamaran build took center stage.

Brian Trautman is the captain and founder of the SV Delos channel and the constant presence throughout more than 13 years of ocean sailing content. He launched the project to document a circumnavigation and it grew into one of the largest dedicated sailing channels on YouTube, now also covering the full build of a custom catamaran.

According to their own Instagram bio, the crew has been living aboard and sailing for over 13 years, making Delos one of the longest continuously documented liveaboard sailing journeys on the internet. The channel began with blue-water passages and has evolved to include an ambitious new boat build while still raising a young child on the water.

Yes, Brian and Karin have a young child who is now part of the core crew, as reflected in their Instagram bio alongside the two adults. Raising a child while living aboard and simultaneously managing a major boat-building project has become one of the channel's most compelling ongoing storylines.

Delos is a small Greek island with deep mythological significance as the birthplace of Apollo and Artemis in ancient legend. Naming a bluewater sailboat after such a storied place fits the channel's spirit of exploration, reverence for the sea, and the idea of setting out on a journey that feels almost mythic in scale.

In a recent episode of their aluminum catamaran build series, the crew found themselves unexpectedly conducting a rescue mission — a reminder that even while focused on a land-based boatbuilding project, life near the water can demand urgent real-world action. The episode titled "We Didn't Expect a Rescue Mission" became one of the more attention-grabbing uploads in the build series.

Karin is Brian Trautman's partner and one of the three people the YouTube channel describes as the heart of the current journey — along with their young child. She is a regular presence in the catamaran build series and plays a central role in the family-life thread the channel weaves through its technical sailing and boatbuilding content.

Recent YouTube sponsors include AG1, NordVPN, BetterHelp, Incogni, and Saily. That blend of health supplements, internet privacy tools, mental wellness support, and eSIM connectivity products makes practical sense for a crew living permanently offshore and running a media operation remotely from a boat.

SV Delos is approaching one million YouTube subscribers, placing them firmly in the Macro creator tier — an exceptional reach for a niche sailing channel. Their engagement rate runs well above the travel and sailing category average, pointing to a deeply loyal core audience rather than passive viewers.