Mahe 36: Buying a Mahe

[VisaView]

Hello,
I am to be in LaRochelle Oct. 24 to test sail Mahe 36 and tour the factory. I hope to take delivery in France late Spring. What question would you be interested in asking the factory and what are your thoughts about taking this boat across the Atlantic.
Bill at VisaView.com

[pguillemin]

We are the FP dealer for SE
We have a Mahe underway across the Atlantic right now;another one leaving soon
One boat went also to South Africa ( see post in same forum)
It is a great trip..if you have a chance go for it

[kev&jo]

Hi,

Just got back from a factory visit and a sea trail, which was fantastic.

Got to see some of the changes, which are being made to the production models.

The seat has been replaced, an additional hatch in the front window and a fuel gauge on the instrument panel, plus the new engine controls at the helm. All good improvements.

Wont be long before they start to build ours...!

Kev&Jo

[jean1146]

I really do not like the new seat,I don't think it is going to be very confortable....nice to see a fuel gage and a hatch.The engine control are really hard to shift,I can see why they changed them.
JC.

[Tellie]

I own an older Athena and would advise before purchasing a Mahe36 to check one or two older FPs out. I worked a delivery of a new Mahe36. Though the boat shows well I have some real concerns about it's value as anything more than a coastal crusier without some expensive modifications and add ons. I hate to sound like a negative person but when I saw the previous post about the helm seat I had to comment. FP has taken a few short cuts on quality. We were 30 miles off St'Augustine when the chair ripped off it's post sending me tumbling backwards with a thud and bending the rear stanchions and lifelines. 3/4" sheet metel screws in what amounts to OSB is a short cut that will have you cussing. I spent the next few days doing my own survey from bow to stern. In comparrision even though the advertised price of 199k is inticing the old adage holds true, you get what you pay for. I do like the layout of the salon over the Athena and space provisions are a great improvement in the Mahe over older FPs. Being an electrician the wiring and attention to detail and neatness shows a great lack professionalism and care. The Mahe can be a great Cat and I believe done right FP could and should give Lagoon a serious run for the money. But FP really needs to pay closer attention to detail on this Cat. It's far cheaper to add another 20k to the asking price and do it right at the factory than to expect a new owner to pay three times that much to bring it up to snuff.

[Wayward Wind]

Went on a sea trial of the first generation Mahe 36 over the weekend in Pittwater, Sydney. Coincidentally, Seawind was having its regatta there so it gave us an opportunity to "compare" the Mahe 36 against Seawind's SW1000 33 footer and their SW1160 38 footer.

I am no racer, and am very much a green horn, but the Mahe 36 easily kept pace with the Seawinds and their exotic sails. Maybe, the fact that Steve, the guy trimming our sails, is a 16-year Sydney to Hobart veteran, had something to do with it. But brief, as that was, and in the light and variable wind conditions, I am very impressed with the Mahe 36, and feel very privileged to have sailed it with someone of Steve's experience & knowledge. Amazing what a bit of advice can do to the boat's speed. I am certainly looking forward to doing a delivery with Steve.

One negative: the port headsail line rubs against the "rough" cockpit roof when winched. This boat is six months old, but already the line was starting to show signs of wear. Steve suggests adding a jammer which can serve 2 purposes, hold the line when changing lines on the winch, and help keep the port line off the surface of the roof.

John

[2Hulls]

John - as an objective observer, I would expect the Mahe to be quicker than either of those Seawind boats, especially in light air, based solely on their advertised displacements and sail area:

SW 1000: 10,000 lbs; 662 ft2
Mahe: 10,000 lbs; 829 ft2
SW 1160 15,400 lbs; ???

(Data from the respective web sites.)

The data aside, manufacturers are suspected to be, shall we say, "less than precise" when advertising their model's displacements. For example, when I pressed Manta about the surprisingly low displacement of their 42, I eventually found out it was for the unrigged hull only. I sincerely hope FP is underreporting the Mahe's displacement. If not............ make your own conclusions.

Dave

[Eleven]

Thanks for the up-date and photo's.
Did you make enough notes to check out the performance against the published Polar Diagram? Always interesting. Always worth taking a handheld gps to get actual speed and course as demo boats are not always calibrated carefully (or otherwise).
The double helm seat was on the boat at Southampton UK 2007 boat show and looked like a left over from a power boat. I'm planning on a for and aft (scooter style) with backrest as being alot more comfortable and less tiring in bad weather. Any comments?
Also, with a competent auto-pilot the seat is rarely used anyway. And it obstructs access to the above decks so should it be relocateable?
House is now on the market but UK house prices are taking a downturn with prices just starting to drop off after a major Mortgage company had problems rolling over it's borrowing. 'Northern Rock'. It's not on the nav charts but it is a hazard to Wanabesomuch sailors.
Good luck and fair winds.
Trev

[Pat Ross]

Originally Posted by 2Hulls

John - as an objective observer, I would expect the Mahe to be quicker than either of those Seawind boats, especially in light air, based solely on their advertised displacements and sail area:

SW 1000: 10,000 lbs; 662 ft2
Mahe: 10,000 lbs; 829 ft2
SW 1160 15,400 lbs; ???

(Data from the respective web sites.)

The data aside, manufacturers are suspected to be, shall we say, "less than precise" when advertising their model's displacements. For example, when I pressed Manta about the surprisingly low displacement of their 42, I eventually found out it was for the unrigged hull only. I sincerely hope FP is underreporting the Mahe's displacement. If not............ make your own conclusions.

Dave

At the Multihull Dynamics website we have tried getting Owners to report to us their actual weight when hauling their boats. Our intention was to develop a second real world database. Currently the database is dependent on what is reported by the designer, builder or magazine adds. We have offered to do a complete stability and performance analysis free for the information as well as graph their boat against several Trend Lines for the entire multihull database. But we cannot get any takers. Any ideas appreciated. An accurate database is really needed by those seeking boats.

Pat Ross

[jzk]

I saw the Mahe 36 at the Fort Lauderdale Boat show, and I must admit that she shows pretty well. That being said, I have no idea about her construction etc.

One thing to consider is that there is quite a wide variety of used boats available that I am surprised that anyone would ever buy a new boat. For the cost of a bare bones Mahe, you can get a loaded Venezia, etc. or a St Francis 44.

[colemj]

Originally Posted by Pat Ross

At the Multihull Dynamics website we have tried getting Owners to report to us their actual weight when hauling their boats. Our intention was to develop a second real world database. Currently the database is dependent on what is reported by the designer, builder or magazine adds. We have offered to do a complete stability and performance analysis free for the information as well as graph their boat against several Trend Lines for the entire multihull database. But we cannot get any takers. Any ideas appreciated. An accurate database is really needed by those seeking boats.

Pat Ross

Hey Pat,

I didn't know about this. I communicated with you once that your Manta 40 numbers were incorrect, but you didn't solicit any info on the boat from me. I know the actual weight of mine with full tanks and a honking heavy dinghy in the davits, along with the exact weight of the fuel, water and dinghy if you want to exclude them. And if you wait a couple more weeks, I will get yet another measurement from the same lift that can be used to judge the precision of the lift scale. One thing about real numbers, though, is that they will reflect different levels of outfitting and supplies. I think mine is about average in that respect.

So how much are these data worth?

Mark

[Eleven]

Multihull Database

The following are for sale in Europe and on my wish list so no enquiries please until sale agreed. Or try MultihullWorld Ltd. or search Prout Catamarans

These should make a pretty sound base line for your database. Prouts are narrow in total beam and (ex MD RU) reckons a 10% taller mast would bring them close to modern performance. As standard they are extremely safe boats. Skippers are another matter. They have been run onto reefs at full sailing speed, they have been raced as bare boats (it was eventually capsized) and are now all over the world so there is no place they won't go. To my knowledge non have been 'lost'. Are there any derelict Prouts anywhere? Have there been any serious GRP problems with them?
The data is extracted from the brokers sales literature so the weights are from the current owners, presumably from crane lifts not as new data, and cannot be guaranteed to be right but why would they not be rightish. Can't give any details of load status at time of lift though.
Anyway it's a start and where Prout's go, others follow.

Design:PROUT 38
NEW PROUT 38.
This is a new catamaran - never used (apparently based on 2004 Prout38?).
Interior fit out by professional.
Length: 11.60 M / 38.06 Ft
Beam: 5.30 M / 17.39 Ft
Draft: 1.00 M / 3.28 Ft
Displacement: 6.48 Tonnes
Berths: 6
Structure: GRP
Designer: Prout
Builder: Prout/Professional
Rig/Sails Sloop
Sail Area: 69.00 SqM / 742.90 SqFt
Mainsail 25.68sqm fully battened
Genoa 43.79 on PROFURL furling
-------------------------------
Prout SNOWGOOSE 37 Complete for a family long term cruising. 1989
Length: 11.30 M / 37.08 Ft Beam: 4.95 M / 16.24 Ft
Draft: 0.90 M / 2.95 Ft Displacement: 5.11 Tonnes
Structure: GRP Designer: Prout
Builder: Prout Catamarans
Rig Cutter Sail Area: 60.00 SqM / 646.00 SqFt
Sails: Mainsail 18sqm Genoa 32sqm Asymmetric Spinnaker 100sqm
------------------------------
Prout SNOWGOOSE 37 ELITE
1987
11.09 M / 36.39 Ft
4.90 M / 16.08 Ft
0.86 M / 2.82 Ft
7 berth
GRP
Prout
Rig: Bermudan Cutter
Sail Area: 64.90 SqM / 698.75 SqFt JECKELLS
Mainsail 18.5sqm (1998) with slab reefing.
JECKELLS Jib 7.8sqm (1987)
Genoa 38.6sqm (1998) on LEIFURL furling + spare (1987)
Cruising chute 120sqm
---------------------------
No Polar data available but it will be my priority to establish what is capable of with tired sails and so on as a base for future changes and to eveluate coppercoat hull treatment, rigging changes and so on.
Trev

[Pat Ross]

Hi Mark,

Sorry I did not pursue this with you before. On the website under the Owners section is the request for data. We have a checklist for inventory of the vessel to address the very issue you bring up, different vessels equipped differently. We ask for independent varification of the data.

As far as the value I think this could be the most valuable information an owner or buyer could have. The more owners of each vessel type reportng the data the more valuable the real world database becomes.

What we will do for the contributor/owner is do a Custom Mutihull Analysis for their vessel which involves graphing that specific unique vessel against the trend line of that multihull type for Bruce Number, SA/D, Base Speed, Texel Rating, Stability Speed and the Stability Index. We will also include that specific boat in our database by vessel name. We will include a years Membership to the website along with 5 Comparions and 5 Custom Evaluations.

The designer is doing their best to report the planned boat weight and payload, Displacement. The builder is following the building specifications, the broker is selling the product as he is informed. It would be nice to measure the consistent end result. I suspect if such a real world database were available it would be invaluable to the multihull industry and owners.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by Pat Ross

I suspect if such a real world database were available it would be invaluable to the multihull industry and owners.

It might sink a few too.

[VisaView]

Hello JC
I have a Mahe on order and have recently come back from La Rochelle [great place]
I understand you had some autopilot problems, could you share your experience and lessons learned in order for me to avoid a similar problem.
Sincerely,
Bill Fitzgerald
VisaView.com