Mahe 36: Buying a Mahe

[LarryW]

Scot

The new FP dealer in florida is Florida Yacht Brokers Group. I have Paul Robinson operations manager in Miami. 305-496-4837 Also Dave Sell /owner 610-751-4719 I hope this will help everybody. My hull #28. (KOKOMO)

Larry

[mkulla]

Hi all,

I was wondering if you would chime in and let me know whether or not this is a fair price I was quoted on a new Mahe 36 from the factory.

2 Cabin / 2 Head Version with following options:
Nav. package (wind/speed/depth, GPS, VHF radio)
Curtains in cabins
Double helmsman seat with back cushion
Cold-water deck shower
Dock lines & 4 fenders
Bag for halyard storage
Mainsail halyard
CST fully-battened mainsail w/ball-bearing luff cars
Genoa w/anti UV bands & roller-furling system
Lazy jacks
1000W electric anchor windlass
Lazy bag (mainsail cover)
Davits
Bimini (hard-top, w/canvas)
Holding tank
110-volt onboard electrical system, w/50’ shore-power cord
Upgrade to 2 x 30 HP Volvo diesel engines (from 2x20)
Antifouling paint (with epoxy undercoating)


The price for the above is about $266K.

Two questions for all of you.
1. Does this seem like a fair price?
2. Is it missing any options that you see as a must-have?

In addition it seems like it's going to cost another 25K at least to get it delivered to the West Coast (Seattle).

Thanks!

Marc

[Jef & Marin, Netherlands]

Hi,
I have no idea about US prices but I know that there is always a special offer in autumn where you get a lot of extra's at no or low cost.
Check the feauture list at
http://www.euro-cats.de/fileadmin/pd...E-Eurocats.pdf
of the German dealer. The extra options are included I think. You can compare the option list to the one of Fountaine Pajot. You'll have to brush up your German...

Regarding options: In my opinion:
- I would immediately exchange the engine horsepowers for an autopilot. I have only once required full power of the 2*20 HP's in 7200 miles. To go straight against 40 knots of wind between rocks for a few hundred meters. When motoring long distance I hardly ever go over 2000 RPM. We did 250 engine hours using 300 liters of fuel this year.
- Get 5 or better 6 jammers on the roof instead of the double one standard. 6 are required for: Mainsail halyard and sheet, 2 for standard reefing and one for the 3rd reef in your next mainsail, one for the main sail tensioner in the boom. Best is to get two triple jammers.
- Maybe get the standard bowsprit, without the spi or gennaker. The sail you'll probably buy cheaper yourself.
- The external shower can be economically modified from cold to hot+cold by ordering a Plastimo part plus some plumbing. Winter job, if you like that.
- Second water tank is very difficult to install later. Get it now if you think you'l need it. But fully filled up costs you half a knot, more even when tacking against short waves.
- If you sail nights: ask them to mount the new series 32 LED tricolour+anchor light from Aqua Signal instead of the normal series 40 light masthead light from Aqua Signal. Might be cheaper than installing later, should save money for the standard light. If you don't sail at night but only anchor, it's cheaper to get a LED replacement light for the anchorlight.
- Ask them to mount a standard Windex at the REAR side of the masthead, or do it yourself. It is a doable job.

If I did it again, I would ask the boat without any underwater paint, and put on 3-5 layers of anti-osmosis epoxy and 4-5 layers of coppercoat on it myself. This would save the 10-15 days of work to remove the standard epoxy and self-polishing antifouling.

And I would always save money by having it delivered in La Rochelle, and sailing it across yourself or by a skipper. It is hen advisable to go to La Rochelle yourself to inspect the boat on delivery, or get somebody who knows the ship well.

Hope this helps. Kind regards
Jef

[Jef & Marin, Netherlands]

Sorry, I just-re-read your question and I notice delivery to the west coast. That changes things..... That is a long trip.
There would be a lot of wear due to delivery. Even the sails. The lazy bag would be completely worn out. Ours is after 7200 nm.
Regards,
Jef

[le mistral]

Hi Chris,

I am the new and happy owner of a Mahé 36 and cannot express enough how pleased I am with it. I used to sail monohulls for more than 25 years, also doing a lot of racing. With the Mahé no racing at all - only having a good time at sea. I live in Norway close to the Swedish border at the West Coast there where I keep the boat in water all year around. Very nice coast-line.

I would appreciate info on how your friends handled the heavy weather in the Bay of Biscay - such info is always of interest. I have been out in 40 knots true wind with no problems - I am both surprised and impressed how she tackles both wind and sea.

Did you experience noices from the interior when sailing? In my boat that was annoying, but I found out how to deal with it. Let me know if you need information on this.

Tor

Originally Posted by Chris Bonnet

Hi My name is Chris Bonnet,
I have been the Fountaine Pajot Dealer in Southern Africa for the last 14 years, and have sold quite a few yachts over this period.
At present - we have a Mahe 36 which left La Rochelle, France for Cape Town, and will be at the Cape Town International Boat Show. I have made some interesting modifications to it.

1) To increase the ventilation up forward, I have placed an additional small hatch over the head and third cabin.

2) I have opened up the collision bulkhead so access can be made through the collision bulkhead for stowage -plus increase ventilation from the forward hatch.

3) You may be interested to know - the yacht was caught in a 60Knot gale on the Bay of Biscay - just short of La Caruna, with 12meter high waves. The tactic the skipper and crew adopted (they are sailing instructors of mine) worked very well indeed. - So if anyone would like any information on suvival on this sort of storm - please let me know.

The longest run so far - just North of the Equator was 190miles in 24 hrs. The boat - from Cape Town - after the Cape Boat Show will proceed to Durban and from there - to Mauritius where the owner lives, so we have quite an interesting long distance voyage - and possibly very rough sea conditions to complete.

I have been very impressed with this vessel - and hope to sell alot more to South African clients.

If there is anything I can do to help, or assist - or give any further information to, or photos of the alterations I have made, please`let me know.
Regards
Chris.

[jean1146]

Hello Tor.
Welcome to the Mahe very select club.....We are in Tampa Florida. Our boat is still noisy but much less than when it was new. You will find a lot of information in this thread.
JC.

[le mistral]

Hello Jean,

Thank's for responding. I am not familiar with this forum - what do you mean by ..."information in this thread"?

What I did with the noice was to take off the lists down at the floor in the cabins to get access to where the panels go into the inner-lining through a slot. The boat builder only filled some flexible sealing in a superficial way that made it look like they attended to the connection between the wooden panels and the plastic inner-lining. I enwidened the slot by means of a wedge-shaped wooden thing and put a flexible rubber sealing down into it which made the trick. My boat is pretty silent under sail and it is also a relief not to hear the squeaking noice when walking up and down the stairs.

By the way, did you ever hear about problems with the steering system?
Somebody told me it could be a problem, although I never experienced anything like that.

I used to work in the US and visited Tampa on several occasions. I really liked to be in your country and still misses it.

Tor

Originally Posted by jean1146

Hello Tor.
Welcome to the Mahe very select club.....We are in Tampa Florida. Our boat is still noisy but much less than when it was new. You will find a lot of information in this thread.
JC.

[richardfll]

Hi all, believe it or not i just read all 77 pages of this thread. The reason is that I am getting close to buying a boat. I would love a cat but unfortunately for me (and fortunately for you all) cats are holding value very well. I saw an add that said the basic price for a Mahe is 212k, but I've read that realistically its closer to 270k with the basics (yes a/c is a basic for me, i live in south florida). 212k is close to being in my budget 270k is not, so my question is what is the actual price of a well equipped boat? I don't want to go to the broker if its out of my price range

[lstyles]

270K seems a lot more realistic to me with delivery, options etc. I dont know what A/C runs but I had heard new boats with basic package were about 260K delivered to east coast. So with A/C your 270K seems about right.
Lori

[richardfll]

thank you for the quick response, sad but reality sucks sometimes, i hope a good deal presents itself soon or you will find me on another mono soon . on the other some of the best days of my life have been on a monohull, so no complaints

[Edmund]

Hello all Mahe friends!

I have just ordered my first catamaran, a brand new FP Mahe, hull 108.
The plan is to pick it up in La Rochelle early june, and sail it home to the westcoast of Norway . Planned route is up the Irish sea, through the Caledonian Canal, via Shetland and home. App 1250 Nm.
I was very exited to find such a nice forum on catamarans and this very good thread on Mahe. I look forward to participate here when the boat is finally home.
This my first time ever buying and commissioning a new boat, and any advice on commisioning a new boat in general, and a Mahe in special, is of course highly appreciated. Such advice may already been given elsewhere in this forum, I must admit i haven't been searching very much yet. Please excuse me if so.
And has anyone any advice on this specific route? Anyone who has been thorugh the Caledonian on a catamatan?

[Lucky]

Congratulations with your new Mahe! You will find a swagload of information pertaining to the Mahe.

As you can see I live in Norway but sail a Belize 43, but there are a couple of Mahe's close by to where I'm located.

Read through the thread I you will find a wealht of great input and experience shared by other Mahe owners.

Happy lead free sailin

[Cotemar]

Welcome Edmund,

You will Love your new Mahe. They are great fun.
We purchased our Mahe hull #96 in March of 2009 and you purchased hull # 108 for delivery in June 2010, so a little over one year later, interesting.
Looks like they are making 10 to 11 Mahes per year.

You will find all kinds of great info on this Mahe Blog. Mahe owners are very friendly and helpful.

This is our first Catamaran also. Our two girls really did not care for our last mono hull Catalina 380 which we had for 5 years. They only came aboard a few times in the 5 years.

Now with the Mahe they want to go with us all the time and have already planned out this years sailing trips.

We have been very impressed with the Mahe’s speed when sailing and she really moves out with just one engine running when we are cruising. Mahes are also a breeze to dock with the two engines.

Enjoy
Mark

[Edmund]

Thank you, guys.

A quick tour through this thread shows some minor issues with the Mahe, as you would find or any boat, at any price. To me, the most disappointing is the bimini solution, which is important for us living up north. But I have some ideas on how to solve that.

For people like me, who are tired of all kinds of technical and electrical problems, previous owner's not-so-good selv-made solutions, and endless discussions on how much money you can or should spend on this old thing, this will be heaven. I'm quite confident I will enjoy my Mahe, and the idea of a catamaran has been growing for a long time.

Regarding Mahe production rate: My hull could have been ready for delivery in March, if I wanted to, waiting to june was my decision. It's probably produced sometime midwinter. I understand they have made the Mahe since 2006? So the 108 hulls in app. 4 years gives around 27 boats/year, in average.
Has anyone got a list of factory modifications done to the Mahe through the years?

[Cotemar]

Edmond,

FP has kept adding hatchs for improved ventilation.
2006 - Only one opening hatch behind mast
2007 - Hatch behind mast and in port saloon window and folding props
also added a fuel gage
2008 - Added 30hp Volvo Penta optional engines with folding props
2009 - Opening hatch on stb saloon window and over both toilets

Your going to have to fill in the 2010 upgrade info for us.

Max Dingy size is 11 feet. Read back in the blog. Someone has a larger dink, but its very tight.

Mark