Antares 44 vs Helia 44 - help us decide?

[yeloya]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

My vote would be for the FP Helia 44 Evo.

Antares 44 has not been at any of the major catamaran boat shows and has not made 1 boat in well over a year.

They have a few past customers that are hanging on by a shoe string to get a finished boats or a court date to get there money back.

Antares 44 is out of business, Maybe, Maybe not.

They cost over $1,000,000 usd.

Is this the kind of money you would hand over to someone that Maybe or Maybe not be in business. This scenario is what nightmares are made of.

Besides the financial problems (which may be a total disaster for someone who paid for it) I don't see why Antares should cost almost twice as much an Helia. 44 Antares costs almost 30 % more than well equipped Catana 47. There is no way of making money by making 3-4 boats a year, you are well below scale of eceonomy and you cannot charge yr uneffiencies to yr customers. If there are people happy about that, no problem.
By the way, I've read all of the postings of Ted, they are valuable. But after he's defending what he's designing. I've also read Van Petegham, Marc Lombard, Eric Lerouge, Christophe Barreau, Recoupeau , etc and they have different opinions.

Cheers

Yeloya

[Captain Bill]

I recently participated in the Georgetown cruising regatta in harbor and around Stocking Island races and a Helia was in our class. It seemed that the Helia had a lot of trouble going to windward and seemed to have a hard time tacking. It seemed to hold it's own on the downwind, but didn't seem to point very well. I don't know the skipper and perhaps he didn't know the boat very well. The boat was equipped with a square top composite main and composite jib. By the way Endeavourcat 44s won Both races. I came in second close behind another Endeavourcat 44 in the in harbor race and won the around stocking Island race. The other Endeavourcat came in second in the around the Island race. The Helia was a distant 3rd in both races. I realize that cruisers are not racers and that these results may not reflect what the boats can do, it might be indicative of what a cruiser might expect to achieve. Do the Helia owners have any comments on the windward and tacking performance of a Helia?

[Cotemar]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

I recently participated in the Georgetown cruising regatta in harbor and around Stocking Island races and a Helia was in our class. It seemed that the Helia had a lot of trouble going to windward and seemed to have a hard time tacking. It seemed to hold it's own on the downwind, but didn't seem to point very well. I don't know the skipper and perhaps he didn't know the boat very well. The boat was equipped with a square top composite main and composite jib. By the way Endeavourcat 44s won Both races. I came in second close behind another Endeavourcat 44 in the in harbor race and won the around stocking Island race. The other Endeavourcat came in second in the around the Island race. The Helia was a distant 3rd in both races. I realize that cruisers are not racers and that these results may not reflect what the boats can do, it might be indicative of what a cruiser might expect to achieve. Do the Helia owners have any comments on the windward and tacking performance of a Helia?

I know the boat as they are my friends on "Let it Be" they had a great Time in that race, but had a Green Crew.

These boats go to windward and tacking just fine.

A different Crew on a Different day and all would be different.

[Captain Bill]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

I know the boat as they are my friends on "Let it Be" they had a great Time in that race, but had a Green Crew.

These boats go to windward and tacking just fine.

A different Crew on a Different day and all would be different.

I kind of wondered, because when I saw those composite sails I expected to loose.

[yeloya]

Originally Posted by Captain Bill

I recently participated in the Georgetown cruising regatta in harbor and around Stocking Island races and a Helia was in our class. It seemed that the Helia had a lot of trouble going to windward and seemed to have a hard time tacking. It seemed to hold it's own on the downwind, but didn't seem to point very well. I don't know the skipper and perhaps he didn't know the boat very well. The boat was equipped with a square top composite main and composite jib. By the way Endeavourcat 44s won Both races. I came in second close behind another Endeavourcat 44 in the in harbor race and won the around stocking Island race. The other Endeavourcat came in second in the around the Island race. The Helia was a distant 3rd in both races. I realize that cruisers are not racers and that these results may not reflect what the boats can do, it might be indicative of what a cruiser might expect to achieve. Do the Helia owners have any comments on the windward and tacking performance of a Helia?

I have no idea about Endevour cats, not even seen any. As Cotemar said, in his class Helia sails pretty well upwind. I said in his class; Orana and L 440 are slightly better, L 450 slightly worst. Nautitech is significantly better.
Outremer and Catana's are anıother class...

Cheers

Yeloya

[mdsilvers]

Hey everyone. I just wanted to clear up some misinformation regarding Antares. They are still making the boats, and boats have been splashing. The newest boat arrived in St. Lucia last month. I personally have been keeping in touch with the yard, as the owner - Memo, and his son - are both friends of ours, and I wish them the best as the continue to build Antares 44is.

As for which boat people prefer, that is the purpose of this thread. For those of us that have an Antares, they are 100% worth the perceived premium. For those that own the Helia, it is 100% worth the price as well. We are both happy customers of totally different boats.

Safe sailing!

Mark

[Heath68]

Originally Posted by Cotemar

My vote would be for the FP Helia 44 Evo.

Antares 44 has not been at any of the major catamaran boat shows and has not made 1 boat in well over a year.

They have a few past customers that are hanging on by a shoe string to get a finished boats or a court date to get there money back.

Antares 44 is out of business, Maybe, Maybe not.

They cost over $1,000,000 usd.

Is this the kind of money you would hand over to someone that Maybe or Maybe not be in business. This scenario is what nightmares are made of.

Can you tell me where you heard this? I liked the boats but would stay clear if this is true

Heath

[RichinBoca]

Originally Posted by Heath68

Can you tell me where you heard this? I liked the boats but would stay clear if this is true

Heath

For what it's worth I heard they had major financial problems last year. It seems Memo Castro one of the main employees took over the company. They have changed the website around. I love the boats but at this moment I would be a bit nervous to 250k to get the ball rolling.
They supposedly have an additional factory with a second line so they can build 2 at a time.
That being said for the time being I would lean towards a more financially secure builder.

[Cotemar]

1) You can buy 2 FP Helia 44 Evo's for the price of 1 Antares 44.

2) The FP Helia 44 has a huge owners support group here on the CF and on FaceBook.

Fountaine Pajot - Cruisers & Sailing Forums

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1017563221642960/

[BigBeakie]

Did anyone ever hear why the Antares CEO walked away and closed the company down?


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[mdsilvers]

Jeff was the primary funding source for Antares. He purchased the moulds from PDQ when they went belly up. He believed in the boat and contracted with 40 Grados (Memo Castro) to build the boats. Jeff ran into personal financial issues and tossed in the towel. Not sure on details.

Memo owns 40 Grados and always has. He has been and continues to be the sole builder of the Antares post PDQ. They will be in Annapolis at the boat show.

We've put 35,000 miles on our Antares that Memo built. She's outstanding and the Antares support group is exceptional. We have an owners only group and it is very active and helpful for the past six years.

The bottom line is simple. People that want to purchase and Audi / BMW pay the price for quality for and fit/finish. The same applies to Antares. You get what u pay for. I'd never own another 44ft cat. Ever. We've been on our boat full time for over six years and the boat had been fantastic. Worth every penny and the resale is close to what we paid new for the boat six years ago.




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[BigBeakie]

MD,

Can you clarify why you wouldn't ever own a 44' cat again? Do you mean you would get a bigger or smaller one?

It is too bad about Antares. Hard to imagine they weren't profitable at their selling price. They were on our short, shortlist before we decided on a bit more performance etc.


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[mdsilvers]

What I typed came across incorrectly. I would not own another brand 44 cat other than an Antares. . I hope that makes more sense.


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[jojolimited]

Good to read all the positive posts about Antares, wondering how it compares to the Majestic 530, another similar priced live aboard? Saw both at the Annapolis boat show this past Oct.

[Heath68]

Hi JoJo, you may not have had much response to your question as the answer is everything!
Apart from the glossy wooden interior they are worlds apart on so many things. There is not much Antares compares to as it steadfastly refused to conform to more modern design considerations. 90% of modern 44 sized cats have galley up, 95% have saildrives (I prefer the alternatives), 90% have 1* ensuites per berth or Jack n Jill arrangements, but 90% don't match the quality of unit fit and finish (imo) and most similarly sized cats don't have the pricetag. That said most competitors have protected their helm more and brought lines back to a single (ish) point... I really like the Antares but wouldn't buy one in its current guise.