Wauquiez Yachts

[Cruzy Suzy]

We are looking for a bluewater yacht for a trip round Tasmania , to NZ and round the Pacific. A 2007 Waquiez Pilot Saloon has just come up. Has anyone had any bluewater experience in these boats. They have large windows and the layout is not ideal but the storage and tankage is good and its optioned up.

[cyclepro]

I am partial to Wauquiez boats since I own one but you might find more information at the Yahoo Wauquiez owners group:

wauquiez-boats : Wauquiez Boats

My Wauquiez version (35ft - Pretorien) is older and different from the one you are looking at but I can assure you that the workmanship on these boats is phenomenal. Rigging wise they are overbuilt and the interiors are excellent. They are built for the long haul.

Good luck with your search

Jan

[cyclepro]

I guess that link didn't work:

try this one

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wauquiez-boats/

(teaches me to preview my posts....)

Jan

[KDH]

We have a 1985 Wauquiez Centurion 42 and Cyclepro is right the older boats are very solidly built. However, Wauquiez was sold to the Beneteau group some years ago and standards may no longer be the same. If you would buy a Beneteau then the Wauquiez should make you happy.

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by cyclepro

I am partial to Wauquiez boats since I own one but you might find more information at the Yahoo Wauquiez owners group:

wauquiez-boats : Wauquiez Boats

My Wauquiez version (35ft - Pretorien) is older and different from the one you are looking at but I can assure you that the workmanship on these boats is phenomenal. Rigging wise they are overbuilt and the interiors are excellent. They are built for the long haul.

Good luck with your search

Jan

As another Pretorien owner I'd have to agree with cyclepro. The earlier models were extremely well built but I've always heard that after Henri sold the company (1988 I think) things started to slip and the later models were not as robust. Certainly no large windows in a Pretorien!

[Doodles]

Originally Posted by KDH

We have a 1985 Wauquiez Centurion 42 and Cyclepro is right the older boats are very solidly built. However, Wauquiez was sold to the Beneteau group some years ago and standards may no longer be the same. If you would buy a Beneteau then the Wauquiez should make you happy.

I think Beneteau sold it a couple years ago, but its already been sold again recently (Jan 2011).

News Wauquiez

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Cruzy Suzy.

[Cruzy Suzy]

Thanks you all for your helpful replies. I have joined the yahoo group and await approval ! I did look at a similar boat when in Queensland last year and though it was very swish there were a few concerns. The engine sits low and central(good) but over the keel bolts(?bad). The hull construction is cored (resin infused) which I suppose is light and thus fast but is it strong enough for the Tasman and what it might throw at us? I recall reading about Wauquiez yachts last year on the forums and there was a discussion about Beneteau taking it over then a buy back by the employees and so thanks for pointing out that Wauquiez have a more recent takeover. I can't find that discussion on search. I know the older boats have a great reputation but anyone out there have a more recent model or experience on them?

[Igor]

I am also looking at Wauquiez Centurion 45 1992 does any one knows if it is solid glass hull I cant get info anywere ?

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Igor.

I believe that Wauquiez uses GRP and Balsa sandwich hull construction, with vinylester resins for the external layers of the sandwich. The hull incorporates a one piece floors & stringers structure. The main floors are glassed to the hull in the keel attachment area for extra strength. Bulkheads are glassed and / or bonded to the hull and deck for added stiffness. GRP, resin & balsa sandwich deck construction. Hull to deck joint via polyurethane adhesive and mechanical fastening. Lead keel with stainless steel bolts.

See ➥ A few technical precisions

[John Drake]

Wauquiez may have switched building methods, but I do not know when.

I do know that boats built in the 1980's were solid glass hulls. Decks were constructed with 4 inch balsa squares dipped in resin and then glassed in. This prevents water intrusion, if it occurs, from going very far and creates a nice, strong deck.

The book, Practical Boat Buying, gives an excellent review of their construction.

Hope this helps

Best

John

[Karsenti]

Originally Posted by Igor

I am also looking at Wauquiez Centurion 45 1992 does any one knows if it is solid glass hull I cant get info anywere ?

I own a centurion 45 built in 1993. It is still a solid Glass hull classical construction. I bought her used, in 1999 and sailed more than 25 000 miles with her.

THIS BOAT IS ABSOLUTELY AMAZING!! I look around for an alternative and could not find anything like it. This is truly impossible to destroy. Roll Over is now almost 20 years old and looks like new!!!

If I sell mine this will be to find the same in 49 version because of family increase but I would never buy newer boats, Nothing is built like this anymore. Plus the Yacht is incredibly fast, both in small wind and high winds. We crossed the Atlantic from Saint Martin to Azores at an average speed of about 7.2 Knots (13 days) in 20-45 knots of wind at about 60-70 degrees starboard, the last 400 miles motoring at 6 knots, meaning that under sail the boat was just a blast (with a Solent and the main sail between up and 2 reefs)!!!

Also sailing down the portuguese coast down wind, we routinely crossed from one port to the next (about 50 miles)in.... 5 hours! 10 Knots average speed with about 1 knot of current. In small wind under assymetric spinaker between 70 and 110 degres with about 9-12 knots of apparent wind I routinely do 7 knots average speed. Many boats are stuck. I think that what makes these boats so fast is a perfect combination of the exact amount of weight (That gives them inertia and stability) and thin water lines. If you get really good sails on them as I do and keep the hull very clean, it s a rocket.

Obviusly its hard to get her surfing like new wide bottom boats although you can do it by keeping a lot of sails but the fastest I ever sailed is 13 knots, which you can easily beat with modern light weight boats. However with these boats your head gets shaken and everything goes berzerk in a storm and after a few years the boat looks like a wreck.

As you can see I am completely in love with this boat after 12 years of sailing together (probably a longer lasting affair than anything with girls!!!).

If you find one, go for it!!!

Eric

[redsky49]

Our Wauquiez Centurion 40 was the only boat my wife and I have ever owned which left her in tears when it sailed away with a different owner.

Not perfect boats by any means, but a great example of one man with a vision (Henri W), building boats the best way he knew how. More than once I was asked if my C40 was a Swan!

These were boats that were easy to singlehand, built to high standard, and probably one of the better luxury cruiser/racers of the time. I would even go so far as to say that they were the best French boat of its era, and may have been the toast of Europe, only exceeded in quality by a select few English and Scandinavian boats.

Following their takeover by others, and a change in design philosophy following Henri's death, I felt that the company (apparently headed by outsiders) lost its way. The pilot salon models never had the same feel of the prior generation, though others may disagree with me on that matter.

A well kept version would be worthy of your consideration.

[ikebartlett]

On the 43 it has both 24 and 12 volt DC, I’m looking for an engine instrument panel wiring diagram even it’s just key switch wires, I found a wire going nowhere at the engine, traced it back to the key switch, my instruments don’t work so I hope this is the issue, need to know where to land it, 12 or 24 and where