40ft Catamaran Owners Please

[Fresh Salt]

Hi All,

I’ve been doing some research as I’m soon to quit the land for the ocean. It seems that every path I follow somehow leads me back to these forums.


However I’m finding the information somewhat difficult to distill in to a clear, practical picture of which boat would be most suitable in real world situations. I have narrowed my decision down to a handful of models, and by this post hope to further trim or entirely eliminate the list in favor of my new home.


I would be grateful to hear from anyone who has spent an extended amount of time on a +/- 40 ft catamaran, of specific interest to me are the following with a view to sail and live permanently on the boat and eventually circumnavigate.

Make / Model / Year
Solo Sail Ability
Performance Both Under Sail and while Motoring
General Durability
Heavy Weather Confort / Survivability
General Comfort / Space
Relative Maintenance +- P/A
The Top 3 Best and Worst Points of Your Vessel

I have purposely refrained from naming specific vessel models as I wish to avoid getting directly into discussions about the pro’s and con’s one may have over the other (Subjects which are quite extensively covered in these forums.) And rather learn from the collective experience of the members here.

I beg your indulgence and apologize for such a long winded first post.

Thanks in Advance,


Dave



ps. Please excuse if there is a post of this nature somewhere else, I have not yet managed to find it.

[Greasepower]

Buy a Privelege 39 or 42

My 42 is 19 years old and sail her everyday,the quality is unbelievable.

They have a 37' also

[Fresh Salt]

Originally Posted by Greasepower

Buy a Privelege 39 or 42

My 42 is 19 years old and sail her everyday,the quality is unbelievable.

They have a 37' also

Thank you for your reply. The Privilege is one of the models on my shortlist, it's good to hear from an owner that their reported quality isn't an exaggeration. Any further insight on the items I listed would be much appreciated.

Dave

[Jeannius]

I've owned my boat for nearly 11 years now and lived aboard for 4 years including a circumnavigation. Boat is now for sale because we've sailed everyhwere we want to sail.

Make / Model / Year

Privilege 435 ( so maybe a bit bigger than you are considering ) 2002

Solo Sail Ability

I circumnavigated with just my wife as crew. So that means most of the time the boat was effectively solo sailed as there was usually only one person awake!

Performance Both Under Sail and while Motoring

Boat is faster than I am. As we were usually short handed we never pushed the boat to anywhere near its limits under sail or power. We did acheive 200nm days on a few occasions but normally aimed for about 150.

General Durability

Solid as a rock.

Heavy Weather Confort / Survivability

Top windspeed endured under sail 55 knots. Really big waves and 40 knots off the coast of Columbia and similar in the Agulhas current around South Africa. Boat was fine. Crew not quite so happy.

General Comfort / Space

Lots of space with great, very comfortable beds.

Relative Maintenance +- P/A

Never added up the figures. Some years good, some years bad. New sails and new generator within 3 months was the worst case. Most 40ft boats will need the same amount of maintenance unless you make the mistake of buying something flimsy.

The Top 3 Best and Worst Points of Your Vessel


Worst point... Salon table. Too big. Takes up too much of the space and makes lazing around less comfortable than it should be. Quite an easy fix but I just never got around to changing it.

Best point... Everything else. It's just a great design.

[Fresh Salt]

Mike (Jeannius)

Many thanks for taking the time to reply so comprehensively. That reinforces my suspicion that the Privilege warrants a much closer look.

Unfortunately I have recently discovered that alliaura marine seem to have gone into liquidation. However due to the source of that information being dated August 2012, it may not be currently accurate. It would certainly be a huge shame if it is so.

[Multihull]

Originally Posted by Fresh Salt

Mike (Jeannius)

Unfortunately I have recently discovered that alliaura marine seem to have gone into liquidation. However due to the source of that information being dated August 2012, it may not be currently accurate. It would certainly be a huge shame if it is so.

At the La Grande Motte multihull show a Privilege 615 was showed.
I had a chat with a lady that gave the impression they are in business. But I think the 445 is the smallest they build.
Rob

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by Fresh Salt

... Unfortunately I have recently discovered that alliaura marine seem to have gone into liquidation. However due to the source of that information being dated August 2012, it may not be currently accurate. It would certainly be a huge shame if it is so.

Apparently, they're back, as Privilège Marine

“Following the liquidation of French shipyard Alliaura Marine on 27 March (2012), the company’s assets were auctioned off in early June.

French industrialist Gilles Wagner, with the support of private investors, bought the Privilège and Feeling brands along with the molds and production tools."

➥ Privilège Marine restarts catamaran production at Les Sables d’Olonne yard

➥ PRIVILEGE MARINE to restart its activity in Les Sables d’Olonne — Luxury Yacht Charter & Superyacht News

➥ NEWS - Privilege Yachts returns to Les Sables d'Olonne

[Fresh Salt]

Originally Posted by GordMay

Apparently, they're back, as Privilège Marine

“Following the liquidation of French shipyard Alliaura Marine on 27 March (2012), the company’s assets were auctioned off in early June.

French industrialist Gilles Wagner, with the support of private investors, bought the Privilège and Feeling brands along with the molds and production tools."

GordMay, cheers for providing the updated info, that is good news.

[FLLCatsailor]

Leopard 40 owners version. A lot of boat for the money. Sails well, easy to maintain, and comfortable layout.

[Fresh Salt]

Originally Posted by FLLCatsailor

Leopard 40 owners version. A lot of boat for the money. Sails well, easy to maintain, and comfortable layout.

FLLCatsailor,

Thanks for the reply, I have been steering away from the Leopards in general as to reported low bridge deck clearance and relatively narrow hulls. I have read that they are quite prone to "slapping"?

The above being of concern not only for the comfort factor, but more so for the effects this may have on structural integrity over the course of extended periods at sea.

If I have an incorrect impression about that, please be so kind as to elaborate.

Dave

[FLLCatsailor]

I've delivered tons of cats, over quite a few miles and never had any major issue with excessive slapping on a l40 unless beating into decent swell, at which point all cats slap...

What kind of budget are you trying to stay under when you start shopping? What are your ultimate goals with boat?

What have you sailed so far as well? The most important thing is to get on as many boats as possible...

[Jeannius]

Originally Posted by Fresh Salt

Mike (Jeannius)

Many thanks for taking the time to reply so comprehensively. That reinforces my suspicion that the Privilege warrants a much closer look.

Unfortunately I have recently discovered that alliaura marine seem to have gone into liquidation. However due to the source of that information being dated August 2012, it may not be currently accurate. It would certainly be a huge shame if it is so.

Yes, Alliaura went bust. Typical story... Successful company extends itself too far... In this case decides to build a 100ft cat, current factory doesn't have the space so they spend a fortune on a new factory and then the economy crashes!

So new company is back in the original factory and a lot of the people who left when the factory moved have come back and are now running the place. Gone back to building the original range and are, once again, very succesful. Range is now 445 to 745.

Met up with everyone at La Grande Motte show a couple of weeks back on the 615 which is a beautiful boat.

[Fresh Salt]

Originally Posted by FLLCatsailor

I've delivered tons of cats, over quite a few miles and never had any major issue with excessive slapping on a l40 unless beating into decent swell, at which point all cats slap...

What kind of budget are you trying to stay under when you start shopping? What are your ultimate goals with boat?

What have you sailed so far as well? The most important thing is to get on as many boats as possible...

Hi FLLCatsailor,

Thanks for the reply, that is interresting as most everthing I have come across so far indicates that beside the various other factors that effect slapping when not beating into a swell, a minimum clearance of 30 inches is advised on a 40ft to avoid such.

Leopard do not declare bridgedeck clearance on their specifications
(website) which raises an eyebrow seeing that it is such a hot topic.
In external reviews the bridge deck is reportedly around 21.2 on the Leopard 40, could you confirm?

Budget will not be the deciding factor in my purchase, I have noticed that price is a reasonably good guage of build quality though not necissarily an indicator of the features that make a good bluewater boat. The +/- 40ft vessels I have come accross thusfar fall within what I'm willing to part with for the right boat.

I will be living permanently on and sailing the vessel for the next 10-15 years, the first two years will depend somewhat on where I make the purchase and would be mostly coastal and sheltered water sailing (BVI, Med, Thailand etc) with occasional short crossings to build up my ablilty before attempting a slow-paced circumnavigation.

I have a couple 1000 hours at sea as a dive instructor, unfortunately very few of those were on sailing vessels, and even fewer on catamarans.

A trip many years back on a poorly designed catamaran of the east coast of South Africa in moderate conditions does stand out as something I wish to avoid at all costs, noise and feel were overbearing.

I have two initial exploratory trips in the pipeline, the first will be to Thailand in July where I have chartered an older FP Athena 38 for a 10 day introductory course (as a benchmark). Thereafter Thailand seems to have a very active brokerage enviroment and I'll be getting in as many test sails, on as many different vessels as I can whilst there.

Then I'll be off to Cape Town to get a feel for more challenging conditions, while test sailing what is on offer over there. By then I hope to have a clear picture of what I ulimately need / want.

My intention here as a newbie, is simply to learn as much as possible from the experience and know how of others as I'm bound to overlook something if left to my own devices.

Dave

[Talbot]

I have a Privilege 37 which I bought in order to cruise long distance. I am just finishing a major refit to achieve the fit that I want. This size (it is nearly 39 ft long) is ideal for a single person or two, but if I had the money, the 435 would have been considered as I think it is a great design.

Privilege are not performance boats, but they do comfort really well. As a boat to liveaboard, you will spend more time at anchor or alongside than you will at sea, so onboard comfort is an important consideration.

Does it meet all my criteria - no, but you have to recognise that all boats are a compromise, so it is important that you analyse exactly what you are going to be doing with your boat, and then analyse what is important to YOU. Having done that, and taking into account your budget, you will be in a better position to select a small short list, which needs further more detailed study. If you do this, you have a chance of finding a design that meets your criteria for a long time

[NautiBits]

Fresh Salt,

Welcome aboard the CF!!

Great job trying to keep the learned responses focused on what you want to know. Continued fair winds with your research!



Joe Mc