Here's the information I've been able to glean on the Isara. It's a very beautiful boat. The 50 probably will be very popular in the
charter market if it
sails well. Even if it sails well, it may not
work as well for liveaboards due to lack of
storage and ventilation, or
water sailing">blue water sailing until it's better set up for rugged long-distance cruising. For example, walking around the 50 at
dock was one thing, but there were no handholds at all along the side passages - a
MOB waiting to happen.
We've reviewed what plans we can see and we toured the 50' boat at the
boat show. Ventilation in the
saloon may be limited with so little openable windows/hatches. That's fine if you want to keep the AC running all the time, as they were doing at the show, but that's not practical for liveaboard/blue water sailing.
The
galley looks pretty, but are the fridge/freezer (which are front-loading) practical or sufficient?
The berths were suprisingly low in the cabins so very little
storage underneath, and no views of anything but sky thru the windows. The beds were less comfortable than the
Outremer and less well set up in the cabins.
There seemed to be a lot of wasted space throughout the Isara 50 - large, but not well-utilized space, i.e. not maximizing storage as a sailboat should.
I've been able to find absolutely no one who has sailed the Isara so far. Even the sailor who brought her down from Ft Lauderdale to
Miami in February said they motored (and given that the
mast wasn't even on the boat, it was just a big motorboat at that point).
Every time the boat goes to a
boat show, it's freightered in. Even the Royal Cape
Catamaran was sailed to Miami from So.Africa. But not the Isara.
Sales: The first 50 was in
Annapolis last year as a straight
diesel Yanmar. The second hull was in Miami. Supposedly hull #1
sold, but where is it? Hull #2, also not the hybrid version, was supposedly being commissioned for a Texan who would be picking it up in
Florida after the boat show. I do hope we get some videos or other evidence of how she handles under sail.
Why did J.J.Coste take the Isara off his website last year -
Design Catamaran-Yachts Design-Luxury catamaran-Coste Design-Naval architecture-Boat builder design Is this an indication that he no longer is proud of the design enough to keep his name attached to it?
At least one brave couple have ordered a 45. I hope their courage is rewarded because the designs of the aft, the
davits, etc. are not even finalized.
The Isara could be the breaking edge of the best in new
catamaran designs, or it could be a failure. We are
shopping for a 45-50' cat, which is why we considered this attractive looking boat. In the end, we felt that
reliability, proven performance, function and form over looks were better factors on which to base our decision. I do hope Isara succeeds...it's just a big unknown at this point.