Opinions on the Fountaine-Pajot Lucia 40

[kjbas123]

We are looking at one of these for our first catamaran. Hopefully one that is a year or two old and that has had equipment added for cruising. Would love to hear if anyone has had one and what they think.

Thanks

[Bean Counter]

Why not try messaging some of the posters here:
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...rs-175879.html

[kjbas123]

Thanks a lot . There is a lot of helpful info on that forum ��

[Tylermartinsail]

I actually sail a Lucia 40 for work. I’m a charter captain and sailing school instructor. I’ve been sailing her for about a year now, actually we are getting a second one delivered in a few weeks. Over all they are great boats, but if you don’t have experience with cruising cats in general, you may be disappointed.
Our cats are privately owned, and we manage them, as most charter companies do. Well, the owner of our Lucia 40 has a mono hull back ground and had never sailed a cruising cat before. Long story short, he hates the boat! Haha! I think it’s a great boat, because I’ve had plenty of catamaran experience, and my expectations are realistic.
Two things to expect that our owner didn’t:
#1 - things break a lot - yup it’s full of sensors and all sorts of systems that will begin to fail. This is normal for modern boats with lots of systems. Luckily most things fall under warranty m, but it’s a pain in the butt! So expect lots of little problems.
# 2 - it sails like a cruising cat, meaning your going to be motoring a lot. You can’t beat to windward in these boats at all, and they suck in light winds. That being said, they sail wonderfully when you have the right amount of wind from the right angle. 8 knots SOG is common when reaching in a fresh breeze.

So if you can except these two things, then you will love the boat. It’s a great design. I have lots of experience with the Helia 44 and the Saba 50. They basically all sail the same,, but the Lucia 40 is the best model for private ownership and short handed sailing. It’s desinged to be operated by one person. Which I love.

[RSH]

Friends of ours have a 2016 and it's beautiful. I can't speak to how it sails, but in terms of how much I enjoyed being on board-the answer is a LOT!

Tons of head room (we're very tall), beautiful indoor-outdoor flow, just a nice catamaran to be on.

[Augi]

Originally Posted by Tylermartinsail

I actually sail a Lucia 40 for work. I’m a charter captain and sailing school instructor. I’ve been sailing her for about a year now, actually we are getting a second one delivered in a few weeks. Over all they are great boats, but if you don’t have experience with cruising cats in general, you may be disappointed.
Our cats are privately owned, and we manage them, as most charter companies do. Well, the owner of our Lucia 40 has a mono hull back ground and had never sailed a cruising cat before. Long story short, he hates the boat! Haha! I think it’s a great boat, because I’ve had plenty of catamaran experience, and my expectations are realistic.
Two things to expect that our owner didn’t:
#1 - things break a lot - yup it’s full of sensors and all sorts of systems that will begin to fail. This is normal for modern boats with lots of systems. Luckily most things fall under warranty m, but it’s a pain in the butt! So expect lots of little problems.
# 2 - it sails like a cruising cat, meaning your going to be motoring a lot. You can’t beat to windward in these boats at all, and they suck in light winds. That being said, they sail wonderfully when you have the right amount of wind from the right angle. 8 knots SOG is common when reaching in a fresh breeze.

So if you can except these two things, then you will love the boat. It’s a great design. I have lots of experience with the Helia 44 and the Saba 50. They basically all sail the same,, but the Lucia 40 is the best model for private ownership and short handed sailing. It’s desinged to be operated by one person. Which I love.

Based on a 1 week charter with 7 friends total on board of a FP Lucia 40 out of Sukosan Croatia, I agree with everything stated above. It was great boat for a group of 7 friends on a 1 week charter. She performed well with the right wind and right wind angle. 8 knots SOG was easy to achieve. She actually did a little better than anticipated to windward but an FP Lucia 40 is a production, cruising cat. So compared to comparably priced production, cruising mono hull you miss out on a lot of the feeling, and ability to go to windward. It all depends on taste and intended use.

While on the Croatian charter we anchored one afternoon next to an Australian couple sailing around the world on a FP Lucia 40 owners version that they had a few months previous received new in France. They were very happy with their boat.

For a group charter of 7 friends as described above or live aboard a cat wins for me, if we are talking about comparably production priced mono vs. production cat. But everybody is different. For pure sailing fun, for me, a mono wins if comparing comparably priced, production, cruising boats, mono vs. cat.

My impression is FP's hold their value less well than Leopards or Lagoons. In general I think FP's are lighter per ft of LOA, therefore might perform a tad better, but are less roomy, maybe don't hold up as well as a Lagoon or Leopard, and maybe some of the bits and pieces are not quite the quality found on a Leopard or Lagoon. But that might mean you can buy 1-2 year FP Lucia 40 for less than a comparable Leopard or Lagoon that could work well for you and in the end you could come out a ahead.

[kjbas123]

Thank you so much for all the info. We have had mono hulls for years and I’ve never been a fan of all that heeling so now it’s my turn. I don’t mind if I get there slower as long as I’m comfortable doing so! ��

[kjbas123]

Thank you for your reply. We are also hiring a boat next August for a couple of weeks out of Split. It’s a mono hull though because it’s just my hubby and I . Really looking forward to it. We looked at a lagoon 40 last week and whilst we loved the cockpit area the inside wasn’t all that spacious. There was a small couch in the owners side which was too small to be comfortable and there was no option to change to storage. Also the beds were hard up to one side with only a small space on the other making them hard to make. Also I’ve heard with the moving of the mast back and the main sail being a lot smaller makes the boat slower but not 100% sure on that one. As for resale not sure about that. Lagoons are definitely more well known in the area I live and you don’t see a lot of FP’s. Probably going to buy out of Europe either new or used . Don’t care so much about speed as comfort ��

[Factor]

Originally Posted by Tylermartinsail

#1 - things break a lot - yup it’s full of sensors and all sorts of systems that will begin to fail. This is normal for modern boats with lots of systems. Luckily most things fall under warranty m, but it’s a pain in the butt! So expect lots of little problems.

MIght be true of that brand its certainly not true of all cruising cats.

# 2 - it sails like a cruising cat, meaning your going to be motoring a lot. You can’t beat to windward in these boats at all, and they suck in light winds. That being said, they sail wonderfully when you have the right amount of wind from the right angle. 8 knots SOG is common when reaching in a fresh breeze.

Again, maybe true for that brand/model, but there are many cruising cats that sail very very well. I have sailed a number that will outpoint a cruising mono.

[Thalas]

Originally Posted by Factor

MIght be true of that brand its certainly not true of all cruising cats.

I disagree. One of the benefits of the glut of youtube sailing vloggers is that trend data is very easy to collect. Out Chasing Stars (FP Helia 44), Happy Together (Leopard 48), and La Vagabond (a bougie Outremer) ALL are newer boats and ALL have little things breaking all the time. What are the odds of that unless it was the norm.

if you have more creature comforts in a modern boat, you're gonna have more things to break... and they all will at some point. Fix it, take pride in your repair and newfound knowledge and re-hoist your main. It's just a part of boat life.

As for performance, there are so many factors that affect things that it seems unfair to paint any particular brand with such a broad brush. I've sailed a Helia 44 poorly because I didn't really know how to dial her in at the time and I've been on a Saba 50 with great sails and a knowledgable skipper and she flew. Some Lagoons have done great in the ARC Rallies. Will they challenge an HH55? No, but they can be a lot of fun in the wind. That said, I agree about light air performance across the board.

[contrail]

I would disregard all these generalizations! There are too many different "arrows" and too many different "archers"! Not to mention the fact that lots of catamaran cruisers and youtubers are rank beginners or close to it. In fact, a large part of my instructional business is getting newbies up to speed and showing them how to have fun and do a lot more with their boats than they ever realized they could.....because everyone told them they couldn't. I suspect Factor has experienced the same thing! It's also true that there are different levels of quality in design and build, not to mention equipment. I sail an almost 20 year old Leopard, which I have had for almost 15 years. She is very well equipped; some stuff is original and other stuff is very recent. She keeps up to date, but little things AREN'T always breaking, although the routine maintenance on a very well equipped boat is certainly demanding. She also sails well, including upwind. A mono of 50 feet or less has to be very well sailed to beat us, upwind, and on any other point of sail, well.....adios. But, I am in the charter business and sail a lot, and that gives me the opportunity to try different things and practice others, which is one the points i am trying to make.



Having had my share of strong winds (14 years in the Caribbean, preceded by 14 years in the San Francisco area), I happen to love sailing in light wind as I think doing so improves one's skills. This past week we had a few days of unusually light winds, and I was doing 4 to 5 knots upwind in 6 to 7 true. Much of what you read would tell you that a cat is a slug in light winds - most other folks were motoring - but it doesn't have to be. However, if you think it is, then that's how you will sail her, if you bother to try to sail her that is. Take the time to get dialed in to a cat and you may be surprised....at least with some of them. And do what you can to help. Jet Stream always has a clean bottom, is kept relatively light, has somewhat larger sails than the average charterboat and folding props. But anyone can take advantage of those things.

[Larry T.]

Contrail hit the nail on the head when he said, "I like sailing in light air because it helps you learn to sail better.". Long ago I learned that if you want to learn how to sail, start racing in your local club. You learn how to keep it under control when it's blowing like stink and how to keep the boat moving in a breeze. I'm guessing it applies to cats and monos. It also teaches humility in the club after the race and everybody laughs at you for crossing the finish line and then sailing back across the line for a short cut and thereby undoing your finish!!

The 4 stages of learning: 1. You're ignorant and you don't know it. 2. You'r ignorant and you know it. 3. You know it and you know it. 4. You know it and you don't know it.

Example, you don't know how to ride a bike and pretty soon you are riding without even thinking about it.

So, how do you know how a cat or any other boat sails unless you have gone through all 4 steps with it?

Sometimes I just amaze myself with my wisdom but then my wife snaps me back to reality!!

All I can say in closing is that, " I started out with nothing and I still have most of it left."

[kjbas123]

Wow that is all so deep.

[Larry T.]

That's cause I drink beer and I know things!!

[tp12]

Originally Posted by Larry T.

Contrail hit the nail on the head when he said, "I like sailing in light air because it helps you learn to sail better.". Long ago I learned that if you want to learn how to sail, start racing in your local club. You learn how to keep it under control when it's blowing like stink and how to keep the boat moving in a breeze. I'm guessing it applies to cats and monos. It also teaches humility in the club after the race and everybody laughs at you for crossing the finish line and then sailing back across the line for a short cut and thereby undoing your finish!!

100%!! Racing improves the breed.

The 4 stages of learning: 1. You're ignorant and you don't know it. 2. You'r ignorant and you know it. 3. You know it and you know it. 4. You know it and you don't know it.

Example, you don't know how to ride a bike and pretty soon you are riding without even thinking about it.

So, how do you know how a cat or any other boat sails unless you have gone through all 4 steps with it?

Sometimes I just amaze myself with my wisdom but then my wife snaps me back to reality!!

All I can say in closing is that, " I started out with nothing and I still have most of it left."

The 4 levels of competence: Unconscious incompetence, conscious incompetence, conscious competence, unconscious competence.

Great post, thank you.