Calculating Maintenance Budget on New Cat

[NausetSailor]

I’m considering purchasing a new Fountaine Pajot 45 cat for a liveaboard journey and am working on budgeting for just the maintenance costs (not the operational costs such as dockage, insurance, etc. as that is too subjective based on choices such as catching the hook vs. marinas, etc). The boat would be well equipped with solar, genset, watermaker, AC, washer/dryer, etc., so lots of systems to break. Factoring that: 1) I’m somewhat handy & and will have the time to do basic/moderate tasks on my own; and 2) everything will be new, I’m estimating somewhere around $15-20K per year for the first three years.

Would love to get feedback from private owners of new cats around the same size on what their maintenance costs have been. thanks-trevor

[FLLCatsailor]

Originally Posted by NausetSailor

I’m considering purchasing a new Fountaine Pajot 45 cat for a liveaboard journey and am working on budgeting for just the maintenance costs (not the operational costs such as dockage, insurance, etc. as that is too subjective based on choices such as catching the hook vs. marinas, etc). The boat would be well equipped with solar, genset, watermaker, AC, washer/dryer, etc., so lots of systems to break. Factoring that: 1) I’m somewhat handy & and will have the time to do basic/moderate tasks on my own; and 2) everything will be new, I’m estimating somewhere around $15-20K per year for the first three years.

Would love to get feedback from private owners of new cats around the same size on what their maintenance costs have been. thanks-trevor

You'll have the factory warranty which will help keep that cost down. I think you are probably pretty spot on around $20K.

Just out of curiosity, what is drawing you to the new 45 versus the Lagoon or Leopard?

[Shane450]

I would have thought 20k on a new boat is very high , considering warranty should cover breakages , other than at fault I guess

Mate its very easy to work out though , Just get quotes all your system service costs , then just quote parts minus labor on what you are comfortable doing yourself

I do most things myself as I m sick of disappointment in the quality of workmanship out there .

[NausetSailor]

Originally Posted by FLLCatsailor

You'll have the factory warranty which will help keep that cost down. I think you are probably pretty spot on around $20K.

Just out of curiosity, what is drawing you to the new 45 versus the Lagoon or Leopard?

FLLCatsailor - thanks for the response & validation.

With regard to the why FP45 over the Lagoon 46 & the Leopard 45, they are both fine boats and certainly have their own merits, I disqualified them for the reasons below, which are mostly aesthetics/lifestyle reasons, but are important to my wife and I. These are highly subjective considerations and my priorities won't not apply to many. I'll concede that both those boats have some advantages over the FP45, such as the Lagoon's massive fuel capacity, and Leopard's superior freshwater tankage. And I'd rather be running on Yanmar's, a known and trusted entity, over Volvo Penta's, which are new to me.

Lagoon 46
- Hate the compression post smack in the middle of the saloon
- The flybridge layout is less socially-oriented than the FP45
- Don't love the cockpit, especially the tight space between the dining table & the aft bench seat
- The master suite has sofa, which we wouldn’t use often and eats up storage space
Another thing I'll give the Lagoon - the centered helm has better visibility

Leopard 45
- No flybridge lounge or even a sunpad
- Don’t like the galley being forward, away from the aft cockpit
- Aft cockpit table is deep, making it harder to get access/exit for those sitting on inside
- Forward cockpit is pretty cool, but don’t like giving up the space for the doorway

[VP and the Fox]

We have a Astrea 42 on order and from what I have calculated it should be around $10K a year for the first three years (assuming I don't break anything which is rarely the case!). Having said that, I'm an expert in sales and dangerous with a hammer.

[yeloya]

I would have guessed in the range of 5-8.000 USD max. excluding the things you would like to upgrade and the consumable like anti fouling, etc.
The money spent may go to batteries, water maker maintenance and membranes, wear and tear materiels like genoa sheets, turn blocks, etc, not a big deal..


Cheers


Yeloya

[css145hs]

Warranties don’t cover everything, but are certainly useful. There’s multiple such public references, but here is one I find fair for a new boat while not being lavish (expense wise). It’s also right at your target size (helia 44). I think most people are surprised by costs on a new boat, but given how much you’re using it, the costs (for a boat) are fairly reasonable. There will be significant up years at 5 year intervals or so as well, so consider these the baseline and expect it to creep up over time. There’s also the somewhat unavoidable upgrades, as similar to homes, “builder specs” do often leave something to be desired, plus there are “bugs” to fix in most boats and that often takes a bit of money. This couple does a reasonable but not huge amount of work themselves, I suspect they are representative of people buying that boat and cruising full time, but there is some opportunity to reduce costs from this.

https://outchasingstars.com/2018/07/...new-catamaran/

They have links to the first and second years as well on that page.

[Zzmeyer]

I think you will have lots of room in your number. I have a FP47 on order and currently have a 4 year old Beneteau Sense 50 bought new. The cost will be highly dependent on what you are willing to do. Engine maintenance will include a 50 hour routine which I have always had done by an expert. Most maintenance on the Volvo engines you are getting are annual (I'd change oil twice as often as recommended). Again, I have an expert do the annual as I never want an engine failure due to me, an amateur missing something. If you want to keep the boat perfect plan on waxing a couple times a year at about $1,000 per pop where I live. Bottom cleaning monthly for about $1,200 per year. If you don't have a lot of spares that will be a big first year cost. Having spare impellers, belts, filters, electrical, spare water pump and sailing spares can easily add $3k or more. As several have said, warranty can cover some stuff. For me the biggest unknown was repair. As I do quite a bit of offshore sailing I destroyed a bow pulpit with a spinnaker gybe, needed to replace both jib sheets with wear, wind instrument with bird damage, twice running lights. You should get through the first three years with the batteries you have. Of course, our boats will depreciate a heck of a lot more over three years than the maintenance cost.

[tdotson]

Couple things to consider. Insurance for my Lagoon 380 is $3,500 per year and a marina in Fort Myers Beach wanted $300 for a slip, for one night! We grabbed a mooring ball but some costs slip up on you.