General Info: Fountaine Pajot Catamarans

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by jean1146

Welcome Desert Sailors. This is a great Forums,even if you don't have a boat ....yet. We became FP owners in April,still in the learning process.JC.

Well............

Keep posting.

And where are those pics?????

I am in LOL.

[bulabro]

We are very seriously looking at the Orana 44 for delivery in May, 2008. But, after reading the posts on this forum, I’m concerned about the quality of construction. This boat needs to take us from San Diego to New Zealand and I gather, from what I’ve read here, the FP catamarans may be more of a coastal cruiser than an offshore boat. We would welcome any comments about the quality of the boat. Also, are there factory upgrades available to make the boat more seaworthy?

[DtM]

I think that equally important is to make sure thta the skipper is seaworthy. Many sins of a yacht can be and are overcome by a good skipper.

[Desert Sailors]

Originally Posted by bulabro

We are very seriously looking at the Orana 44 for delivery in May, 2008. But, after reading the posts on this forum, I’m concerned about the quality of construction. This boat needs to take us from San Diego to New Zealand and I gather, from what I’ve read here, the FP catamarans may be more of a coastal cruiser than an offshore boat. We would welcome any comments about the quality of the boat. Also, are there factory upgrades available to make the boat more seaworthy?

DtM is quite right, the skipper and crew are nearly as important and the boats pedigree and detail work. The FP's are for the most part, delivered to the US on thier own bottoms, so that should say a bit about thier trans atlantic ability. Opinions about thier finish and function are just that "Opinions" and are mostly posted by NON FP owners. You'll find that most FP owners are very satisfied.

JMHO

[yeloya]

Originally Posted by bulabro

We are very seriously looking at the Orana 44 for delivery in May, 2008. But, after reading the posts on this forum, I’m concerned about the quality of construction. This boat needs to take us from San Diego to New Zealand and I gather, from what I’ve read here, the FP catamarans may be more of a coastal cruiser than an offshore boat. We would welcome any comments about the quality of the boat. Also, are there factory upgrades available to make the boat more seaworthy?

Hi everyone,

I am new to the forum but when I decided to order a new catamaran, I have checked almost every posting on the matter on this forum. After some research, I have recently ordered my Orana 44 to be delivered form La Rochelle in April 08 (master version) to the south of Turkey and this will be my first ever boat...

I have couple of questions;

-in the option list they talk about "spifurl".. It must be a kind of downwing sail, but I couldn't get any further info in the internet ? Does anybody have any idea on what this is supposed to be ? (cons/pros vs. conventional downwind sails, etc)
-the helm station seems to be the weakest part of the design..According to the plans I have received from my dealer, when stand up in the helm station you only have 6ft3 clearance from the boom of the main and I am 6ft 2...
Can this be true??
-Where all this idea of FP's not being seaworthy is coming from ? Is there any fact, or just a belief (mostly from those who never owned a FP)
I thought infusion technology utilised by FP is the safest system to achieve perfect strength per weight compared to conventional systems..

Thx in advance for yr thoughts..

Yeloya

[DtM]

Yeloya, Treat a large volume of the anti FP propaganda as exactly that.

Yes I am biased because I own an FP mahe 36 but there is a lot of rubbish talked by people who have sailed no further than the end of their bathtub on this and other forums.

If you look at the reasoned views on forums those that have sailed can give sensible views , those who want to propagate some party line are often those with an interest in other brand s or those who simply relay dockside skuttlebutt.

Go to the factory or talk to your "broker". You will find all the answers. Just because it isn't on the website is no particular failure. I repeat, talk to those who actually know if you want to know what the boom clearance is actually over the helm station.

daniel

[Wayward Wind]

Hi there!

After months of soaking up as much info as I can while agonising over which multi to go for, such as new, pre-loved, thrashed, private or charter, I want to thank everyone in here for their input.

I am a newbie, having previously owned a Beneteau mono, and only sailed inside our frighteningly exciting Sydney Harbour on weekends, and finally, upon the near-hysterical orders of my admiral, when our mono heeled & rounded up once too often when super fast skiffs were whooshing past within inches of us, I had to sell our Beneteau.

Since then, many nights were spent reading this forum, wishing . . . and hoping.

Not any more! Last weekend, at the Sydney International [COLOR=orange! important][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif][COLOR=orange! important][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Boat [/FONT][COLOR=orange! important][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif]Show[/FONT][/COLOR][/FONT][/COLOR][/COLOR], I attended the Fountaine Pajot section, met two Forum members, DtM (Mahe 36) & Gordon (Orana 44), who twisted my arms & frogmarched me to meet Sharky Mark (so-named because while [COLOR=orange! important][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif][COLOR=orange! important][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif]kayaking[/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/COLOR] along our dangerous coast, his [COLOR=orange! important][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif][COLOR=orange! important][FONT=verdana, geneva, lucida, 'lucida grande', arial, helvetica, sans-serif]kayak[/FONT][/FONT][/COLOR][/COLOR] was attacked from below by a 5 metre Great White. Kayak and Mark went flying and fortunately, the shark lost interest). Anyway, to cut a long story short, I have just placed an order for a Mahe 36, with the lot.

Whoopee!!!

[Wayward Wind]

Hi there!

After months of soaking up as much info as I can while agonising over which multi to go for, such as new, pre-loved, thrashed, private or charter, I want to thank everyone in here for their input.

I am a newbie, having previously owned a Beneteau mono, and only sailed inside our frighteningly exciting Sydney Harbour on weekends, and finally, upon the near-hysterical orders of my admiral, when our mono heeled & rounded up once too often when super fast skiffs were whooshing past within inches of us, I had to sell our Beneteau.

Since then, many nights were spent reading this forum, wishing . . . and hoping.

Not any more! Last weekend, at the Sydney International Bat Show, I attended the Fountaine Pajot section, met two Forum members, DtM (Mahe 36) & Gordon (Orana 44), who twisted my arms & frogmarched me to meet Sharky Mark (so-named because while kayaking along our dangerous coast, his kayak was attacked from below by a 5 metre Great White. Kayak and Mark went flying and fortunately, the shark lost interest). Anyway, to cut a long story short, I have just placed an order for a Mahe 36, with the lot.

Whoopee!!!

[yeloya]

Congratulations !!!!!

And welcome to the club of FP owners..

[Lucky]

I'm now owning my second FP after having an Athena 38 for about two years I know own a 2001 model Belize 43 - so I have a bit of experience with the FP range since I have also done a delivery of a Mahe 36.

The structural and rigging features og the FP range - apart from the fact that they look good in my eyes, is their strength. Up in Scandinavia we have some serious bad weather at times and I have given my boats hell! Going upwind in gale force wind without reefing has caused no trouble and felt all safe, downwind it's no problems of cause!

The only problems I have with the FP's are the material mix between aluminium and stainless steel. The aluminum acts as an anode for the stainless and causes a fusion between the components and also breakage of smaller components, which is an annoyance more than a problem. Haven't seen the Orana/Salina yet so dont know if they have the same issue there.

All in all I must say that I'm happy with FP's range of yachts I have been sailing. The new Mahe had a lot of squiking noises from the interior in heavy weather somthing I havent experienced with the other boats.

Since I don't speak any French I feel a bit "second class" in dealing with them, which I belive is something a lot of people must feel since the Minister of Tourism officially stated that the French must stop their arrogant behaviour towards non french speaking visitors.

I would sertenly not have any problems doing a circumnavigation with an FP and there are noumerous FP's that have done just that.

I think anyone hwo talks about the boats being lightly built should learn more about the issue before stating that an FP is too lightly built. That means in my book that they are still in the 60's monohull era in the UK when a heavy long keelet ketch was the only acceptable blue water cruiser! As we would say in Norway - directly translater- go home and cook your head!

Happy lead free sailin!
Lucky

[yeloya]

Lucky,

Thx for the answer..

Galvanic corrosion problem that you mentioned is an interesting one; I wonder how such an experienced manufacturer might have missed this..I hope the problem has been solved since then and won't have it on my Orana..

Yeloya

[catbluemoon]

I keep it in the Rio Dulce, Guatemala. Bought it used when it came out of TMM charter in Belize. Wanted to have her hauled out for a bottom job and to replace the gaskets in the saildrives but learned that anything pertaining to saildrives can't be found in Central America. The manufacturer recommendations call for replacing the gaskets every two years, which i think is a hassle, considering the boat has to be hauled out to do so. I'm hoping that keeping her in fresh water will give the gaskets more life beyond two years.

[mato]

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this forum, so if this question has been on before let me know.

I sold my monohull a year ago and the plan as been to buy a cat. This far I have chartered 4 cats, 380 Lagoon (First cat to me and made me love cats), Lagoon 37, Lavezzi 40 and Lagoon 440. From these four the fastest was Lavezzi. One day with 22 knt of wind and average speed was 12 knts. Lagoon 440 we couldn't get to double digits, but wind was at max 16 knts. Otherwise the boat was marvellous. Lots of room!

Now my wife will be having twins, so I would like to have a cat which we, the whole family, could sail closer to our home (Finland).

My budjet is around 100 000 Euros. This leaves only FP Tobago 35 to list. How this boat compares with Lagoon 37. There has been a Tobago for sail at Greece with in my budjet, but problem is that I need the boat at Baltic sea. Any ideas how to get the boat from mediterrania to Baltic sea?

Regards,
Mato
(Translation; Snake)

[Jeannius]

"Any ideas how to get the boat from mediterrania to Baltic sea?"
Sail it of course! Across Biscay, up the North Sea, through the Kiel Canal into the Baltic. Actually it might be narrow enough to get through the French Canals. I would think road transport would be expensive.

[Dreaming Yachtsman]

[I have been off the forum for a while so I am answering several posts in this thread all at once.]

roverthomas: You can find layout drawings for all FP current production models on their website. For example the plans for the Lavezzi are at: Fountaine Pajot
The Belize layout is no longer on their web site, though.

Lucky: I echo your complaint about the mismatch of metals found on FP boats. The posts to which my trampoline are attached consist of an aluminum post attached to the boat with a stainless steel bolt. Obviously salt water will occasionally spray over the trampoline so the aluminum corrodes very quickly. I have had to replace 5 original posts with a substitute of my own design after they corroded through and cracked after only 3.5 years of use.

catbluemoon: The seals on the saildrives that need to be replaced are around the shaft and keep the seawater out of the saildrive oil. When they fail, you get seawater in the lube oil, which then causes very rapid deterioration of the saildrive bearings. I suspect that their useful life is related more to the number of revolutions and speed of the shaft rather than time or what type water they are in. We had about 750 hours on ours when they first started to leak. Two months ago I assisted a Yanmar technician replace the seals on my Belize so I now feel comfortable doing the job myself. That job should be done on the hard, however.
BTW, in 2003 we chartered an Athena named "Tropicat" through TMM in Belize. Is that by any chance the boat you recently bought?