Helia 44: FP New catamaran Buyers Club

[dooleedooroo]

Hi

I have a plan to buy a brand new FP sailing catamaran, and ex-factory pickup at France and cruising the world. I am slowly preparing this so I can start sailing in three years.

While cruising CR forum, I found there are many people like me who planning/preparing to purchase the catamaran in next 2-5 years. So I am starting new tread to talk about below

1. Choosing FP dealer : Recommendation from the previous buyer, not just US, but worldwide. Is european dealer near La Rochelle may better than US dealer, pricewise. How about greece, spain....
2. Price : I saw the FP factory price sheet for 2017, Is every dealer using same price sheet? Any discount I can expect from the dealer? since usually reserving the boat is ahead of the new price, what is the process of signing up for the boat.( I heard that If I want 2020 delivery of helia, I may need to sign up early next year)
3. Any advise on purchasing with ex-factory pickup : documentation, outfitting etc
4. Those prospect buyers for next 2-5 years, we may start a buyers club so we can exchange information. Also possibly we can go to a same dealer who can give us good discount and service.

[AmyA511]

Hi there! We bought our Helia new three years ago. To address some of your questions:

1) we used a dealer that is no longer an Faintaine Pajot Rep and had a terrible experience, EXCEPT for the guy we worked with directly - Frank McCarthy. He’s now at Atlantic, which he says is much better and we recommend them. They are the largest in the states. Honestly, buying a new boat is a really tough process, and everyone I know has had issues.

3) we did documentation through our dealer. Outfitting was done half in La Rochelle with Uchimata and half in Florida. We have a very customized Helia, so we had a bigger outfitting process than most. Also, incredibly challenging and not very fun. Picking out ALL your systems from scratch is stressful.

There’s a Fountaine Pajot Owners Facebook group, and if I may toot my own horn: OutChasingStars.com

[dooleedooroo]

Thanks for the input Amy
I found ChasingtheStar at YouTube about a month ago. I enjoyed so much, I just finished all of your episode last week.

I am planning almost same thing. Ex factory pickup, outfitting only the necessaries first, and complete the rest in Florida. Except, I am planning med sailing about 6 month before the atlantic crossing.

When you purchase your boat, did you shop around? How do you research on the price of the new catamarans. I heard that new boat buying is like new car buying. MSRP from the dealer is not the price you pay.

[Nelsonyakha]

Hello Dooleedooroo, Hello Amy,
We just bought our ex factory Helia 44.
That's the hull 220. She should be off the manufactory by Beginning of February 2018...
We are very Excited!
Until now, I should say that we do not have had any problem (yet) and I cross my fingers...
The boat will be in a charter program for some year in the Adriatic see.
So the boat will be very well equipped.
Everything come from F.P. sometimes more expensive, but like Cheeky monkey said, We got a complete guaranty from F.P. for those equipments and it looks that F.P. have a good customer services.
But Here, only Amy can talk about it.
I love your projects. We have the same target but I still need to wait a few years before my retirement.
Amy, Your Youtube channel is great !!! I'm a fan!
Philippe

[AmyA511]

Originally Posted by dooleedooroo

Thanks for the input Amy

I found ChasingtheStar at YouTube about a month ago. I enjoyed so much, I just finished all of your episode last week.



I am planning almost same thing. Ex factory pickup, outfitting only the necessaries first, and complete the rest in Florida. Except, I am planning med sailing about 6 month before the atlantic crossing.



When you purchase your boat, did you shop around? How do you research on the price of the new catamarans. I heard that new boat buying is like new car buying. MSRP from the dealer is not the price you pay.

Thanks for watching! We had done a ton of research online and then went to the Annapolis boat show. That was really worth it, getting to meet people face to face, see the boats in person, sometimes even meet the owners. I know there is usually a boat show special for the price. Negotiating probably depends on the dealer.

[AmyA511]

Originally Posted by Nelsonyakha

Hello Dooleedooroo, Hello Amy,
We just bought our ex factory Helia 44.
That's the hull 220. She should be off the manufactory by Beginning of February 2018...
We are very Excited!
Until now, I should say that we do not have had any problem (yet) and I cross my fingers...
The boat will be in a charter program for some year in the Adriatic see.
So the boat will be very well equipped.
Everything come from F.P. sometimes more expensive, but like Cheeky monkey said, We got a complete guaranty from F.P. for those equipments and it looks that F.P. have a good customer services.
But Here, only Amy can talk about it.
I love your projects. We have the same target but I still need to wait a few years before my retirement.
Amy, Your Youtube channel is great !!! I'm a fan!
Philippe

Hi Philippe! Thanks for watching. I think we’ve had a fairly good experience in terms of our boat quality and customer service from Fountaine Pajot, but I know it has not been the case for others. There are examples of issues from almost every step in the process. Cheeky Monkey had trouble with Uchimata, many people have had trouble with the dealers, and I do know some people who have had issues getting Fountaine Pajot to help with warrantee issues that are clearly in their scope. I hope things continue to go well with your order.

For both you and Dooleedooroo, you should check out Lady Roslyn on Facebook...she’s a Saba Cruising the med and the photos are just awesome. Very inspiring to get us out to the med.

[dooleedooroo]

Originally Posted by Nelsonyakha

Hello Dooleedooroo, Hello Amy,
We just bought our ex factory Helia 44.
That's the hull 220. She should be off the manufactory by Beginning of February 2018...
We are very Excited!
Until now, I should say that we do not have had any problem (yet) and I cross my fingers...
The boat will be in a charter program for some year in the Adriatic see.
So the boat will be very well equipped.
Everything come from F.P. sometimes more expensive, but like Cheeky monkey said, We got a complete guaranty from F.P. for those equipments and it looks that F.P. have a good customer services.
But Here, only Amy can talk about it.
I love your projects. We have the same target but I still need to wait a few years before my retirement.
Amy, Your Youtube channel is great !!! I'm a fan!
Philippe

Phillipe,
Can you share your purchase/dealer information?
1. Dealer name and location and whether you recommend
2. price, any discount from factory price sheet. If there was what percent.
3. When did you reserve the boat for 2018 Feb pickup?

You can PM me if you prefer.