We recently chartered a
Fountaine Pajot Helia 44’ in
California for a couple days.
It was an awesome experience.
I’ve seen a lot of “newbie” threads lately, and thought as a fellow
newbie I might offer my thoughts. Just stuff I wish I’d had a better idea of.
Fair warning. This is going to be very long.
The
weather was about perfect temperature wise. No need for A/C or anything. The
water was much too chilly to enjoy for warm blooded southerners used to the gulf.
I’ll just dive right in then.
Stepping into the
salon for the first time, with a few people sitting down, and squeezing past others to unpack into the cabins, the
salon is a lot smaller in person than I expected. I would call it “serviceable”, but it certainly didn’t feel luxurious.
The
galley seemed fine, but took up a ton of space and made me think the linear
galley of a Bali or
Leopard would be much more to my liking. It did make me realize that the awkwardly shaped, small galley of the
Lagoon 42 is probably perfectly serviceable though. I'm the cook of the
family, so this is an area I was hoping to be impressed with and I just wasn't. It's not bad certainly. But it didn't wow me with how well it was arranged or how much they packed into the space either.
The seating was just awkward. You take the “seats eight comfortably” claims from brokers with a big grain of
salt, but your crew better be pretty trim to sit more than 4 comfortably with back
cushions and room to not have to bang your knees together.
The little coffee table was nice for
storage, but a real table (which I assume is an option) would’ve been welcome.
Quality wise everything in the salon seemed to be in great shape and we didn’t have any concerns there.
The
refrigerator holds less than you’d assume. I didn’t get down and look at what the deal was, but there’s something in the back (compressor?) that prevents the doors from closing with 12oz
beer bottles pushed to the back of the drawer. Slide them 3 or 4” forward and it closes fine. So something intrudes on the drawer
depth at the back. I expected to really like these refrigerators, and I did. Just something to be aware of.
The sloped windows let in a good bit of heat even in the very mild
weather. It never got uncomfortable, but it did make me think that more vertical windows would be a better design, especially in warmer weather.
The overhead
lighting, height and window were all great, no complaints at all, and if you're taller than average, I could imagine this being a big advantage for you.
Overall I’d rate the salon a 4 out of 10. It was squared off and “IKEA” style, which I personally love. But with dark countertops I'd never consider at home, and it could’ve really used a couple more feet of length. I would’ve traded the nav station for full-width U-shaped seating with inside nav on a shelf or something in a heartbeat.
The
cockpit was huge. To my surprise no one really much sat out there though. Maybe it was just the people I was with. Maybe it was the fact that with
wind there wasn’t a ton of opportunity for card games or anything.
I give the
cockpit a 7/10. I think I prefer a table oriented forward/aft as I found seating that way more comfortable than sitting athwartship while pounding through very light waves. At
anchor this was a total non-issue of course. The "reading chaise" spot was really nice though. Wide and comfortable with a great view.
The galley pass through was nice for ventilation and making the salon feel bigger, but didn't strike me as much of a practical necessity as I thought it would going into the experience. The path through the cockpit was wide and gave a real feeling of openness. The
boat was definitely designed to give you a huge cockpit and goes a long ways to explaining the small feeling salon. I'm not sure it's the trade-off I'd make, but looking at the competition, the Helia definitely has a significant advantage here over most.
The transom could’ve offered additional seating and
storage, but besides that I didn’t see much room for improvement.
I wasn’t a big fan of the
davits. The swinging davit system of
Leopard or Bali catamarans would appear to be a nicer design. This
boat had (I think) a 3.8m
dinghy, and it seemed a bit of a handful to get it lined up and in getting the cover on when you couldn’t reach the outside
hull from the sugar scoops. The
davits also only supported 100kg each IIRC. Which struck me as pretty marginal. I don’t know what’s typical, but ~440lbs doesn’t seem like a lot of
headroom for a 3.8m
RIB with a 4-stroke and
fuel.
The newer Evolution version of the boat appears to have added transom seating (but not storage?), and upgraded davits (not swinging, but higher at least and maybe stronger?).
I’m going to give the davits on this 2016 version of the boat a 2/10. Better than nothing. And I suppose they could be worse. But definitely at the bottom end of the spectrum among
current offerings.
Our favorite seats was the 2+ seat up at the
helm, and the seating a step up on the salon top. We’re not sun-bathers. Usually the sun is just trying to kill you where we’re from, so the lounging
cushions forward of that didn’t really see any use. I’d probably cover it in grippy flexible
solar instead assuming glare isn’t an issue. But the actual seats were really great. I wish manufacturers would do away with mattresses on the roof. Seating good. Mattresses not good. Give me smooth, unobstructed, flat surfaces for
solar instead.
The
helm felt pretty isolated from the cockpit and salon. That was actually my biggest surprise. Looking at pictures and videos of various catamarans I’d totally bought into the idea that a semi-raised helm allowed you to feel more part of what’s going on in the cockpit and salon, but that wasn’t really my experience. It’s probably better on
boats where the helm seating isn’t molded into the cockpit roof. Which seems to be “everyone else” that isn’t
Fountaine Pajot.
Sitting on the salon top, we didn’t really feel any more isolated than sitting at the helm though. And the seating was actually really enjoyable when in the shade of the
mainsail. Ignoring the mattresses forward of the seats, I’d give them a 9/10. Cup holders and maybe a small 3 or 4 drink ice bin “cooler” might be the only small upgrades I might’ve wished for.
So the main lesson I walked away with was that I think that as long as there’s a good
bimini, I might actually prefer a flybridge design. That was a surprise to me since I’d basically ruled it out previously. Being able to see around the
sails on the port side of the boat when on a starboard tack would’ve been a huge upgrade though. As it was it felt like the dual aft helms of a Nautitech or
Catana would’ve provided just as much practical view.
So I went from thinking the semi-raised helm was the best of both worlds, to thinking, at least on this boat, that it’s the worst of both worlds. With aft helms I would’ve felt much more connected with the rest of the boat, and with a flybridge I would’ve felt like I had a much better idea of what was going on. So there’s still trade-offs with those other styles. But not significant as I’d thought, and the semi-raised helm didn’t prove to be the advantage I’d thought it would be.
I think it’s fair to say that, for me, the Helia’s separate line handling position from the helm is not a design I’m a fan of though. Being able to remain at the helm during line handling like on most other brands would definitely be my preference.
The helm and line handling positions get a 5/10 from me. They
work. They’re not outright bad. If it weren’t for the fact that the bench seating at the helm is the best seat on the boat, it’d be a 3/10 though. The whole setup could use a lot of improvement all around. You can access all the lines from the station, so that’s worth something. But I feel like that’s kind of the bare minimum on modern cats in this size range these days.
The trampolines, hatches and pulpit seats (I guess?) were fine. It would’ve been great to have a “forward cockpit”, and that’d definitely be a feature I’d look for on my own boat. The Astrea 42 does it well I think.
Going down into the hulls now. We were on an owner’s version, and the owner’s
cabin was awesome. Tons of
lighting. Having similarly large
portlights in the hulls would be pretty high on my list. I love the
current trend of the Bali 4.1,
Leopard 45,
Lagoon 42, Astrea 42, etc where huge horizontal port lights really brighten up the hulls.
There is a ton of storage, hanging lockers and shelving in the owner’s
hull. Much more than I was expecting actually. It struck me as exceptionally well done.
I appreciated the small “sofa” to have somewhere to put on my shoes or toss a backpack. Given the other storage options in the hull, I don’t think I’d
trade it for more storage after all. I liked the storage at the desk area, but if it were an option I’d rather have dresser drawers there or something for much more usable storage since I can’t see realistically using that desk/vanity for
work or anything. Maybe my wife would feel differently and see it as a must-have. We just used it as a spot to charge our
electronics, but that could’ve easier been a dresser with fiddles on the top and an outlet above it.
I give the owner’s cabin/hull a 8/10. Not much room for improvement.
The bathroom was nice. It did seem like the
toilet is placed better on some other newer or larger
boats, but it’s barely worth a mention; not really an issue, just something I noticed. I’m not a fan of double sinks, so I saw the
single sink as a plus. There was plenty of storage in the bathroom as well, so that wasn’t lacking at all. The
shower was generous and I really enjoyed it. The little cubby for toothpaste and such was handy. The bathroom could’ve really used a porthole (in addition to the hatch) to let out steam though. That’d be something on my checklist when boat
shopping. The shelving and hanging locker in the
head were welcome surprises. I really wish boat tour videos would focus more on available storage options. The medicine cabinet mirrors were very generous.
It’s not as fancy/pretty as the Astrea or Saona, but other than the porthole, I don’t see a lot of room for improvement from a practical perspective. I’m going to give it an 8/10.
We were less impressed with the guest hull. The forward
cabin narrowed significantly. The heads were rather small and they were wet-heads. I would much prefer a
single head in each hull with separate
shower and shower door. I give those heads a 3/10. Only just serviceable. Not anything I’d want if a larger combined head was an option.
I think it’s probably important to keep in mind that this “44ft” boat is a good 18” shorter than a
Leopard 45 or over 2’ shorter than a Lagoon 450. So while some areas were surprisingly generous, such as the owner’s hull, others felt like they could’ve really used the additional length, like the salon and guest hull.
The cabin and head doors were a bit narrow, but not at all a squeeze. Just a difference to get used to. The full length mirror behind the owner’s head was very nice though. Made the area feel more open. Is it worth the option
price versus doing it yourself for $50 or something? Probably not. But it’d definitely make the list of things to put on the boat.
I didn’t get into any of the mechanicals of the boat beyond just opening lockers and looking inside. So the “engine room”s seemed to have plenty of space. There was no water-maker or
generator on this boat, but there’s obviously plenty of room for it. I don’t know how easy or not it would be to
service sanitary hoses, pumps, or anything like that. I wasn’t all that impressed with the Nav station. I think I’d prefer an
iPad with a
WiFi link to the chart plotter and an
autopilot remote.
I don’t mean to come off negative on the Helia. For a cruising couple with guests, there seems to be a lot to recommend the boat. Not the least of which is the truly impressive owner’s hull. That wasn’t something I particularly gave a lot of thought to before boarding the vessel, (other than obviously an owner’s hull is nicer) but in hindsight it may actually be the feature that left me most impressed with the boat. I didn’t really appreciate exactly how nice the owner’s hull on the Helia was going to be. Very impressive.
With some tweaks here and there, I think you’d have to be crazy to turn your nose up at a Helia. It might not be my ideal boat, but it’s without a doubt a really nice one I could find myself spending several happy years aboard. There’s no one perfect boat for everyone.
Of the
charter options we had available, I’m definitely glad we went with the Helia. It was a great boat for the purpose. Easily the best
vacation experience of my life, and while I didn’t walk away thinking the Helia was the boat for me, I definitely learned a lot, and have a much better idea of what trade-offs and compromises are the right ones for us.
All said and done, I’m actually really excited to see the Bali 4.1 in
Annapolis. I’d gone into this experience pretty skeptical of them, but with the updates (improved cabinetry finishes, L-shaped sofa, transom seating and storage) I think it might actually be my ideal boat now that I’ve come around on the helm position, and the huge lazarettes seem to provide for more room for toys like my folding
electric bike.
Hope that helps.
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