Fountaine Pajot
We have chartered one Fountain Pajot ... so far. It won't be our last. There are so many things to love in the Fountain-Pajot series, its hard to find many things to improve. Of course, that would never stop us from trying.
There's a lot to Love Here
We chartered a Helia 44 thru BVI Yacht Charters a few years ago. We were reluctant at first because we had recently had good experiences with Lagoons, and because human beings in general fear change. Our adventurous spirit was handsomely rewarded.
We have a simple theory: good yacht design includes big spaces that allow the entire crew to gather together comfortably and make great memories. GREAT yacht design has multiple spaces you can go to get just enough distance away from that one crew member who is getting on your last nerve. There is something to be said for getting 43 feet away from that cousin who loves to talk politics, or your old college roommate who “could have told you NOT to sell your Apple stock when it hit 100,” when you’re stuck on a 44 foot sailboat.
For this and many other reasons, the deck configuration on the Helia is by far our favorite of any catamaran we have chartered. The upper sun deck is easy to access from the salon, and surrounded on three sides with railings and cushions. This allowed even our smaller children to safely sit out in the weather while under sail and feel like they were part of the action.
The Split Level Ranch
The helm is in what I would call split-level-ranch formation. Similar to a sport-top, Fountaine Pajot isn't the only catamaran to offer this arrangement, but from my experience the ability to easily communicate between the upper sun deck and the salon was a substantial improvement over the topside helm station in most Lagoons and Bali’s.
Under sail performance was about the best we’ve encountered. We were able to reach as high as 12 knots in 20 kts winds, without much discomfort. Sailing downwind, we were able to go from Anageda to Little Jost van Dyke in about 4 hours, mooring ball to mooring ball.
The Helia we rented was rotating out of the premier fleet when we chartered her. She was still very nice and had been kept well by her charter company and owner. This was the first time we had chartered a yacht with air conditioning. The unit made it nice and cool inside, but the diesel generator was loud and emitted noticeable exhaust.
A few Knits to Pick
This is an odd complaint, but it’s the only one I have – so I’ll make the most of it. The hatches on most Fountaine Pajot’s I have encountered are mounted with the hinges on the bow side and open to leeward. This means that instead of scooping wind into the boat at anchor, the breeze blows the hatches shut in a stiff breeze. Because of this design decision, this was the first time we had ever felt air-conditioning was a necessity. Previously (mostly on Leopards and Lagoons we had chartered), we would open the hatches and let the circulating air keep the cabins cool at night. That didn’t happen on the FP, and instead we ran the loud, smelly generator most nights.
It is a small complaint, and if you planned to run the generator all night, every night, you would likely never notice. For us, it was a mild irritant.
Manufacturer's stock images. For more, go to Fountaine Pajot’s Website
If we were going to buy our own yacht, it would likely be a Fountaine Pajot. The Saba 50 was our dream yacht until the Sonora 47 came out. The Sonora – along with the new Astrea 42 – have a submersible swim platform and dingy lift that may eliminate the hassles with running ashore. We are huge fans and cannot wait until our next opportunity to sail one of these beautiful vessels.