The opportunity to be consuming less than a liter per mile...
The second-hand market for powercats is beginning to grow, thanks to a steady increase in new production over the past ten years (Leopard, Aquila, Fountaine Pajot...). Older models are rarer, and above all do not come from large production runs, but they do offer the opportunity, for a budget of less than €350,000, to buy an offshore-capable powercat ready for a refit. As the late Marc Lombard used to say, the real “green” boat is the second-hand boat... But can we do even better than that? Can a catamaran powered by internal combustion engines totaling almost 600 HP be part of a sober approach in keeping with the times? This is the challenge taken up by an experienced owner, adopting the most modern technical solutions and an ethical attitude. We’d like to share with you an interesting - even inspiring - example of how a powercat has been given a second lease of life out on the water.
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Publié le
26/10/2023
Par
Philippe Echelle, François Trégouët and Emmanuel van Deth
Numéro :
SP21
Parution :
Dec.
/
Jan.
2023
Jean-François Desmars is a true sailor, first a hardened racer aboard 470s and then J/80s. He next tried his hand at a Lagoon 43 PC, followed by a Lagoon 440. Neither of these two catamarans really matched his program. At the time (nearly 20 years ago), he was still seeking sporty rides, so a fairly radical Petter 50 satisfied his taste for “fast blue water sailing”. For some fifteen seasons, Jean-François sailed single-handed or with a crew to the UK or Norway - the great North Atlantic being his cruising playground every summer. But it came time to reduce sail: “Having spent many nights at t…
