Large Platform For Connoisseurs: Fountaine Pajot New 51

Fountaine Pajot has built and sold over 200 units of the Sab50 model (test in YACHT 24/2014) in just over six years of market presence. For the catamaran builders in Aigrefeuille near LRochelle, this was a real bestseller. Now the shipyard has taken on the successful and popular format of 15 meters hull length again and completely rebuilt it together with the designers from Berret / Racoupeau. And once again the now completely new ship will initially only be presented with a working title: Fountaine Pajot New 51. The big secret of the final model name will probably not be revealed again until the world premiere.

The new ship adopts the design language of the latest model generation from Fountaine Pajot and thus closes the last remaining gap to complete the current range. Seen in this light, no trend-setting surprises are to be expected from the new model. But the concept shows some remarkable innovations. For example, the cabins in the aft ship can now also be reached directly from the cockpit through separate companionways, which simplifies processes and enables more privacy for the owners.

A total of four different layout variants are available for the interior design of the New 51, with four, five or six cabins and each with its own bathroom with shower option. As a novelty on the 50-footer market, Fountaine Pajot is also promoting an exciting extension version, with two spacious owner's cabins aft and two smaller guest cabins, which are installed transversely at the front. All possible furnishing options for owners or for the charter market can be seen in the picture gallery below.

Photo gallery: Fountaine Pajot New 51

Previous

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Next

In the spacious salon, the lavishly large kitchen-cum-living room dominates with a central, free-standing piece of furniture as additional work surface and storage space. An L-shaped sofa around a small coffee table and a kind of chaise longue for relaxing and reading complete the comfort options in the salon. In contrast, Fountaine Pajot does without a designated navigation system as a workplace in the new boat.

As an option, for a surcharge, owners can have the roof of the deckhouse covered with large solar panels. The collectors together have an area of around ten square meters and, under optimal conditions, deliver an output of around 2000 watts. That is enough electricity to simultaneously operate all the refrigerators on board, the ice box and electronic devices such as TV, radio or laptop and to be able to recharge external devices such as cell phones or tablets.

The New 51 will weigh a good 18 tonnes from the shipyard. Compared to possible competing boats (Lagoon 50, Leopard 50, Excess 15), the ship from Fountaine Pajot is built relatively lightly. The hull and deck are made as GRP sandwich constructions using a vacuum infusion process with a balsa wood and foam core. In addition, the boat is pretty well heeled with a standard sail area of 154 square meters upwind. The sails load number is a comparatively high value of 4.7. That promises a lot of performance potential under sail.

There are many large areas on deck for relaxing, enjoying and sunbathing, for example in the spacious front cockpit or on the flybridge on the second floor. The control cockpit is raised to the side and can be reached from the walking deck, but also directly from the cockpit. In contrast to many of the competition's ships, the helm of Fountaine Pajot is separate from the sheets, halyards and winches on the cabin superstructure in front of it. The concept loses its one-handed suitability, but offers more space for active sailors to set and trim the sails.

Fountaine Pajot has already named a price: the boat will cost 750,000 euros from the shipyard, with sails and extensive basic equipment. Including 19 percent VAT, the basic price is 892,500 euros. The first New 51 boat should be ready in February 2022 and then get a proper name. The premiere will then take place in spring 2022 at the multihull trade fair in LGrande Motte in southern France.

Technical data Fountaine Pajot New 51

constructor	Berret-Racoupeau Yacht Design
constructor	Berret-Racoupeau Yacht Design
Interior design	Isabelle Racoupeau
Hull length	15.54 m
width	8.08 m
Draft	1.30 m
Weight	18.1 t
Mainsail	95.0 sqm
Enjoy	59.0 sqm
Motorization	2 x Volvo PentD2-50, Saildrive (opt. 75 PS)
Fresh water capacity	900 lt (in 2 tanks)
Capacity fuel	2 x 450 lt
CE design category	(14 people)

new catamaran in popular size