{"id":34677,"date":"2021-02-18T14:19:46","date_gmt":"2021-02-18T07:19:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.franco-media.com\/?p=34677"},"modified":"2025-04-07T00:41:53","modified_gmt":"2025-04-06T17:41:53","slug":"fountaine-pajot-elba-45-phuket-yacht-sales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.franco-media.com\/en\/fountaine-pajot-elba-45-phuket-yacht-sales\/","title":{"rendered":"Fountaine Pajot Elba 45"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Fountaine Pajot Elba 45″ font_container=”tag:h1|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=””][vc_column_text]Review by Sam Fortescue<\/strong>, for\u00a0Sail Magazine<\/em><\/a>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text]With new catamaran brands springing up like mushrooms, France\u2019s Fountaine Pajot is something of an oak tree in the market, with a story that goes back to its founding in 1976. It is also one of the largest cat builders out there, sending some 600 boats down the ways in 2018.<\/p>\n

The new Elba 45 replaces the 7-year-old Helia 44 and is intended to be the yard\u2019s new bestseller. For that reason, it is no mould-breaking tearaway, but rather a safe, dependable, well-thought-out mainstay model. Not for nothing were more than 100 of the boats sold before the first hull even hit the water.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”34685″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” style=”vc_box_rounded” onclick=”zoom”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Design & Construction” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left|color:%2300B7C2″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=””][vc_column_text]Although it replaces the old Helia 44, the Fountaine-Pajot Elba 45 has been designed by Olivier Racoupeau from scratch, following over 150 meetings and thousands of hours of work. The brand-new hull offers 10 percent less drag than the Helia, thanks to a small chine in the aft section and a remodeled transom.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt may not sound like much, but for us, that\u2019s a big deal,\u201d Racoupeau told me. The result is better performance at medium to high speeds and more efficient motoring: all that in a hull that is just 6in longer than its predecessor and 6in beamier.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”On deck” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:left|color:%230F4C75″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=””][vc_column_text]Fountaine Pajot has resisted the urge to offer this boat with a true flybridge, instead providing a bulkhead helm position with some low-profile lounging space on the coach roof. Why \u201cresisted?\u201d Well, although the extra space and cachet of a flybridge would appeal to some, it puts a lot of weight high up and forces the designer to raise the height of the boom. This, in turn, places the center of effort higher up, increasing heeling moment and requiring a taller mast.<\/p>\n

As it is, the 45\u2019s helm offers a kind of halfway house in which the person at the wheel can still stay involved in life on the aft deck below, via sightlines through the ladder up to the coach roof. There is also a good 109sq. ft\u00a0of cushion space up top, where crew can either keep the helmsperson company or just admire a sunset.<\/p>\n

The rig is ICW friendly and represents a pretty standard catamaran setup, with the 59ft 5in mast stepped on the leading end of the coach roof. The mainsheet runs to a traveler mounted aft of the helm and lounging area, and the genoa sheets to a pair of tracks located close to the centerline and within reach of the cockpit for easy control and tight trim angles. All lines are led back to a rope-handling pit just ahead of the wheel, where three Lewmar 50 winches allow you to handle sheets, halyards and reefing lines with ease.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”34684″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center” onclick=”zoom”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Accommodations” font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left|color:%2300B7C2″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=””][vc_column_text css=””]Compared to the first-generation Helia 44, the team at Racoupeau and Fountaine Pajot has made some significant changes inside, particularly with respect to the large 180sq. ft saloon.<\/p>\n

For example, where the Helia had a horseshoe-shaped galley aft and a deep, dedicated chart table forward to port, the new boat leaves this space largely uncluttered, with the galley now running along the port side of the saloon, where it is punctuated by a set of stairs leading down into the cabins in the hull.<\/p>\n

The chart table has also been done away with, and the navigation instruments shifted to a cabinet by the sliding door leading to the cockpit. In explaining the decision, Racoupeau says, \u201cFrom our personal experience, we saw that we use the chart table less and less. We go there for information, but not to sit down and work like we did in the past.\u201d<\/p>\n

Two interior configurations are on offer: a \u201cMaestro,\u201d or owner\u2019s, version that dedicates the entire port hull to a double cabin with fold-out TV, dressing table, copious clothes storage and a large shower room and heads; and a charter-friendly four-cabin, four heads \u201cQuatuor\u201d setup.<\/p>\n

Both include a crew berth in the starboard bow and room for a crew head to port. There\u2019s space for a sail locker as well. The standard finish is in a light grey oak for the furniture, dark oak flooring and a choice of neutral upholstery.[\/vc_column_text][vc_single_image image=”34683″ img_size=”full”][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_custom_heading text=”Under Sail” font_container=”tag:h2|text_align:left|color:%230F4C75″ use_theme_fonts=”yes” css=””][vc_column_text css=””]You don\u2019t waste any time getting the sails up in this boat, with the task of raising the main eased by an ingenious hook mounted on the head car that provides a 2:1 purchase as it pulls the sail up the mast track.<\/p>\n

With the fully battened main and the standard 120 percent genoa, we found the FP Elba 45 managed an easy 7 to 8 knots beating into around 12 knots of true wind at an apparent wind angle of 45 degrees.<\/p>\n

Off the wind, she rollicked along nicely. Unfortunately, we weren\u2019t able to test a reaching or a running sail, which would have really lit things up.<\/p>\n

Fountaine Pajot maintains that the larger genoa means there is less need for, say, a dedicated Code 0. However, a central longeron also protrudes beyond the bow providing a tack point for such canvas.[\/vc_column_text][vc_media_grid element_width=”6″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1743956036207-e754a989fd4c30b16f0088fc18620271-2″ include=”34682,34681″][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row content_placement=”middle”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_cta h2=”Elba Specifications” h2_font_container=”tag:h4|text_align:left|color:%23FFFFFF” h2_use_theme_fonts=”yes” style=”custom” css=”” use_custom_fonts_h2=”true” custom_background=”#0F4C75″ custom_text=”#111111″]LOA:<\/strong> 44ft 1in<\/span>
\nLWL:<\/strong>\u00a044ft<\/span>
\nBEAM:<\/strong>\u00a024ft 9in<\/span>
\nDRAFT:<\/strong>\u00a03ft 11in<\/span>
\nDISPLACEMENT:<\/strong>\u00a031,360lb<\/span>
\nSAIL AREA<\/strong> :807sq. ft<\/span>
\nFUEL\/WATER:<\/strong>\u00a0(GAL) 125\/185<\/span>
\nENGINE:<\/strong>\u00a040hp Volvo diesel x 2<\/span>
\nSA\/D RATIO:<\/strong>\u00a013<\/span>
\nD\/L RATIO:<\/strong> 164<\/span>[\/vc_cta][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_column_text]DESIGNER<\/strong>\u00a0Berret-Racoupeau Yacht Design<\/p>\n

BUILDER<\/strong>\u00a0Fountaine Pajot, Aigrefeuille, France,\u00a0fountaine-pajot.com<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

What do these ratios mean? Visit\u00a0sailmagazine.com\/ratios<\/a><\/strong>[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css=””]\n

QUICK LINKS<\/h4>\n