Spirits and glasses were raised high as the Outremer team accepted the Multihull of the Year award for its Outremer 52 model at the British Yachting Awards in London at The Royal Thames Yacht Club. Elected exclusively by the general public, the 52-footer was one of five contenders in this year’s multihull category.

The competition was fierce, according to a BYA spokesperson, as all five contenders made strong cases for the top honor. However, it was the Outremer 52’s “undeniable allure” and “outstanding craftsmanship” that secured the most votes from the sailing community. 

“It’s an honor to receive this public acknowledgment of the hard work and innovation that has gone into our 52 design,” said Outremer Sales Director Matthieu Rougevin-Baville, upon receiving the award in London. “The popularity of the 52 has continued to grow our close-knit community of Outremer owners since its official launch in Cannes 2022.” 

The Outremer 52 combines the signature features of the legendary 51 (the model’s successor) with the fresh look and feel of the 55—which won the European Yacht of the Year award in 2022—such as the adjustable helm, the view forward through the saloon, and the helm seat designed for two people. This merging of design elements, in addition to the involvement of renowned names in the industry—such as the naval architects VPLP and the French designers Patrick Le Quément and Darnet Design—have contributed to a design that is not only aesthetically pleasing but also highly functional and well-engineered.

Drawing inspiration from its predecessors, the Outremer 52 design brief sought to preserve the qualities that first made the brand a household name among sailors, while introducing new elements to enhance the overall experience. One of the standout features of the Outremer 52 model is its seaworthiness. According to Outremer’s parent company Grand Large Yachting, the naval architects and designers worked tirelessly to create a vessel that can handle even the most challenging bluewater cruising conditions. 

Weight savings achieved by optimization of the 52’s structural build components allowed for an increase in the amount of glazing and openings aboard the boat, without undermining performance. The result was greater visibility for the crew underway. The layout of the interiors and exteriors above deck were also made more conducive to keeping a better lookout. For example, the bar area of the cockpit allows the crew to eat meals while on watch. Night watches can be kept from the bench in the salon, which faces forward.

The Outremer team will present the Outremer 52 at the 2024 Miami International Boat Show in February. Adjacent to the boat show, on February 17, Grand Large Yachting will host a comprehensive day-long seminar featuring industry experts, trainers and seasoned sailors. This event will cover a wide range of topics, from cruising routes and understanding weather patterns, to ensuring safety both on board and at sea.

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Author, sailor and event organizer Jimmy Cornell has just launched his latest expedition sailboat, this time a fully electric Outremer 4X called Elcano 500, and next month he plans to set off from Seville, Spain, to celebrate and follow the route of the first circumnavigation, completed in 1522 by the Spanish sailor Juan Sebastian Elcano.

Elcano set off from Seville in 1519 with Ferdinand Magellan, taking command of the expedition when Magellan was killed in the Philippines, and completing the round-the-world voyage the following year.

Cornell is calling his latest adventure the Elcano Project. The boat’s name, besides paying homage to the first circumnavigator, is a play on “Electricity. Carbon. No!” The voyage will follow the original course, stopping in Tenerife, Rio de Janeiro, Montevideo, Puerto Julian and passing through the Magellan Strait. From there, Elcano will set off across the Pacific, visiting Puka Puka in the Cook Islands, Guam, and the Philippines, including the island of Mactan, where Magellan was killed. From there, Elcano will visit several other Pacific islands, cross the South Indian Ocean, round the Cape of Good Hope and return to Seville. The 30,000-mile voyage is expected to take less than a year.

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French catamaran builder Outremer had a good thing going with its sporty 49-footer. The company built more than 20 of the bluewater cruisers, introduced at the European shows in 2009, and now hopes to get even more good things out of a slightly larger and revamped model styled along the lines of last year’s successful Outremer 5X, which was named Best Full-Size Multihull Over 50 Feet in Cruising World’s 2014 Boat of the Year contest.

The new Outremer 51, which I visited on the dock at Strictly Sail Miami last winter, comes from the same molds as the 49, but rounded edges on the hulls have been squared off to match the look of the 59-foot 5X. Also, about a foot’s been added to the sugar-scoop transoms, the inner walls of which have been eliminated to make boarding from a dinghy easier. The sheer of the cabin top has been redone to more closely resemble the sweep of the house on the 5X; windows that had been tilted in the 49 are now nearly vertical, and those in front are tucked back under an eyebrow that gives the boat an elegant look when viewed head-on.

Furniture in the saloon, primarily the couch surrounding the dining table, has also been redesigned to give it a straight-lined, modern look. The boat I visited had a light oak interior and white panels, which contrasted nicely with the dark wenge sole. Accommodations looked very comfortable. The version I saw, designed for a family, had a spacious owner’s hull to port, with a queen berth aft and a head and shower forward. The other hull had an upper and lower bunk in the forward cabin, a double berth aft and a shared head and shower in between. Outremer offers a couple other layouts, one with two traditional cabins in the starboard hull, and a charter version with four cabins and two heads

A wide sliding door separates the saloon from the cockpit. With the galley located on the starboard aft side of the saloon, the cook remains part of the party. A U-shaped, forward-facing couch spans the cockpit’s transom and surrounds a drop-leaf table that can be opened for dining or kept closed for entertaining.

Outremers are known as performance cats, and the 51 is certainly set up in that vein, with a rotating carbon-fiber mast and boom and a solent rig with working jib and screacher. Like its older sister, the 51 has daggerboards rather than keels, which helps upwind. All of this comes at a cost, of course. A price tag of $717,600 puts the 51 in the luxury category.

I liked that on the 51, the helmsman has options when it comes to watchkeeping and steering: One can sit warm and dry at the nav station that’s tucked into the forward starboard corner of the saloon, enjoy a little company seated at the bulkhead-mounted wheel in the cockpit, or sail dinghy-style with a tiller in hand and braced in chairs located outboard and aft on either hull. In any of these locations, I suspect the ride would be quite pleasant.

Mark Pillsbury is CW’s editor.

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Outremer 5X

A true high-performance cat with the ability, on passage, to knock off one 300-plus nautical-mile day after another, for 2014 our panelists named the 59-foot Outremer 5X the Best Full-Size Multihull Over 50 Feet.

“This is a company that’s been building boats for 30 years, and they’ve traditionally staked out the territory more toward the performance end of the spectrum than many of their competitors,” said Tim Murphy.

“For the design team, they’ve commissioned VPLP, a French consortium who’ve done a lot of very, very fast race boats,” Murphy added. “Over the years, slowly but surely, the multihull category has evolved toward true sailboats that you can also live comfortably aboard. The Outremer 5X is an example of that.

“Yes,” he continued, “you could call this a complicated boat. It’s definitely aimed at experienced sailors. But the reason it’s so technical is that they’ve given you a lot of tools to really shape and control the sails. The jib leads are almost three-dimensional, in that there’s a series of barber-haulers in three different directions so you can put that lead exactly where you want it to be.”

“Relatively speaking, this is a light-displacement vessel,” said Ed Sherman. “Yet, under power, it was also one of the quietest boats we’ve tested. That speaks to solid construction, because lighter boats are generally noisier. I look at that as a really positive attribute.”

“The builders were very upfront with this boat’s goals,” said Mark Schrader. “They want it to be the best-performing cruising catamaran on the market. The design challenge was to make it fast but also comfortable. To execute that design parameter, they made things infinitely adjustable. No question, this boat had the best sheet leads and trimming tools. Simple it’s not. Balanced it is.”

View more photos of the Outremer 5X

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Tristan Bridge and Cheval

I am born from days without seeing land, those days when the horizons seem to blend into one another. I am from the swells of the ocean rocking me to sleep; then I wake up and I’m not quite sure which country I’m in. I am from those hours when the world seems to pause, finally stopping to catch a breath. I am from the most isolated settings, places that have yet to feel the taint of human interference. I am an adolescent of the world, born from the simplicity of life, caught somewhere in between passive existence and the struggles of mortality.

Exploring by Cheval, my family’s Outremer 55 catamaran, is a way of existence. We are the people with an unquenchable desire for answers. We are the people who truly have no bounds. The world unfolds at our hands—a mixture of peoples, a mixture of every lifestyle. There are no boundaries to our curiosity. We live only to cross the next horizon, to set foot on the next continent. Our shoes have trod the corners of life. We flourish in the secluded portions of our globe, and we retain experiences from each place we visit. Our planet has much to offer; many possibilities await us. Out at sea, anything can happen; places exist that seem beyond the imagination, and there are people to meet who define kindness. I challenge you to immerse yourself in cultures and learn the traditions of our world. Cast off the chains of immobility, because there’s something beyond your door.

From Shorelines in the October 2012 issue of Cruising World.

Read Tristan’s account of sailing in Australia here, and view the photos here.

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Outremer 49

Outremer has been building multihulls for 27 years, making it a pioneer in the field. The company is a dedicated bluewater specialist with a straightforward motto: “Seaworthy, Fast, Simple.” At the expense of interior volume, the 49 carries a rounded trunk cabin smaller than similarly sized cats for enhanced structural integrity. The hard foredeck has been cut back almost to the cabin to eliminate flat surfaces exposed to boarding seas. The slender hulls are exceptionally fast.

Nevertheless, the 49 is aesthetically very pleasing to the eye, functional yet elegant below, and one exhilarating boat to sail. Fine entries, light weight, and twin dagger boards combine with a massive sail plan to drive the vessel at blistering speeds on or off the wind. A special feature is the twin tillers aft that will allow the true sailing enthusiast to “feel” the boat directly, not through the main helm’s hydraulic steering system. The cockpit areas and decks are spacious. Special attention has been paid to important safety features, including forward crash boxes and watertight bulkheads.

The cherry interior is nothing short of lustrous. The galley is equipped to handle a large and hungry crew. Consistent with Outremer’s core philosophy is a full-size, thoroughly equipped navigation station.

LOA 49′ 2″
LWL 49′ 2″
Beam 24′ 5″
Draft 2′ 9″/7′ 7″
Sail Area 1,336 sq. ft.
Displacement 20,944 lb.
Water 116 gal.
Fuel 80 gal.
Engine 49-hp. Yanmar
Designer Barreau/Neuman
Price $865,360
Aeroyacht Ltd.
(631) 246-6448
www.aeroyacht.com

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The post Cruising in Australia appeared first on Cruising World.

Tristan Bridge in Australia

I was excited to return to Cheva_l, our Outremer 55 catamaran, which was waiting for us in Australia. Months had passed since our family had laid _Cheval up and returned to California so I, along with my 10-year-old brother, Ethan, and our 7-year-old sister, Cheyenne, could go back to school.

The entire east coast of Australia was waiting for us to explore, and my heart skipped a beat now that we were back on board. We set sail north from Mooloolaba, just north of Brisbane, stopping at Fraser Island before arriving at Tin Can Bay.

A chill hung in the air, and thousands of whitecaps sprawled recklessly along the surface of the water. Cheyenne stared ahead, a small grin playing at the sides of her mouth. She was excited for what was about to happen: feeding wild dolphins. “This is Mystic, an endangered indo-pacific dolphin,” said our local guide as she waved a hand to the smiling mammal. Ethan and Cheyenne stood speechless. I waved my fish in the water, bribing the dolphin to come closer. A row of brown teeth closed around the bait. With a tug, it was gone.

We worked our way up the coast to Cape Capricorn. Going ashore, we managed to heave the dinghy up the beach, far enough so the tide’s lapping tongues couldn’t reach it. The huge sand dune loomed feet away from me like a giant wall stretching to the sky. Ethan gave me a look, I nodded, and we charged up. We ran up the 45-degree angle with the hot sun beating down on us. The wind spit sand at us. Then we were at the top, with a view of the anchorage and the mountains towering over the hills that lurked beneath.

Continuing north, we hugged the coast until we hit the Cumberland group and the anchorage in the Percy Isles, with its gorgeous white beach. Here we found that a small shack had been assembled; objects of every sort hung across its wall, keepsakes cruisers had left for others to look upon. Time had left many battered and torn. Each object was signed with the name of a boat, and some had poems written on them. I remember our family sharing chuckles as we reminisced about past trips, and we left a burgee hanging proudly against the wall marking our latest sailing adventure.

The Cumberland group, lying on the outskirts of the Whitsundays, share many attributes with neighboring groups, but there’s a quietness in the Cumberlands that marks them as different from their island cousins to the north. Tourists without boats have a limited ability to get to the Cumberlands, and as a result, they’ve been protected from the hectic activity of the Whitsundays. Occasionally, we saw a fishing boat or a fellow cruiser sailing past, but the anchorages were always empty and peaceful. A lot of the stops offered protection from the trade winds that often blew strongly, and we were never disappointed.

Leaving the Cumberlands in our wake, we moved into the Whitsundays, the most popular area on the entire east coast. When we arrived, the clouds sagged with darkness, and a seemingly never-ending wind chilled our skin. Tongue Bay, a fair anchorage on the east side of Whitsunday Island, swarmed with boats. It was just a resting point for the racing boats now in charter; their real destination was Whitehaven Beach. They moved so quickly that they missed what lay right around the corner, Hill Inlet, the most photographed area in the Whitsundays. Despite the stormy weather, we drove our dinghy around the headland. Swarms of rays darted away from us. We motored through dozens of channels, making our way through the banks of sand, and we watched the scrambling shapes of crabs below and gulls screeching away into the sky. The turquoise water remained turquoise even without the sun to enhance it. The beauty made a lasting impression.
Just farther north is Hook Island, and on the east coast lay the famous anchorage of Manta Ray Bay, known for its snorkeling. It wasn’t long before I was again crashing into the coldness of the sea. I flicked myself up with my fins, the sun shooting small piercings of light through the surface.

“Straight in,” said Dad, pointing toward the reef. We nodded and moved on, each of us making desperate strokes to lead the group. Ethan gave a small shout, and I checked to see what was wrong. I found out moments later. A jellyfish tentacle had wrapped around my leg, too, giving me a nasty sting. My voice echoed across the water as I yelled to Dad to tell him what had just happened. He met my gaze with a worried glance, and then before I knew it, Ethan and I were rushing back to the boat. We each clenched our teeth and grimaced as we swam. The distance seemed doubled as the painful stinging slowed us both down. Cheval was our sanctuary. We quickly made it up onto the transom and studied our wounds. A red streak ran across my leg. The pain would last for several days.

After that, we enjoyed a smooth sail to the outer reefs. We were beam-reaching in wind that never rose above 15 knots. It almost went by too quickly. In fact, it did. It was time for us to start heading back.

The forecast predicted a favorable weather window, so we took advantage of it to make time heading south. With luck, we hoped to make it to the shelter of Fraser Island once again. Our original plan to hop slowly south was swept away with the favorable winds. It hurt me to see the islands we’d spent so much time on zoom past in the long hours we dedicated to getting south. We often woke up early in the morning, just after midnight, and sailed until sunset, spending short nights in anchorages and then moving on. This schedule let us cover much ground, and we quickly managed to sail the distance south that took us many wonderful months to cross on the way north. The days were often tiring, but Ethan and I usually got good nights of rest after helping Mom and Dad get under way each day.

The reality of how little time remained on our trip left us to think, “We should spend each moment to the fullest.” So we did, gradually moving back down the coast, stopping at Fraser Island. But we were always headed to the waiting black hole in the distance, the end of the trip. It was strange seeing the places we’d already visited, almost like going back in time, but we also discovered new places, wishing for the one thing we lacked: more time. We took time for granted when we were heading north, but now that our days were numbered, it stood in our way. Less than two weeks remained.

“Time flies when you’re having fun” proved for us to be all too true. Almost six months had passed in what seemed like a week. We laid up Cheval in Mooloolaba once again, a small but fit marina for protecting her for the season. Tears filled our eyes, and regret tore at our stomachs. I’d miss Australia and its variety of wildlife, unique scenery, and friendly people. This trip had painted for us a vivid picture of wilderness unlike any other. For six months we’d blend back into the crowds of California, but there was no doubt that we’d again find ourselves back in Australia and ready for another adventure on board Cheval.
I was already excited.

Tristan Bridge was 11 years old when he wrote this story. He and his family sailed Cheval_ tens of thousands of miles through the Mediterranean, the Caribbean, and the South Pacific before heading to Australia and New Zealand. Each year, they lay_ Cheval up for the cyclone season and return to California.This year, they’re cruising aboard Cheval_ in French Polynesia._

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