Fountaine Pajot Sanya 57

HIGHS 

- Multideck living with indoor/outdoor living spaces
- Big sail area with high aspect rig for bluewater cruising
- Hotel-like digs in Maestro owner’s cabin and en suite
- Strong local backing from established Fountaine Pajot dealers

Since its first production catamaran (the Louisiane 37) way back in 1983, the French yard founded by Jean-François Fountaine has released some 30 models including the latest Sanya 57 tested hereabouts. All the cats are named after some highly desirable cruising destination, which is their destination or raison d’etre, after all.

Along the way, more than 2,230 cruising catamarans have been built using various designers. In 1991, Jean Berret et Olivier Racoupeau pushed the envelope with the Marquises 56. We mention this because the omnipresent Berret Racoupeau design office -- also popular with Beneteau -- was engaged to design the Sanya 57.

The Sanya 57, which debuted at the Cannes Boat Show in 2011 and this year’s Sydney International Boat Show, points to where Fountaine Pajot, a public company, and the cat cruising clique is heading these days -- to bigger, ever more comfortable, and liveable boats for gadding about the Caribbean, French Pacific or Great Barrier Reef. If that’s your dream, bon voyage, read on…

The big ticket item was the $59,170 Oceanique Pack including must-have outdoor ‘galley’ read bar with fridge, A/V system, outdoor cushions, courtesy lighting, and Shorepower with charger.

There were optional electric genoa ($5,800) and main ($3,863) winches, which you really will need with all this sail area; a gennaker on a furler ($28,825) for power reaching which is the cruising cat’s forte; and windlass with twin anchors so you can rest easy at night.

The engines were upgraded ($47,355) to Volvo 110hp D3s from the standard 75hp models. They also spun upgraded folding props ($7,215). The engine upgrade will be appreciated during those Pacific glass outs. Cruising sailors often find themselves motorsailing or motoring 50 per cent of time. Range is said to be up to 1,500 nautical miles from the 1,100-litre tanks.

The Garmin electronics package weighed in at $39,370 because there are repeaters at upper and lower/saloon helm stations. We also liked the optional electric dinghy davit launch system that makes going ashore in your tender a push-button affair. Yep, a RIB or perhaps tinnie is needed on this boat.

There was $23,200 of teak-topped cockpit that adds to the upmarket lunch setting, an $18,210 upper lounge deck that’s such a great open-air entertaining space (surely it should come standard), four electric toilets for $11,600 that are more befitting of a boat of this calibre than manual types, and a $6,325 icemaker for the G&Ts.

Ordinarily, importers Multihull Solutions at Mooloolaba fit a lot of the factory options stuck locally because there are savings to be had that way. But this boat became available as a stock boat and they jumped at the chance to get their hands on the latest Fountaine Pajot.

A really interesting addition is the Eco Cruising solar panels ($19,335) that will take care of refrigeration, lighting and pumps while you swing on the anchor or mooring. Fountaine Pajot also offers a hydro generator that extends between the hulls and makes more than enough power for all the onboard systems when underway. Presumably it’s available on this Sanya.

Big AGM battery banks and an optional 5000W inverter ($8,005) will run the electronics, LED lighting and energy efficient appliances. A second 1200W inverter was fitted purely for the domestic-type galley fridge.

Still, there is no generator or air conditioning on this $2 million boat. At this level, we think most owners will prefer their tropical-strength “air”, which then necessitates a generator, and will fit a watermaker, too. So the gennie is likely to be fitted as an aftermarket item.

A gas bayonet fitting on deck and portable gas-powered Weber were fitted locally. Clearly, the barbecue is going to get a work out, but thankfully there is dedicated storage for twin 9kg gas bottles, we’re told, which will also serve the galley’s fixed four-burner stove, oven and grill.

Meantime, guests can be positioned in such a way on the uppermost lounge deck that they are treated to stirring views and level deck sailing without having to worry about tacking or sailing controls.

The upper lounge deck seats six under the boom alongside the helm, so everyone can share the experience and talk about it. The big tramps up front will be another hot spot, as is the raised observation deck on the flip or starboard side of the helm. Standing here I noticed some flex underfoot.

The outdoor galley is actually more of a bar with fridge, icemaker, sink and serveries. There is bottle and glass storage. Add bootleg, blender, glasses, glaced cherries, swizzle sticks, paper umbrellas… you get the idea. The teak table can seat eight for lunch, there’s an L-shaped lounge for another six, and plenty of boot-scooting space in between. Add drop-down clear curtains and you can create an all-weather stage.

The concealed rear tender davit storage is a nice touch since it makes the Sanya 57 a pretty boat when viewed astern at the marina or underway. Above, the giant aft sun pad -- the love sponge -- can swallow four pairs of sun worshippers. It’s almost as though you’re floating above the water here.

Huge walkaround decks assist going forward and our Sanya 57 had twin pulpit seats as well as the tramps. The high-aspect, deck-stepped, twin-spreader rig had twin forestays with furling genoa and gennaker. All halyards and lines are concealed and, with twin shrouds terminating at chainplates fixed well outboard, there’s little to impede deck access.

In short, the expansive shaded cockpit and multideck living spaces on the Sanya 57 are immense and beckoning. The is what cruising catamaran living is all about. At the same time, the transition to the interior is seamless and with abundant glass you feel connected and protected.

Yacht interior designer Isabelle Racoupeau has created a contemporary, apartment-like ambience inside the Sanya 57.

The starboard-side U-shaped galley is the centrepiece, there to appease entertainers as much as those who want to cook on the run. Solid black counters and serveries contrast with the light joinery which is all very in vogue. The spread of stainless-steel amenities includes domestic fridge/freezer, four-burner gas cooktop oven and grill, convection microwave oven, dishwasher and twin sinks with designer mixer.

Should the weather turn turtle, you can helm the Sanya 57 via autopilot and multifunction nav screen at the pop-up forward control station. With the anchor down and nav. gear flipped out of view you can then pop out the big flat-screen television and get comfortable on the L-shaped sofa. The high/low table does drinks and dinner.

The standard accommodation plan has six double cabins, one of which has its bed longitudinal, each with en suites. Crew cabins can be created in the bows. Our Sanya 57 had the optional and improved Maestro layout pitched at owners, with five cabins and four bathrooms. The huge forward crew cabins in the bows were left as storage areas and/or sail lockers.

A massive owner’s stateroom in the portside hull has a queen-sized bed upon which you can gaze out the portlights to the sea views beyond. Its en suite and storage spaces are enlarged, with a settee thrown in for good measure, and dark wenge veneer (supplied photo has a different interior) to create a motel-like effect.

 But for the communal or dayhead with handheld shower, the en suites have separate shower stalls as well as upgraded Tecma loos. Oceanair hatches with blinds and insect screens are handy, but there aren’t opening ports in some heads. And the ripples in one large area of vinyl wall lining seemed at odds.

We checked the engine rooms, accessed via the lazarettes, and found you could climb around all sides of the Volvo D3 110hp diesel donks. You can reach strainers, fuel filters and oil dipsticks. The hot-water service was to starboard, we noted hydraulic steering, and found the inverter but no generator as touched on.

Fountaine Pajot builds a lot of catamarans for charter work around the world, which bodes well in the engineering and lay-up departments for owners. The Sanya 57 has CE certification for 14 in open waters and up to 30 inshore. The 1050 litres of water is a good capacity, too. Basically, we’re looking at a bluewater cruiser and trans-oceanic floating home.

In far-away anchorages, cruising cats are always the most popular communal watering holes. With that in mind, we destroyed the cheese platter, cast the lines, and motored for the wilds of Sydney Harbour. The wind was fickle, the impressive standard 89sqm or 108sqm battened performance mainsail left its lazy-jack bag, as the wrinkles disappeared from the furling genoa and, it squared away, the furling gennaker.

Indeed, ours was the very first sail in Australian waters. But there wasn’t a lot to convey other than the Sanya 57 seemed willing. The numbers we can tell you are six knots in 10 knots on a reach and five knots in eight knots. That’s from the paddle wheel but, we’re told, it was calibrated near enough to the GPS.

The electric winches helped make light work of tacking, while the high bows and freeboard should provide essential freeboard to windward and lift down-swell. We’ve seen some nice images floating around of the Sanya 57 powered up and power reaching with a powerboat-like wake astern. 

As with any cruising catamaran, the idea is to leave port and hook into downwind seas for maximum mileage. The Sanya 57 has been designed for this very thing and Fountaine Pajot are no strangers to cruising catamarans.

We’d add a tender and paddle boards, the dog and satcom to keep the rest of the family updated and green with envy. After all, the Sanya 57 is a floating five-star home and a fitting offering in Fountaine Pajot’s Flagship Class.

It’s not so much about what we did with her as what she’s capable of. Let the mind and soul wander. Wanderlust they call it. Tahiti looks nice.