Privilege 465

The French approach the sport of sailing like they do the game of rugby. Rather than run with the pack, they play a creative game. This sense of adventure and derring-do explains why the French have stuck by ocean-going catamarans when other seafaring nations have condemned them as flippant designs.

The affair also explains why The Race, the no-holds-barred sailing sprint around the world beginning in 2001, was invented by the French. Not surprisingly, immense catamarans made of exotic materials are the chosen boat for winning The Race.

Back in the real world, the French connection has given rise to the new breed of avant-garde sailing catamaran for everyday yachties. Judging by the number of these boats flaunting their pizazz at various boat shows, one might be excused for thinking the new-age cat is taking the world by storm.

Such assertions aren't too far from the truth.

A great example of the chic catamaran, the Privilege 465 is made in France by Alliaura Marine, an almost boutique boatbuilder which turns out around 70 boats a year. The designer label flaunts what the French term savoir faire.

Beyond being just another charter craft or a frivolous design, the Privilege 465 is a strong catamaran with the goods to cross oceans. Designed to complete and compete in long sea passages, the boat can head to sea as comfortably as I cruised the harbour for views.

Such is the degree of contentment aboard the modern catamaran that you may well be excused for thinking they aren't such an unconventional design.

Indeed, these are exactly the kind of boats that are converting more and more traditional monohull sailors to the once-maligned catamaran fold.

DECKED OUT FOR LIVING
On the Privilege 465, the crew has vast indoor and outdoor living areas and a standard of accommodation surpassing a monohull of, I suppose, 50 or 60ft in length. The beam is 7.33m, or 24ft in the old scale.

With aggressive diamond-pattern non-skid on the deck and unbreakable saloon windows, you can run, jump and kick back on almost every inch of the boat.

By virtue of the boat's deck design, you can carry many more people aboard. Yet with the cockpit free of sheets, you can forget you are sailing.

In fact, the single-spreader, 8/9th fractional rig is so simple that two people can sail the boat almost imperceptibly as your guests kick back and enjoy the cruise. Even flying the asymmetrical spinnaker is a snap thanks to a sock arrangement which makes dropping the kite a matter of releasing the one sheet and tugging a single line.

A lifestyle boat, the Privilege 465's best strength may well be its playpen. The huge cockpit has seating for 12 on three huge circular lounges around a teak lunch table. There are separate sunpads alongside the single helm, which has a wheel set against the bulkhead on the portside.

There are options, however, for racier versions of the boat with dual or single helmstations positioned farther aft. Either way, the wide decks backed by tough stanchions and lifelines lead to a big flat bow from which you could stage your own dolphin-spotting cruises.

For the bowman, setting and retrieving the asymmetrical kite is done on level ground. Racing sailors can opt for a symmetrical kite which, at 180sqm, is almost 20% bigger. But unusually, the boat has an integral central pod something like a trimaran.

The pod running forward between the two hulls sits 850mm clear of the water. At sea its piercing underside acts like a wave-breaker. A structural part of the boat, the pod has a watertight bulkhead that can be decked out as a separate cabin for the skipper - a la charter mode.

The standard Privilege comes with a big windlass. You can run the sheets (perhaps for the bosun's chair) from the mastbase to the windlass if you need to, though there is a two-speed halyard winch mounted on the mastbase. The three reefing lines also lead to the mastbase.The forward section of the twin hulls also contain large storage voids, though I'd be loathe to fill the ends of the hull with too much weight. As it is, the boat seems very well balanced. It's agile under sail or motor, but not unpredictable.

Back aft, the curvaceous deck mouldings catch your eye. These include giant walk-through sponsons from which you can springboard into the water. There is a rounded cabin top upon which you can also jump up and down without risk of breaking anything.

Underfloor are wet lockers for tenders or fenders, a life-raft locker, room for scuba-diving tank racks, and a dedicated place for the LPG bottles.

Access to the twin 40hp Volvo diesel saildrives, which manoeuvred the floating stage about Berry's Bay with aplomb, is through aft hatches or from inside the aft cabins.

The enginerooms are pre-wired for a generator and desalinator. There's a lot of room around the engines for everything from airconditioning units to spare oil and tools. And with the hatches shut and the saloon door closed, very little noise penetrates the interior. My only criticisms were the position of the Volvo engine gauges (they were too low on the dash to be easily read) and a sticking throttle.

INTERIOR DECORATOR
The 465's raked cabin top and big curved Plexiglass screen draw natural light inside and offer a big view back to the outside world. Step through the sliding door - not a tight companionway - and you enter a saloon whose finish is tres contemporary.

Light beechwood, thatched headliners, soft-touch white walls, and glossy teak-and-holly flooring impart a lively ambience. The boat is as smart on the inside as it looks from the outside.

Sensibly, a large oval table with circular lounges takes up most of the saloon. It's by this round table that fair-weather sailors can continue passagemaking while escaping the elements but maintaining their watch. Sure beats looking through hazy clears on a dodger.

Just as usefully, the navigation station with switch panels, radios and instruments is to port (just behind the external helm).

The boat's galley, alongside, is on the small side but boosted by secondary refrigeration and commercial-style freezers with bar-like doors down in the port-side hull. Europeans often fit a pantry opposite this second galley. The galley offers sufficient bench space to whip up a broulee, a three-burner stove/oven, wet bar, and an adequate amount of cupboards and drawers space. A fridge is built-in. Again, it's one of those pub-style numbers.

With full headroom and plenty of beam, each sponson includes two double cabins, a bathroom with aircraft-style Vacuflush loo, and a full walk-in wardrobe up for'ard.

A nice idea is to convert one of the aft cabins into a storeroom for fishing gear, dive equipment, sails and surfboards - it's that kind of adventure boat.

The port-side aft cabin with queen-size berth has an ensuite. The head to starboard, off the companionway, will better serve dayboating duties.

Well-made beechwood lockers, separate wet lockers, and cupboards run for'ard to the main cabins.

These twin master cabins are recessed back into that central pod and thereby gain tremendous headroom. With big hatches and plenty of natural light they are more like penthouses than a ship's cabins.

There are plenty of options with the layout, however. The testboat had, for example, a seaberth in the starboard-side hull. Alliaura Marine is accommodating to the point that you can customise your boat virtually any which way you like. This includes a choice of appendages such as fixed or fin keels or daggerboards, fixed or folding props, and Spectra sails.

There are no options on the structural side of things, however. Alliaura Marine prides itself on the fact its boats are built to withstand severe sea conditions.

Made of composite materials, the boat meets Bureau Veritas survey standards and can therefore be put into charter anywhere in Australia.

SAILING AWAY
It's not until you sail the Privilege that you can appreciate where it's coming from... And going to. The deck remains level, the champagne and brie stays on the table, and all the while the catamaran is pleasantly both off and on (to within about 50?) the breeze.

Available in three stages of fitout - a la carte, easy cruise and performance - our a la carte came with 76sqm of fully-battened main sail, a furling genoa, and a sturdy 8/9th rig from a French firm that fits out round-the-world yachts.

With a fixed keel, the boat drew just 1.35m and was capable of being beached.

Despite experiencing some drag from the fixed props, I cracked 8.5kt in 14kt of bitterly cold sou'westerly with the asymmetric spinnaker full and flying. Speeds of around 7-8kt were experienced with the standard wardrobe of main and genoa.

With the main track at the aft-end of the cockpit and the genoa winches on the cabin top, tacking was easy for two people. Sometimes a helping hand would be needed to get the genoa around the inner forestay, but unlike some other cats this boat actually tacked quite well.

Optimum speed comes from broad reaching, of course. And from flying that handy asymmetrical. It's then that the cat does what it does best. All you need to do is watch the leading edge of the kit and bear away and run with the puffs.

It would have been nice to ride the brisk wind all the way from Shark Island to somewhere warmer like, let's see, Lizard Island off Cairns.

The Privilege 465 isn't a pretend passagemaker. It's a creative boat with an up-market interior and the mettle to go places.

Dennis Conner recently took delivery of a Privilege catamaran. So, too, other once-sceptical cruising and racing sailors.

The new chic French catamarans offer some distinct advantages. Sailing the Privilege, one of the most creative cats, sure beats smashing it up the middle. Vive la difference...

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