Fountaine Pajot Alegria 67
Description
The Alegria 67 is the flagship of the Fountaine Pajot range: a large luxury catamaran with a comfortable ride under way. She sits at the opposite end of the product range to their forty footer (you can also read our Fountaine Pajot Lucia 40 review if that is more your budget). Will they go larger than 67 feet? Well, we wouldn´t bet against it seeing as their main competition has a 77 foot flagship.
Let´s take a look at this Supercat, shall we?
The luxury cruising catamaran market is dominated by the Sunreef Catamarans range which are built out of Poland, but the more traditional cruising catamaran manufacturers are muscling in on the action. Lagoon with their Seventy 7 and Fountaine Pajot with the Alegria 67.
There are the performance boats like Gunboat and HH in this kind of price bracket of course, but if you are focused more on what you can do at anchor rather than pure speed on the water, you will be wanting to look the Alegria over. Compare her to the 2004 custom 85 foot Azizam catamaran, for example, and she has more living space.
And it seems as if this market niche is a popular one, as Fountaine Pajot have reported a full order book for this model.
Despite its size and height, the Alegria 67 still looks elegant and sporty. Bow thrusters and twin 150hp Yanmar engines help you manoeuvre this big boat on and off the dock and she cruises nicely under power at just over 8 knots.
She can hit 10 knots with the engines on, but you will burn though the diesel faster.
Pros
- That amazing flybridge – it´s like a whole extra saloon up there with the hard-top.
- The forward cockpit is also well designed although I´d go for more sofa chill-out space instead of the jacuzzi
- She´s pretty nimble for a big 35 tonne luxury cruising catamaran and fun to sail.
- The Owner´s Suite has the WOW factor too. It´s connected directly to the front cockpit area.
- Options for galley up or galley down configuration
- Although she´s a large luxury yacht, she´s built by a volume manufacturer with a good reputation. This should mean lower bills for upkeep and maintenance. In theory.
Cons
- With that Flybridge and profile comes windage. You need to be on your toes maneuvering this boat around a marina. She´s big, and those insurance premiums are big enough already! The bowthrusters help.
- You will probably need professional crew on this yacht. Although she is surprisingly easy to sail short-handed. It´s just when things go wrong (which they do on boats). Luckily, there is plenty of space to accommodate a team.
- Big boats are expensive, new big boats even more so. This yacht is likely to depreciate quickly in the first couple of years. There are some very nice second hand boats out there for less money.
Sailing
The sailing command centre is that huge flybridge- and from up here, the visibility is superb: you will feel like the King or Queen of the Ocean up here. All lines feed back to 4 beefy electric winches that do the leg work like raising the mainsail, unfurling the genoa and trimming the sheets.
She´s possible to sail short-handed, but you will ideally have a couple of decent crew to help you out. In a decent breeze, she will sail along at 10 knots and over off the wind.
Even close hauled, you should see 8 knots out of her if you have the correct sails out for the conditions: not bad for a 35-tonne luxury catamaran. Once you bear away, that SOG will tick up to the low teens.
The flybridge gives you a whole extra level of living space, and they have designed it with the sailors in mind: the roof windows in the bimini are great for watching your sails and the running rigging is very organised.
At Anchor
OK, let´s cut to the chase shall we? Once you have safely arrived at your destination, what´s she like on the hook? On such a big yacht, you are spoilt for choice with options of where to hang out. The flybridge will surely be the most popular space on the boat – it´s huge and a great place for sundowners. There´s a big lounging sofa under cover, and if you want to soak up some rays there are a couple of sun-beds up here as well. Unless you´re in Monaco, the chances are that you will be looking down at pretty much everyone else in the bay.
Head down the elegant stairs and you arrive in the aft cockpit with wrap around views, a big table that can seat up to twelve, a bench seat and a sofa: another great spot to hang out with family or friends.
A hydraulic platform on the stern serves as the launch platform for your tender and doubles up as a swimming platform.
Heading forward along the wide side-decks, the Alegria 67 feels safe to move around on. All the hatches are flush and the decks are covered in teak that gives the boat her premium feel.
And then you arrive at our second favourite spot on the boat: the forward cockpit: an area decked out with sofas to catch the breeze at the bow.
The cockpit lounge is opposite a jacuzzi opposite (that is an option. I´m not sure I´d go for it, I presume you can double up on the seating space here. But it certainly stands out in the brochure).
A watertight door leads back into the saloon from here: the designers have really thought about the “flow” on the boat- it´s an easy yacht to move around.
Interior
There are various options you can go for in the saloon. The principal one is choosing between the Galley Up or the Galley Down set-up. Either way, the living space is huge in here, but obviously with the Galley Down configuration you maximise it.
The saloon has a galley to port in the “Up” set up which marks the interior and exterior as different zones. There´s a big table to Starboard which looks like it could hold a Board Meeting, and a navigation station forward with screens to control and monitor the whole boat,
Stepping down into the hulls, you will discover the owner’s suite in the starboard hull. There´s a big window overlooking the sea, a king size bed and a lounge/office area with a bookcase.
Also down here is a dressing room and a heads with a double washbasin, a shower and separate WC. From the Owner´s cabin you can step directly to that cool forward cockpit via a “Gullwing” hatch door.
The Owner´s Cabin, along with the flybridge and the forward cockpit is another one of the Alegria´s “Wow Factors”.
The galley can also go in the port hull, which gives you even more space in the saloon. This will be a more popular option for those owners with professional crew, I guess. You can configure the boat to have between 4 and & cabins (plus 2 crew cabins in the forepeaks).
Summary
The Fountaine Pajot Alegria 67 is a real player in the luxury cruising catamaran sector: an elegant and sleek design with decent performance under sail thanks to those well shaped hulls.
Like the Sunreefs, there is also a motor version (the Power 67).
It´s party time!
FAQs
How much is a Fountaine Pajot Alegria 67?
The price is heavily dependent on the options you choose but, as a guide, a nicely loaded boat will set you back over €2 million ex taxes.
