Feet: Which Multi to Choose? 70-79 COMPARATIF MM157-US Essai 18/01/13 16:43 Page71
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70-79 COMPARATIF_MM157-US_essai 18/01/13 16:43 Page70 COMPARISON 45 feet: which multi to choose? 70-79 COMPARATIF_MM157-US_essai 18/01/13 16:43 Page71 Neither too big nor too small: 45 feet is the right size for leaving as a family. One hull for the parents, one hull for the children, a cabin for passing guests, good load-carrying capacity without having a rig which is too powerful for easy handling... And all for a budget comparable to that of a house...not a mansion! Amongst the many models on the market, we have short-listed the Hélia 44, the Nautitech 441/442, the Lagoon 450, the Leopard 48, the Neel 45 and the Antares 44i. Text: Emmanuel Van Deth – Photos: DR 70-79 COMPARATIF_MM157-US_essai 18/01/13 16:43 Page72 COMPARISON HELIA 44 Fast, even in light weather, rather elegant and well finished, the replacement for the Orana has hit the mark. Quite a competitor! ARCHITECTURAL CHOICES scales. The Leo- pard 48 and espe- Five catamarans, one trima- cially the Lagoon ran…and many different 450 don't bother options when it comes to with these preoc- their design. Although all the cupations. They models in this selection are live with their hulls above all blue-water boats which are wide at capable of taking you to the the waterline for maximum which ranges from 1.15m for or prefer a very slim rig, to other side of the ocean, cer- volume and above all have a the Hélia 44 to 1.40 m for catch the wind higher up and tain of them are real floating large load-carrying capacity the Leopard 48, the biggest give good performance in homes, others prove to be (roughly 20% of the displa- of our six multihulls. light weather? Necessity dic- cement), almost 50% grea- more suitable for shorter Sail plan tates, we would be tempted stays. There are also fast, ter than that of the first three Two contradictory options: to answer, as the three hea- light multihulls, and heavier, boats. keep a compact rig for more viest boats in our selection, more comfortable ones... An Appendages safety in heavy weather, and with the Lagoon 450 in first explanation... There are no daggerboards to postpone sail reductions, place, adopt the most power- Hulls here – the speciality of The Neel 45, with its central Catana and Outremer: the hull and two floats with inver- builders have opted for fixed ted bows must obviously be stub keels, which although dealt with separately: its prin- they give poorer perfor- ciple is to graft a wide brid- mance to windward, are gedeck onto a gull-wing sha- stronger in the case of groun- ped platform, itself resting on ding. Another advantage of three hulls, which are very stub keels: they protect the slim at the waterline. rudders perfectly and allow HELIA Amongst the catamarans, for easy beaching. We are three groups can be distin- obviously thinking of a trans- guished: those which play lucent lagoon, bordered with the slimness card, with a coconut trees... In reality, the stub keels are especially modest wetted surface area - appreciable when it is time to Hélia 44, Nautitech 441/442, scrub off, and the boat can Antarès 44i. These three be set down directly on the models are logically the ligh- hard. The nuances? A draft test – 8 to 11 tonnes on the 72 70-79 COMPARATIF_MM157-US_essai 18/01/13 16:43 Page73 NAUTITECH 441/442 441 for a steering position against the coachroof, 442 for two steering posi- tions, it's up to you. A rather elegant catamaran which is easy to handle. ful sail plans, with generous all the models presen- square-headed mainsails ted here…but not into the bargain. The most together. It is hard for sober is the Nautitech, the us to say that one only multihull in our selec- model is much faster tion with a windward sail downwind in a fresh area of less than 100m²...for breeze than another. the first models, in any case, But certain data, and as the genoa is now 5m² big- our memories of the ger. The lightest, the Antares tests, are very useful. 44i, offers a self-tacking jib, The best indicator of a very practical when beating – boat's potential under although there are few sail is its sail area/weight maran makes almost no lee- is much wider – around 55°. purists who beat to wind- ratio. Here they are: Hélia 44 way, and sails at 45° to the A special mention for the ward close to the coast, at = 10.65 m2/t ; Nautitech = true wind, like a good mono- Hélia 44 and the Nautitech, sea, it's a question of saving 10.87 m2/t, (a ratio which hull. Speed? Over 8 knots in which performed well on this diesel on those return will increase to 11.24 m²/t, 10 knots of wind. Our cats point of sailing, reputed to be Atlantic crossings... Down- thanks to the accommoda- can't keep up with this per- unfavourable for cruising wind, our five catamarans will tion and the structure in infu- formance. Not so much in catamarans. The Lagoon, the be boosted by a gennaker, a sion/foam on the very next speed, as they all succeed in Leopard and the Antares are code 0 or an asymmetric models); Lagoon 450 = reaching 8 knots to wind- penalised by significant win- spinnaker, attached to a 8.66 m2/t ; Leopard 48 = ward, but their pointing angle dage. bowsprit. The trend over the 9.54 m2/t ; Neel 45 = 15.14 last few years? Opting for a m2/t ; Antares 44i = 12.59 gennaker, the general pur- m2/t. It appears that the pose sail par excellence. But Neel, and to a lesser extent, following the launch of its 39 the Antares 44i, stand out in and 52, Lagoon insists on a our selection. These two are code 0 and a spinnaker, to certainly the fastest in light optimise performance... If the weather. budget can cover it, we are in To windward agreement! As for the Neel There are no daggerboards 45, it makes do with a com- to allow us to decide radically bination of a self-tacking jib between our candidates, to and a genoa. We must admit, windward…but in this game fitting a bowsprit to the cen- of sailing into the wind, the tral hull's sharp, inverted bow Neel is a clear winner. would not be easy. Despite the low area of its stub keel – fitted under the PERFORMANCE central hull, it reminds us of the one on a Dart – the tri- We have been able to sail on 70-79 COMPARATIF_MM157-US_essai 18/01/13 16:43 Page74 COMPARISON ANTARES 44i It's getting on a bit, as the hull moulds are those of the 44, launched in 2003…but it's a real private owner's catamaran, 100% designed for living aboard. Passage through the water for the Leopard, which is What progress! Today, bridge- quite a bit longer. But decks are much higher than beware: you can't hope for in the past; just have a look such speeds if you keep the at the Leopard 48 head on, standard fixed propellers... to convince yourself. And the Under power gull's-wing profiles between Three hulls and one engine, the hulls, in addition to or two hulls and two making the structure more engines… as only one rigid, offer a smoother pas- engine can be fitted to a tri- sage through choppy seas. In maran – difficult access to short, our boats slam much the floats and above all, no less. However, weight cente- space for the engine and its ring could be improved. With peripherals. So a clear advan- the exception of the Neel 45, tage for the catamarans in whose float ends are empty, reliability (it's rare to have the catamarans are fitted out problems with both engines) almost as far as the bows – and ease of manoeuvring. forward cabins, followed by a With a bit of experience, you sail locker. It is hard to resist will be able to pivot the boat storing equipment here, on itself and get out of the which thus encourages pit- tightest berth by judicious ching. use of the throttles. However, Off the wind beware of the windage we Again, clear advantage to the have already mentioned Neel 45, which quickly above. The engines offered manages to exceed 10 knots, are generally 40hp (apart then comes the group of five from the Neel 45's single cats, which all sail at 8/9 55hp and the lighter Antares' knots in 15/18 knots of 2 x 29hp). The builders offer wind. The first to unroll the more powerful engines as an make movement easier bet- good over the port transom. gennaker will gain one or two option, but in our opinion, ween the cockpit, the stee- The same configuration for knots. the standard engines are ring position, the sugar the Leopard 48, with the Downwind more than sufficient in all scoops and the bridge- exception that protection of Due to lack of a suitable conditions, including heavy deck…as well as to offer the helmsman is taken care downwind sail, the Neel seas on the nose. genuine dedicated relaxation of by a polyester bimini – in didn't open up a gap here. In areas. A development which canvas on the Hélia. Aboard strong trade winds, our boats DECK PLAN results in the absence of a the Antares, the steering are all capable of keeping up step between the cockpit position is also raised, but an average of 11 to 12 knots, There has been a lot of pro- and the accommodation, this time protected by a gla- without a doubt a little more gress in the last few years, to and more extensive use of zed coachroof extension.