About Outremer Yachting

For the Outremer yard, every part of the specifications has to be precise. They have to be completely consistent with what the naval architect has drawn, and he works in close collaboration with the designers and engineers to reach a harmonious end result.

Safety, reliability, performance, comfort and enjoyment are the keywords throughout the design of an Outremer.

• Safety: an absolute priority for all sailors! We can accept that for racing boats, risks are knowingly taken into account, but for cruising, a very big safety margin is fundamental. For this reason the daggerboards are essential to guarantee good upwind sailing, even in difficult situations. If the conditions worsen further then the ability to lift the dagger boards and reduce the sideways forces allows the Outremer catamarans to remain stable whilst other designs with fixed keels are at risk of capsize. We don’t always choose to find ourselves in such situations, but Outremer will bring you back to port, in all conditions.
• Reliability: Every Outremer will without doubt cover several hundreds of thousands of miles during its lifetime and it is crucial that every system is proven and reliable. To achieve this, Outremer takes particular care with the standard of finish, with its choice of technologies and the selection of brands of equipment they install on their boats. What’s more, every year we conduct a survey among all new owners to help us consistently improve our catamarans. This feedback is especially important: it allows us to get closer to making the “perfect boat”!
• Performance: Boats from the Outremer yard are of course, not racing yachts, but they are among the fastest of cruising boats! Performance is both a source of pleasure for any sailor and also an essential safety factor allowing the crew to have more options when facing weather risks. Safety and speed go hand-in-hand for any cruising boat and in this the Outremer excels.
• Comfort: One of the keys to enjoying each destination! The quality of life on board depends essentially on comfort at sea. All the elements which go into making an Outremer are combined to achieve an incomparable quality of life: more gentle movement allows for quality sleep, no slamming under the bridgedeck, and reduced pitching, leading to good cooking conditions for whoever is in the galley. Silence on board, the absence of any creaking or groaning, so often found on a catamaran, guarantees unrivalled peace and quiet.
• Enjoyment: because the pleasure shared between the crew is the guarantee of harmonious life on board, Outremer takes everyone’s needs into account: skipper, crew, children, guests… Everyone can enjoy 360° visibility, perfect ventilation and great ergonomics. And of course the enjoyment of sailing, feeling a boat which goes fast and well, as seen when using the tiller which is available on Outremer boats, an incomparable way to feel a multihull slipping effortlessly through the water!

The naval architect translates the specifications into lines and volumes:

Hull designs carefully studied and optimized; long, to carry the required load and reduce forward resistance. Fine hulls demand, in effect, little power to make the move and allow them to maintain high average speeds under way. Not just that, but also to be able to use only one motor when there is no wind, reducing the amount of noise in the hulls when some of the crew are off watch, and also doubling the range under power.

Windage is limited for manoeuvres in port and for better holding at anchor.

Centering the weight: a very low centre of gravity, and weight distribution around that centre of gravity – all these unseen elements add to the quality of sailing and reduce pitching movement.

Fine bows reduce the energy each wave imparts on the boat, reducing pitching and help produce high levels of comfort under way.

Daggerboards for sailing to windward, going faster when close-hauled and being able to reach otherwise inaccessible anchorages. Sailing close-hauled on an Outremer is worthy of the best monohulls, even in the hardest of conditions.

The methodology of the Outremer yard: putting forward a blend of high-tech technologies and know-how. Blue water cruising programs require significant safety margins: you need to be able to count on your boat in all circumstances!

Even though the philosophy of the yard of is to reduce weight, this must never be done to the detriment of the structure, and our designers are committed to reinforcing the essential areas: the bows are protected by several watertight crash-boxes, the lower part of the hulls are resistant to collision and impact, the daggerboard boxes are indestructible and the daggerboards act as a fuse, making the whole boat resilient and unsinkable as a result.

Even though modern composites such as those found in sandwich construction are undeniable for saving weight, an Outremer always has the lower part of the hull built in a very thick monolithic laminate: in the event of collision, no structure in sandwich construction could compete with the strength of an Outremer hull. The structure is completely laminated in the hull, and not simply glued on: there is no inside liner, interfering with access to any part of the underwater hull, and all the systems remain visible and accessible.

The stiffness of an Outremer is incomparable: the main bulkheads are of large dimensions, and so are able to take much greater loads than a cruising multihull might encounter. Inserts in produced carbon fibre, closed-cell foam, isophthalic resins and high-resistance polyester: everything is designed to guarantee your safety.

For the furnishings, foam cored sandwich panels are used to reduce weight, with wood veneer for warmth and aesthetic appearance. The furnishings do not need to add to the rigidity, and are insulated from the structural parts to reduce unwanted noise, creaks and groans. Aluminium structures support the floors, which don’t squeak either. No more wedged doors or drawers that won’t shut. For the equipment, we choose international brands and makes for their quality, their reliability and their suitability with the boat’s program.

An Outremer is designed to be around for more than fifty years: owners change over time, all with ambitious projects and wanting to replace or add certain equipment! In this respect, we apply four golden rules: every part of the boat and every system installed must be documented, be accessible, able to be checked and be replaceable.

Today, more than three million miles have been sailed by Outremers on every ocean, most of them cruising tropical seas, though many have seen extreme conditions, ranging from Alaska to Patagonia. The huge amount of experience accumulated by Outremer has allowed us to refine and consolidate our principles of construction.

Outremer places emotion at the top of its list of values and is committed to making your time rich in emotions:

The pleasure of seeing your boat born, built to your requirements, personalized for every program

The sensory pleasure of a sailboat with attractive lines and large living spaces

A bond with the sea and with your boat: feeling of speed, enjoyment of sailing, the thrill of a multihull going along in complete safety

Excelling yourself, accomplishing the projects of your dreams: the pleasure and sharing the blue water cruising life.

Belonging to a community of sailors who understand and share these human values.

Originating from the latest technologies coming out of the world of competition, Outremer catamarans are known for being fast and seaworthy. They procure sailing sensations which are unequalled without sacrificing comfort for life on board, with a balance unique to Outremer. Outremer catamarans are capable of great performance on all points of sail and are particularly capable when going to windward.

Performance is also a measure of safety: looking at the weather forecast and your options with the weather. In effect, the Outremer’s qualities, combined with ever more precise weather information available on board, allow you with a minimum of know-how, not to have to endure the wind and the sea. The high average speeds of an Outremer mean you can reduce crossing times, and therefore exposure to weather risks, but also be able to anticipate and get yourself into the best possible position, for instance on the right side of a low pressure system.

Speed is an active, fundamental element of safety: getting quickly to shelter, escaping from a difficult weather system, clearing a lee shore, day-sailing between two distant islands… Such things are not unusual in the life of a sailor who needs to be able to count on the performance of his boat without putting either the boat or himself at risk.