5 tips for buying a new Outremer
Here are some tips based on my experiences purchasing two Outremer catamarans. I took the lessons learned from buying our 5X and applied them to the construction of our 4X. This worked well for us, Puffin was delivered on schedule at the estimated price. There were a few problems that came up, but nothing serious. I have listed these at the end of the post in Lessons Learned.
1. Write a master specification document
There are too many details to keep track of if they aren’t written down in a master specification document. Outremer will compile a list of the options you have ordered, along with the price for each item and will send this to you for approval before proceeding with the build. The Outremer list doesn’t contain all the details of how each item will be built, so you will need to provide additional details. For some things it’s simple and a detailed description isn’t needed, the color of the boom for example. For other items, a detailed description with drawings or photos is needed to ensure the factory fully understands what you are asking for. Locations of remote controls for electric winches for example.
2. Find out what features are standard
Your order will start with the standard boat, and then your optional features will be listed. It’s important to know what is and isn’t included in the standard boat, otherwise you may end up missing a feature that you thought was standard, but Outremer considers an option. Looking at photos of other boats or even the sales brochure may not help, because pretty much every boat has some non-standard items. In cases where I wasn’t sure, I listed the item in my master spec to be sure it wasn’t left out, but it’s impractical to do this with every standard feature. Best to have a thorough discussion with Outremer when you begin the specification process.
3. Visit the factory periodically to make sure your boat is being built to your spec.
Outremer has good quality control, but boats are incredibly complex, so it’s inevitable that some details will get missed or instructions misinterpreted. I wasn’t able to travel to France during the construction of Puffin, so I hired a local consultant that I trust, to do regular inspections for me. I worked with Sandie Moreno from Services Plaisance. Sandie is a certified delivery skipper and has thousands of miles experience sailing and maintaining multihulls, and has acted as owners representative on the construction of multiple large multihulls. She helped me with a delivery passage on Wildling when I was short-handed and I found her to be excellent, both technically and as a sailor. Sandie visited the factory multiple times to check Puffin’s construction against the spec. and she sent me photos of each item. She caught some things with our North sails that were not correct and a few minor construction details that Outremer corrected before delivery, which helped keep the project on schedule and made sure nothing was missed.
If you would like to work with Sandie, you can contact her at: servicesplaisance@gmail.com
4. Schedule time to fully exercise your boat after handover
Plan to spend some time living on the boat after the handover week is complete. Be sure and go over every system and check its operation. Check for water leaks and loose fittings. Wash your boat and wipe the entire boat dry with a cloth. This ensures you check every square inch of the boat to find any scratches or surface defects that need to be fixed. Outremer will schedule a first warranty service for your boat soon after your sea trials and shakedown cruise. This is the time to get anything that isn’t quite right taken care of before you leave La Grande Motte.
5. Don’t forget it’s a boat
If you’re buying your first new boat, it may come as a surprise to find that your new boat will have some issues, and that things will break when you start using it. We’ve become so accustomed to new cars having no defects, and even no need for a service during the first year of ownership, but boats are different. They are hand crafted and hand assembled. There are thousands of individual components that have to fit together perfectly, and they operate in one of the most challenging environments on the planet. Your boat will have some items to fix, and it will require constant maintenance and repair even when it’s new. Outremer knows this and has an entire team dedicated to supporting new owners. This is why the service and support provided by your manufacturer should be one of the most important criteria when buying a new catamaran.
Lessons learned
I followed the approach described above when building Puffin and everything went well with the construction of the boat. Sandie found a few things that Outremer corrected before launch and Puffin was delivered on schedule and on budget.
Only one of my specified options was not installed before delivery, the privacy curtain at the entry to the starboard cabin. This was due to a misunderstanding over whether it was an optional or standard feature (see Tip 2 above). Sandie caught this, but it wasn’t addressed prior to delivery. Not a big deal and Outremer will add it during the first warranty service.
We did have a few problems with the North sails. Sandie caught all of these issues before delivery, but after they had been installed on the boat, and it was too late in the process to correct everything, so North still has some work to do.
Here are the issues we had with our North sails:
- The 3Di Mainsail was delivered and installed on the boat with sail numbers on the sail. I had specifically ordered the mainsail with no numbers, but it was delivered with a sail number of ZZZ888. These numbers were each about 500 mm high, but neither North nor Outremer caught this. Sandie found it during an inspection and North removed the numbers before delivery with no damage to the sail
- The North spinnaker was the wrong size and the wrong fabric. North had no issues replacing the spinnaker, but it was too late to get a replacement made before delivery so we are sailing without our spinnaker until North can manufacture a new one.
- The Staysail bag is too small and does not fully cover the sail when stored on deck. Both Outremer and Sandie caught this, but North did not fix it prior to delivery.
The North sails on Puffin are beautifully made, so there are no issues with the sails themselves, but the quality control process between North and Outremer needs some attention. If you order North sails with your boat (and I recommend that you do) you should add an inspection step to verify the sails have been constructed according to your specifications before they are fitted on the boat.
Sail Puffin 
Hi Doug,
We are interested in buying a 4X and have been following yours posts. We find them very informative thanks.
Is there any chance you can give us an idea of the costs?
Regards
Josh
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Hi Josh,
Best to contact Outremer, they are very transparent with their pricing. I don’t post any costs here because they change periodically and vary considerably based on the chosen options.
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Thanks so much for taking the time to make your posts they are really informative and inspiring…
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Thanks David! I’m really glad you find it helpful.
Cheers
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Doug hi, just a few questions ;
1. Did u install Forwardscan B&G , I see you added a powerful camera on your mast for forward scanning . Few boat buyers talk about having Forwardscan sonar on their boat. Please comment.
2. Helm area Steering the boat seems uncovered area ? Is it open area ?
Thanx
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I did not install Forwardscan. I don’t find this to have enough benefit to justify the cost, added complexity, and underwater resistance of the transducer.
Helm stations on Outremer boats are exposed. I use autopilot in middle of the day and alternate between helm seats at other times to get shade from the mainsail.
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Hi Doug,
Love your boat and appreciate you sharing your real world knowledge here. As someone who is 2-3 years out from a similar 45, 4X or 51 purchase for a Med to Caribbean sabbatical with my wife and two young daughters. Given the 4X and 51 sailaway price are very close in cost therein is the dilemma. The sailor in me wants to 4X, my wife likes the space of the 51. Any advice on how to make the “right” selection. (maybe I’ll buy yours in a few years 🙂
Thank you
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Pure gold info Doug, if a job’s worth doing, make a list !
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I have just finalised my 4X spec and Ben at Outremer has stated they think the skegs are important to protect the drive legs. I have ordered these.
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Hi Eric,
I think the 45/4X are the ideal cruising couple’s boat. We sailed the 5X as a family of four and the extra space was great to give us all some room when living aboard for extended periods. You can certainly cruise as a family on a 45 but you would likely find the 51 more comfortable. It will be more work to sail, so you have to weigh up that tradeoff also.
Good luck!
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Hi Eric.
I choose the 45 as I do prefer the asymetrical cockpit above the symetrical cockpit of the 51. As it will be our first cat I also believe the 45 is more then enough to start with. But I do like the structural beam and staysail configuration of the 4X.
We have to make the final choices this November. I hope Outremer will help a bit with that and I thank Doug for the very informative posts.
Cheers Rob
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I agree with Rob on the 51 cockpit, I don’t like this design as there’s no entry from the transom. The 45/4X and 5X all have transom entry to the cockpit. If I was considering this boat I would talk to Outremer about changing it.
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I really love how Puffin came out! I do have two lingering questions that I’m hoping you could answer.
First, I noticed that she doesn’t have sacrificial skegs. Are those not offered on the 4X or did you decide to forgo them after having problems with the one falling off of Wildling?
Second, I know this is the first 4X to have the carbon fiber deck which saves a ton of weight. I realize carbon fiber isn’t cheap. Did this option push Puffin past the $1 million mark?
Thanks again for taking the time to write these very helpful articles, as well as your very detailed videos and and photos!
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Regarding the skegs, Outermer has stopped putting these on new boats. They were having too many problems with them coming off under lateral pressure with no impact. We lost one of the skegs on our 5X in this manner. There is also some debate over the need for skegs on a daggerboard catamaran, and whether they truly protect the saildrive legs in case of impact. I don’t really have a strong opinion either way so I deferred to Outremer on this and Puffin was built without skegs. I’m sure they would add them if requested. The final cost of the boat including all our options was less than EU1MM.
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You do have an absolute beautiful boat in Puffin and I´m very much looking forward to later reports on sailing in higher seas, comfort compared with Wilding etc. On the topic of weight reductions on hull and deck have you been able to make any final assessment of the final dry weight of her as well as if you know how much weight the new deck build technique saved?
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Great informative posts.
Having sailed on a carbon fibre monohull albeit a racer I found it extremely noisy down below. What’s the noise like in the hills on the 4x?
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Great posts!
Did you ever thought about having a in-boom furling system for even easier single-handle sailing? And whats your thoughts about in-boom furling system on a catamaran?
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Hi Christian,
Yes, I do like the idea of in boom furling, but there were just too many negatives for me to consider it on this boat. In boom furlers are heavy, they are complex with many moving parts that can break in strong winds and they require low performance parallel batten sails. I think they are a better option on a lower performance boat, but when you pay a premium for performance, it doesn’t make sense to me to compromise this with in-boom furling. Maybe on my next boat?
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Why did you choose North 3DI over Incidence DFI?
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We had Incidences sails on our 5X and had some defects with them. The customer support was so bad I vowed I would never purchase another Incidences sail again.
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Thanks for your posts, really helpful, informative and appreciated.
Enjoy your sailing!
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I’m buying an 2019 Outremer 51. On my pre-survey inspection I found many (7) deck and coaming cracks: 1,2 – port/starboard just outboard of the main soul traveler track 3 – aft of the traveler track and parallel to it 4 – pilothouse port forward deck coaming fillet (below window at deck filllet) 5 Aft pilothouse coaming panel on central line directly above the pilothouse slider. (there is a bulge in the glass underlying glass beneath the cracked trim piece. Boat with supposedly four months use. Surveyor (recommended by Outremer 2nd hand brokerage division) claims all are simply a byproduct of Outremer’s manufacturing process. Doesn’t make sense to me even if gel coat is too thick as the bulge in the panel above the slider along with identical yet opposing cracks outboard of the traveler indicate hull inward (to centerline of vessel) compression. Am I wrong? How can a 2019 with four months of sailing in the Mediterranean exhibit so many cracks? None of which are spider cracks….(which would be indicative of too heavy a gelcoat layer). Should I be concerned that there was a improper haul out or launch and flexional torsion exceeded design loads? Interested in your thoughts.
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Hi Chris, I have not seen the defects you are describing on an Outremer. It is not normal. I would contact the factory and send them photos to get an opinion on the cause.
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Thanks Doug. I have a meeting with key factory personnel on Monday via zoom. I’ll listen to what they have to say. Note: Correction in “3” in original post “Main sheet” traveler.
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Hi Doug
I have to make my choices on the 4X sails. My 4X should be delivered in a bit more than a year.
I’d like to have the same sail plan than you and I’d like to know if, with 2 years experience on this boat, your choices have evolved.
– Are you satisfyed with your 26m2 staysail ? Is the single slab reef at the foot reducing to 18m2 is needed in addition to a storm jib ?
– I will follow your and Matthieu recommandations to have a “heavy” 110m2 symetric spinaker for long crossing with wind in the back and no main sail. However I’d like to have also a code D -downwind Gennaker for fun. what is you recommendation on this sail ?
serge
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Hi Serge,
We made two changes to our sailplan and sail handling after using the boat in many different conditions. We removed the reef hook on the 1st reef point as it was nearly impossible to get it to engage and release when there is any lateral load on the sail. We went back to standard line reefing for the 1st reef. We also replaced the hank on staysail with a North 3Di furler that can be be reefed. This is fully controlled from the cockpit and works really well. We used a Facnor flat deck furler so the size of the sail is almost exactly the same as the hanked on sail. We did this because it was too much hassle raising and stowing the hank on sail and very difficult to reef it in weather. I’m really happy with our sail plan on Puffin now.
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