Antares 44i For Sale, a Used Buyer's Guide to the Bluewater Cat

Antares 44i for sale: what you are actually buying

If you are looking at an Antares 44i for sale, you are looking at one of the few production catamarans of its era designed from the outset for private owners rather than charter fleets. When SAIL sailed one in 2005, PDQ Yachts was quick to point out that it was not intended to be a charter boat but a sturdy, well-equipped bluewater cruiser for people living aboard. That philosophy shaped everything from the galley position to the engine placement.

The boat has nothing to do with Beneteau's Antares range of powerboats, which simply share the name. The Antares 44i is a 44-foot sailing catamaran with a 21-foot 9-inch beam, a 4-foot draft and a three-cabin owner's layout, designed by veteran multihull designer Ted Clements to a concept by Rob Poirier, a former PDQ vice president who went on to co-found Antares Yachts.

Expect a small market. Antares built about five or six boats a year in its Argentine period according to Cruising World, so good examples are passed between owners who know each other through the brand's training program and online community.

From PDQ in Whitby to a yard in Buenos Aires

The platform started at PDQ Yachts in Whitby, Ontario. Antares says the original PDQ 44 established the foundation in 2004, an evolution of the earlier PDQ Antares 42; designers added two feet to get the proportions and stern step access they wanted. By late 2005 SAIL was testing the new Antares 44i with a base price quoted FOB Whitby.

PDQ then decided to concentrate on power catamarans. In January 2008, Cruising World reports, Poirier and Clements bought the Antares molds and launched Antares Yachts, which moved production to Buenos Aires, Argentina. The company was later run by co-presidents Rob Poirier and Jeff Woodman from South Carolina, and the Argentine yard went on to build the 44i, then the GS and GT versions, and now the 44 Hybrid and a larger Antares 46.

For a buyer, the hull number and build location are worth confirming. Canadian-built early boats and Argentine-built later boats share the same basic design, but systems, finish and options evolved steadily through the run.

A galley down and a whole hull for the owner

Most cruising catamarans put the galley up in the saloon. PDQ put it down in the port hull, giving the cook a 15-foot run of counter with 15 cupboards and five drawers. The trade-off is less conversation with the saloon; the reward is a serious galley for long passages and an uncluttered, airy saloon on the bridgedeck. A forward-facing navigation station with a big chart table and good visibility completes the main deck.

The master cabin occupies the entire starboard hull with drawers, cupboards and a 5-foot hanging locker. Two guest cabins sit in the port hull, and one can be converted into an office, which suits long-term liveaboards. Joinery is varnished cherry veneer over lightweight honeycomb core, and the sole on the boat SAIL tested was teak and holly. The result is traditional and warm, very different in feel from charter-derived cats.

A protected helm and a hardtop full of solar

Poirier's insight from his PDQ years was that many power catamaran buyers were former sailors who had given up sailing to get out of the weather. The Antares answer is a fully protected helm under a solid hardtop with a glass windshield and wipers, plus a removable enclosure. Cruising World noted that later 44i boats were built with a quartet of large standard solar panels recessed into the hardtop over a fully covered cockpit.

SAIL's tester liked that the helm gives good visibility over the coachroof without perching the driver on a tall seat, and that the central winch and stopper station lets the helmsman trim both main and jib without standing up. Halyards and reef lines lead to a second station aft. A stainless dinghy arch supports a tender of up to about 11 and a half feet in place of conventional davits.

How the 44i sails with a cruising load aboard

The 44i's rounded hulls were designed to carry weight without performance collapsing, and the bridgedeck sits 30 inches above the loaded waterline to limit slamming. SAIL's test boat carried four months of provisions and full tanks in about 10 knots of wind and flat water; it tacked through 90 degrees and logged speeds in the 4-knot range upwind and the 5s downwind with the screecher set. That is modest, but it was a heavily loaded boat in light air.

Owners report better numbers when the wind fills in. Antares quotes owner-reported speeds of 6 to 9 knots in 12 to 15 knots of wind and 8 to 11 knots on a reach in stronger conditions, and one 44i, Blue Dawn, sailed from the US Virgin Islands to Cadiz, Spain, in a little over three weeks at an average of about 7 knots. Antares boats have also won catamaran divisions on World ARC legs to the Galapagos and French Polynesia. Engines and tanks are placed amidships, below the waterline, to reduce hobbyhorsing.

Twin Yanmars, shaft drives and skegged rudders

The 44i uses twin Yanmar diesels on conventional shafts rather than saildrives, mounted under the cabin soles forward of the aft cabins. SAIL's 2005 boat had 29 hp engines and reached the 7-knot range under power; the current Antares 44 specification lists two 40 hp Yanmars and a 7.5 kW generator. Rudders are protected by skegs, a feature the builder sees as central to offshore survivability.

Shaft drives are simpler to service than saildrives in remote places and avoid the corrosion and seal issues of saildrive legs, but they demand attention to cutless bearings, stuffing boxes or dripless seals, and alignment. Tankage on the 44i is about 120 gallons of fuel and 140 gallons of water.

44i, GS, GT and Hybrid: telling the generations apart

Antares describes its own lineage this way. The 44i carried the PDQ platform forward. The GS, for Grand Salon, opened up the living spaces in response to owner requests; Cruising World reported in 2015 that the yard planned a 44e, for expanded, with more saloon seating and storage. The GT, Grand Touring, refined systems, finish and build execution. The latest 44 Hybrid adds diesel-electric drives with large lithium banks and solar.

When comparing listings, do not mix figures. The current Antares 44 specification shows 19,500 pounds light displacement, 150 gallons of water and a 62-foot mast height, while sailboatdata lists the 44 at 22,500 pounds and 140 gallons of water. A 44i, GS and GT may look alike at the dock, but a GT or Hybrid typically carries a newer electrical system, more solar and a later engine package, and is priced accordingly.

• 44i: original Antares expression of the PDQ platform, built in Canada and then Argentina
• GS (Grand Salon): larger, more open saloon
• GT (Grand Touring): refined systems and finish, classic diesel
• 44 Hybrid: diesel plus electric assist, large lithium and solar capacity

What a used Antares 44i should cost

In 2005 SAIL quoted the 44i at 655,000 dollars sailaway from Whitby. Two decades later the newest Antares boats cost far more, with a 2023 44 Hybrid listed at 1,175,000 dollars through the factory's certified pre-owned program. Most 44i listings fall well below that, and we estimate roughly 375,000 to 650,000 dollars depending on age and upgrades.

The best value is usually a boat whose owner has already upgraded batteries, solar and sails, because those items add up quickly. Antares runs a two-day Antares University owner program, and its factory certified listings include a pre-listing systems review, which is worth asking about even when buying privately.