Catana 431 Used Buying Guide, the Family Circumnavigator With Daggerboards
A scaled-down Catana 471 with Twaron-lined hulls, daggerboards and clean flush decks that families have sailed around the world.
- Length
- 43 ft13.1 m
- Beam
- 24 ft7.3 m
- Draft
- 7.2 ft2.2 m
- Cabins
- 3 (owner's version) or 4 (charter versions)
- Used price
- $220K to $360K
On this page
- Overview
- The Catana 431 and the second-generation Catanas
- Foam, vinylester and an aramid inner skin
- Why owners love the daggerboards
- Exposed helms, a clear cockpit and decks without hatches
- Owner's version, charter versions and semi-custom boats
- Surveying a 25-year-old performance cat
- Specifications
- Price and value
- Strengths and weaknesses
- Used buyer checklist
- Rivals
- Our verdict
- FAQ
The Catana 431 is a 43 ft French performance cruising catamaran designed by Christophe Barreau and built at Canet-en-Roussillon from 1998 into the early 2000s. It shares the 471's asymmetric hulls, tulip bows and daggerboards in a size a couple can handle.
- Families planning a circumnavigation
- Couples who want a fast but manageable bluewater cat
- Sailors moving from performance monohulls
- Owners who will refit and maintain to a high standard
Catana 431 by the numbers
- Sail area to displacement
- 30.7Racing level power, needs active reefing as the breeze builds.
- Displacement to length
- 106Ultralight. Built for speed, keep payload to a minimum.
- Theoretical hull speed
- 8.7 knDisplacement hull speed for the waterline. Light catamarans regularly sail faster than this because their slim hulls do not make a large bow wave.
- Length to beam ratio
- 1.79 : 1Catamaran overall proportions. Wider platforms resist pitching and heel.
The Catana 431 and the second-generation Catanas
In 1997 Catana moved to a new yard at Canet-en-Roussillon and launched the 471, a boat the company's own history calls a revolution, with Twaron aramid fiber replacing glass. The 471 was named Boat of the Year in the United States in 1999. The Catana 431 followed from 1998 as its smaller sister, and CatamaranSite describes it as based directly on the 471: asymmetric hulls, tulip-shaped bows, daggerboards and very high bridgedeck clearance in a boat small enough for a couple to reef and dock.
Christophe Barreau designed both. Sailboatdata records Catana 431 production from 1998 to 2003; CatamaranSite's model page extends it to 2006. Catana changed hands in 2003, when Poncin Yachts bought the company, and new models followed, which is why the exact end date varies by source. Shoppers searching for a Catana 43 are almost always looking at a 431; sailboatdata carries a separate Catana 43 record from 2004 with a heavier displacement, which we could not confirm as a distinct production model, so check any boat's hull number and build year carefully.
Foam, vinylester and an aramid inner skin
CatamaranSite's description of the build is specific. Hulls, decks and bulkheads are all sandwich construction vacuum-bagged with vinylester resin around a PVC foam core, and Twaron aramid fibers line the interior skin throughout. The bulkheads are reinforced with carbon on both faces and fully laminated to the hulls, deck, coachroof and cockpit, and the hull-to-deck joint is bonded and laminated over with biaxial cloth.
That aramid lining is a real safety feature. A family who sailed around the world aboard the 2001 Catana 431 Morning Glory from 2009 to 2016 chose the boat partly for its Kevlar-type skin below the waterline, which they saw as insurance against punctures from floating containers. At 8,000 kg on a 12.8 m waterline, sailboatdata calculates a displacement to length ratio of about 106 and a sail area to displacement ratio near 31, figures that confirm a genuine performance cruiser rather than a floating apartment.
Why owners love the daggerboards
The 431's two daggerboards drop the draft from about 2 ft 7 in to 7 ft 3 in. Morning Glory's owner explains three uses: pointing high when going to windward, raising the boards in storm conditions so the boat can slide down a breaking wave rather than trip, and trimming downwind by raising one board and lowering the other to balance the helm, a pastime she found entertaining on long passages.
CatamaranSite says the 431 seldom slaps or pounds, carries a powerful rig for light breezes and turns good speeds under both sail and power. Every line runs to the cockpit, so a single, petite crew member can reef, shake out a reef, hoist and drop the main without leaving it. On a trade-wind circumnavigation the owner's main advice was to fit one or two whisker poles from the start to stop downwind sails slatting in light air.
Exposed helms, a clear cockpit and decks without hatches
Like all Catanas of the era, the 431 puts its wheels out on the hulls, well aft. Morning Glory's owner worried about that before buying and ended up loving it: the cockpit is uncluttered by a helm station, visibility around the boat and up to the sails is excellent and you can see other boats in a crowded anchorage. A hard bimini over the cockpit carries solar panels and gives access to the boom.
The decks are flush and smooth. Ventilation comes from opening ports in the hull and cabin sides rather than deck hatches, which reduces solar heating below and leaves nothing to trip over when moving forward. Owners in the tropics see that as a strength rather than an omission.
Owner's version, charter versions and semi-custom boats
Catana sold the 431 as a semi-custom boat. CatamaranSite lists a three-cabin, two-head owner's version, a four-cabin, two-head charter version and a four-cabin, four-head charter version, plus many variations. The owner's version devotes one hull to a master suite with a full-size separate shower stall, while the other hull has two cabins with bunks, ideal for a family with children who each want a berth of their own.
Headroom is the main limitation inside. The circumnavigating owner warned that sailors over 6 ft may find some areas tight and suggested they consider a larger Catana. Her other complaint was plumbing: the holding tanks sit under a bunk with long hose runs from the head and back out to the deck pump-out, and she relocated them during a refit. Expect to do the same, or at least to renew the hoses.
Surveying a 25-year-old performance cat
Every 431 is now well over twenty years old, so its value rests on what has been renewed. Saildrives are the first item: the original Volvo MD2040s and their seals and diaphragms are due or past due for replacement on most boats. Standing rigging, the daggerboards and their trunks, the bonded hull-deck joint and the foam core around fittings deserve a thorough survey by someone who knows cored composite catamarans.
Annual costs of roughly $30,000 to $60,000 in the US cover a multihull slip or mooring for a boat almost 24 ft wide, insurance, haul-out and antifouling, engine and saildrive service and a reserve for sails and rigging. Ex-charter four-cabin boats can be bargains but often hide hard use; an owner's version with documented refits is worth paying more for.
Catana 431 specifications
| Length overall | 43 ft13.1 m |
|---|---|
| Waterline length | 42 ft12.8 m |
| Beam | 24 ft7.3 m |
| Draft | 7.2 ft2.2 m |
| Air draft | 64 ft19.51 m |
| Displacement | 17,637 lbs8, kg |
| Sail area | 1,302 sq ft121 m² |
| Fuel capacity | 185 gal7 L |
| Fresh water | 159 gal6 L |
| Cabins | 3 (owner's version) or 4 (charter versions) |
| Berths | 6 to 8 |
| Heads | 2 or 4 |
| Standard engines | Twin Volvo Penta MD2040 diesels, 40 hp each, on saildrives |
| Maximum power | 40 hp |
| Hull type | Asymmetric catamaran hulls with tulip-shaped bows and high bridgedeck clearance |
| Keel | Twin daggerboards: 2 ft 7 in boards up, 7 ft 3 in boards down |
| Rig | Fractional sloop, mast about 64 ft above the waterline, lines led to the cockpit |
| Hull construction | Vacuum-bagged vinylester sandwich with PVC foam core and Twaron aramid inner skin; carbon-reinforced bulkheads |
| Builder | Catana, Canet-en-Roussillon, France |
| Naval architect | Christophe Barreau |
| Production | 1998 to 2003 |
| Status | Discontinued |
Figures come from builder documentation and independent tests where available. Displacement is usually quoted light, so a loaded cruising boat will weigh more. Compare these specs with another model.
How much does a Catana 431 cost?
Few Catana 431s change hands; CatamaranSite has only three sales on record. An owner who circumnavigated in a 2001 boat put typical 431 prices around $350,000 in 2021, at the top of a strong market. Today, owner's version layouts, recent saildrive and engine replacement, new standing rigging and daggerboard condition separate the best boats from tired ex-charter four-cabin examples, and most boats need importing from Europe or the Caribbean. Our bands are estimates.
Estimate your yearly cost
A planning estimate using common rules of thumb: insurance near 1.5 percent of value, maintenance near 3 percent, haul out and bottom paint by length. Your marina, region and use will move these numbers. Open the full cost calculator.
Versions and options
- Owner's version
- Three cabins and two heads, with a full-hull master suite and separate shower stall.
- Charter version, four cabins and two heads
- Two double cabins in each hull sharing two heads.
- Charter version, four cabins and four heads
- Each cabin with its own head, popular with charter fleets.
- Catana 471
- The larger 1997 sister on which the 431 was based, with 68 built according to sailboatdata.
Catana 431 timeline
- 1997Catana moves to Canet-en-Roussillon and launches the 471
- 1998Catana 431 introduced
- 1999Catana 471 named Boat of the Year in the US
- 2003Poncin Yachts buys Catana; sailboatdata's last 431 year
- 2016A family completes a circumnavigation aboard the 2001 Catana 431 Morning Glory
Strengths and weaknesses
What owners like
- Daggerboards for real windward performance and storm tactics
- Light, puncture-resistant Twaron-lined construction
- Uncluttered cockpit and excellent visibility from outboard helms
- All lines led to the cockpit for shorthanded sailing
- Generous 700 liters of fuel and 600 liters of water
- Proven around-the-world family cruiser
What to weigh up
- Limited headroom for tall crew
- Poorly located holding tanks with long hose runs
- Exposed helm positions
- Ageing saildrives and rigging on most boats
- Few boats for sale, mostly outside the US
Used Catana 431 buyer checklist
Take this list to a viewing. Your ticks are saved in this browser so you can come back to it.
Always commission an independent marine survey and an engine survey before you buy. How a marine survey works.
Rivals to consider
Catana 471
The bigger 1997 original with more headroom and volume, the natural step up for tall sailors.
Compare side by sideLagoon 410
Contemporary cruising cat with fixed keels and much more interior volume, slower and cheaper to buy.
Fountaine Pajot Bahia 46
A popular French cruising cat of the same era with a bulkhead helm and fixed keels.
Privilege 435
Heavier, more luxurious French cat of the period that trades speed for comfort.
Our verdict on the Catana 431
The Catana 431 is one of the best-proven ways to buy a fast, safe ocean catamaran for a family at a price well below new performance cats. Its daggerboards, aramid-lined hulls and clear, flush decks make it a sailor's boat, and owners have taken it around the world with children aboard. Accept the tight headroom and plan to fix the sanitation layout, then buy the best-documented owner's version you can find, preferably with new saildrives and rigging. A sound 431 will carry you far, quickly and with confidence.
Catana 431 questions answered
How much is a Catana 431 worth?
We estimate most trade between about $220,000 and $360,000. A circumnavigating owner put typical prices around $350,000 in 2021, near the top of the market.
Is there a Catana 43?
Most boats advertised as a Catana 43 are Catana 431s. Sailboatdata also lists a 2004 Catana 43 record, which we could not confirm as a separate production model.
What years was the Catana 431 built?
From 1998. Sailboatdata lists 2003 as the last year, while CatamaranSite extends production to 2006.
Does the Catana 431 have daggerboards?
Yes. Two daggerboards give a draft of about 2 ft 7 in raised and 7 ft 3 in lowered.
Can a Catana 431 sail around the world?
Yes. The 2001 Catana 431 Morning Glory circumnavigated with a family of four between 2009 and 2016.
What engines does the Catana 431 have?
Twin 40 hp Volvo Penta MD2040 diesels on saildrives, according to CatamaranSite.
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