Fountaine Pajot 55 (FP55), the Brand's First Flybridge Sailing Cat

Why the Fountaine Pajot 55 is a change of scale for La Rochelle

Fountaine Pajot's core sailing range has long relied on semi-raised helms and hardtop lounges, with full flybridges reserved for its bigger boats such as the Ipanema 58 and today's yacht line. The Fountaine Pajot 55 changes that. It is the first boat in the Sailing Catamarans range with a true flybridge that houses both the helm and a lounge, and Multihulls World pointed out that it reclaims a size the yard had not really occupied in its standard line since the Marquises 53, later stretched into the 56, appeared in 1991.

It sits between the FP51 and the Samana 59, which now leads the separate Fountaine Pajot Yachts line, so the FP55 is the largest model in the standard range. The yard's own launch material says it does not replace any existing boat; YACHT, by contrast, described it as the successor to the Ipanema 58 of 2016. Either way, it is a clean-sheet Berret-Racoupeau design rather than a stretched 51.

The project was shown in 3D in late 2025 and nominated for Cruising World's Boat of the Year 2026 before hull one was finished. That first boat was completed in the summer of 2026, sea trialed by visitors at the La Rochelle Open Days, and officially presented at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September 2026.

Thirty-two tonnes that do not look it

Fountaine Pajot lists a hull length of 17.35 m (56 ft 11 in), a beam of 8.80 m (28 ft 10 in) and a draft of 1.85 m (about 6 ft 1 in). Multihulls World published a slightly shorter 16.98 m overall and a light displacement of 32.1 tonnes, close to 71,000 lb. The rig carries a 110 square meter (1,184 sq ft) mainsail and a 66 square meter (710 sq ft) genoa.

Those are big numbers, yet the reviewer at Multihulls World thought the 55 looked sleeker than the Samana 59, which is about 4 ft longer and, by the magazine's figures, around 4 tonnes lighter. He credited the Berret-Racoupeau team with combining very large volumes and an elegant profile.

The press sail at Saint-Raphaël took place in about 8 knots of onshore breeze that faded during the morning, so no meaningful speed figures have been published. On paper, 176 square meters of upwind sail for 32 tonnes points to a comfortable passagemaker that will want a Code 0 or gennaker in light air, not a fast one.

A centered flybridge helm and a door to the foredeck

The flybridge is the reason to buy this boat. YACHT measured about 22 to 23 square meters of lounge, dining and sunbathing space up there, with an optional module holding a refrigerator, sink and grill. The helm sits on centerline at the forward end, which gives a view to both bows when docking and a clear sight of the sails. Unlike the FP51, the main boom runs above the hardtop rather than over the seating, a real safety gain, although Multihulls World found the boom high and awkward to reach.

Forward, the trampolines are replaced by a sunken fiberglass cockpit with seating, a drinks fridge and a sink, and the saloon opens onto it through a watertight door. Fountaine Pajot says that transverse circulation is unprecedented for a catamaran of this size, and it lets guests walk from the aft cockpit through the saloon to the bow without using the side decks. Add the aft cockpit with its plancha and there are three separate outdoor areas, each working as a small self-contained island.

Maestro, Double Maestro or six cabins, always with crew quarters

Three layouts are offered. The Maestro has an owner's suite and four guest cabins; YACHT says the owner's cabin in the port hull takes up two-thirds of that hull. The Double Maestro puts a full suite in each hull plus two guest cabins, which Fountaine Pajot says makes it the only cruising cat of this size with two true owner's suites. The Charter version has six identical double cabins. Every cabin has its own bathroom with a separate shower.

Whatever the layout, two independent crew cabins with their own heads sit in the bows. One aft cabin can also be reached directly from outside and has its own bathroom, so a captain can come and go without walking through the owners' saloon. The limits are clear: there is no separate crew galley and no galley-down option, so on a crewed boat the cook works in the shared saloon, and the separation of crew and owners is less strict than on Fountaine Pajot's larger yachts.

Inside, the saloon seating is a full U around a table that seats up to ten with its extension, and a compact navigation console replaces a traditional chart table, with the autopilot controllable from inside. Air conditioning is standard, and YACHT praised how easily its components can be reached for service. The wood-look finishes are a durable synthetic designed to look fresh after four or five years of charter use.

Diesels, 6,300 watts of solar and the ODSea+ option

Standard power is a pair of 80 hp Yanmar diesels with digital controls, with 110 hp engines optional and a Side-Power bow thruster available for short-handed docking. Fuel capacity is two 610 liter tanks, about 322 gallons, and fresh water is two 400 liter tanks, about 211 gallons.

Solar is a headline feature: 6,300 W in total, 3,800 W on the coachroof and 2,500 W on the hardtop, a package that YACHT said cost 48,000 euros extra. The ODSea+ hybrid replaces the diesels with two 50 kW electric motors, a 38 kW generator, a 38 kWh battery bank and hydrogeneration. Fountaine Pajot says the setup allows air conditioning without running a generator, but we would want to see a detailed energy model for a hot Caribbean anchorage before believing that holds around the clock.

Fountaine Pajot 55 price, delivery slots and resale outlook

YACHT reported a starting price of 1,395,000 euros net, about 1.66 million euros including 19 percent VAT. A US buyer importing a lightly optioned diesel FP55 should budget about $1.6 million after shipping and commissioning, and $2 million to $2.4 million for a hybrid Maestro with solar, generator, watermaker, upgraded electronics and a full tender setup.

Production is planned at around 22 to 23 boats a year, and YACHT was quoted delivery slots running to July 2027. That scarcity should protect early values, but remember that the brand's yacht-line Samana 59 competes for the same money. Annual costs are in a different league from a 45-footer: budget $110,000 to $220,000 for dockage in a wide slip, insurance, haul-outs, service on two engines and a generator, and part-time crew if you use the bow cabins as intended.