The Isla 40 premiered at last year’s Cannes Yachting Festival, yet several units are already sailing around Asia following strong demand for the La Rochelle builder’s new entry model.

Fountaine Pajot’s seven sailing catamaran models through to the flagship Alegria 67 have names ending in ‘a’, including the Elba 45 and the Tanna 47 which refer to islands. For its new entry-level model, the Isla 40, the French builder settled on the generic Spanish word for island, pronounced ‘iz-la’. Measuring just over 39ft overall, the Isla only had its official world premiere at last year’s Cannes Yachting Festival, yet it has already sold multiple units across Asia, where owners – including a client in Japan who switched from a 48ft motor yacht – have started exploring islands, beaches and bays around the region.

“When we think of Asia, we sometimes think of big boats because of motor yachts, but you can have a very capable, fully equipped Isla 40 delivered here for €500,000 (about US$570,000), so the pool of customers is much wider. These new owners are attracted to boats they can sail themselves without having crew while still having large social areas and privacy when needed,” says Kevin Corfa, Fountaine Pajot’s Head of Asia.

“For the same amount of living space, the Isla consumes much less power because it’s a sailing yacht but also when motoring because it’s a cat. It can have a big water tank and because owners will handle more things onboard themselves, they appreciate having so much space around the engine in the technical area, making maintenance easier.”

WORDS MULTIHULLS WORLD & YACHT STYLE

PHOTOS FOUNTAINE PAJOT

This edited article is republished by kind permission of Yacht Style magazine