Isla 40

Lieu de l’essai : Bandol, France 
Conditions : mer peu agitée, vent de sud-est de 5 à 15 nœuds

For a few years now, all the sailing catamarans bearing the Fountaine Pajot signature have had island names - with the names of some of them, such as the Samana - ending in an “a”. So, for the manufacturer’s entry-level range, why not use the generic term - in Spanish, to keep the “a”? This is the choice validated by the manufacturer. Readers who keep abreast of the offer of multihulls in this size - 40 feet - will note many similarities with the previous model, the Lucia 40: and they’d be right, since the Isla uses the base of her predecessor, which saw almost 300 examples built in a career lasting just under 5 years. No need to wait any longer before revealing the main modifications: these focus on the hulls, whose bows now adopt inverted stems; and the interior.

An extra 8 inches for the hulls

It’s quite amazing how the inverted bows alter the silhouette: the wise Lucia 40 turns into a catamaran with a much more sporty and seductive design. However, the hulls have only gained 8 inches (20 cm) at the waterline, increasing from 38’6” to 39’2” (11.73 to 11.93 m). In this pivotal 4...