Cruising_World_2016-06-07

june/july 2016

cruisingworld.com

87

bound after Miami. Clearly,
these lads weren’t Frenchmen
from Fountaine Pajot; in fact,
there wasn’t a company rep in
sight. It appeared it would be
the four of us. Steve asked if I
was ready to go sailing. Mate, I
was born ready.
I’d already taken the op-
portunity to poke around the
Lucia 40 earlier, during the
show. Visually and stylistically,
the Olivier Racoupeau design
has a lot going on. In profi le,
the hulls feature aggressive
plumb bows and reverse sheer
lines that rise unexpectedly
amidships before tapering aft
into what look like reverse
transoms but are actually pro-

nounced outer rails for the two
sets of transom steps (with a
swim ladder on the starboard
set). A solid canopy that also
hosts the beam-width traveler
on its aft edge caps the cock-
pit. A pair of portlights in
each hull pour natural light
into the staterooms below and

accent the wraparound coach-

roof windows. With the clear

objective of maximizing space,

every item on the boat appears

to have been given a lot of

thought.

As on many modern cats,

a sliding-glass door and drop-

down window separate the

cockpit and the main cabin;

when everything is opened

up, the two distinct areas

merge into one open fl oor

plan. Naturally, the centralized

L-shaped galley straddles the

cockpit and the saloon, put-

ting the cook squarely in the

middle of everyone and every-

thing. A big L-shaped settee

opposes the galley and shares

a seat corner for the desk and

navigation station. Spatially,

these bookend features are

both functional and fun.

From the inside looking out,

the coachroof windows off er

arresting views.

To port, down four steps,

the boat sports staterooms

fore and aft with inviting dou-

ble berths and private heads.

But it’s the owner’s suite to

starboard — in what Foun-

taine Pajot calls the Maestro

layout — that’s arguably the

nicest spot on the cat. A desk

and vanity in the middle of the

cabin are sandwiched between

a large double berth aft and

an enclosed head, with a huge

dedicated shower stall for-

ward. It’s a terrifi c layout.

As we motored out of the

marina, bound for Biscayne

Bay, Steve handed over the

helm to his professional deliv-

ery skipper, Jordan Peacock,

and we repaired to the tram-

polines for a good old gam. I

found Steve’s personal sailing

story every bit as intriguing as

his new ride.

H

aving grown up on a land-

locked farm in Indiana,

when it came time for college,

Steve was eager to see both

the water and the world. A

commission to the United

States Naval Academy in

Annapolis provided an avenue

to both.

Though he’d fussed around

with small boats on Midwest

lakes, at the Academy he truly

learned to sail, and a posting

to a Puerto Rico duty station

at the outset of his career

provided the opportunity

to purchase his fi rst boat, a

20-foot wooden sloop aboard

which he happily explored the

nearby Spanish Virgin Islands.

For many years after, con-

stant moves made boat owner-

ship impossible, though he

continued to hone his skills

at Navy sailing clubs when

posted to bases in Newport,

Rhode Island, and other

locales. By 2008, having

retired from the Navy and

working as a consultant based

near Annapolis, he was ready

to again take the ownership

plunge and bought a locally

built Gemini catamaran from

Performance Cruising.

Though most of his sailing

had been in monohulls, Steve;

his wife, Luz Marina; and

their family loved the space of

the cat and the fact that they

could take novice sailors and

kids out on Chesapeake Bay

with no worries. But he was

also thinking about a blue-

water boat he could cruise

farther afi eld. And while he’d

chartered boats frequently in

the Caribbean over the years,

including many monohulls,

some of his best trips had been

aboard Fountaine Pajot cats

like the Mahé 36 and Bahia

46. At the Annapolis Spring
    Sailboat Show in 2015, he saw
    the drawings of the compa-
    ny’s new Lucia 40, and a week
    later he put down a deposit
    for one of the fi rst to come off
    the line.
    A trip to last winter’s Paris
    Boat Show, where hull num-
    ber one was unveiled, and a
    coinciding visit to the Foun-
    taine Pajot yard in La Rochelle
    to see his own boat under
    construction — he’d toured
    countless manufacturing
    facilities over the years, and
    was impressed by the crafts-
    manship, the cleanliness and
    the quiet, all of which he lik-
    ened to an art studio — con-
    vinced him he’d made the right
    choice. That was confi rmed
    when the boat arrived in Fort
    Lauderdale and, with Jordan
    and a third hand, he sailed the
    boat across the Gulf Stream
    and back in heavy weather
    and big seas for a photo shoot
    in Bimini. The Lucia 40 han-
    dled her maiden voyage with
    aplomb, recording nearly 12
    knots of boat speed in 25 knots
    of breeze.
    Now, out on Biscayne Bay,
    the gently ruffl ed waters sig-
    naled the impending arrival
    of a fresh sea breeze. Nice.
    We put the throttle down to
    motor out and greet it. Like
    most new owners have, Steve
    had upgraded the twin Yan-
    mar 20-horsepower diesels to
    the 30-horsepower options,
    and we skidded along nicely at
    6.3 knots at 2,100 rpm and 7.3
    knots at 2,800 rpm.

Once into Biscayne Bay, with downtown Miami in the dis-
tance, we rendezvoused with a fi lling sea breeze and got
underway. The Lucia 40 performed well in the light air.

THE RADAR APP ON MY SMARTPHONE CONFIRMED THAT THE STORMS WERE

MOVING OFF THE COAST. WHAT THE WIND WOULD DO WAS ANOTHER MATTER.