Fountaine Pajot showed two new sailing cats at the Cannes Yachting Festival in September 2026, the FP48 and the FP55. We were not there and we have not stepped aboard either boat. We sail a 2007 Fusion 40 between New Zealand and Fiji. What we have done is go through the builder's spec pages, the Cannes press release and the two magazine pieces that have measured or sailed the 48, and put the numbers next to a used 40 footer with the cruising kit already on it, because that is the sum most people who enquire about our boat are doing.
What the FP48 is
The FP48 replaces the Tanna 47. The FP48 specifications on the builder's site give a hull length of 14.43 m, a beam of 7.9 m and a draft of 1.64 m. Mainsail 85 m², genoa 49 m², 134 m² upwind, with a 140 m² gennaker. Engines are two 45 hp diesels, or two 80 hp. Tanks are 2 x 350 L of water and 2 x 350 L of diesel. Solar is up to 2,300 W in the roof. Layouts run from the Maestro, with a full beam owner's suite in the port hull, to five cabins and ten berths.
Against the Tanna 47, Multihulls World makes it 49 cm longer, 20 cm wider, 3.68 t heavier and 44 cm deeper in the keel, with sail area up from 129 m² to 134 m². Design is Berret-Racoupeau, interior by Isabelle Racoupeau.
The builder is selling a 3 m wide sliding glass door between saloon and cockpit, a central galley, a bow cockpit, the Lounge Deck and a raised side helm that gathers every sheet, halyard and trim line. YACHT magazine sailed the boat off La Rochelle in July 2026 and the YACHT first sail report is positive, with one criticism: the mast is too far forward for a self-tacking jib. The full test is still to come.
Two weights for one boat
The builder's own spec table says 16.7 t unloaded. Multihulls World and YACHT both print 18.4 t light. That is a 1.7 t gap on a boat not yet delivered to a customer, and we don't know which is right. The lower number may be an earlier design figure, the higher one what the first boat weighed. Ask the dealer which figure is which and get it in writing, because every other number sits on top of it: sail area to weight, how the 45 hp engines push her into a head sea, what she does in 8 knots of breeze.
Either way she is a heavy 48. Mā Tori is 12.2 m by 7.0 m and draws 1.1 m. We have never published a weight for her and will not guess one here, but a foam sandwich 40 footer and an 18 t production 48 are different animals. The lighter boat accelerates sooner in light air and loads her gear less. The heavier boat carries more water, fuel and people in comfort. Neither is wrong, and the Fusion 40 review sets out which side of it we are on.
The FP55 is the first flybridge boat in the range
The FP55 replaces the Ipanema 58 as the cruising flagship and it is the first Fountaine Pajot sailing cat with a flybridge. The FP55 specifications give 17.35 m hull length, 8.8 m beam, 1.85 m draft, a 110 m² main and a 66 m² genoa. Engines are two 80 hp, or two 110 hp. Diesel is 2 x 610 L. Solar is 6,300 W, which YACHT splits as 3,800 W on the roof and 2,500 W on the hardtop. The flybridge is about 22 m² under a fixed bimini with the helm front and centre. There is a watertight door from the saloon straight into the forward cockpit, a first for the range.
Same story on weight. The builder's table says 27.7 t unloaded. The YACHT FP55 preview from March 2026 says 32.1 t and 16.98 m of hull rather than 17.35 m. Pre-launch figures on both sides, so treat them as a range.
Layouts are Maestro (one owner's suite and four doubles), Double Maestro (two suites and two doubles) and a charter version with six identical doubles. Every version has two crew cabins in the forepeaks with their own bathrooms. That tells you who the boat is for. Two people could sail it. Two people would not want to maintain it.
The hybrid, in plain terms
Both boats are offered with ODSea+, Fountaine Pajot's hybrid package. On the FP48 that is two 25 kW electric motors in place of the diesels, a 32 kW generator, 2 x 27 kWh of batteries, two 6 kW inverters, hydrogeneration under sail and the solar. On the FP55 it is two 50 kW motors, a 38 kW generator and 38 kWh of battery. The YACHT test boat was the hybrid 48.
So this is a diesel electric boat with a generator at the heart of it, not an electric boat. What we would ask, and no source answers, is the range under motor at 5 knots on batteries alone with no sun and the generator off. On our Fusion 40 the answer is the fuel in the tank and two 29 hp Yanmars. On a 1,100 mile passage from Fiji to New Zealand with a calm in the middle, that is the number you want before you sign. What we think of the electric only boats shown this year is in the Annapolis show preview, where the FP48 also makes its North American debut.
What a new 48 costs against a sorted 40 footer
Fountaine Pajot does not publish a price. The Multihulls World report from the September 2025 announcement gave EUR 664,000 ex tax. YACHT's spec box in July 2026 lists EUR 671,967 net and a second figure of EUR 799,640, which reads as the German price with VAT. Nobody has printed a figure in Australian or New Zealand dollars. The Sails magazine report names The Yacht Sales Co. as the dealer for Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific, so that is who to ask.
The EUR 664,000 does not include your country's tax, delivery from La Rochelle, the options list, or the cruising fit out. A production cat as delivered is set up for holidays. Lithium, a bigger inverter, a watermaker, communications, dinghy and outboard, offshore safety gear and the Cat 1 inspection come after the invoice. The 2,300 W of solar is a real head start on that list and we give it credit. The rest is still yours to buy, fit and wait for.
Mā Tori is listed at USD 299,000 with 700 W of solar, a 540 Ah lithium bank, a 2000 W inverter, an OceanF10 watermaker fitted in 2025, Starlink and Iridium, a 2022 refit and current NZ Cat 1. At any exchange rate of the last few years the FP48 base price alone is more than double that, before tax and before a single upgrade. They are not the same boat and we are not pretending they are. The point is that the gap buys a lot of sailing. If a 48 is what you want and the money is there, the FP48 looks like a well sorted one. If not, our guide to cruising catamarans under $500k is where the used alternatives are, and the Fusion 40 against the Isla 40 comparison does this same sum against the smallest boat in the FP range.
Draft and weight are the Pacific numbers
A 1.64 m draft is 54 cm more than ours. In a marina that is nothing. In Fiji it decides which lagoons you anchor in and how close to the beach you sit. The Tanna 47 drew 1.2 m and the FP48 gave that up for whatever the deeper keels buy in pointing and tracking. We would want to sail her before calling that trade, and we have not.
Weight is the other one. An 18 t boat in a 40 knot squall loads the bridle, the mooring and the chain harder than a lighter boat does. It also sits steadier at anchor and carries 700 L of water without noticing. Where you cruise decides which matters more. Our cyclone season plan covers where the boat sits from November to April, and that is where the weight question gets real.
Depreciation, and what we don't have
We don't have a depreciation curve for the FP48 and nobody does, the first boat only went in the water this year. The usual pattern on production cats is that the biggest drop comes in the first few years and the curve flattens after that, which is why a sorted used boat with the kit already on it is the sum we keep coming back to. If you want real numbers, look at what Tanna 47s are listed at today against what they cost new and do the arithmetic yourself. We are not going to invent a percentage.
For anyone buying in the United States, the FP48 is built in La Rochelle and what a French built boat pays at the border is in our post on US boat import tariffs.
What we don't know
- How either boat sails. We have not been aboard and YACHT's full FP48 test is not out yet.
- Which weight is right for either boat, and why the builder's table and the magazines disagree.
- The price in Australian or New Zealand dollars, delivery slots, or what ODSea+ adds to the invoice.
- Electric only range under motor on the hybrid versions.
Specifications, prices and tax rates change. Check the builder's current page and your dealer before you order, and your country's official customs source before you import.
Questions people ask about the FP48 and FP55
Which boat does the Fountaine Pajot FP48 replace?
The Tanna 47. The FP48 is 49 cm longer, 20 cm wider and about 3.7 t heavier, and it draws 1.64 m against the Tanna's 1.2 m.
How much does the FP48 cost?
Fountaine Pajot does not publish a price. Multihulls World reported EUR 664,000 ex tax at the September 2025 announcement and YACHT listed EUR 671,967 net in July 2026. We have found no figure in Australian or New Zealand dollars.
Is the FP48 available as a hybrid?
Yes. The ODSea+ package is two 25 kW electric motors, a 32 kW generator, 2 x 27 kWh of batteries, hydrogeneration and up to 2,300 W of solar. It is a diesel electric system with a generator, not a pure electric boat.
How big is the FP55?
The builder gives 17.35 m hull length, 8.8 m beam, 1.85 m draft and 27.7 t unloaded. YACHT's preview gives 16.98 m and 32.1 t. It replaces the Ipanema 58.
Keep reading: why a kit built 40 footer and a production 48 are built the way they are is in the owner-built against production guide, the survey and systems checklists are in the Catamaran Buyer's Pack, and our bluewater catamaran for sale is the boat this was written from.