The past few years have not been easy for Alubat. At times, production in Les Sables d'Olonne even had to be stopped completely. Now, however, the shipyard can take off with new investors and a new managing director. The aluminium specialists' CEO is Christian Picard, a man with a wealth of background and experience in the yacht industry.
Alubat is best known for its aluminium blue water yachts from the Ovni and Cigales shipyard lines. Now the Alubat programme is to be further expanded with a series of catamarans. The first of these is the Ovnicat 48, a design from the renowned Mortain & Mavrikios Yacht Design studio in La Rochelle. According to the initial plans and renderings, the Ovnicat 48 is based on the proven, conventional concept for modern cruising catamarans. This means: moderate hull shapes with attached stub keels, bathing platforms at the sterns, a completely covered external cockpit and a raised steering position at the side. A sporty and powerful sail plan is also planned, with a square-head mainsail and a short overlapping genoa.
The hulls, the beams and the central platform are made of aluminium, while the cabin superstructure is made of GRP. For weight reasons, as Alubat boss Christian Picard explains. The designers have calculated an unladen weight of around 12.5 tonnes for the Ovnicat 48. If this target can be met, the aluminium construction would be quite light compared to GRP chassis of roughly the same size. By way of comparison, the Leopard 48 weighs 14.5 tonnes, the Lagoon 450 around 15.5 tonnes and the brand new New 47 from Fountaine Pajot is expected to weigh around 13.8 tonnes.
Production catamarans made of light metal are extremely rare. So far, none of the leading aluminium manufacturers have dared to tackle this subject. In a way, Alubat is even taking on the role of pioneer. Aluminium as a material for yachts is particularly popular with blue water sailors because it is extremely robust, very reliable and safe and also easy to repair - if necessary at all. The disadvantage: Compared to GRP constructions, aluminium construction is very complex and therefore also cost-intensive. An initial (steep) price announcement from Alubat for the Ovnicat 48 is around 950,000 euros, ready to sail, including 19 per cent VAT.
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Michael Good
Editor Test & Technology
