Douce France

Last updated

Douce France ("Sweet France") is a 138 feet luxury sailing catamaran design by VPLP design and built by Alumarine in Brittany (France). [1] At its launch in 1998, she was the largest sailing cat ever built and won most innovative Sailing Yacht 1999 - Showboats Design Awards. [2] It was built at Alu Marine also underwent a refit in 2009 and 2015. [3] The exterior and interior design was done overall by Peteghem & Lauriot Prevost (VPLP design). [4] The vessel is known for a panoramic window interior lounge, one of the areas along with the teak wood aft deck, upper level cockpit, and the interior cabins in the twin hulls. [5]

Contents

The Douce France was the largest sail catamaran in the World, and significant step from previous designs in this history of these type of vessels. [6] Douce France has been analyzed in attempts to build similar large sailing catamarans especially for luxury cruising. [7]

Douce France has a displacement of 120 tons and has a range of 3500 nautical miles, for up to 12 guests and 8 crew. [8] Typical sail cruise speed is 9 knots and maximum speed under sail is 19 knots. [9] This vessel has twin diesel engines and can motor at 12 knots. [10] The hulls are made of aluminum. [11]

Typically operating as Charter vessel in the South Pacific, it has six cabins and has various items to support hospitality business, such as wine cellar and various tenders. [12]

Specifications: [13]

As of 2018 the vessel is flagged to Belgium. [16]

Designers

Design firm was VPLP design and it was built at Chantier Naval Alumarine in 1998. [17]

Legacy

The same design firm went on make an even larger sailing catamaran, the 145 foot Hemisphere. [18] The sponsors of that yacht spent time aboard the Douce France, which aided in developing that yacht which was completed in 2011. [19] Unlike Douce France, Hemisphere has quarters outside the hulls and additional deck but carried on tradition of a large deck area. [20]

See also

Related Research Articles

VPLP design is a French-based naval architectural firm founded by Marc Van Peteghem and Vincent Lauriot-Prévost, responsible for designing some of the world's most innovative racing boats. Their designs presently hold many of the World Speed Sailing records.

Marc Van Peteghem is a French naval architect, co-founder of VPLP a French based naval architectural firm, since 1983.

Hemisphere is the largest sailing catamaran and the largest sailing private yacht catamaran in the World since 2011. She is 145 feet (44 m) long and built by boat builder Pendennis (UK). The vessel has won five different industry awards, including for the interior finishing. In suitable weather Hemisphere goes 13 knots, with a top sailing speed of 20 knots. VPLP collaborated with Michael Leach Design for the interior design, and the yacht has over 1300 square feet of deck space. Some of the deck spaces include areas including the wheelhouse, flybridge, and salon.

The Lagoon 410 is a French sailboat that was designed by Van Peteghem/Lauriot-Prevost as a cruiser and first built in 1997.

The Lagoon 380 is a French sailboat that was designed by Van Peteghem/Lauriot-Prevost as a cruiser and also for the yacht charter role. It was first built in 1999.

The Lagoon 39 is a French sailboat that was designed by Van Peteghem/Lauriot-Prevost, with the interior by Nauta Design. It was designed as a cruiser and first built in 2013.

The Lagoon 42-2, also called the Lagoon 42-2016, is a French sailboat that was designed by Van Peteghem/Lauriot-Prevost with styling by Nauta Design. It was designed as a cruiser for private owners and the yacht charter market, and was first built in 2016.

The Lagoon 440 is a French sailboat that was designed by Van Peteghem/Lauriot-Prevost as a cruiser and yacht charter boat. It was first built in 2004.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lagoon 500</span> Sailboat class

The Lagoon 500 is a French sailboat that was designed by Van Peteghem/Lauriot-Prevost and first built in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lagoon 620</span> Sailboat class

The Lagoon 620 is a French sailboat that was designed by Van Peteghem/Lauriot-Prevost, with exterior design by Patrick le Quément and interior design by Nauta Design. It was designed as a cruiser and first built in 2009.

The Lagoon 52 is a French sailboat that was designed by Van Peteghem/Lauriot-Prevost, with the exterior design by Patrick le Quément and interior by the Italian firm Nauta Design. It was intended as a cruiser and for the yacht charter role and first built in 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lagoon 450</span> Sailboat class

The Lagoon 450 is a French sailboat that was designed by Van Peteghem/Lauriot-Prevost, with exterior design by Patrick le Quément and interior design by Nauta Design. It was intended as a cruiser, as well as for the yacht charter market, and was first built in 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lagoon 560</span> Sailboat class

The Lagoon 560 is a French sailboat that was designed by Van Peteghem/Lauriot-Prevost, with the exterior design by Patrick le Quément and interior design by Nauta Design. It was intended as an offshore cruiser and also for the yacht charter role and first built in 2010.

The Lagoon 40 is a French sailboat that was designed by Van Peteghem/Lauriot-Prevost with the exterior design by Patrick le Quément and interior design by Nauta Design. It was intended as a cruiser and for the yacht charter role and first built in 2017.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lagoon 77</span> Sailboat class

The Lagoon 77, also marketed as the Lagoon Seventy 7, is a French sailboat that was designed by Van Peteghem/Lauriot-Prevost with the exterior design by Patrick le Quément and interior design by Nauta Design. It was intended as a cruiser and for the yacht charter role and first built in 2017.

The Lagoon 50 is a French sailboat that was designed by Van Peteghem/Lauriot-Prevost with the exterior design by Patrick le Quément and interior design by Nauta Design. It was intended as a cruiser and also for the yacht charter role and first built in 2018.

The Lagoon 46 is a French sailboat that was designed by Van Peteghem/Lauriot-Prevost with the exterior design by Patrick le Quément and interior design by Nauta Design. It was intended as a cruiser, as well as for employment in the yacht charter industry and first built in 2019.

The Lagoon 65, marketed as the Lagoon Sixty 5, is a French sailboat that was designed by Van Peteghem/Lauriot-Prevost with the exterior design by Patrick le Quément and interior design by Nauta Design. It was intended as a cruiser for private ownership and also for the yacht charter role, and first built in 2019.

The Lagoon 55 is a French sailboat that was designed by Van Peteghem/Lauriot-Prevost with the exterior design by Patrick le Quément and interior design by Nauta Design. It was intended as a cruiser and also for the yacht charter role and first built in 2021.

The Lagoon 51 is a French sailboat that was designed by Van Peteghem/Lauriot-Prevost with the exterior design by Patrick le Quément and interior design by Nauta Design. It was intended as a cruiser for private ownership, as well as for the yacht charter role. It was first built in 2021.

References

  1. ↑ "Specs Douce France". doucefrance-yacht.com. 17 March 2021.
  2. ↑ "Projects - VPLP Design". Archived from the original on 2017-12-01. Retrieved 2017-12-01.
  3. ↑ "Yacht Douce France Technical Specifications - Luxury Charter Group".
  4. ↑ "Yacht Douce France Technical Specifications - Luxury Charter Group".
  5. ↑ "DOUCE FRANCE Yacht | 138.5' Alumarine catamaran".
  6. ↑ "Specialised Ship Design" (PDF).
  7. ↑ "Specialised Ship Design" (PDF).
  8. ↑ "Luxury Yachts for Charter".
  9. ↑ "Luxury Yachts for Charter".
  10. ↑ "Yacht DOUCE FRANCE, Chantier Naval Alumarine".
  11. ↑ "Yacht DOUCE FRANCE, Chantier Naval Alumarine".
  12. ↑ "DOUCE FRANCE Yacht | 138.5' Alumarine catamaran".
  13. ↑ "Yacht Douce France Technical Specifications - Luxury Charter Group".
  14. ↑ "Luxury Charter Yacht Douce France Specifications | Superyacht Charter".
  15. ↑ "Yacht DOUCE FRANCE, Chantier Naval Alumarine".
  16. ↑ "DOUCE FRANCE (Passenger Ship) Registered in Belgium - Vessel details, Current position and Voyage information - IMO 8977285, MMSI 205388000, Call Sign ONAD".
  17. ↑ "Yacht DOUCE FRANCE, Chantier Naval Alumarine".
  18. ↑ "Pendennis Hemisphere: The Year of the Cat". August 2018.
  19. ↑ Gauert, Cecile (August 2018). "Pendennis Hemisphere: The Year Of The Cat". Yachts International.
  20. ↑ "Pendennis Hemisphere: The Year of the Cat". August 2018.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.