A sailing boat designed for the Arcachon basin
The Cat'Bac 5.5 is a "short circuit" boat, as its architect Alexis Muratet likes to say. Based on the shores of the Arcachon Basin, it is natural that he works with local shipyards, including the Bossuet shipyard, a family business that has been established on the banks of the Gironde waterway for several generations.
A specialist in wooden boats, the builder often designs his own boats, but as a victim of his success, he sometimes lacks time. "I had these specifications from a client for a catboat, but I was running out of time. I called on Alexis to move forward on this preliminary project. The goal was to be able to sail on the basin with one or two people on board" summarizes Jean-Baptiste Bossuet.
A plywood dinghy to sail autonomously
The pair's thinking led to a 5.50m dinghy built in epoxy plywood. "The boat is made of developable plywood to be simple. The prospect wanted to be able to launch the boat alone and rig it alone. That's what gave the dimensions" explains Alexis Muratet. "The boat is deliberately a little long so as not to be too choppy with the wakes of motorboats that we often have on the basin" adds the builder.
Intended for protected waters, the sailboat keeps a limited freeboard for a nice line. This integral dinghy is 5.50 meters long and 2.05 meters wide. The draft is 15 cm when the daggerboard is up and 1.20 meter when it is down, which allows it to run aground easily and to evolve in shallow water. The 15 m² mainsail is associated with a carbon mast as an option in the first version. The announced light displacement is 330 kg.
The shipyard announces a basic price with aluminum mast and dacron sails at 36 500 euros HT.
A boat that can be adapted to your needs
If the objective of the shipyard would be to be able to launch a small series, its know-how in small high-end boats allows it to adapt to the customer's requests. "We have already imagined several options such as a small electric outboard or inboard motor. But it is possible to adapt, for example on the rigging by adding a jib or a spinnaker, we can put ballasts why not for performance. It is above all a good base" concludes Jean-Baptiste Bossuet.
