By Gilles Ruffet The arrival of some (very) well-off clients in leisure sailing has led to the appearance, over the last six years or so, of some (very) high quality catamarans in the catalogues. The privilege 745 is one of the jewels in the collection. With its 23 metres of stainless steel and glass, wood [...]

By Philippe Echelle A customised stamp, an attractive silhouette: the 615 seems to be carrying the Privilège range along in its wake! The Privilège 615 is not really a crisis period ‘product’! But let’s not deny ourselves the pleasure of discovering it; moreover this  generic term doesn’t suit it! It benefits from a small production [...]

By Philippe Echelle The French multihulls fleet has a new flagship with Outremer 64’, Marquises, Catana 581, Lagoon 570 and Yapluka 60, the flotilla was more than exceptional. But now, the brand new Privilège will be wreaking havoc in this nomenklatura: Here is easy cruise, paradox or reality? The Alliaura Group took over the activities [...]

By Philippe Echelle The Vendée-based builder’s production is oriented resolutely towards the coveted multi-yacht segment, yet the new 2009 model  presented at the autumn boat shows is a 50-footer! It is very different from the 495, but appears almost ‘reasonable’, compared to  its elder sisters, the 615, 745 and the superlative 1000. COMFORT GENERATION Since [...]

By Philippe Echelle The sables d’olonne-based builder continues updating its range; after the successful evolution of the 37’ model into the 395, which judiciously retained the personality of the former, it is now attacking the 50’ sector and has turned the 465 into the 495. We made the most of a fine, windy November day [...]

By David Lockwood Haute couture and savoir faire are hallmarks of the Privilege 465. David Lockwood says the new chic French catamarans are changing the mind-set of the traditional monohull sailor. The French approach the sport of sailing like they do the game of rugby. Rather than run with the pack, they play a creative [...]

By Philippe Echelle After 11 years production and more than 50 units sold, the Privilege 37 was in need of a re-vamp; fortunately the decision was taken to keep its successor under 40’. The 37’ was an excellent cruising catamaran, safe, solid and oh, so comfortable! Its tooling was capable of evolution; therefore Marc Lombard [...]

By Philippe Echelle This column aims to be realistic; we try to give a workingman’s view of the market when it spins out of control, both in size and price. That’s why we hunt out, here and there, lovely multihulls ranging between 50,000 and 100,000 euros. This time our budget has been completely blown. Is [...]