Matthieu, sales manager of Outremer gave Nick a behind-the-scenes tour of the Outremer factory in La Grande Motte, France. We get to see the molding process, talk about materials, see the fit-out of the hulls with electrical, and talk about their unique “floating” furniture in the hulls of the 52 and 55 ft boats. Fascinating stuff!
22 Comments
Pure Technical-Info Gold….
I'm using kerfs like that to bend the panels for the carbon fiber/divinycell dinghy I'm building. Glad to know I'm using the same techniques as Gun Boat/Outremer! Also, we have the same vacuum cleaner, so I've got that going for me, which is nice.
Special thanks to Nick not only for the interview but for just letting him talk uninterrupted – very professional.
Thanks, Nick! Very informative and interesting tech video!
@Nick, I don't know man. A little concerned that their driving motivation is to save time and push for efficiency. Foam core is fine, but I have concerns about the "innovations" as described. They look like shortcuts. Also, why no core in the carbon fibre? I'm not sure I like the idea of them infusing whole sections of the boat at once… I get the argument to support it, but I'm not convinced that their process (or any process for that matter) is as robust as they say it is. FP, and Lagoon probably felt the same way… Still, damn impressive operation. Thanks Nick.
It’s a good brand that makes very nice and expensive boats. If you have the cash the 52 would be on the very short list.
Looking forward to the O'Kelly Outremer 55 build series. 😀
Fantastic boats and great interview! I was a little surprised when he said they build a 55’ cat in 7 months, when the boats they market themselves against catamarans that have 14-16 month builds.
The tour gave a good insight though as to how they save time and cost, which is understandable as he mentioned the high labor costs in France. Liners everywhere on the interior instead of hand faring the surfaces (adds weight but saves 10’s of thousands of labor hours), polyester resin instead of epoxy or VE, bridge deck is glued to the hulls instead of tabbed, glassed and hand faired. Interesting that the dagger board casings are not carbon fiber, but I’m sure that’s been optimized in engineering.
Fantastic catamarans that truly represent a great value for the performance and quality level they provide. Devil is in the details as to what the differences are between Outremer and other higher end manufacturers in this range.
Very intructive tour and great interview skills from Nick : nice to have let Matthieu explains Outremer's manufacturing process in such deep details whitout interrupting.
Thanks for a very interesting review….Outremer should be pleased too!
Nick , that was a great tour , about the boats at my favorite part the construction and why ! Wow!
I’ve been at this sticky end business of building did so long, so great to see how a top builder is doing it!
And so great to hear the manager talk!
Highlights …..
Floating interior
30 Ton mast load
SOILD carbon bulkhead!!!!!!!
Polyester for the rest best economical sense, carbon give very little extra!!!!!!!
Back to steel reinforcement for molds ,
In my experience it was , nothing wood or steel pipe ( very quick) , then wood for stiffer, and now expensive box tube structure for durability and rigidity!
Cheers Warren
Vrry cool video Nick
When we visit Outremer the first time, Matthieu made us a full visit. 4 hours. It was amazing.
We ordered ou 55 2 weeks later 😁
Compression loads on the mast step is double boat displacement on a catamaran! Windage Lift is a cubic function of the wind speed! OMG! Learned some new tech today. Thanks Nick!
Wow, talk about complexity! I knew a lot went into the construction of modern catamarans and all sailboats, but the level of technical expertise displayed in the Outremer factory tour was off the chart. I really like how they balance the performance (weight) and quality of the living space to give the owner an outstanding product. No wonder Outremer is so popular and such a successful brand. Really amazing boats.
Loved watching this–great quality content Nick!
Outremer is one heck of a boat. I see Europe doing 24 volts systems which means 1.75 the weigh for wires/cables compared to 48 volt systems. That weigh savings means you can add more solar and double your battery bank size. Plus everything can run on 48 volt for heavy loads like Windless Water heater and AC. 48 Volt is way more efficient than 24 volt. So you know 24 volt is when the batteries are almost empty same with 48 volt. It would take a whole page to explain the difference and how they work. When you find your boat and decide to add systems like solar/batteries and inverters Go with 48 volt. I have done so much learning and research over the last 4 years and have a whole house system which is what is needed on a catamaran since it is a house on water. I would get myself on their list and who knows somebody backs out and bam you move way up the list as life happens and maybe somebody needs just to trade spots because their house hasn't sold yet and they don't have the funds.
Great Tour de Outremer! Nice to see foam cored and resin infused technology. Nick- did you get any insight as to why they are still using polyester resin? Besides cost? I would think vinyl ester or epoxy to be better resin choices. Cheers
It is interesting to see the manufacturing process and note the similarities and differences between manufactures.
Thanks for a superb interview and tour of the Outremer factory and an overview of their building process. It's very useful to understand how the boats are put together.
Matthieu is incredibly well informed about the process, and he explained it very well. His English is superb also.
While Outremer approach has many advantages, the dirtier and far more labor intensive fairing of the entire boat that Balance does is probably more durable in the very long term.
There are pros and cons of every different way of doing things.
It's good to hear Outremer is benefitting from some trickle down of technology/knowledge from parent company Gunboat.
Great interview… nice timing to let the expertise naturally flow out! I learned a lot about Outremer build quality and their design philosophy from this video. Similar to airliners, they are building for that "half-century" or more of usage.
save big on marina fees. tie up to a Wharram the dock that sails.