Fountaine Pajot ends power catamarans, launches Veya luxury brand with Couach

Fountaine Pajot has drawn a hard line under its own power-catamarans and put a new luxury name in their place. The move is less a retreat from motor cats than a strategic reset: Veya Yachts is now the badge carrying the company’s powercat ambitions, with Couach as the production partner and the first model, the Veya 53, set for a world premiere at Cannes in 2026.

The switch was signposted back in 2022, when Fountaine Pajot and Couach first announced a partnership designed to free capacity at La Rochelle for larger sailing catamarans, including the Samana 59, Alegria 67 and Power 67. Under that plan, Couach would handle the powercat line from its Gujan-Mestras shipyard in the Bay of Arcachon, while Fountaine Pajot concentrated more heavily on its sail range and bigger multihulls. The new Veya brand is now the clearest expression of that split.

Veya has already begun to step into public view. The brand showed up at La Grande-Motte in 2025 ahead of Cannes, and its own messaging places the Veya 53 firmly in the premium power-cat segment. Public technical data listed by Multihulls World puts the boat at 16.10 meters overall length, 15.60 meters of beam and 27.30 tonnes displacement, with twin diesel options of 2 x 400 hp or 2 x 550 hp. That is not a small niche cruiser. It is a serious large-format power cat aimed at owners who want volume, speed and luxury in the same platform.

The corporate backdrop matters too. Fountaine Pajot reported 2024/25 revenue of 323.2 million euros, down 8.2% year on year, after a 2023/24 result that topped 300 million euros. At the same time, the group has been talking up an energy-transition plan, saying it wanted half of its catamarans fully electric by 2025, all of them fitted with solar panels, and a fleet moving toward hybrid powertrains by 2030. The company also says about fifty motors are already equipped in boats in navigation, which shows the motor side of the business has not disappeared, only been restructured.

That is why Veya matters. Fountaine Pajot is not simply walking away from power cats; it is carving out a more exclusive lane for them, with a three-model range planned and the Veya 53 positioned as the opening shot. The old badge is giving way to a higher-end, more focused identity, and Cannes 2026 will be the first major test of how far that luxury play can go.