Outremer 48 debuts at La Grande-Motte, blending performance and comfort

The first public showing of the Outremer 48 at La Grande-Motte makes the target buyer clear: this is a bluewater performance cat for owners who want real offshore pace without giving up watchkeeping comfort, storage or livability. Outremer is using the International Multihull Show, which opens April 22, for the model’s world premiere, and the boat’s numbers tell the story fast, with a 14.63-meter overall length, a 7.56-meter beam, a displacement range of 10.5 to 15 tons and 117 square meters of upwind sail area.

What sets the 48 apart is not a single gimmick but the way it tries to solve the usual catamaran tradeoffs at once. The design brief, shaped by feedback from more than 100 owners, pushed performance, comfort and ergonomics together instead of treating them as competing goals. That is where the model’s most interesting details start to matter: a bulkhead helm with a swivelling double seat, steering positions that can feel more exposed or more sheltered depending on conditions, better access to the boom, more headroom, more glazing, stronger ventilation and a forward-facing navstation for proper night watches.

The layout flexibility is just as telling. Outremer says the 48 offers 10 possible arrangements, including five options for the forward port cabin, with choices ranging from a single or double cabin to an office, workshop, dressing room or children’s cabin. Add the 4-ton payload capacity and the boat starts to look less like a stripped-out speed machine and more like a serious cruising platform that can actually carry watermakers, dinghy gear, batteries, provisions and spare parts without immediately feeling overloaded.

The builder had already reached a key build stage by February, when the 48 hit deck-joining at the Lorient yard. Outremer sales director Matthieu Rougevin Barrville called it an “iconic moment,” the point when the boat’s final shape and living volumes begin to come into focus. Outremer also says the helm wheel can pivot into four different positions and that the low boom improves mainsail access while helping lower the sail plan’s center of gravity, a detail that should matter to anyone who actually reefs, tacks and works a main offshore.

At La Grande-Motte, that combination of speed-minded engineering and real-world cruising detail is what will draw the closest looks. The International Multihull Show runs from April 22 to 26 and is billed locally as the world’s largest boat show dedicated entirely to catamarans and trimarans. Outremer is inviting visitors to pre-register for onboard tours, and the 48 looks set to be one of the few launches here that could genuinely move the conversation for serious multihull buyers.