What’s the status of your new boat? Did the boat builder get delayed like always? Where will you be sailing this winter? When are you leaving for the Med? The questions are rolling on. Naturally, everyone was so excited for us to continue our sailing journey. Hang out in the med, Sail across the Atlantic with ARC, Transit the Panama Canal, Sail across Pacific to French Polynesia, where next?
We are finally ready to talk about the answer. It took a while. It’s hard to report a nightmare like this because you don’t have answers on what you are going to do next. And everyone wants to know. So, here’s the story.
On July 2, I was scrolling through Facebook while waiting for a doctor’s appointment. What did I see?
FIRE UNDERWAY AT THE CATANA SHIPYARD !
The Social Post I first Saw…
Watch the Video Here
I watched the video several times. My mind tried to rationalize that this was just an over-dramatization of a small fire, not a big deal. But the more I watched, the more real it became. It was posted by a boat broker that is located across the river from the Catana shipyard in Canet en Roussillon in the South of France. We had been there – we knew the lay of the land. This was real.
I called Stephen, but no answer.
I called our contact at the Catana broker, Catamaran Guru, in Florida. “Steele, what’s going on in France? Is Catana factory on fire? Where is our boat? Please tell me our boat is in the water and won’t be impacted.” Steele did not have good news. This was real. Our boat was in the assembly building, getting Copper Coat applied.
Our boat was likely destroyed. It was too soon to know any exact details. The team in France was scrambling to save what they could. But they were told to evacuate by the Fire fighters.
The next picture I saw was a beautiful Catana OC50-2 fully engulfed in flames in front of the assembly building. From what we had learned during our visit, usually the boats outside the building were getting their masts on stepped in preparation for the water launch. Was this our boat? Thanks to Multihull for posting.
I google searched for more pictures to learn more. Gradually, as the news trickled in, our cold hard reality emerged. Our Catana OC50-2, which we were due to pick up mid July was gone. Our dreams gone. Our sailing plans changed. Our life plans changed. We had spent months researching the best performance catamaran to carry us around the world. We had taken the risk of investing in a brand new boat, customized to our exact specifications. We spent months optimizing the boat specifications for our needs. Everything changed in that one moment.
How did this happen? Most would assume that the fire started inside the Catana building, but they would be wrong.
Behind the Catana complex, is the Le Tet River, a campground, cabins and agricultural fields. Someone had been cooking over an open fire, when the high winds and extremely dry conditions caught the surrounding brush and woods on fire. They thought it would stop at the river – a natural barrier for fires. The Catana team was aware of the situation. The firefighters were engaged. Everyone thought the fire was under control. Catana personnel went out for lunch and when they returned, they were evacuated immediately. The fire had jumped the river.
Our future boat was in the Catana building getting the Coppercoat applied. She was almost ready. Catana was going to deliver our new boat 100% on schedule. She was beautiful. Lean mean sailing machine on the outside combined with comfort and convenience on the inside for our liveaboard lifestyle. She would have all the latest and greatest tech – a 48V electrical system with Integrel chargers, high capacity watermaker, redundant auto pilot and so many more features. She would carry Stephen and I across the Atlantic and across the Pacific for the next 3-4 years. A boat becomes part of you. To lose your boat, 2 weeks before delivery was just unthinkable. But here we were.
What Happened Next? After the Fire that Destroyed our Future Boat
For the next 2 months, we waited in anguish as Catana Group went through the necessary steps for insurance claims and deciding how to handle the boats that were destroyed (we think it was 7), as well as how and when to restart production. As with any new boat purchase, we had made significant progress payments, which only made the waiting worse. More pictures came in of the fire after from Catana.
We had numerous conversations with Catana to try and ease our distress. And then, finally, on August 28, we received the official letter offering either our money back or to wait for a new boat to be built in the future – timeline undefined but not before 2028 Q1. We now had a decision to make. Through it all, Catana handled the matter most professionally even in the midst of their own turmoil. Catana did the right thing. So, how long could we wait for our dream boat? Our age being a key factor, we decided to take the refund and then begin our search again – this time for an existing used performance catamaran.
We also had several other financial commitments we had to recover from.
First, all of our travel had to be cancelled. Luckily, I had reserved everything as “refundable”. I usually don’t, so this was a significant relief.
We had purchased a dinghy and motor. Special thanks to Alliance Nautique for their assistance reselling the dinghy so we could recover some of those costs.
We had contracted for aftermarket work with Puchon for the electrical power upgrades. Special thanks to Puchon for working with us to refund our downpayment.
We also have a watermaker sitting in France that is for sale. It is a Spectra Newport 700C. 24V-DC, 29 GPH, with Spectra connect, autoflush and install kit – the macdaddy – Retails for $ 21,800 US. We would like to sell this to someone who can pick it up in Canet En Roussilon (or we possibly could arrange shipping). ASKING PRICE $18,000 US
We also have 3 Orion Victron 48 to 24 -16AMP DC-DC chargers for hooking to 48V electrical system. Retail at $129.99 US each. ASKING PRICE $100 US each.
Boats We Are Considering – Please Help Find Our New Boat
We are on the hunt for one of several boats – the newer the better, but not at a crazy price. And we can’t wait for another new one to be built.
- OC50 – version 2!
- HH50
- HH52
- Balance 526
- Balance 502
We would like to ask for your help. Besides the ones that are already listed, if you own one of these models you would like to sell, please contact us asap. We would love to hear from you.
Footnotes:
Much credit goes to the people reporting on this as it happened, and piecing the facts together to tell the story. I can not credit each one individually as quite honestly, as I was gathering pictures, in my emotional state, I neglected to record the source. But I have given credit where I can.
https://www.dw.com/en/after-heat-wave-wildfires-ravage-southern-france/a-77810138
What’s next for Catana?
Catana is planning on rebuilding a new larger factory on an adjoining parcel of land. Production of the OC50 will continue, and Catana is even looking at building a larger size of this beautiful boat. Catana Group also builds the Bali, Yot, and Seaty brands.
According to International Boating, Catana Group is Developing a 25,000 m² factory in France and a 55,000 m² R&D and tooling/machining center in Vendée to drastically reduce time-to-market. Reorganizing its Canet-en-Roussillon site using an administrative fast-track (“Notre Dame” procedure) to replace assembly buildings affected by a July 2026 fire.