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Expertise
Testimony
New Power 67 motor catamaran: discover the journey from La Rochelle to Athens
Equipage
Model
Skipper Power 67
Location
La Rochelle / Athens
From La Rochelle to Athens…: the crew’s exciting on-board story of their delivery of the latest model in the Fountaine Pajot range, the Power 67 #1
“The alarm clock rang. It was 4:30am, just before daybreak. From Cape Saint Vincent, the regular beam from the lighthouse still lit the boat. Three days had passed since we left La Rochelle on-board the Power 67 #01, headed for Athens.”
The Power 67 #1 had reached the mediterranean just a few days earlier to meet her new owner. Relive the experience of sailing from La Rochelle to Athens thanks to this fine testimony signed by the crew in charge of the delivery of the Power 67 #1.
“Starting from La Rochelle…2,500NM in front of the bows, with the constraint of not being able to stop on the way, except in Gibraltar… Now, that’s a great way to test a brand new boat… Indeed, after a few words exchanged with the local authorities, we were assured a brief stopover would be possible in Gibraltar to refuel and proceed with overhauling the engines.”
“We left La Rochelle with a steady northwest wind, 25-35 knots on average, with the sea slowly building up as we moved away from the shelter of the coast. The boat behaved marvellously; the pilot managed the sea from the back with no problem. We easily reached a cruising speed of 9 knots with an incredibly low consumption. We effortlessly exceeded the goal we had set for ourselves of a minimum of 200NM a day.”
“In less than two days, we put the Bay of Biscay behind us. The sun finally appeared, the temperature rose and the miles passed by quickly. By the time we passed Cape Saint-Vincent, we found the Straits of Gibraltar just ahead. We passed Tarifa. Only 18NM remained before La Linea and we had barely an hour of daylight left. That was the time to take advantage of the 2 x 480CV propelling us nicely at 17-18 knots to enable us to reach the harbour by nightfall.”
“The next day, everything went perfectly smoothly; refuelling, overhaul of both VOLVO engines by the local agent and, before nightfall, we were back at sea with the firm intention of reaching Athens non-stop, 1,500NM away.
The weather was ideal: lovely sea and light wind. To make this splendid sailing experience really perfect, a tuna fish had the bright idea of getting caught on the line: a real change from the routine. And there we were at the Strait of Messina.
We left Italian waters, headed for the Greek islands. At over 9 knots cruising speed, the miles raced past us, with very appreciable cruising comfort. Thanks to the Icemaker’s ice cubes, we could toast the sunset with a nice cool drink.”
“Cruising under the bridge near Patras, we headed into the Corinth Canal, always a little delicate for large boats. The Canal is 25 metres wide and the Power 67 nearly 10 metres, so the slightest deviation can be a problem… But the boat’s very light hydraulic steering enabled us to overcome this obstacle without a hitch and even enjoy the landscape.
And behold: we’d already reached Athens! 12 days after leaving La Rochelle, we were already there. On the wharf, the lucky Owner and his skipper took over the mooring ropes, delighted that their brand new Power 67 has arrived at last, under everyone’s envious gaze as soon as she docked!”
