VIVE L'AMOUR

VIVE L'AMOUR — Fountaine Pajot 40ft catamaran, Bahamas Some yachts make sense the moment you place them on a chart. VIVE L'AMOUR is one of them: a 12.19m (40ft) Fountaine Pajot catamaran delivered in 2022, based in the Bahamas summer and winter, and sized precisely for the shallow, translucent water that makes the archipelago what it is. Fountaine Pajot has spent decades refining the cruising catamaran, and the logic shows here. Two hulls mean two private cabins set well apart, each with a queen-size bed and en-suite facilities — accommodation for four guests with none of the compromise that a monohull of this length would impose. It is a configuration that suits two couples travelling together, or a family that values genuine separation at the end of the day. Life aboard a catamaran of this type happens outside. The wide beam gives you deck space out of proportion to the yacht's length, and at a relaxed cruising speed of 6 knots — 10 knots when there's reason to move along — the passage between the Exumas and the Abacos becomes part of the holiday rather than a transfer. A crew of one runs the yacht: hands-on, close at hand, and familiar with the cays, cuts and anchorages that reward local knowledge. It's an intimate arrangement by design, and for four guests in Bahamian waters, an unusually well-judged one.