Nautitech 48 Open

A true ocean-going catamaran designed for living aboard

Some 30 years after the creation of the Nautitech brand, the manufacturer based in Rochefort, on France’s Atlantic coast, presents us with a brand new 48 Open. We had the privilege of testing this new flagship, a boat even more refined than its predecessors.

Sleek deck layout, generous sailplan, turquoise-green water as the tide is coming in... If this isn’t the open sea calling us, it sure looks like it!

The swirls in the water at the stern of the two wide sugarscoops are significant and could lead you to believe that the 48 is dragging water – but it’s nothing of the sort, it’s just that the catamaran goes very fast!

Flush deck hatches, black anodized stanchions, 3D logo: perceived quality is all in the detail.

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Practical info

Boat Test price5.00€ Inc. tax

Purchase

Boat Test price5.00€ Inc. tax

Purchase

Test location: La Rochelle, France
Conditions: 15 to 20 knots WNW, gusting to 25, sea state moderate to rough with westerly swell

Just over three years ago, Nautitech announced a radical change of strategy. The builder chose to abandon the charter sector and concentrate on the private owner market. It was a courageous decision to deliberately forego a large potential order volume. But above all, it was a timely decision to set themselves apart from the larger, more industrialized “mainstream” builders, against whom the price war was a foregone conclusion. In the winter of 2022, we got to see the seductive 44 Open, the first Nautitech “designed by and for owners”, in the words of Gildas Le Masson, who has headed the Rochefort-based shipyard since 2018. The 44 is a catamaran with enhanced DNA, as it were, more performance, more comfort, and a much higher level of finish than previous productions. With 43 units splashed in just two years, and a full order book for a further 12 months, the 44 has been a genuine success, confirming the relevance of this new positioning and allowing them to think bigger.