Legendary French multihull shipyard Outremer (“Overseas” in French) has experienced something of a renaissance since being absorbed by the blue-water behemoth Grand Large Yachting (GLY) in 2007.
Fresh energy was invested and subsequent launches earned the yard a series of European Yacht of the Year awards in the multihull category, for the 49 (2010), 5X (2013), 4X (2016), 55 (2022) and 52 (2024).
In a bold step, the yard has announced two brand-new models: a new flagship, the 64, and the 57, a development of the award-winning 55. Being part of a stable of brands, including Allures, Garcia, RM Yachts, ORC and, crucially, Gunboat, focused on offshore and ocean sailing, suits Outremer down to the ground. Especially as GLY actively invites an enthusiastic coterie of owners to share what they’ve learned over hundreds of thousands of ocean miles. Priceless knowledge is on tap.
The revitalised yard’s first launch was the Outremer 49, a Barreau/Neuman design, in 2010, but it took bigger ambition to launch the brand globally. ‘We started in 2010 with the 5X, launched in 2012,’ says Mathias Maurios, naval architect at VPLP, ‘then the 55 in 2020, and now these two projects.’ Following the 5X, VPLP’s devotions were diverted from Outremer to revitalise another prestigious brand in the GLY stable, bought out of bankruptcy in 2016. VPLP’s undoubted success on that front was then reflected back on Outremer.
‘The 55 was the first of a new generation very much inspired by the acquisition of Gunboat,’ says Outremer’s sales director Matthieu Rougevin-Baville. Back in 2010 there was concern that the move towards more space and comfort would alienate Outremer’s hardcore fans of sparkling ocean-going performance in fairly spartan yachts. Comfort means weight, and weight is the enemy of performance.
How would the market react?
As focus groups go, they could not have been in a better position, as marketing manager Céline Macherez points out: ‘Anytime we build a new project, we have a lot of the feedback from our community of owners, more than 450 crew sailing around the world.’
Noises were positive and the 55 launched to remarkable acclaim. ‘It was a big improvement,’ Rougevin-Baville adds, ‘allowing us to offer huge space, a lot of headroom, a lot of light and views for a boat that sails that well. Compared with the 5X, our former 60-footer, we sold three times more boats and we were a bit overwhelmed by the success.
'It's not that often that a shipyard like Outremer sells that many €2m-plus boats. It was huge for us to benefit from so much feedback from owners with hundreds of thousands of miles of sailing experience.’
Buoyed by the 55’s transformative success, Outremer aimed high and worked with VPLP and Franck Darnet to develop its 64ft flagship. ‘We have quite a bit of experience with the Gunboat programme after 10 years with the group,’ says Stéphane Renard, GLY’s technical director, ‘that helped with the pretty steep learning curve.’ The 64 will be constructed using Outremer’s favoured vinylester composite infusion process, carefully monitored with optimised fibre-to-resin ratios, bonding and laminating all elements to create a monolithic structure.
‘Weight management for the 64 was quite a topic,’ Renard points out, focusing weight as low as possible and towards the centre of motion to reduce pitching, an aim assisted by a carbon mast. ‘We drive the weight target so that it's still going to be an easy boat to handle for the crew or owner. We will be on the weight and people will enjoy that boat.’ Enjoyment in this context means switching off the engine and sailing in anything over five knots of true wind, with power turned into speed through carbonreinforced daggerboards optimised for VMG upwind and reduced leeway, more balance and control downwind.
The mention of ‘crew or owner’ reveals a first for Outremer. ‘The design brief was to offer a skippered boat with independent cabin access, if you need a skipper,’ Rougevin-Baville explains. ‘We defined 64 as the perfect length to be still manageable by a couple without assistance, with new solutions to make sure the handling of the boat is easy and accessible by a couple, but also allowing privacy for a captain if needed. We also want to raise the level of luxury and finish quality to reach what's expected in this range of boat. It will have volume never seen on an Outremer, but it still has the pure Outremer DNA with half the weight of a more charter-oriented boat so enjoying the same kind of performance, matching wind speed up to 10 to 12 knots and incredible comfort on passage in the roughest seas.’
‘Our aim was to keep the DNA,’ adds Maurios, ‘in terms of architecture, for instance the beam to length ratio, and weight control. We started with the general arrangement, providing the potential skipper's cabin on the starboard side aft, which can also be a laundry, workshop, dive centre as the client wishes, which is very important on a round-the-world yacht. We also worked on the ergonomics, cockpit protection and boarding access, while keeping the DNA of very good performance and relatively easy sail handling for a shorthanded crew.
‘There’s a longer longeron, which increases your downwind sail area, and we've extended the aft crossbeam to increase the width of the mainsail traveller. That is very important when reaching or downwind sailing, and it also reduces the width of the transom gate to limit water intrusion.’
The 64 also features double helm stations: outside and inside the cockpit. ‘There is safety and protection in the top sailing cockpit, just aft of the winches, with a rigid pulpit, a proper seat at the helm, and one wheel canting down into the cockpit. There is good visibility of all your instruments, whether you are up on the main deck behind the wheel or down in the cockpit, where there’s good visibility forward to the chart table navigation instruments. There’s a lot of storage in the cockpit benches and we’ve also added two full-custom large deck hatches to access the forepeaks where owners keep offwind sails and a range of cruising equipment.’
The additional quality and finish expected in a yacht of this size comes with a base boat price tag of €4.2m and is expected to cost around €5m with the options package. That proved a challenge for the interiors team. ‘The most important thing is the quality of the finishes, the detail,’ admits Darnet, who also revealed that the hull colour can be used in the interior for chromatic harmony. ‘It’s really a step above what we did in the past. We have a dedicated space for the skipper or another room starboard aft, with private access. We didn't want to have too much furniture, to keep the weight very low. It‘s still an Outremer, a very light boat, but the space is bigger, there’s more storage. This includes floating storage units either side of the saloon.
‘The master on the starboard side has a king-size bed, 1.8m wide, with side access. It’s very comfortable, a lot of storage and a big bathroom forward. We didn't want to do a full-length master cabin in one hull because it's a waste of space, you don't need it. If you want a very big master, you can have it on the port side but most people prefer to have another room.’
Darnet also evolved the MyFreeSpace (MFS) concept, a port-forward area of the yacht that can be customised to the owner’s wishes, as an extra cabin, office, gym, utility room. ‘We also have a new one called Super Combo, a request from our owners,’ he adds. ‘We managed to put a very large desk in this forward port side cabin, sometimes you have to work on board, but if you have guests on board, it can become a 1.6m-wide double bed in one or two minutes. The addition of the captain’s cabin, or a second MFS if you don’t need a captain, moves the owner’s berth forward in the hull, which proved very popular with 55 owner Marijke: ‘Sleeping in the middle (of the hull) is a huge benefit when sailing around the world. There’s a lot less noise (being further from the engine), the motion is more comfortable too.’
As for the 57, Outremer evolved the super-successful 55 based on feedback from the owner community. Like the 64, the 57 also has the extended longeron, the wider aft beam and the larger forepeak hatches, but there are a host of other updates. ‘It’s a brand-new mould for the deck, coachroof, cockpit, transom, all new,’ explains VPLP’s Maurios. ‘There’s a longer transom platform that allows you to board the yacht while alongside. We also worked on the ergonomics of the transom steps with a little storage under a seat.
'Then we worked a lot on rearranging the layout of the cockpit, trying to increase the protection in the cockpit with this huge sunbed, where the backrest can slide port or starboard depending on use during the day, you can either sit or lie on the outboard side or the inboard side while you're around the table.’
The 57 will also have optimised double-helm stations. ‘When you're in the sidedeck steering position there are rigid stanchions for protection,’ Maurios continues. ‘We spent quite a lot of time redirecting the water coming from the top of the coachroof and bimini so that it doesn't cascade like a waterfall into the cockpit but is redirected over the coamings. We have also improved the ergonomics of the winches and the clutches, added handrails, a skylight, more solar panel real estate. On the starboard side where the cockpit winch is, there is an optional cockpit fridge. We've moved the liferaft, which was taking up a lot of space under the aft bench, into a forward locker. We've significantly increased storage, which is very important on a blue water yacht.’
As for the interiors, interior designer Franck Darnet also viewed it as an evolution of the 55 using owners’ valuable feedback. ‘It's more or less the same GA that it was on the 55, but what we have improved is the ergonomics,’ Darnet explains. ‘For example, the island in the middle of the saloon was much more rectangular on the 55 and now we have more organic shapes. There’s a foot rest for the seat aft of the island and much more storage, including a deckhead locker above the island, for glasses. We work a lot with VPLP and Outremer on the fusion between exterior and interior. When you are inside you feel like you’re outside because you have a 360° view and when you are outside in the cockpit, you also have a feeling of protection.
‘Apart from the Super Combo, we have pretty much the same MFS versions that we had before, but we’ve improved everywhere, every small detail. We have a bit less wood, more white lacquered surfaces, but we now offer three wood veneer options: there’s a darker walnut, a fantastic new light oak, and a new grey oak. The volume is more or less the same but we have the extra fridge in the cockpit and we have increased the storage with boxes under the cockpit floor and the saloon floor. In the master cabin, when you come down the stairs there used to be a desk in the 55, now it’s storage and there’s more in a drawer under the bed.’
All this has been achieved without losing sight of Outremer’s core values of light weight and performance, cherished by owners including Mark and Marijke, who sailed their 55 around the world: ‘In 40,000 miles we only had 700 hours on the engine when we came back, so that's not so bad.’ Maurios adds: ‘The way it is designed, the different shapes, different forms, different lamination, we are fighting for every kilo. It's a constant back and forth with the shipyard to control weight because it's not just “There’s more weight, let's add more horsepower.” If you add more sail area, you increase the loads, you increase the structure and then you're in the wrong spiral.’
This is a big step for Outremer, confirming its separation from the sparsely furnished models that founded the brand’s identity. That said, the success of the 55 gives the brand every possible encouragement to continue along this path. You’d have to say it poses questions for GLY, as its Venn diagram of offshore multihull brands must surely be overlapping. Is there enough room in the market for Outremer and Gunboat? We’ll find out soon enough.
Construction of both new boats begins in La Grande-Motte in January 2026, with the 57 set to make its debut at the International Multihull Show in April 2027 and the 67 gracing the docks at Cannes Yachting Festival 2027 a few months later in September. However it works out, it’s a delight to see so much belief and investment in a storied French brand.
