Design and Construction
The Antigua 37 belongs to the generation of Fountaine Pajot cats shaped through the builder's long collaboration with Joubert-Nivelt, the naval architects behind the company's first production catamaran in the early 1980s. Her hull is fiberglass, and the keel configuration is without drift, a configuration rather than the daggerboards or fixed fin keels seen on later performance cruisers. The beam of 6.30 meters gives her the horizontal living space that defines the type, while the 0.90-meter standard draft keeps her suited to shallow anchorages and island cruising. With a displacement of 5,000 kg carried largely in hull structure and fit-out and no ballast, her stability comes from breadth and twin-hull form rather than lead low in the hulls.
Rig and Handling
She is rigged as a sloop and carries a generous 145 m² of sail area across that rig, a substantial canvas plan for a 37-foot catamaran that speaks to her cruising purpose in moderate trades. Twin 18 cv Yanmar diesels provide maneuvering and docking power independent of wind, a defining trait of the cruising catamaran that lets a short-handed crew place her precisely in tight marinas. The shallow draft and wide beam make her forgiving in confined water, though the "without drift" keel form trades upwind bite for simplicity and shoal-water access.
Accommodations
The standard accommodation version lays out four cabins, two toilets, and ten berths, a configuration that underscores her charter-and-family cruising role. Four separate cabins across two hulls give private quarters for two couples or a family with children, while the ten-berth count shows the boat was conceived for full guest capacity rather than owner-only simplicity. Two heads serve that complement without crowding the saloon, and the beam-driven floorplan yields the open communal spaces catamarans are known for within the 11.20-meter envelope.
The Verdict
The Antigua 37 is a straightforward cruising catamaran from Fountaine Pajot's Joubert-Nivelt era: broad, shallow, and built to house people rather than win regattas. Her sloop rig and twin small diesels suit island hopping and anchorages a monohull could not reach, and the four-cabin, ten-berth standard layout remains practical for charter-derived resale. She is not a performance hull, and the "without drift" keel and absence of ballast place her firmly in the volume-cruiser camp.
Pros
- Wide 6.30-meter beam with four-cabin, ten-berth layout for serious cruising capacity
- Shallow 0.90-meter draft with keel "without drift" for shoal-water access
- Twin 18 cv Yanmar engines for confident close-quarters handling
Cons
- "Without drift" keel and no ballast place her in volume-cruiser camp
- Tankage figures not established in available specification records
