Fountaine Pajot Athena 38 Buyer's Guide
Shopping the brokerage market for a Fountaine Pajot Athena 38 means weighing a 1994–2001 production catamaran whose four-cabin symmetry and La Rochelle construction have kept it in steady circulation. Ex-charter examples are common, and the boat's documented traits shape what a buyer should look for beyond the listing photos.
Layouts on the Used Market
Charter four-cabin layouts are the more common on the used market, but both are available. The standard arrangement places a double stateroom in each end of the two hulls, with a head and telephone-booth shower amidships in each hull, and a saloon with horseshoe dinette and U-shaped galley bridging the two. Master cabins carry 6-foot-4-inch headroom and berths roughly 4 feet 9 inches by 6 feet 6 inches, while the saloon spans about 13 feet with 6-foot-plus average headroom.
Equipment and Common Upgrades
Commonly fitted gear on the used fleet includes chartplotter, solar, lithium batteries, bimini, and autopilot. Often-seen additions are freezer, cockpit shower, life raft, inverter, spinnaker or asymmetric spinnaker, dinghy davits, watermaker, and AIS. Less commonly seen are radar, EPIRB, hot water, and trampoline, which typically appear as owner upgrades rather than factory equipment. The original boat used a ProFurl headsail furling system and a deck-stepped Z-Spar mast with a 538-square-foot full-batten mainsail.
What to Inspect
The documented construction shows foam placed in the stern, transom, and forward areas making the boat unsinkable, and keels with nonstructural, sacrificial components for accidental grounding — inspect those keel pieces for prior ground contact. The hull-deck intersection was sculpted with a tucked sheerline and soft radius, and the hulls terminate in a sculpted detail at the swim steps; check that sculpting of the hull and deck intersection remains fair and uncracked. Galley counters were delivered with no fiddles, so confirm whether later owners added retention. Verify the critical clearance between the connecting bridgedeck and the water of 28 inches is unobstructed by added structure.
Availability and Buyer's Takeaway
These cats typically appear in the United States, Thailand, Greece, France, Martinique, and Antigua and Barbuda. For a used-boat check, prioritize: keel sacrificial-component condition, hull-deck sculpt joint integrity, bridgedeck clearance obstructions, galley fiddle retrofits, and function of the twin 18-horsepower Yanmar saildrives against the 40-gallon tankage.
Price & volume trends
Monthly asking-price and listing-volume trends for the Fountaine Pajot Athena 38. The line shows the median ask each month; the bars show how many listings appeared.
Monthly breakdown · 13 rows
| Month | Listings | Median ask | Δ vs. last mo. |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jan 25 | 1 | $ 148,359 | — |
| Mar 25 | 1 | $ 119,900 | -19.2% |
| Apr 25 | 1 | $ 147,218 | +22.8% |
| Aug 25 | 2 | $ 160,666 | +9.1% |
| Sep 25 | 3 | $ 145,000 | -9.8% |
| Oct 25 | 1 | $ 159,772 | +10.2% |
| Dec 25 | 1 | $ 125,000 | -21.8% |
| Jan 26 | 3 | $ 147,218 | +17.8% |
| Feb 26 | 4 | $ 171,027 | +16.2% |
| Apr 26 | 11 | $ 139,800 | -18.3% |
| May 26 | 7 | $ 95,000 | -32.0% |
| Jun 26 | 1 | $ 95,000 | 0.0% |
| Jul 26 | 1 | $ 197,826 | +108.2% |
Where they're listed
Fountaine Pajot Athena 38 listings appear across 8 countries. United States has the most listings with 13 (43.3%), followed by Thailand and Greece.
Country view
30 listings · 8 countries| Country | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d | Share |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| United States | $ 95,000 | 13 | 8 | 43.3% |
| Thailand | $ 197,307 | 5 | 1 | 16.7% |
| Greece | $ 139,800 | 3 | 0 | 10.0% |
| Martinique | $ 147,218 | 3 | 1 | 10.0% |
| France | $ 162,054 | 2 | 0 | 6.7% |
| New Zealand | $ 190,000 | 2 | 1 | 6.7% |
| Antigua and Barbuda | $ 139,000 | 1 | 0 | 3.3% |
| Aruba | $ 165,478 | 1 | 0 | 3.3% |
Comparable models
Similar length, displacement, and era. Open a row to compare that model's market page.
Similar boats to compare
3 similar designs| Model | LOA | Median ask | Listings · 12 mo | Active · 90 d |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Robertson and Caine 38 | 37.5' | $ 219,000 | 45 | 15 |
| Fountaine Pajot Athena 38You are here | — | $ 142,400 | 34 | 13 |
| Prout 38 | 38' | $ 135,000 | 17 | 8 |