Design and Construction
Lombard's mid-nineties catamaran pairs a fibreglass hull with a length-to-beam ratio of 1.73, a proportion that YachtDatabase notes places her among the beamier small cruising cats anchor. The same source frames her volume against the field, describing the 37 as roomy compared with most peer sail catamarans anchor. Structurally the hull is solid fibreglass rather than a cored sandwich, and the builder's spec record lists a displacement of roughly 14,300 pounds with iron ballast in the twin-keel configuration. Her shallow draft — about 3.9 to 4.2 feet depending on load — lets her tuck into marinas that exclude deeper keelboats anchor.
Rig and Handling
The 37 is a masthead sloop carrying a 49-foot-3 mast and a sail plan of roughly 517 square feet in the main against 344 in the genoa. With a displacement-length ratio of 159, YachtDatabase classifies her among "light racers," and notes that 31% of similar designs are heavier anchor. That low DL figure, combined with the catamaran's twin hulls and spade rudders, describes a boat built for lively passage-making rather than ponderous coastal motoring.
Accommodations
The headline accommodation fact is the six-cabin count recorded by Multihulls World anchor. Spread across two hulls in a 37-foot footprint, that arrangement speaks to a layout maximizing berth numbers over private saloon sprawl — a tell of the charter-era design brief of the mid-1990s. The beam of 21 feet-6 gives the central bridgedeck its width, and the boat's documented spaciousness against peer cats reinforces that the volume was directed at living and sleeping space.
Equipment and Power
Factory specification lists twin 27-horsepower drivetrains and a Volvo Penta diesel option in the engine bay anchor. Tankage runs to two 90-liter fuel cells and a 470-liter water supply, figures that suit extended cruising without suggesting oceanic self-sufficiency. The twin-engine layout is the defining operational trait: it gives redundant propulsion and precise dock control that single-engine cats of the era could not match.
The Verdict
The Privilège 37 is a Lombard-designed mid-1990s catamaran that trades outright length for beam, volume, and twin-engine practicality. Her light displacement and shallow draft make her an accessible coastal and island cruiser, while the six-cabin layout marks her as a product of the charter-minded decade that produced her.
Pros
- Roomy compared with most peer sail catamarans, with a beamy bridgedeck layout
- Shallow load-dependent draft opens marinas and anchorages to deeper boats
- Twin 27 hp drivetrains provide redundancy and close-quarters control
- Light displacement-length ratio puts her in a responsive, quick-handed category
Cons
- Six-cabin count implies compromised privacy and saloon space for pure private use
- Solid fibreglass hull construction lacks the cored sandwich refinement of later vacuum-infused Privilège generations
