Design and Construction
The 615 is a Lombard design built by Alliaura Marine as the anchor of the company’s Series 6.0 cats. The hull form is a twin-keel catamaran with spade rudders and a solid fiberglass deck and hull shell; the foredeck carries nine hatches, two of which drop to crew cabins in the very tips of the hulls. Below, the owner’s suite stretches from amidships forward and culminates in a master bedroom that spans the entire width of the boat forward of the mast and reaches halfway down the port hull. Fit and finish throughout are top notch, with interior wood offered in maple or cherry. Cruising World judged the layout, space, and fit and finish nothing short of stunning, and the same review noted that you can walk athwartships from one hull to the other without ever setting foot in the cockpit.
Rig and Handling
The 615 carries a fractional sloop rig with a mast height near 85 feet and a working sail area of 2,303 square feet, split between a 1,335-square-foot mainsail and a 969-square-foot genoa, with a 1,615-square-foot gennaker and a 3,229-square-foot spinnaker available for downwind work. On the tested boat, a single furling genoa had its sheets led to electric winches on either side of the flybridge, and trimming is made simple thanks to those electric winches. Despite her size, test crews found her surprisingly simple to handle with a mainsail and genoa; in 9 knots of true wind she skipped right along at nearly 7 knots closehauled, and reaching in a 13-knot breeze the speed climbed to an effortless 9 knots and more. The flybridge itself sports twin wheels, though the starboard wheel is an option, as is a second set of engine controls.
Accommodations
The saloon opens through a large centerline sliding door to a generous cockpit reached by stairs on either side, with a second lounging area to port and a long oval table to starboard; the aft cockpit seats 14. Inside, an L-shaped couch surrounds a large table and director-style chairs can be moved about as needed, while a very sea-kindly and fully equipped galley sits in the saloon’s forward starboard corner, with a galley-down option in the starboard hull. A nav station to port can be equipped with a joystick and engine controls to make an additional helm station. Sleeping plans run from four double cabins plus crew to a five-cabin charter version; the starboard hull holds a fore-and-aft pair of cabins with en suite heads, a third cabin takes the aft port hull, and the owner’s cabin entry runs through a long dressing-room-and-head before reaching a boudoir with an enormous walk-around fore-and-aft berth, dresser drawers, and two overhead hatches. The flybridge adds starboard seating, a port-side helm, and huge sunpads.
Known Issues
The known points that matter to an owner are matters of configuration rather than failure. The starboard wheel and second engine controls are options rather than standard, so a specific boat may lack a redundant flybridge helm. Galley position varies — up in the saloon or down in the starboard hull — and on at least one version the galley was up and a mini-lounge near the bar disappeared, changing the social flow of the main deck. The five-cabin layout gains an extra staircase down to an isolated forward cabin, a different passageway arrangement than the owner’s model.
The Verdict
The Privilège 615 is a thoroughly modern large cruising catamaran whose Lombard hull and manageable rig let a big boat sail like a smaller one, while the owner’s suite and saloon set a high bar for liveaboard comfort. The option-driven layout means no two boats are spec-for-spec identical, so a buyer weighs galley position, helm redundancy, and cabin count against intended use.
Pros
- Easy to handle under sail for her size, with electric winch trimming and strong light-air performance
- Exceptional owner’s cabin spanning the full forward beam and half the port hull
- Flexible four- or five-cabin plans with separate crew quarters and athwartships hull access
Cons
- Key items such as starboard wheel, second engine controls, and galley position are option-dependent
- Large displacement and 5'8" draft limit tight anchorage and shallow-water access
