Prout drew directly on 40 years of catamaran-building experience and a production record of 4,000 boats. When Lloyd’s of London first rated catamaran construction, it later adopted Prout’s own database—a telling endorsement of the marque’s accumulated engineering record.
Design and Construction
The Escale 39 uses female-molded monocoque construction. It was built to Lloyd’s ISO 9002/BS5750 quality-assurance standards and backed by a five-year anti-osmosis guarantee.
Below the waterline, the hull is solid fiberglass, hand-laid with isophthalic resin. Above the waterline, the shell is cored with Airex, Divinycell, or balsa. Its high-tech laminate combines multi-axial cloths at a 1.5-to-1 resin-to-mat ratio with foam and balsa cores, adding insulation, sound-deadening, and durability. Kevlar reinforcement and multi-axial cloth in high-stress areas provide extra strength while saving weight.
Integral water tanks set into the keels form a double skin. Together with buoyancy compartments fore and aft, the sandwich construction, and the wooden furniture, they make the boat unsinkable. Across roughly 10 million logged miles, no Prout catamaran has ever sunk.
Rig and Handling
The Escale carries a “minsail” cutter rig, stepped well aft just forward of the cockpit. The sail plan consists of a small, 243-square-foot, full-battened, no-roach mainsail and two roller-furling headsails. Fourteen stays support the mast.
All halyards, headsail sheets, and reefing lines lead directly to the cockpit, so the boat can be worked entirely from under cover. Both the main and staysail are self-tacking.
A pair of 18-horsepower Yanmar 2-GM diesels—one in each hull—allow the Escale to turn on the spot. Owners also report that she handles well on a single engine. The slim hulls and light displacement contribute to fuel consumption of a quarter-gallon per hour per engine.
With her shallow draft and low-aspect keels, the Escale is beachable. Hydraulic steering holds the skeg-mounted rudders where they’re placed.
Performance Under Sail
To windward, the Escale tacks through 90 to 95 degrees, nearly matching a cruising monohull. Testers less familiar with multihulls, however, reported angles of 110 degrees.
Owners recount daily runs of 160 to 180 miles, with the occasional 200-mile day in favorable conditions. During a boisterous trial in the Solent, slamming—the usual multihull weakness—was almost entirely absent. A mini-hull nacelle between the hulls prevents pounding.
With the sail area set well forward, the Escale has no tendency to broach. In heavy air, a double- or triple-reefed main paired with a partially furled staysail produces a low center of effort. One owner sailed 22,000 offshore miles on Escale 39s, including a Force 9/10 blow off North Africa, where the boat was held safe on a parachute anchor.
Accommodations
The saloon seats eight and provides panoramic, 360-degree visibility, as well as direct access to the cockpit. Fourteen hatches and four opening ports provide good ventilation in the tropics.
Prout offered several layouts. One owner’s boat has two heads, one in each hull, and three double berths spaced 15 feet apart for privacy. That arrangement allows the owner to occupy one hull and the crew the other. The athwartships double berths aft make excellent sea berths on either tack.
For passage-making, the Escale has a large galley with a triple sink and a navigation station with a full-size Admiralty chart table. The 12-foot aft deck provides space to stow the dinghy. A deep cockpit and built-in boarding ladders add safety.
Known Issues
Some critics consider the bridge-deck clearance insufficient, and at least one owner would like more. Like any multihull, the Escale is also vulnerable to overloading.
The Verdict
The Escale 39 is a thoughtfully engineered British cruising catamaran that gets more from its modest sail plan through carefully arranged, cockpit-led sail handling. Its unsinkable structure has a proven record, and the boat is a genuine passagemaker in a practical hull, though bridge-deck clearance remains a limitation.
Pros
- Unsinkable construction, with integral tanks forming a double skin and buoyancy compartments fore and aft
- All sail handling led to the cockpit
- Self-tacking main and staysail
- Twin engines allow spot turns, with documented handling under one engine
- Shallow draft and beachable, low-aspect keels
- Strong offshore record across the Prout fleet
Cons
- Bridge-deck clearance has been criticized as tight
- Vulnerable to overloading, like all multihulls
