This
sailing boat is a catamaran type Formula 40, named TAAROA
(the great god of Maoris). She was conceived and built in
the perspective of racing and took part in two race seasons
under the name of Fleury Michon with the famous skipper Philippe
Poupon on board.
Since 1987 this sailing boat has been used in the lagoon of
Bora Bora.
She has two 40 feet long hulls and two trampoline nets (one
at the front and one at the back). In the middle there is
a 57 feet high wing-mast.
The mainsail is 60 m2 and the genoa is 15 m2. The light genoa
is only set when there is a little breeze and measures 55
m2.
A central beam measuring 60 cm wide and perpendicular to the
floats enables you to sit facing the sea and the sunset. For
those who prefer the trampoline net, it is as a matter of
fact more comfortable…
Her draft, that is to say the depth of hulls under water,
is only 50 cm. Thus it is the only sailing boat in Bora Bora
to be able to tour the island completely. Furthermore access
to the sea is easy. You can get off the boat in very shalow
water (2 feet). So there is no transfer by dinghy from or
to motus (islets). You feel free to get back on board whenever
they like.
She is equipped with a tip-up 25 hp out-board motor exclusively
used for dock manoeuvres and for sailing through Matira channel.
Usually even when it is very
slightly windy (5 knots minimum), the boat is light enough
(2 tons) to make headway with the wind.
If she is not sailing on the lagoon,
the cat can be seen at anchor near the beach of Taahana Bay.
Without this unique tool named TAAROA, it would be impossible
to achieve such a quality service in the lagoon of Bora Bora.
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