Get afloat more easily than ever with a bluewater catamaran from Simbad Yachts

A new frontier in yacht ownership is opening up with the launch of Spain’s Simbad Yachts.

Not only do Simbad Yachts offer owners the chance to buy a truly ready-to-sail catamaran built to a comprehensive spec, but it is now possible to lease or share rather than buy outright

Simbad’s founders recently took over a well-established refit shipyard in Alicante on Spain’s southeast coast. Working with experienced designers, they have assembled a 100-strong team to build the brand’s debut model: a family cruising catamaran called the Simbad 55.

Penned by well-known French designer Franck Darnet, this 55-footer is a hugely liveable bluewater yacht capable of carrying its owners around the world in comfort and at good pace. Measuring 17.59m from stem to stern and 8.92m across the beam, it creates fantastic volume, while slim hulls make for efficient performance.

Flexible configuration allows for galley-up or -down options and between two and five cabins, including crew quarters.

Ready to sail

Simbad has drawn a firm line through the notion of a ‘base price’ which stops hundreds of thousands of pounds short of a boat you could actually use. Instead, it has distilled those years of yachting experience into three broad versions of the boat tailored for different cruising programmes and different budgets.

From the true flybridge to the hydraulic bathing platform, each represents a boat that is fully ready to sail.

At the entry level is the ‘Select’ version of the Simbad 55, with painted aluminium spars, polyester sails and a solid propulsion package built around 110hp Yanmar
engines. Solar panels ensure that energy is plentiful for comfortable living.

As you move up to Ultra and Legend spec, more and better options are added until you reach a boat that represents the best it can be.

By the time you reach the Simbad 55 Legend, you are investing in a carbon mast and Furlerboom, carbon Technora sails from Doyle, all electric winches and furlers, four 19-22in chartplotters and state-of-the-art collision avoidance from Sea.ai.

On the home comforts side, there’s a 220-litres/hour watermaker from HP with a water purification system. There’s also a projector screen for movie nights and no fewer than seven fridges and ice makers strategically positioned around the boat. The bespoke jet tender also matches the mothership’s livery.

Pricing ranges from €1,895,000 for the Select version to €2,990,000 for the Legend, illustrating its depth of additional equipment and capability. But by structuring their offer in this way, Simbad aims to take the stress out of outfitting– setting the optimal specification level for different budgets.

Ownership pathways

That’s not all, however. The shipyard has been busy with the financial engineering needed to offer three distinct ways of owning a Simbad 55. And here again, it has departed from the beaten track – although it is still perfectly possible to simply purchase the boat outright and sail it away.

Simbad’s Leasing Club is a novel way to get afloat without the big capital cost upfront. It is perhaps a wonder that it has taken so long for this successful financing model to reach the marine sector, but in effect this works just as it would with a luxury car. You pay a membership fee up front which is equivalent to 10 per cent of the boat’s price, and then annual instalments of 16-18 per cent.

The attraction is a boat that belongs only to you – there’ll be nobody else sleeping in your bed. But you can cancel the lease at any time and simply hand the boat back, or opt to buy it out at the remaining contract value.

Another option is SplitSail – a shared ownership model that is best suited to families looking to spend no more than 5-7 weeks aboard each year.

Ownership is split into two or three shares and all the costs from purchase to annual berthing and maintenance are divided accordingly.

The ownership experience is just as important as the purchase itself, and Simbad has addressed this with a full management programme called Simbad Care. All you have to do as owner is to rock up and cast off – the tanks are filled, the wine fridge stocked and every system onboard is in perfect working order.

Find out more

Each of these individual elements is a novelty in its own right. Taken together, they herald a completely new way of buying and owning a top-drawer cruising cat.

Meet the Simbad Yachts team and discover the new Simbad 55 in La Grande Motte at the International Multihull Show (22-26 April, 2026). And for a full illustration of the different ownership pathways and details of the yacht, see simbad-yachts.com.

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