Fountaine Pajot Fountaine Pajot
Lucia 40
Match 91/100
$8,000-12,000/wk bareboat
Tagged: small_family, first_time_charter · Sleeps 6 (0 headroom) · 3 cabins vs need 3
Interactive tool · 60-sec result
Find Your Perfect Catamaran
A 60-second quiz that scores every boat in our fleet against your group, experience, priority and waters.
Question: Which catamaran actually fits my group and the way we sail?
ID: yacht-match-quiz
Your top matches
family · 6 guests · new · priority: space · caribbean
Recommended size
38–44 ft
Range across your top matches.
Recommended cabins
4 cabins
Median across your top matches — fits your group with one spare for storage / a kid.
We picked boats that physically fit your group, match your space priority, and are commonly chartered in caribbean. Below are the top 4, plus one second opinion from the opposite priority so you can compare.
Fountaine Pajot 
Lagoon Lagoon
Lagoon 42
Match 86/100
$18,000-28,000/wk bareboat
Tagged: small_family, first_time_charter · Sleeps 8 (2 headroom) · 4 cabins vs need 3
Bali Bali
Bali 4.4
Match 85/100
$12,500-18,000/wk bareboat
Tagged: family, first_time_charter · Sleeps 8 (2 headroom) · 4 cabins vs need 3
Bali Bali
Bali 4.2
Match 85/100
$18,000-28,000/wk bareboat
Tagged: first_time_charter, family · Sleeps 8 (2 headroom) · 4 cabins vs need 3
Second opinion — best on "performance" instead
Fountaine Pajot Fountaine Pajot
Tanna 47
Match 70/100
$18,000-28,000/wk bareboat
If you switched priority to "performance", this would be our top pick.
Why we show a second opinion
Catamaran choice is mostly about trade-offs — comfort vs. price, space vs. performance. We never want the result to feel like a single rigid answer, so we always include one boat from the opposite priority so you can sanity-check the trade-off you accepted.
How the match works
Every boat in our 31-model fleet is scored 0–100 across six transparent dimensions. We then show you the top 4 plus one "second opinion" from the opposite priority so you can sanity-check the trade-off you accepted. Nothing here is paid placement — the same boat can score 92 for one group and 41 for another.
- Tag overlap — boats tagged family, couples, large_group etc. score higher for matching trip types. We pull only tags that actually exist on the fleet (13 in total).
- Capacity fit — a hard gate: if the boat sleeps fewer guests than your party, it scores zero. Beyond the gate, we prefer the smallest boat that still fits — a 6-guest party should not be pushed into a 65-footer.
- Cabin fit — based on party size and type (couples/family need ~2 per cabin, corporate groups can share twins more loosely).
- Experience gate — new charterers are capped at 50 ft and boosted toward boats tagged first_time_charter (Bali 4.4, Lucia 40, Lagoon 42, Bali 4.2, Isla 40). Experienced charterers can pull from the full range and get a bonus for performance hulls.
- Priority boost — space rewards beam-to-length ratio and ≥4 cabins; performance rewards the performance tag; luxury rewards the luxury tag + amenity count; value ranks by lowest bareboat weekly rate for your destination.
- Destination fit — boats that aren't commonly chartered in your destination lose 30 points (but are still shown, so you can override if you really want that model).
What each priority actually means
Open space
Beam-to-length ratio is the single biggest predictor of how roomy a catamaran feels. Boats like the Bali 4.6 with its "Catspace" garage-door platform, or the Astrea 51 with its wide saloon, win this axis. You'll pay more for the space, but every guest has somewhere to retreat to.
Performance
Light displacement, daggerboards, lower coachroof line — boats like the Excess 11/14, Leopard 45/50 and Nautitech 46 Open. Sail-first attitude, more demanding to handle, more rewarding in 18+ knots. Often a better choice for trade-wind destinations like the BVI in winter.
Luxury
Amenity density — AC in every cabin, generator, watermaker, ice maker, jacuzzi on the flybridge. The Lagoon 65 and Samana 59 sit at the top of this axis; you also pay for it in weekly rate (often double the equivalent performance boat). Worth it for a once-in-a-lifetime celebration.
Value
The lowest weekly bareboat rate that still fits your party and is actually available in your destination. Lagoon 40/42, Bali 4.2 and Lucia 40 dominate this axis. We don't push you to a too-small boat to save money — the capacity gate runs first.
How we pick the recommended size & cabin count
The recommended size band is the min and max length across your top matches — so a 6-guest family in the Caribbean sees a 46–50 ft band rather than a single rigid number. The recommended cabin count is the median of the top matches; in practice that means 4 cabins for parties of 4–8 guests and 5 cabins for parties of 9–10. These are starting points — talk to us about stretching up if you want a spare cabin for storage or a dedicated kids space.
One trade-off we always name: recommending a boat is always a "no" to the alternatives. A Lagoon 46 picked for "family of 6, value" means we said no to the Excess 14 (better sailing, less space) and the Lagoon 50 (better comfort, $4k more a week). Showing the second-opinion row lets you see what you'd get if you flipped the priority.
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