Karen and Paul meet us at the airport, we then had a brief car journey around La Rochelle, Paul giving us the guided tour of places of interest. After the tour we all agreed to sit at the side of the harbour for a few refreshments whilst discussing our itinerary for the next couple of days.
First item on the agenda was going to be the sea trial conducted by one of the company skippers, then we would visit Didier from Pochon (Marine Electronic store in La Rochelle). We have already decided not to fit the factory standard Furuno electronics, opting instead for Pochon to fit the Raymarine equivalent. After discussing the electronics we would move onto the factory to have a tour round the facilities.
The night ended with a few more refreshments and a quick walk around the inner harbour of La Rochelle, which is a wonderful place and as time went on we grew to like the place even more.
The morning soon arrived with bright blue sky, brilliant sunshine and a healthy offshore wind, good, we wanted to see how the boat would handle under these conditions. Karen and Paul arrived on time at our hotel to pick us up and take us to the harbour for the sea trial.
We arrived outside the Fountaine Pajot office, which is facing Europe’s largest marina, a forest of mast’s as far as the eye can see. We went inside for coffee and introductions to Valerie on reception and Thierry Billard who does the after sales management. Thierry did not look to stressed out, which was a good sign of things to come. After coffee, Alain the skipper arrived to take us out on the sea trial. We made our way down to the boat, which after some major re-shuffle of surrounding boats and some very impressive boat handling by Alain, we were off out of the harbour to conduct the trial.
Alain was talking about the England and France world cup rugby match, which was a brilliant ice breaker and we all soon relaxed in each others company, clearing the harbour Alain decided to raise the sails, yes with this wind we will defiantly need to reef at least one, allowing the skipper to show his and the boats metal. Alain thought differently no reef, full sail, wow, hang on for the fair ground ride, the boat turned around and set off like it had just been fired out of a catapult. Alain demonstrated how well and how fast the boat pointed to wind, we were racing along and the boat was as steady as a rock, with full sail and the strong wind the boat was healing slightly, which was expected under the conditions and handled like a dream. If I had any slight doubts about our new purchase, which I don’t, they were soon dismissed within a very short time. Words fail me to describe the awesome experience and every credit to Alain and the boat. Talking to Alain about his tactics, he assured us he would not do this further offshore and if you want to sell boats this is how you do it. The experience was fantastic and it could not get any better than this, or could it?
After the sea trial we had a quick stop for lunch then onto Pochon to meet Didier and talk about our choice of electronics to be fitted to the boat. Didier spoke perfect English, which was good as my French is embarrassing poor. Within a very short space of time both Jo and myself were completely at ease with the decision to use Pochon to do the installation as the boat is being commissioned just before sea trials.
We then set off to go the factory and see the boats being built. The factory was a short ride out of La Rochelle and on the way to the factory we passed a truck with a Mahe on the back along with police escort heading the other way, which brought a smile to everyone’s face.
On arrival at the factory we were signed in and given visitors passes, Paul had a quick chat with the manager and was told that so long as we were accompanied with Paul and Karen we could wonder round the factory at our leisure. Having worked in factory environments, I was surprised at how clean and organised the setup was, basing my previous experience on, working at TVR in Blackpool and memories of the body shop, which was at best organised chaos and a very unhealthy environment, not a place to spend to much time in.
We were very impressed with the staff who just got on with the job at hand and all seemed to be hard at it, with very little evidence of management. The quality of the work was evident in every department. The Mahe line was our first port of call and straight away you can see that this is a very important range for Fountaine Pajot, good, because we are buying one. Rarely these days do see people take pride in their work and the mixture of male and female workers was also a surprise, as many female as male, which must make a better working environment.
We started at the top of the production line and worked our way down, seeing every stage of manufacture. All the work being carried out was very neat and tidy, you can’t ask for any more. We also went into the other production lines, which were of equal expectations.
Out in the yard there were Mahe’s everywhere you looked, it was fantastic, buying a boat is a big financial undertaking and you need to be sure that you have made the right decision. We have!
After the factory tour, back to La Rochelle for some more refreshments, we had a meal out in one of the many local restaurants. In general the food and service is excellent and a good night was had by all.
The following day was time to go home, our flight was booked to be later in the afternoon, giving us time to wonder round some of the local chandlers and spend some time in La Rochelle to find our bearings. Wondering round the marinas, no matter where you looked a Mahe would be present. We liked La Rochelle that much, we changed our flight to be a day later giving us more time to enjoy the local sights.
If you are thinking of buying a Mahe, but aren’t quite convinced take some time off to do this factory tour, you wont regret it.
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