Pabouk 700 | PABOUK

"Combining the quality of a historic hull with the technological innovation of a patented ballast system , the PABOUK 700 are light and transportable boats that offer the qualities of stability and power characteristic of sailing on a heavy displacement keelboat. Rigged as a cat boat , their use, simple for the beginner, offers great potential for development for the experienced sailor."

HISTORY OF PABOUK

A bit of history:

In recent years, sailboats have progressed enormously: speed, lightness, safety, etc. but there are things that have been lost in the wake of this evolution. Seakeeping, course stability, ability to sail downwind, beaching; these were the characteristics of long-keel sailboats. They allowed Joshua Slocum, Vito Dumas or Bernard Moitessier to make long ocean voyages single-handed.

Concerning the rigging, the progress has also been very significant but the work on deck has increased accordingly, especially to prepare the boat to go downwind.

Single-handed , it is a complicated exercise reserved for passionate amateurs. With the Pabouk, how many times have I caught up with boats on which we had not put the spinnaker.

The rigging of the Houari Cat-boat was also forgotten in this wake, except on the East Coast of the United States where there is a real attachment to these boats. It was the rigging of the Cape Cod fishermen. It had the quality of reducing to a minimum the maneuvers to be ensured for the boat to move, a single man could take care of it.

Pabouk, the ballast cat-boat:

The long keel and the Cat Houary rigging, these two values of the past, were brought together to create the Pabouk . Today, thanks to technical progress, we can enjoy their qualities without the drawbacks that caused them to be abandoned.

The ballast floor hull (patented process) allows for a much lighter boat but which regains at sea its heavy displacement behavior so appreciated by traditional sailing sailors.

The underwater works benefit from the evolution of design in naval architecture, which allowed me to obtain from Marc Lombard the best compromise between beauty and fluidity underwater in terms of long keel hulls.

Cat Houari rigging. The secret to sailing downwind is that you don't need shrouds. But without shrouds, you need a very strong and light mast. Today, the Pabouk have this type of mast and are real machines for sailing downwind.

Ergonomics of travel. On deck, there is a large, protective and comfortable cockpit, forward gangways without obstacles, a wide passage in front of the mast. Towards the interior, it is a descent where you can pass each other, a very open cockpit, with a headroom of 1.80 m and a large width of 2.95 m, which provide a real feeling of space . Details in pictures.

Seaworthiness: The PABOUK is a stable and powerful boat which lists little when going uphill and which has remarkable course stability downwind. Its rigging is forgiving and never requires leaving the cockpit where all the maneuvers are carried out. Details in pictures.

The PABOUK 700 program is coastal cruising where small crossings can be planned. For this you need good marine qualities. It must be able to access the most protected anchorages (1 meter of draft, very easy to prop up). It’s the chance to really explore a coast and escape the marinas. With this boat which remains on a human scale, electronics and mechanics are not yet essential, thus limiting many sources of breakdown and maintenance. 7 meters, it's still a boat that I can take home to my garden in winter to prepare it for its next sailings!

Olivier DEBONTE