Antares 44i
The Antares 44i is the concept of company co-president and co-founder Rob Poirier, with help from veteran designer Ted Clements. Embodying the characteristics that sailors associate with a flagship, the 44i is intended to be a comfortable, safe, and sturdy liveaboard for owners interested in open-ended voyages.
Performance, attention to detail, and easy handling of the fractional Seldén rig are all trademarks of the 44i. Other aspects particular to the Antares design brief are a bridgedeck placed 30 inches above the loaded waterline, for wave clearance under sail, and engines and tanks located amidships below the waterline to minimize hobbyhorsing.
“The ‘i’ in 44i means inclusive,” Poirier says, adding that a finished model, with a sailaway price of $895,000, is bluewater ready. “With other boats, the price advertised by most builders is only the beginning, and then the new owner starts dealing with boatyards to outfit the boat for cruising.”
The Canadian company built its first hull in Ontario in 2001 under its previous name, PDQ, and since 2008 it’s built about half a dozen boats annually at its facility in San Fernando, Argentina, situated on the outskirts of Buenos Aires on the Río de la Plata.
Alberta Crewed was hull number one for the Argentine team of workers, who possess as a group decades of international racing and yacht-construction credentials.
Crucial to the Antares story is the sense of community that the company fosters among owners through a travelling in-house school that trains them in the maintenance and handling of all aspects of their boats. For more about the company and its boats, log on to its website (www.liveantares.com).
