Outremer 5X hull number 2, MOANA is in Fiji. I caught up with the owner Urs Rothacher this week to see how things have been going. I’ve been following Moana with interest for some time because up to this point, she’s the 5X that has traveled the furthest, so I was interested in learning how the voyage was going.

Moana at anchor in Tahiti

Urs purchased Moana 1 year ago, and is planning on ending his voyage in New Zealand in October this year, so he’s putting her up for sale soon, and will deliver her to a new owner anytime between July and October in either Fiji, Vanuatu, New Caledonia or New Zealand. Here’s more information about Moana along with details on how to conact Urs.

The original owner of Moana was Johan Salen, who along with his wife are veterans of multiple Volvo Ocean Race campaigns, so both very accomplished sailors. They sailed Moana with their young son from La Grande Motte, to New Caledonia where they sold her to Urs. Here’s the post I wrote in 2015 after talking with Johan about his experiences crossing the Pacific on a 5X. After purchasing Moana, Urs continued on to sail the east coast of Australia and then back across the Pacific to Fiji along with his wife and three young boys.

There are a couple of things that stand out for me about this particular 5X and the two families that have owned and sailed her.

• Moana is a 5X that is well configured for short handed sailing. I like the way that Johan configured Moana. He knew that she would be sailed mostly either single-handed or with a crew of just two people. He kept the rig and sail controls simple and efficient, and has provided the best validation to date that the 5X is truly a boat that can be sailed by a cruising couple alone. And although it’s tempting to dismiss this claim due to the exceptional abilities of her original Volvo Ocean Racing owners, Urs and his wife (who are experienced sailors, but still normal humans) confirm that regular folks can handle a well configured 5X.
• Moana is a sailors boat, without a lot of the heavy, complicated (and expensive) options that some of us have chosen. All 5X boats are comfortable, and Moana is no exception, but some of the more elaborate items have been avoided to keep her light, easy to sail, and easy to maintain. No air conditioning, no generator, single wheel helm. And some nice options well suited to shorthanded ocean sailing, cutter rig for simple and efficient headsail changes, watermaker with high and low power modes, redundant auto-pilots, oversized solar array and so on.

I like this boat a lot, and the fact she is already in the pacific is a great opportunity for someone that wants to cruise this region, but doesn’t have the time available to sail a 5X from France to Tahiti before they can begin their pacific cruising program. Urs hasn’t listed Moana for sale yet, so if you’re interested, you have a great opportunity to get her before she goes on the market.

Here’s an Article about Moana that was recently published in the Australian Multihull World magazine.