H2O Yachting H55V

MISTER FIPS — 16.70 m Sloop Vaton, H2O Yachts construction

You only need to see it glide out of the Old Port to understand. Mister Fips has that silhouette you recognize from a distance: a fine stem, low freeboard, a large flush teak deck with nothing to break the line. Gilles Vaton, to whom we owe some of the most beautiful sailboats designed in France, has made it a neo-classical yacht of rare elegance. It is not a museum piece, however: it was designed to perform, and it does.

Its construction explains much. The H2O Yachts shipyard, now H2X, built it according to its own process: Red Cedar strip planking enclosed in Epoxy, reinforced with kevlar. The result is a hull that is both rigid and light, with the warmth of wood and the strength of modern composite. Under sail, this translates to a responsive boat in light winds and secure when the sea rises.

Because it is also a boat where you live well. Four cabins and eight berths, two heads and a deck shower allow you to bring family and friends for a week between Corsica and the Balearics, or to return from a regatta without sacrificing comfort. The 110 hp inboard diesel, which shows 2,000 hours, makes transits serene when the wind drops. The sail wardrobe is up to date: brand new main sail from 2024 and jib from 2020.

Mister Fips is based in Marseille. A berth in the Old Port can be arranged with the boat, which is worth almost as much as the boat itself for those who know how rare berths are in Marseille.

A performance sailboat, comfortable and unlike any other on the water: not many combine all of this.

Designer: Gilles Vaton - Shipyard: H2O Yachts - Year: 2000 - Length: 16.70 m - Beam: 4.80 - Construction: Red Cedar strip planking enclosed in Epoxy - Engine: 110 hp diesel, 2,000 h - Sails: MS 2024, jib 2020 - Cabins: 4 - Berths: 8 · Price: €450,000