Jeanneau Cap Camarat 10.5CC review: Is this the best party boat £280,000 can buy?

If you want a boat that can do it all, the Jeanneau Cap Camarat 10.5CC might be just the thing…

When a cancelled flight prevented us from attending the annual Jeanneau press event in France, we turned to UK boating stalwart, Robin Vaughan. He’s been the boss down at Cambrian Boats in Swansea for many years, as well as a Jeanneau dealer since 2010.

We had been planning to look at the flagship Jeanneau Merry Fisher 1295 and the slick new Jeanneau DB/37, but when he told us he’d gone as far as to buy a Jeanneau for his own use, it felt like we ought to take notice.

The Cap Camarat line has been around for more than 40 years and it has always been about high-value multi-purpose day boating. Today, that product line comes in two simple forms: the Walkaround (WA) variant with a raised bow for extra accommodation; and the Centre Console (CC) variant, with a big forward cockpit for day-boating flexibility.

As a family man living in South Wales where the boat is kept, accommodation was of limited interest to Robin so the boat he went for was this Jeanneau Cap Camarat 10.5CC – the new 36ft flagship of the Cap Camarat Centre Console line.

The bow is one of this boat’s key selling points and it’s very easy to see why. At its heart sits a pair of spacious central sunbeds, built into the coach house roof with fold-down armrests.

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Ahead of that, a U-shaped seating unit wraps around the forepeak, orbiting the leading edge of those sunbeds, while leaving enough room for the side decks to continue unbroken from port to starboard.

While most boats tend to come with a couple of go-to seats that everyone fights over, that issue is elegantly sidestepped here, thanks to a pair of clever backrests at the trailing edge of the benches. By simply folding them out, you create what feels like six corner seats in a single space, enabling everyone to cosy up around the optional bow table in real comfort.

The foredeck’s natural separation from the aft cockpit creates a lovely sense of intimacy up here but there’s no feeling of tightness or confinement. On the contrary, the beam comes so far forward that there’s plenty of space to jump off at the broad forepeak on either side of the anchor.

You can use optional infill cushions to create a huge forward sunpad or you can erect an optional sunshade for a sheltered meal. And the fact that the integrated sunbed hinges up in its entirety means you can bung all kinds of gear down below without having to navigate your way down the port steps.

In short, if Jeanneau introduced a fridge option up here, this would be pretty much the perfect bow lounge.

Read Alex’s full review of the Jeanneau Cap Camarat 10.5CC in the September 2023 issue of MBY, which is out now.

Jeanneau Cap Camarat 10.5CC specifications

LOA: 35ft 9in (10.90m)
Beam: 10ft 7in (3.25m)
Draft: 2ft 4in (0.73m)
Displacement: 4,582 kg
Fuel capacity: 2 x 400 litres
Engines: Twin Yamaha 425hp V8 XTO outboards
Top speed on test: 45.3 knots
Fuel consumption: 89lph @ 20 knots
Cruising range: 144nm @ 20 knots
Noise: 91.2 d(B)A @ 20 knots
RCD category: B for 9 people or C for 11
Starting price: £278,319 (inc. VAT and twin Yamaha 425hp V8 XTO outboards)
Price as tested: £337,349 (inc. VAT)

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Source: https://www.mby.com/video/jeanneau-cap-camarat-10-5cc-review-127727