Conceived by racing driver Marco Malgara, the Ice 60 is as cool as its name

Styles come and go. To stand the test of time you need something else, something more than aesthetics, something that stays with you after that initial heady rush begins to wane.

The Italians have always owned style and there has been something of a revolution in Italian-designed and/or -built boats in recent years. A number of new brands have joined what was an already crowded performance cruiser market – sexy-looking machines that excel in light-wind, warm weather sailing conditions.

These offer the latest in desirable lines with unblemished decks, shallow cockpits and plenty of sunbathing space, tender garages, etc. Grand Soleil and Solaris are the best established in production yard terms, but have been joined by companies such as Italia Yachts, Mylius, and Eleva.

Ice Yachts, with its ravishing new 60-footer, is another fine example, but are we talking style-only or does it have that special something?

Ice 60 features a long waterline and powerful hull shape: a soft chine gives extra beam with minimal drag

Ice is a relatively new brand, but one that uses a tried and tested designer and shipyard. Its boats are drawn by Umberto Felci and built at the former CN Yacht 2000, a 30-year-old yard near Milan, responsible for more than 80 large custom or semi-custom yachts.

Ice Yachts was born out of one sailor’s search for a Felci 61 cruiser-racer, eight of which were built by this yard. Marco Malgara fell in love with the outlook of the boatbuilders and the history of the yard, and ended up buying it six years ago and creating Ice Yachts.

The first project was the Ice 62, which used the lines of the original Felci 61 but with slightly more beam and freeboard. The Ice 44, Ice 33 and Ice 52 followed. The latter I have trialled for European Yacht of the Year, enough of a taster to pique my interest in this new Ice 60 when it hit the water earlier this year.

Article continues below…

Grand Soleil 52LC test: Italian beauty offers stimulating sailing

The Grand Soleil 52 Long Cruise Sport (52LC) is wedged, stern-to, in between a grubby ketch and a motorboat. Its…

Solaris 50 boat test – when style meets substance

Winner of the Performance Cruiser category of the European Yacht of the Year Awards 2015. Read more here Production yachts…

I was intrigued to find out why Malgara, an accomplished racing driver who has worked in advertising, marketing and the police force and who remains a successful real estate businessman, would want to buy a shipyard and start a new yacht brand.

“I bought it because I couldn’t find a yard with the quality I wanted,” Malgara explained during two days spent together testing the Ice 60 and visiting his two shipyards near Milan. “I tried to improve what the good workers already knew very well, adding my knowledge of sailing and building racing cars.”

“The difference between something nice and something well done is important,” said Malgara, who competed six times in the notorious endurance motorsport event the Paris-Dakar Rally. “When you are in the desert and something goes wrong, you’re in the shit… the same applies with boats.”

Malgara, a workaholic who lives and drives in the fast lane, “wanted to create a product that was not available. A yacht to be proud of.”

The wide, flat cockpit suits Med-style cruising

The Joy of sailing the Ice 60

In La Spezia I found Joy, 60ft of Ferrari California light blue hull with a lofty carbon rig, blunt stem and bowsprit. The Ice 60’s beamy aft sections have a soft, appealing chine/turn to the hull shape and its lines look powerful and, well, Italian.

And I soon discovered that this is a very easily driven yacht. When we started sailing in zephyrs, I was down below, talking to designer Umberto Felci about the secrets to Italian design. The only way I could tell we were silently moving along once sails were hoisted was by detecting a slight heel and seeing the water moving past the hull porthole as we ghosted along at 3 knots.

Weight is a big priority at Ice Yachts; its yachts are built using a resin-infused mix of glass and carbon fibre as standard. The sailing weight of the Ice 60 is just 18.7 tonnes, including anchor and 75m of chain, and it boasts a substantial 220m² of upwind sail area. It’s also a structurally stiff boat, with the capacity to take over 1,000lt of water in tanks that are built into the hull and form part of the structure.

Toby sailed the Ice 60 off La Spezia in 3–12 knots

At the wheel, I was instantly impressed by how the boat could harness the light conditions. We soon found some puffs of breeze and were clocking over 7 knots upwind in 7-8 knots apparent. Looking at the very high sail area:displacement ratio of 28.9, slippery performance should indeed be expected. With another knot of wind we could squeeze up to 28° to the apparent wind, or make 8 knots in 10 by sacrificing a few degrees.

Unfortunately, the conditions were tricky and unpredictable all day, the breeze shifting all over the place, which made it tough to get a feel for the boat and accumulate accurate figures. We didn’t enjoy five minutes of consistent wind all day – at one point I watched the Windex spin round and round as we sailed along under kite.

The upside is that it certainly helped to be aboard a lightweight performance cruiser that could make the most of such fickle conditions, which I’m told are typical for that area.

The stern garage is large enough to fit a fully inflated 3.2m tender. A garage is a key feature of Med-based boats, but does eat into accommodation space

Joy’s carbon rig is one of the last Southern Spars masts to come out of its South African yard, while Diamond Sails near Livorno built the black Dyneema sails.

I’m not sure the colour of the sails nor their stark vertical logo is in keeping with the slick Italian looks, but they serve a marketing purpose.

A fine red gennaker helped us to make the most of the wind and generate some of our own. It was really rewarding to feel that extra bit of power, even if I nearly sailed a full circle on one gybe, trying to match the wind as it boxed the compass.

Boat speed rose to 9 knots, and we were generally making similar figures to the single-digit wind speeds. It felt very light on the wheels, which use direct Jefa steering connection, but the conditions still made it a challenge on the helm and I needed to monitor the numbers rather than rely on feel.

Felci explained that the Ice 60 has a narrow waterline when stationary and that the soft chine gives the benefit of extra beam, but without the drag resistance of a hard chine.

“It’s a fight between how much resistance I have and how much power I add,” said Felci, a racing sailor who competed for 20 years in 470s. “The ratio of stability to power is like the relationship of horsepower to wheel width on cars.”

As we chatted, we made our way to the west of Portovenere and its stunning clifftop monastery guarding the shallow entrance, catching the last of the afternoon breeze, which allowed us to sail at 6 knots in 6 knots.

Designer Umberto Felci at the helm

It was as pleasant as it sounds, but the changeable conditions meant performance was hard to gauge. It was like trying to test a premium hybrid bike on a road full of potholes and stop signs.

The quiet 5-cylinder Volvo Penta and Flexofold prop proved a smooth, efficient combination for our return journey, propelling us at 8 knots at 1,900rpm and 10.5 knots maximum.

Designer deck details

I liked the neat design of the twin pedestals, which seem to grow out of the side decks – they are both relatively discreet, yet create enough space for a large plotter and a panel of pushbuttons.

The test boat had the latest Raymarine Axiom 12 pro plotters, which looked very much in keeping with the sharp design of the boat. These use Android operating systems, which proved easy and fast to use and customise displays.

There’s a nice gap between the pedestal and the cockpit bench for the mainsail trimmer to work the two-speed winch and traveller. The traveller uses an Antal electric line driver, while the backstay and vang are hydraulically powered.

It’s all in the detail: design of the Ice 60 is beautifully executed

However, the same crewmember cannot reach the primary winch. Using reversible primary winches with remote controls at the pedestals could be a better solution for those wanting to sail short-handed.

There is no provision for the stowing of sheet tails for the main and genoa, but there is a generous locker by the companionway for the running rigging tail ends. The genoa sheets are led neatly aft underdeck from near the shroud bases.

A surprise for a yacht with such a clean deck and look is that the sheets are then led athwartships to the winches, presenting a trip hazard to those on the side deck. Re-routeing of the sheets alongside the coachroof-to-deck join might present a neater alternative.

A typical Med cockpit provides short benches with low coamings, showing a predilection for looks over comfort. The low backrests mean good cushions will be a must, but the benches are at least wide and the large fixed table is a practical feature.

Simplicity of style

The Ice 60 has a minimalist modern design – think open loft style with lots of natural light, white and beige furnishings and materials – the antithesis of a traditional-style yacht interior. The simplicity of Felci’s design grew on me, especially as it is practical for purpose and the finish quality is very good.

The sloon is the epitome of clean Italian style

“Most owners of this type and size of yacht will have a skipper,” says Malgara, pointing out the compact single cabin opposite the galley. “It’s already an expensive boat and owners don’t have much time,” he argues.

It’s unusual to have a crew cabin in the heart of the boat so close to the owner’s cabin (forward), but it’s a better solution to help retain the services of a long-term skipper than the typical shoebox-style forepeak solutions found on many yachts this size (a forepeak berth is offered on the Ice 60 as standard).

A forward galley, a layout Felci uses with Dufour too, is sociable – the Ice 60 has plenty of worksurface to prepare food while facing the saloon.

The built-in Siemens oven and induction hobs, as well as a domestic-style fridge-freezer on Joy are reflective of how some of today’s owners use this sort of yacht and how they cook and overnight in marinas/port rather than at sea. Stowage space is reasonably good and includes plenty of refrigerated and bin space.

The cabins all have generous stowage, natural light, ventilation and headroom. The navstation shares the after end of a comfortable sofa bench. This daybed is another typical feature on an Italian/Med boat and one that works well on the Ice 60. The 19cm memory foam mattress provides comfortable lounging or a useful passage berth in the centre of the boat where there is least motion.

The companionway has four deep, but flat and slippery steps. There are two sturdy leather-clad handrails each side and two more grab handles further forward, which are very much needed as there is a wide, open space between the saloon table and the navstation.

All heads have good stowage, including wet stowage in the port heads shower area – the addition of shower doors would stop them becoming wetrooms. There is good access from the starboard cabin to the engine/machinery room and 8kW genset, with room enough to climb in or directly access the filters. Latches, lights, switches and general details all look very smart.

The light, airy theme continues in the owner’s cabin

The light, open layout helps the owner’s cabin feel very roomy. Again it’s simple, but practical and well finished. The low island berth, with a large Seasmart hatch above, lifts easily on struts to reveal more stowage space and robust stringers below and there is a generous ensuite heads.

The two aft cabins are similar in style and layout. The double to port boasts a large enough berth to sleep lengthways or athwartships and has its own access to the day heads/shower.

We visited both the former CN Yacht 2000 facility on the outskirts of Milan and a second yard nearby into which Ice has moved its catamaran production. Ice launches its boats onto the River Po and floats them down to Ravenna.

Ice in build

The catamaran yard was working flat out on its second model, a 67-footer, reportedly the largest cat yet produced in Italy. This uses a mould extension on the Ice Cat 61, which first launched earlier this year.

The original (CN Yacht 2000) yard is much tidier, if by no means a modern workplace. This typically old-school yard relies on everyone knowing where everything is and doing his or her job in a time-honoured fashion.

It may not be intuitive to witness, but it works and there is a family feel to the place, which is crucial when you need staff to put in the hard yards.

I saw some of the 16 infusions going into the next Ice 52 (number 11). Epoxy infusion is labour-intensive, with 7,200 hours needed for this boat.

Hulls and decks of Ice yachts are laminated sandwich infusion, using a glass-carbon fibre composite material, localised carbon reinforcement and a PVC foam core.

As well as the 52 a new raised saloon (RS) version of the Ice 60 is in build too.

Our verdict

I thought this yacht would all be about the look and the feel, the famed Italian design touch. But the Ice 60 proved it had something else, something that stayed with me.

Above the flashy looks and minimalist layout, which is squarely aimed at warm weather sailors, there is passion and quality, from the design to the build and finish. The designer has performance in his blood and really cares about the product.

The yard has a classic semi-custom approach born from knowledge and experience. And it is headed up by a passionate leader in love with sailing and speed.

Above all, there is an underlying sense of pride, which shines out of Ice Yachts. It is what the company is formed on and what its owners buy into. And if there’s one thing you’d want to have in a €1m new 60ft performance cruiser, it’s pride.

Specification

LOA: 17.99m (59ft 0in)
LWL: 16.8m (55ft 1in)
Beam (max): 5.20m (17ft 1in)
Draught: 2.85m (9ft 4in)
Displacement (lightship): 17,900kg (39,462lb)
Ballast: 6,100kg (13,448lb)
Engine: 150hp Volvo Penta
Fuel capacity: 650lt (143gal)
Water capacity: 1,000lt (220gal)
Sail area (100% foretriangle): 194.7m² (22,096ft²)
Sail Area to displacement ratio: 28.9
Displacement to LWL ratio: 105
Price from: €960,000 (ex. VAT)
Price as tested: €1,301,800 (ex. VAT)
Designer: Umberto Felci

The post Ice 60 review: The chic Italian yacht that offers more than just style appeared first on Yachting World.

Can a yacht be all things to all sailors? Give it the illustrious Swan 65 badge and maybe it can

If it hadn’t been for the original Swan 65, Nautor’s Swan might never have become the famous name it is today. Sayula II’s victory in the first ever Whitbread Round the World Race in 1973/1974 cemented the Finnish boatbuilder’s exalted reputation.

There is, therefore, some historical weight in giving a new model the Swan 65 badge. While Nautor’s latest launch is not about to win a global race, it is designed in the spirit of that original S&S-designed 65, as a cruiser that can win races.

When Sayula II was built in 1972 it was easily the largest glassfibre yacht on the market – this despite Swan having produced its first yacht, a 36-footer, only a few years earlier. With 4m more waterline length, extra beam carried right aft and substantially greater freeboard, today’s Swan 65 has substantially greater volume than its predecessor. Yet, in a sign of the times, it is only a modest-sized model in Nautor’s current range, which now extends to twice its length.

A shallow but wide toerail, combined with generous freeboard, helps keep the decks relatively dry. Photo: Nico Martinez

This gulf in volume, hull and deck design reflects a change in demand from sailors, who were originally looking for seaworthy ocean racing yachts that could be cruised but now seek comfortable and spacious cruising yachts that can occasionally race.

The Swan 65 is designed by Frers to meet broad appeal and joins a growing list of new 60ft+ models aimed at being the largest size that can still be sailed by an owner. However, it offers greater versatility than most in that it should be equally suited to Mediterranean or ocean cruising, yet be capable of regatta racing, and has the option of a proper crew cabin in the accommodation.

Take the Dutch owners of this first boat, for example: experienced sailors who have owned a ClubSwan 45 and a Swan 601. Although they will compete in the Middle Sea Race, they primarily wanted a larger yacht for short-handed distance cruising and will use a part-time skipper to maintain the boat.

Article continues below…

Baltic 67 review: Finnish superyacht yard goes back to its roots with no-compromise cruiser

Were money no object and you wanted the ultimate yacht for long-term cruising, what would you choose? How large could…

Dufour 56 Exclusive review: Smooth cruiser offers both style and substance

In some respects, Dufour yachts used to be a bit like the early Citroën cars: different, slightly quirky and created…

Comparisons in shape, style and appeal can be drawn with the new Baltic 67. The owners of this first Swan 65 opted for the same APM telescopic keel and Hall carbon rig with in-boom furling mainsail. But whereas the Baltic is largely built in carbon and has a price tag that reflects its semi-custom build, Nautor prefers a glassfibre hull for a cruising yacht of this size for better noise insulation.

The contemporary hull and deck design also shares similarities with the Baltic. Their sheer size – notably in beam and freeboard – is striking. The Swan 65’s sheerline rises distinctly forward to a bowsprit, which protrudes a lofty 2m above the waterline. The freeboard height allows for a low-profile coachroof above the semi-raised saloon, but it does present a boarding challenge.

Seven Swan 65s were sold off the plans alone, an indication of the Finnish/Italian company’s popularity since it made the crucial decision to separate its models into bluewater cruisers, 80ft+ maxis and ClubSwan racing yachts. Astonishingly, it has another five new designs in construction from 36-125ft.

Two powered winches for running rigging with compact tail stowage below. Photo: Nico Martinez

Sailing a Swan is always a privilege, but I felt especially lucky to have ideal testing conditions – it was a beautiful spring day, with a fresh Force 5 blowing, as we departed EMV Badolona, Swan’s new service and refit centre near Barcelona.

It was only the second time the sails had been hoisted and we had the opportunity to trial Cuordisole before it was handed over to its owners the following week. So the first hour or so was spent gingerly reaching off the breeze under full sail, not wishing to push anything too quickly.

11 knots of comfort

The hull shape is designed for low heel angles. Photo: Klaus Andrews

In 15-18 knots true wind we were swiftly and consistently averaging 10.5-11.5 knots at 100-110° true, with a comfortable 15° of heel. These figures are in line with what Frers and Swan predict: that this high, beamy hull shape should be stable and produce low heeling angles typically around 20°. The theory is this makes for a comfortable ship aboard which to spend long periods sailing at heel.

I was keen to put the theory into more dynamic practice, and once I knew the skipper was happy, I asked if we could heat things up a bit and spend some time close-hauled.

Wow! Despite the stability designed into the hull shape, when the Swan 65 does power-up and heel, you know about it! With the full sails pinned in and nearly 30 knots of apparent wind across the deck, we pushed it until we heeled to 30°. From high up on the windward helm, you become very aware of the cockpit beam, and much reliance is placed on the large foot braces.

The power in the mainsail is impressive. The test boat had a small square-top to its main – a full square-top option is offered for racing. Despite pressing the boat, there was no hint of it losing grip, however you soon learn to respect and trim the heel angle. Heel too much and you pay a price in both comfort and speed.

Depowering the main levelled the boat out and we watched the speed rise to over 9 knots at around 40° true. The owner’s choice of a captive mainsheet, controlled via joystick on each pedestal, made it quick and effortless to dial down the power.

The hull is beamier than usual with a higher freeboard, for stability and headroom. “When I started [designing] headroom needed to be 1.85m – now it’s up to 2.15m inside,” designer Germán Frers explained, while describing the Swan 65’s form stability.

“When it heels the centre of buoyancy moves higher and further outboard than deeper, narrower designs and this increases the righting arm. As you load the boat the stability increases with beam. The wider arm increases the GZ, which is why we don’t load the boat with ballast.”

The coachroof is low enough to allow unhindered forward visibility from both helms. Photo: Nico Martinez

Smooth speed

Frers was rationalising the particularly low ballast ratio of 24.1 on the Swan 65 and explaining how the stability of modern hull shapes can increase with load where the ballast ratio diminishes.

“Ballast ratio was used a lot with old shapes, where everything saved on the interior went into lead. Now they [the hulls] are very stable up to 120°. We didn’t want to increase the ballast because it becomes more jerky and is hard work.”

The motion certainly felt smooth through the waves, but keep it sailing at a civilised heel angle and it was the consistency of speed that proved telling. We had some long spells of two-sail reaching where the regularity of sitting at double-figure speeds impressed me.

When the breeze picked up to 18-22 knots true, average speed increased to 11.5 knots. If we could bear away and hold the apparent breeze enough to hop onto a cross wave, the log would surge up to over 13 knots.

Flush fitting deck hatches give clean lines and allow plenty of light below decks. Photo: Klaus Andrews

This is when the magic happened – not in an instant lightning bolt sort of way, but in a growing familiarity sense. The more time you spend on the wheel the more you enjoy it and the more you discover how this Swan likes to be sailed. It’s both a forgiving yacht and one that responds to and rewards trim.

The mast has been brought aft and pierces the coachroof, to allow for larger non-overlapping foresails and for powerful reaching sails to be set off the bowsprit. It’s a sail plan that looks and feels balanced.

Equally, twin rudders result in a light feel on the helm, but the blades are large and deep enough to communicate pressure increases and provide manoeuvrability in harbour. The result of the Frers team’s analysis concluded that a single rudder on this hull shape would need to be too deep. “Twin rudders are more efficient with less angle and diminished drag,” Germán Frers explained.

A dry, clean deck

Large foot braces even things up for Toby when the yacht is heeled

The high bow helps keep the decks dry, while the extension of the coachroof into long coamings aft gives the helmsman and trimmers a nice dry perch.

The standard cockpit layout has a central mainsheet plinth, between the two wheels; however, the Harken captive winch system this owner had opted for works effectively.

The electric winch is installed under the galley sole, with the sheet running up the mast, along the boom and down to a single point in the cockpit.

This helps keep a clear cockpit and works well for short-handed sailing as it provides joystick control of the system from each pedestal. The helmsman can also sit forward of the pedestal and steer and trim both sails if desired.

Two powered winches are neatly set into the coamings on each side for foresail trim and running rigging. Lines are all led aft, including the tack line, which has a side-mounted jammer that punctuates an otherwise clean side deck.

A compact locker below the side deck has the tough task of stowing all the tail ends, and there’s a dedicated liferaft locker below the forward part of the cockpit sole.

Cockpit benches are long and wide, but not especially deep. The owner of the test boat opted for a removable table to keep cockpit access clear, whereas a fixed table and/or the bridgedeck option might perhaps better suit family cruising.

An open transom combined with a beamy aft cockpit design is the current trend but one that prioritises coastal/Med sailing over ocean cruising. The Swan 65 has triple-height aft guardrails, but my concern is that, with no fixed mouldings across this aft section of cockpit, these rails would do little to stop rope tails or unsecured items being washed over the transom.

The side deck guardrails conform to requirements at 61cm, however higher rails here would give a greater sense of security for crew using the side decks at sea.

The transom garage holds a 2.8m inflated tender. Photo: Nico Martinez

The garage is accessed from the transom door, with a large deck hatch above, and is wide enough to stow a 2.8m inflated dinghy. The sail locker is even more cavernous, with standing headroom and a watertight bulkhead aft. It creates superb stowage for offwind sails and fenders, or provides the option of a crew cabin.

The slight problem we experienced with hoisting the main and an issue of air in the fuel – both understandable considering this was only the yacht’s second outing – merely demonstrated the occasional need for extra hands on a yacht this size.

Quality of finish

The design and engineering needed to create the multiple below decks options Nautor’s Swan offers is of the highest degree, matched only by the superb quality of finish. A focus with the Swan 65 was on designing this range of options to achieve one deck, one coachroof and one central section of boat. “If every boat is a new boat, you never get the quality,” reasoned Vanni Galgani, product line leader for Swan Yachts.

The semi-raised saloon allows for genset and large tanks to be installed below the sole

Galgani explained that Nautor’s Swan now tries to avoid any customisation on yachts less than 80ft, as it is time-consuming, costly, and bad for resale value. It prefers to provide pre-engineered solutions, which help centralise weight and optimise the systems layout. This also allows for a variety of accommodation solutions, which notably includes a forward or aft owner’s cabin.

The semi-raised saloon and transverse galley work particularly well. Their combined length of over 5m creates a great impression of space. I was below decks as we punched out through a sharp swell at the marina entrance, and appreciated the solid handholds on the roof and fiddles around the furniture and worktops. For a voluminous interior it still felt practical at heel.

The galley is a sociable, airy place to prepare, cook and serve food. It has long, fiddled worksurfaces with space for a variety of appliances. The dinette area to starboard can instead be used for more refrigeration space and a proper navstation.

As it is it works well as a multi-use seating area for eating, passage planning, relaxing or even sleeping. The table drops to fill the space in between the berths and has lee cloth fittings, so could make a useful snug for kids.

Large hull portlights and hatches provide ample natural light to a light, modern interior

The L-shaped sofa on the starboard side of the saloon is also long enough to be used as a pilot berth. The downside of the test boat layout was the lack of a proper navstation – the owners had instead opted for a compact chart table to starboard with a fold-out stool.

Practical features

The volume continues in the forward owner’s cabin where it is beamy enough to sleep head forward on an island berth, away from the noise of the engine, cockpit or dock when berthed stern-to. And there is still 6ft 3in headroom around the berth. The test boat had a walk-in wardrobe by the cabin entrance, which takes care of most stowage requirements.

All three cabins have smart en suites with good-sized separate showers and practical stowage. Headroom in the identical aft twin cabins is maintained aft to the berths, while outboard alcoves allow extra height, light and room by the hull portlights.

The port cabin has a door into the after part of the engine room, providing access to the watermaker and filters – which is handy, as only the lower half of the companionway steps lift, and the engine is mounted low down.

General stowage is mostly above sole height rather than in the bilges. The soleboards are all insulated with foam surrounds, have spacers, and lift with the aid of a sucker. Peek below and you’ll not only notice the meticulous layout of the wiring, plumbing and generous tanks, but find standard practical Swan features, like a foot pump to purge water from the fridge/freezers and wooden cones attached to each through-hull fitting.

Below the galley sole is a 0.5m long section of the APM keel – the only part of this telescopic stainless steel work of art that is visible. It’s an engineering feat, which costs big bucks but is increasingly offered by the big yards.

The difference 45 years makes in hull shapes. The 1973 Swan 65 Venator (left) berthed alongside the 2019 version

Our verdict

Will people talk about this model in 50 years time? It’s not about to win a round the world race and create a global phenomenon. But they might well talk about this era of Nautor’s Swan and how this Frers design sits at the heart of Nautor’s renaissance.

The Swan 65 grows on you – the longer you sail it the more you enjoy it. Cruising sailors don’t seek an adrenaline rush, they want an enduring relationship built on easy rewards and dependability. This is a powerful boat, which is easy to sail fast but will be most gratifying when trimmed to keep it on its preferred low heel angle. Take the wheel and it’s hard not to daydream about how pleasant those consistent speeds and heeling angles would feel on a tradewind ocean crossing.

It’s a versatile design that offers much potential: it has a deck suited to short-handed Mediterranean-style sailing; stowage, systems and tankage to promote ocean cruising (with or without crew); and optional keel and sailplans to configure it for racing.

The original Swan 65 might still be the choice for seaworthy ocean racing, but for cruising in sublime space and comfort its new counterpart wins every time.

Specification

LOA: 20.11m (65ft 12in)
LWL: 18.38m (60ft 4in)
Beam (Max): 5.62m (18ft 5in)
Draught: 3.50m (11ft 6in)
Telescopic keel: 2.80m-4.20m (9ft 2in-13ft 9in)
Displacement (lightship): 27,250kg (60,075lb)
Ballast: 6,570kg (14,484lb)
Sail Area (100% foretriangle): 234.2m² (2,531ft²)
Berths: 6-7
Engine: Volvo Penta D3 150hp
Water capacity: 1,000lt (220gal)
Fuel capacity: 1,200lt (264gal)
Sail Area/Displacement ratio: 26.3
Displacement/LWL ratio: 122
Price: €2.95m (ex VAT)
Design: Frers Naval Architecture & Engineering

The post Swan 65 test: The triumphant return of a true sailing icon appeared first on Yachting World.

How does the bold cockpit layout of this dazzling new ‘lounge’ daysailer design work? Toby Hodges sails the Saffier SE37

Looking for a pair of trainers for fashion, road and cross-country running? They don’t exist. Or a bilge keeler that will take to the ground, sleep eight and go to windward like a witch? No chance. We have to make compromises when buying new products. If we expect them to do all things we end up with something only partially fit for our needs.

Fully appreciating how you spend your time afloat is crucial in determining the type of boat that will best suit your needs. Saffier has cornered the daysailing market with its attractive, easy-to-handle and well-built small yachts, perfectly fit for their purpose.

This new SE37 Lounge, a veritable supercar of the sea, is an uncompromising luxury daysailer. By that I mean it is not pretending to do all things for all sailors. There are no cabins and there is no accommodation abaft the companionway. It is purely and simply a daysailer, and it offers space, comfort and performance in an innovative design that remains easy for one person to sail fast.

The powder-coated black stainless steel stanchions and Dyneema lifelines combine form and function

When the Hennevanger brothers began to branch out their father’s IJmuiden-based boatbuilding business to include pretty little dayboats in the 1990s, little could they have imagined that, by 2018, they would be the world’s biggest daysailer brand and that they’d be launching a 37ft luxury model.

Despite its rise in popularity, Saffier still only expected to sell a couple of SE37s a year – yet six have already been sold since its January show debut.

For a real appreciation of the SE37 you need to see how it is built, the processes, investment and fresh mentality the yard has put in place to ensure quality control. More on that later – first, I was itching to find out if the performance matched the flashy, novel design.

What’s a Lounge?

Have you spotted the design irregularity? The central position of the twin wheels is a first at this size and suggests this is a boat that is all about the enjoyment on the helm. To my eye, using a combination of a fixed windscreen with the wheels just behind it also gives the Saffier an exciting, sporty roadster look.

The SE37 has much more of a performance shape than past Saffier models, with a particularly flat run to its aft sections. The beam is carried all the way aft to help generate enormous cockpit space. It’s called a ‘Lounge’ because a ‘cockpit’ is not the right word for an area this large and free of lines, says Dennis Hennevanger.

Article continues below…

European Yacht of the Year 2019: Special yachts

This category assembles a varying mix of interesting craft, many of which we might otherwise not have had the chance…

Eagle 54 – an immaculately clean-decked daysailer from Hoek and Dutch builder Leonardo Yachts

Leonardo Yachts’ co-founder Melle Boersma sent us these first sailing pictures of their new Eagle 54. When I first saw…

Hennevanger’s confidence in his boats is infectious. He is always ready and willing to go sailing and will take his boats out in anything, especially in the high winds and waves typically found around the entrance to IJmuiden.

In 2014, during European Yacht of the Year trials in Italy, the SE33 was the only boat to leave the harbour in big breeze and swell, despite being among a fleet of much larger cruising yachts. The gennaker still went up and although we had a lively time trying to clock top speeds, it was yet another demonstration of the robust build quality and ease of sailing a Saffier.

The SE37 sails beautifully and is very well balanced

A quick blast

Hennevanger is an action man, Mr Energetic. He had cast off and started hoisting the main in the marina before I’d had a chance to finish stowing my bag below. It was the start of a commanding demonstration of how quick and easy it is to take these boats out for a short spin.

Our haste to get into open water was rewarded with ideal sailing conditions to suit this type of boat, with flat water and 8-16 knots of offshore breeze for our morning sail. And there was even some swell around the harbour entrance, enough to feel the boat’s motion going into the waves, and to help us surf into double figures. Saffiers have always been easy to sail solo, but would that still be the case at this size, I wondered?

Four discreet buttons on the coamings control the two reversible Harken winches. Together with a bank of six clutches each side, this makes it simple to control the boat single-handedly from the helm – once you have figured out which button does what and which winch best suits the main and jib sheets. It takes a bit of getting used to, but would soon become second nature.

Sailing from amidships on this size of boat is unusual. The only other boats steered from this far forward are keelboats with tiller extensions, centre-cockpit cruisers and multihulls. Yet this wheel-driven performance yacht cannot be compared to any of those.

Despite the length of steering connection needed, it still provides fingertip response. The sensation on the helm is more akin to sailing a compact sports yacht, with only 20ft or so of boat in view ahead. I was quickly hooked.

During our first fetch towards the long stretch of beach south of IJmuiden, we clocked 8.5-9 knots in 10 knots true using the Code 0 furling gennaker. When the breeze picked up another few knots, this increased to a very respectable 9.5 knots.

Under-deck sheets exit directly in front of clutches and winch

The ease with which sails can be changed encourages you to do so. As we sailed up and down past the lines of sand dunes, we frequently swapped gennaker for jib and vice versa. In just 30 seconds, Hennevanger had doused the jib and launched the kite solo. I soon understood how he had already beaten a fully crewed First 40 team during Wednesday evening racing while sailing the SE37 solo (which must feel pretty cool)!

Manoeuvres rarely called for anything other than a line to be clutched-off and another to be set around a winch. One downside of the helm position is that you can’t see the main properly when sitting to leeward. I also think the tail locker openings should be larger, or a second locker be made each side so the tail ends can be divided neatly. On a boat of this aesthetic calibre, there is no place for an untidy mess.

The SE37 was designed by Dean Hennevanger and Satellite Yacht Design

Addictive helming

The Saffier SE37 really is a fun boat to sail in both directions. We averaged 7 knots upwind at around 35°, half a knot more when freed off a little in the puffs. The self-tacking jib made short-tacking back into harbour a delight.

Sailing against the tide, we ‘slam dunked’ it through the tacks to ensure the mainsail’s roach crossed the backstay. The wind switched to a sea breeze in the afternoon, which allowed for some memorable gennaker rides going with a slight swell.

It was notable how much difference the movement of our weight made. We had been sitting at 9.5 knots, but when the 6ft 2in Hennevanger moved from the aft sunbed to the rail, speed rose regularly over 10 knots, with surfs up to 10.9 knots in around 12 knots true.

Throughout all the manoeuvres the Saffier SE37 felt sporty and stiff. Following early sea trials, Hennevanger modified the keel, reducing the ballast and rudder profile because he felt the boat was too stiff. It can still carry a serious amount of canvas however, including a gennaker up to 115m² (our Code 0 was 90m²).

I gybed the boat single-handed using only the reversible winches – taking it slowly through the gybe, while unwinding one and pulling in on the new working sheet. Together with one hand on the wheel and some close monitoring it really is a simple two-fingered operation – and it’s a technique Hennevanger swears is just as easy to carry out in 20+ knots.

The Saffier SE37 is a boat that makes you reluctant to stop sailing. I happily hogged the helm, sailing right into the tight marina, before dropping the main and reversing 150m into the finger berth. My first day aboard and I’d gained absolute confidence in the boat and its handling.

The clean, uncluttered twin helm positions

Lounge design

The space and comfort of the cockpit cannot be overstated – there is room enough for ten people at a time. The aft deck is a proper relaxation zone, a cushioned terrace on the water, completely clear of sailing systems. It’s a real selling point for those looking to take family or friends out to enjoy the simple pleasure of being afloat.

The forward helm position means there is little need for walkthrough cockpit access while under sail; hence a fixed table is a sensible solution that provides a central brace for those seated on the benches. There are also relatively deep cockpit bench lockers, plus an optional fridge drawer and grill below the benches. The side decks have hidden magnetic strips incorporated, which allow backrests to stay in place and be slid forward or aft to suit seated guests.

Light oak finishes and indirect lighting create an airy feel

The shallow aft lockers give access to the steering gear, a Jefa system that uses a mix of rod, chain and wire. My worry was that the length of gear needed might lead to the type of disconnection in sensation typical of centre-cockpit boats. Thankfully, this was not the case with the SE37.

A ten-year old Saffier 26 in the berth next to us was a testament to why all Saffier owners, or over 300 in the last decade, choose the optional Esthec composite decking – it still looked immaculate. A €25,000 upgrade on the SE37 it does, however, get a little hot under bare feet.

There were around €100,000 of extras in total fitted on the test boat, including electric winches, carbon mast and laminate sails, which pushed the price up to a hefty €330,000. That said, pricing is still 20-30% less than Tofinou – for the same quality declares Hennevanger. “I’m not saying we’re cheap, but I do think it’s fair pricing for what we give.”

It may be ‘just’
a daysailer, but SE 37 includes a galley, plenty of storage space and a separate heads

Business class lounge

The extra-wide companionway helps connect inside and out, with little height difference between the two. The use of carbon reinforcement in the deck also allows Saffier to do away with a central bulkhead, resulting in one long open cabin space, or yet more ‘lounge’, forward of the companionway.

The tidy ‘galley’ is in keeping with the luxury daysailer approach, particularly the coffee area complete with slide-out espresso machine and individual pod holders. A double electric hob, drawer-fridge and shallow composite sink complete an area suitable for rustling up light lunches at anchor.

A small switchboard is mounted further outboard and I like the way you can perch on the top companionway step to access this or use the tap. The companionway steps can be removed for access to a compact engine space and there is washboard stowage to one side.

A proper heads is a critical feature for a daysailer of this type to allow all aboard to enjoy full days afloat in comfort. The Saffier SE37 has that, albeit without standing headroom, and also includes practical stowage and a wet hanging area aft.

The rest of the interior is largely given over to yet more lounge space. The leather-style stitching to the upholstery – the same waterproof material as in the cockpit – is an example of the detailing. The indirect lighting running behind the seating accentuates the length of the boat, while the light oak veneer complements the walnut soles and table.

It is seated headroom only in the saloon, but again this area is designed in a way that is bang-on trend for the purpose of the boat. This means that you could certainly spend a night or two aboard in pleasant weather. And an owner might just do that if they wanted to avoid heading back to their berth for the night. But the main purpose is much more likely to be a chill-out area, with a big vee-berth sofa area and TV on the forward bulkhead, for some downtime or a siesta while at anchor.

An adjustable helm foot brace hinges up from the cockpit sole

Roots of quality

Saffier is owned and run by brothers Dennis and Dean Hennevanger. Their father Richard, who previously owned a yard in Australia in the 1960s, started the firm in IJmuiden to build fishing boats. The Saffier name was adopted in the mid-1990s after the launch of its first 6.5m daysailer.

With its projections of building 58 yachts this year, Saffier can now justly claim to be the world’s largest daysailer brand. A hull delivery once a week calls for an efficient build process and Saffier’s is one of the very best I have seen.

It stems from the Hennevangers’ unwavering desire to do things properly. When he wanted to learn how to do quality vacuum infusion builds in 2011, Dennis Hennevanger built his own 36ft IRC race boat, Nitro. He employed a Kiwi expert to teach his key builders.

Hennevanger, a former Commodores’ Cup skipper, has regularly and successfully competed in Nitro at IRC events and the vacuum infusion knowledge gained is employed on the larger Saffier models (SE33 and SE37).

Since then the yard has trebled in size and become an impressively systematic set-up. It is a particularly clean, tidy and efficient workspace. A proper assembly line has been introduced, which also makes it intelligible for any potential owner who wants to see the processes involved in putting the boat together.

All lamination is now done at another site an hour inland. “We try to pre-fab as much as possible so there are not boats sitting around,” Hennevanger explains. Preparing all the electrics/interiors before the hull arrives at the IJmuiden fit- out yard saves money and the quality is better and more consistent, he maintains.

The pre-fab hall contains rows and rows of shelving with everything ready to go for each boat, down to all metal and woodwork and even wiring looms pre-measured and cut. The result is, logically, a much more consistent quality. One person is used as a runner to fetch everything that is not to hand and any parts can be ordered from the pre-fab hall using a tablet on the wall.

Even the psychology of the workers is considered, with staff cleaning their areas first thing in the morning rather than last thing in the afternoon. “It’s a different mentality, aimed at starting the day fresh,” Hennevanger explains.

Our verdict

The Saffier SE37 is a real sports car of the sea, with the top-end looks and quality, and the luxury detailing you’d expect to find on a Bugatti or an Aston Martin. It’s a properly modern daysailer that will offer a similar reward to the driver.

Feel on the helm is akin to that of a compact sports yacht despite forward position

More than that, it’s a yacht that is ideal for its purpose. Don’t expect to go cruising for a week or eat meals with your family around the saloon table.

But for time-poor folk seeking a short blast of premium-quality sailing, or for couples or larger parties looking to maximise pure sailing pleasure in stylish comfort, this design is hard to beat. It’s a reassuringly expensive toy that celebrates easy, delightful daysailing.

A playful, responsive yacht, the Saffier SE37 quickly fills you with confidence. The more you sail it, the more you get it and the more you love it.

Specification

LOA: 11.00m (36ft 1in)
LWL: 10.00m (32ft 10in)
Beam (max): 3.45m (11ft 4in)
Draught: 2.10m (6ft 11in)
Displacement (lightship): 4,800kg (10,582lb)
Ballast: 2,050kg (4,519lb)
Engine: 21hp Yanmar saildrive
Fuel capacity: 80lt (18gal)
Water capacity: 120lt (26gal)
Sail area (100% foretriangle): 67.6m² (728ft²)
Sail Area to displacement ratio: 24.2
Displacement to LWL ratio: 134
Price ex VAT: €209,500
Designer: Dean Heenevanger / Satellite Yacht Design

The post Saffier SE37 Lounge test: A veritable supercar of the seas appeared first on Yachting World.

Is the CNB 66 the largest Sailing yacht that can be handled by a family crew? Toby Hodges reports

Congratulations. You’ve finally received that hefty bonus. Or perhaps you cashed in your pension, married wisely, or are a successful gambler or racketeer. However you came across the funds, you have decided now is the time to spend them and live the dream.

You want a modish monohull, a yacht that is both spirited to sail and sexy to look at – something out of the ordinary. You crave a yacht that is as at home crossing an ocean with friends as it is providing premium class coastal holidays with the family. And you want something that you can contemplate with pride.

At first glance, the CNB 66 could be the ideal choice. But is this just another pretty face or will she perform? And will she, as CNB suggests, be manageable by owners and their families without needing paid crew? We sailed her off the south of France to find out.

Backstay rams run vertically under the aft deck. Runners are used only to stop the mast pumping when sailing under staysail in a swell.

Punchy design

An increasing number of production yacht builders have moved up to this mid-60ft mark, but the key difference with CNB is that it has come down in size from superyachts. It uses the Beneteau Group’s buying power and industrial experience to help keep price tags modest, combined with its own R&D, engineering and big boat know-how to produce elegant craft that are a cut above the mainstream in style and substance. Think superyacht looks and feel but without the cost of a similar-sized semi-custom yacht.

The base price of a CNB 66 is around 40 per cent less than that of an Oyster or Contest, though if all the optional extras are chosen, as was the case with the test boat, that margin reduces considerably.

The 66 marks CNB’s 30th anniversary and is a model that plays on the success of the Bordeaux 60 (46 sold in nine years) and the CNB 76 (21 in four years). She shares a similar Philippe Briand-designed sporty hull and coachroof shape to the 76, but the bowsprit option is new.

Article continues below…

Baltic 67 review: Finnish superyacht yard goes back to its roots with no-compromise cruiser

Were money no object and you wanted the ultimate yacht for long-term cruising, what would you choose? How large could…

Swan 65 test: The triumphant return of a true sailing icon

If it hadn’t been for the original Swan 65, Nautor’s Swan might never have become the famous name it is…

Upwind control

Docking out of the bustling marina at Port Cogolin, we were met by ideal sunny sailing conditions. It was the day after the closing regatta of the Mediterranean season, Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. A Force 4 easterly was blowing and we had the Golfe de Saint-Tropez to ourselves.

Beating upwind under full main and genoa, we could pinch up to 22° to the apparent wind, making 7.5 knots. This rose up to 8.5 knots at 25° apparent as the breeze picked up into the mid-teens. My three crewmates demonstrated how easy it is to reef the CNB 66, an important consideration in taming this powerful cruiser.

The test boat has a carbon mast and hydraulic roller-furling carbon vee boom, developed with Hall Spars. Although this is an option over the standard aluminium rig, it is a significant feature for CNB in its efforts to convince couples that this is a manageable yacht.

Once the main is hoisted, the mandrel is hydraulically engaged. To furl, a remote switch powers the mandrel while the halyard is eased from the mast base winch. The system can also be controlled manually using an emergency line.

Without changing our heading, the main was sheeted out, a reef was wound in and we sailed on – at the same speed and with a bit less heel and pointing. Point nicely proven.

The boom and reefing mechanism is a seriously expensive option though. I would expect that, for €140,000, it might hoist or lower sails automatically and make drinks at the same time. Yet this system still requires a crewmember at the mast base to work the halyard winch and the control switch for the mandrel.

With full sail quickly and easily restored, we were soon out of the bay and into a steady sea breeze – and the 66 was in her element. Once she has that extra couple of knots of wind and degrees of heel, the CNB 66 accelerates another half-knot.

The masculine styling, including the low, wraparound design of the coachroof, is signature Briand

The sweet spot

It was a noticeable and delightful difference – she is a boat that sails best powered up. Indeed, it is once we cracked off a little onto a fetch that I found her sweet spot. This is the way to cover the sea miles, I thought – 15 knots wind at 50° apparent, clocking a steady 10 knots boat speed. We spent an intoxicating hour like that, close reaching back and forth across the mouth of the bay, savouring the experience.

The test boat had twin headsails – 90 per cent of CNB owners take this staysail option

In general, the feel on the helm is fun and authoritative. When the boat is less pressed, it can feel a little neutral and she can wander. The large twin rudders suit her design though.

Despite a noticeable amount of drag off the leeward blade, the direct grip they provide make easy work for the autopilot.

We hoisted a bright pink asymmetric sail for the return leg into the bay. This felt wonderful for the short spell when I could heat her up a little, making up to 10.5 knots.

But depth restrictions soon forced us to bear away to a more sedate angle, heel and speed. If we tried to sail much lower than 120° apparent, the asymmetric would lose too much apparent wind and start to flog.

As we slid past the old harbour at Saint-Tropez under port gybe, I couldn’t help thinking how at home the CNB 66 looked. This is one chic and stylish mini superyacht that will stand out for the right reasons wherever she sails.

Modern deck design

The twin helm stations are well designed. The outboard helm seats enable you to sit out in comfort, both to windward and leeward, with full vision along the side decks. Foot chocks will help when standing at the helm, and these are installed at handover stage according to each owner’s specification.

Directly in front of the helmsman’s seats are consoles for plotters, instruments, engine throttles and thruster controls. However, I found the motorboat-style joystick thruster controls were positioned too close to the wheel and could easily get knocked. Bow and stern thrusters help alleviate concerns about handling a yacht of this size with twin rudders in port – but I’d ask for conventional switches.

The main cockpit is set up for relaxing. The table lowers to form a sunbed but the coamings are a little low.

To get to the winches the helmsman has to walk outboard around the large consoles or inboard around the pedestals. It is then possible to keep a hand on the wheel and let off a lazy sheet. In reality, however, either one crewmember (or the autopilot) would helm while one or two others trim main and foresails.

The benefit of keeping the sailing systems aft is that, like most big yachts today, it leaves the main cockpit free of sailing systems. The seating area is larger to port and the companionway is offset a little. This slightly unsymmetrical design continues below through to the forward accommodation to provide privacy to the offset berth in the owner’s cabin.

The cockpit coamings are low, maintaining the sleek aesthetics of the superstructure, but offer little comfort or protection. This makes the optional padded backrest cushions a wise choice. Playtime at anchor and a smart means of getting ashore are important considerations for a yacht of this type.

Leisure time at anchor is well considered. The bathing platform is large and the RIB can be launched within a minute

A large, hydraulic-powered bathing platform lowers to reveal a tender garage roomy enough to house a 3.25m Williams jet RIB. Runner boards can mount onto the platform to help deploy the dinghy and an electric belt winch aids retrieval.

The forepeak sail locker is large enough to be used as an optional crew cabin, it has 7ft headroom, a proper fixed ladder and a useful watertight door into the interior. I liked the workbench with sockets for charging power tools and the tower of bosun’s boxes for spare parts.

Deck saloon appeal

Jean-Marc Piaton has designed another elegant, modern and light interior, which, as with the CNB 76, produces an air of quality and distinction throughout. The beamy deck saloon, with its ample natural light and views, creates a superb first impression.

Feedback from owners about its previous models led CNB to maximise interior space in the saloon and adjoining galley. It uses the full beam in the saloon, with the sofas taken right out to the hull sides. Elsewhere the 66 shares a similar layout to the 76, except the aft galley adjoins the saloon and the aft double cabin is suitable for either guests or crew.

The airy galley connects nicely with the deck saloon via an open bulkhead and navstation desk

Open spaces have their downsides at sea, however. Going below when the yacht is heeled quickly establishes that the CNB 66 badly needs a handrail on the deckhead in the saloon. It is a good distance between the saloon table and the sofa. And the carpet had yet to be secured down, which merely compounded my precarious efforts to walk forward. I also found the 90° companionway steps too angular for use at heel – curved sides would help.

An open bulkhead separates saloon and galley but allows interaction between both. These areas are divided by an aft-facing navstation, which is well placed to communicate with those on deck.

The danger is that this could become the ‘hall table’, however, a dumping ground between galley and saloon. The option of a dedicated navstation to starboard therefore, rather than the huge daybed cum sofa, will appeal to more traditional sailors.

The cabins have an attractive décor. They feature lit and ventilated wardrobes, bookshelves, leecloths and fittings, fabric on the hull liners and full-length mirrors on the doors. It’s a harmonious mix of designer and practical details.

The word ‘smart’ littered my notes. Even the heads and shower compartments, which have heated towel rails and electric flush as standard, are very, um, smart. The effect is of a modern, chic apartment. The cabins are all rather compact though. A combination including both a sail locker and a tender garage squeezes the rest of the accommodation space slightly.

For a new boat, she also felt very complete. Yacht Solutions, an independent company based near CNB in Bordeaux, supplies equipment for most new CNB clients, ranging from safety and technical gear to crockery and bed linen.

Below the saloon

Another reason a deck saloon is popular on medium-to-large sized yachts is that it allows the builders to install tanks and mechanics beneath it, keeping the weight central and freeing up accommodation and stowage space elsewhere.

CNB uses a modular build system where the interior is fully constructed before being lowered into receivers in the hull. This ensures consistent quality and reduces build times.

The engine room, all contained in one metal box, is one of these five modules on the CNB 66. Two quick access points in the saloon sole allow for regular maintenance checks, otherwise, the carpets and chairs need to be removed to lift the soleboards. The benefit of doing so, however, is that access to machinery is then excellent.

It needs to be. With tanks, plumbing, and optional watermaker all contained in here, it is a crowded machinery space. Indeed, the hot water tank has been moved aft on future models to free up room around the genset.

A generous fuel tank capacity (1,300lt) helps provide a motoring range of over 1,000 miles, including three hours’ genset use per day. I like the way the filters, separators and coolant refill are neatly mounted and easy to access. CNB has certainly made sure the parts that require regular servicing are as user-friendly as possible.

Galley

The galley is a spacious area to work in, a practical U-shape, with plenty of light and headroom. There is ample cold stowage space, including a 157lt domestic-style fridge. If all the extras are chosen, as aboard the test boat with its extra fridge-freezer, washer-dryer, dishwasher and wine climatiser, dry goods stowage space is compromised.

CNB uses electric cooking appliances as standard to avoid the need to carry gas. These are powered off the batteries and inverter for quick cooking, or the genset for Sunday roasts.

Aft cabin

The aft cabin is versatile because it will suit either guests or a paid crew, and the separation in space to the forward cabins ensures a good degree of privacy from and for the owner. However, the cabin is on different sole levels and does feel slightly cramped, particularly in the compact ensuite heads where a larger-framed crewmember would struggle to get through the doorway. To provide space for a separate shower cubicle, the heads is crammed in behind the door.

The elegant owner’s cabin has a large ensuite forward with access to the sail locker

Forward cabins

The owner’s cabin décor is clever because it feels calming and luxurious despite this not being a particularly large area. It lacks stowage space for couples staying aboard for long periods, but there is an option to choose a dressing room over the fourth heads (currently accessed via the bunk cabin).

The ensuite heads forward has a generous sized separate shower. A door through the forward bulkhead provides useful internal access into the sail locker. The other two guest cabins are a double and a functional family bunk cabin, both with ensuite heads.

Our verdict

The CNB 66 is pitched at the point where two markets meet: where semi-custom luxury rubs up against the economic practicality of serial production. You are led to feel you are aboard a superyacht, but the focus is still on ease of handling for a crew of family and friends at a price that is (just about) still within production yacht territory.

The test boat had twin headsails – 90 per cent of CNB owners take this staysail option

It’s a contemporary design that ticks many boxes that potential owners looking at this size level desire: enjoyable sailing, plentiful deck space, a garage for a jet RIB, a proper deck saloon and a luxury feel to the interior.

CNB says this is the largest yacht that can be handled by its owners. That may be the case, but only provided the owner/skipper has some experience in handling big yachts and their associated loads.

You would need to have a few reliable sailing friends if not using a paid crew. The test boat has a clever in-boom furling system, but still requires at least a couple of able sailors to work it.

This is a dream boat for doing an ocean crossing at pace and in real comfort. It’s sporty enough for the odd social regatta and offers a luxurious platform for holidaying with family. But once you moor up and leave a boat of this size, cost and quality, it would still be prudent even for an owner-operator to have someone to help with maintenance. Volunteers will surely not be hard to find.

Specification

LOA: 20.61m (67ft 7in)
LWL: 18.45m (60ft 6in)
Beam (max): 5.51m (18ft 1in)
Draught: 2.95m (9ft 8in)
Displacement (lightship): 31,000kg (68,563lb)
Ballast: 9,350kg (20,613lb)
Sail area (100% foretriangle): 208.8m² (2,248ft²)
Berths: 8
Engine: 180hp Volvo D4
Water capacity: 1,000lt (220gal)
Fuel capacity: 1,300lt (286gal)
Price from: €1,390,000 (ex VAT)
Price as tested: €2.1m
Design: Philippe Briand & Jean Marc Piaton

The post CNB 66 yacht test: Intoxicating cruiser is a cut above the mainstream appeared first on Yachting World.

These extraordinary photos show Greenland in all its beauty, shot during a unique voyage on Mark Rohr’s 90ft sloop, one which helped spark this owner’s investigations into climate change in the marine environment

Our thirst for adventure is as unquenchable as ever. In the marine world, that desire to escape the beaten path seems only to be increasing. There are more and more large exploration-style vessels launching, the commissions of owners wanting to see for themselves the incredible sights that cruising in high latitudes offers.

When we first set eyes on these pictures of Acadia voyaging in Greenland, part of an extensive collection from acclaimed marine photographer Onne van der Wal, we were hooked. And the more we found out about this cruise, the more interested we became.

It’s rare for an owner sailing a Truly Classic sloop to want to get acquainted with icebergs. But Mark Rohr had a further agenda: to better understand the science behind glaciers and icebergs, to speak to the locals and scientists and to see first-hand how global warming is affecting the ocean, its acidity and ecosystems.

Put into perspective: 90ft Acadia is dwarfed by icebergs while motoring though an ice field approaching Ilulissat

We caught up with Rohr, who, out of a desire to spread awareness about ocean conservation, was happy to share the details of his mission to western Greenland.

Rohr, the CEO of a Fortune 500 listed technology and materials company in Texas, explained that his three-week trip above the Arctic Circle was planned to visit the most productive glaciers in Greenland, if not the world, and gain a sense of the environment and people. And how, with the help of van der Wal, he wanted to capture images of coastal fjords, ice production and glacial melts, while studying animal and plant life in this transition zone.

“I am a closet oceanographer,” Rohr admitted when I asked about his desire to commit to this mission, “and I’ve always been very interested in oceanography and the sea and have always sailed.”

Article continues below…

Summer sailing in high latitudes is no guarantee of good weather – sometimes winter is better

Although we are in the business of providing uncertainty as one of the mainstays of the Pelagic experience, there are…

Sailing to high latitudes: Everything you need to know before you set sail

Specialist high latitude yachts invariably have metal hulls and are very solidly built with large fuel tanks and internal steering…

I had to ask about the choice of yacht. A 90ft aluminium Hoek-design with traditional overhangs is not the sort of craft usually associated with high latitudes sailing. “She’s very well built,” Rohr explained, “with thoughtful systems and safety in mind, able to sail well above the Arctic Circle and we’ll soon head to Panama, Galapagos and the South Pacific and I hope one day we’ll do Antarctica.”

The mission

After more than a year’s planning, Acadia departed Nuuk in late July and set sail for Disko Bay, 400 miles to the north. Why the particular interest in Greenland? I wondered. Rohr explained that it was all to do with increasing acidity in the oceans.

“Elevated levels of CO2 in the atmosphere promotes excess formation of carbonic acid in the ocean. This acid effectively lowers the pH and locks up the carbonate used by marine animals to make shells, or form coral skeletons. The lower the pH the more difficult it becomes for these animal and plankton to thrive. Big seasonal swings in ocean pH normally occur in the Arctic where you have dramatic changes in temperature, salinity, movement of ice into the ocean and all the nutrients that come with it.

Acadia’s route from Nuuk to and around Disko Bay

“So scientists up there are studying marine algae to see how different species handle different ocean acidification, with a view to what’s going to happen if you look forward 20 years, 50 years or hundreds of years…

“What interested me about Greenland and Disko Bay were these interactions and learning from them to help us when we visit places like the Galapagos, where we hope to look at the naturally high levels of acidification around ocean vents and how marine species are dealing with a more acidic environment.

“So we spent some time in and around the glaciers to really get a sense of global warming and what impacts people see, and also to try to tie this back to ocean acidification.”

Breaking down ‘bergs

Greenland, the world’s largest island, covers an area of roughly 2.2 million km². The ice cap at its centre, second only to Antarctica’s, is over 3.2km thick, covers an area of 1.7 million km² and is the only ice sheet in the Northern Hemisphere that remains from the ice age.

Ice flows gradually from the centre of the cap toward the sea. The area around Disko Bay and the Uummannaq Fjords represents the primary western route to the sea and some estimate that half of the total Greenland ice loss occurs from this area.

One of the fastest ice streams in the world is Sermeq Kujalleq, which terminates in the inner part of the Ilulissat ice fjord. This moves at an astonishing pace of roughly 40m per day, with an estimated 46 million km³ of ice calving into the fjord per year – the equivalent annual water consumption of the United States.

Acadia motors out of Kangersooq (Nordfjord in Danish) on the north-west side of Disko Island

The large calved icebergs move down the fjord eventually entering Disko Bay and its surrounds. The glacier face and ice fjord are a unique natural wonder and for this reason it was named a UNESCO world heritage site in 2004. Since then the glacier tongue has receded more than 20km toward the inland ice face and the velocity of the glacier has almost doubled.

The marine ecosystem is strongly influenced by the ice movement through the fjords and into the sea. Subglacial melting adds nutrients to the sea, supporting plankton blooms. Halibut, Northern shrimp, Greenlandic shark, ringed seals, fin, minke and humpback whales are common species found in and around the ice at the mouth of the fjord.

As the ice enters Disko Bay it is impacted by currents and winds that push the ice to the north, eventually finding its way across to Baffin Island where the Labrador current takes the icebergs south along the Labrador Coast to Newfoundland and eventually out into the Atlantic. It is believed among scientists that the Titanic was sunk from a Kanga Glacier iceberg following this route.

A whale among the icebergs that have calved off the Kangia Glacier

Ice types

There were three categories of ice or icebergs that Acadia routinely encountered: snow-based, melt water-based and basal-based. Coming in all shapes and sizes, the term ‘iceberg’ officially refers to chunks larger than 5m/16ft across.

Most icebergs are white in colour, the result of light reflection on the air contained within the frozen and compacted snow. The snow-based icebergs sometimes contain so much ancient compressed air that the water around them fizzes as if it were carbonated.

Within icebergs it’s also common to see turquoise or blue ice streaks. These streaks are caused by melt water (free of air) trickling through the glacier and refreezing. Melt water ice is very compacted and hard, and can be razor-sharp.

More ice breaks away from the Greenland ice cap, while nutrient-rich algae tints the water green

The sides and base of the glacier that rubs along the wall or floor pick up dirt and rocks, so icebergs can also contain these dark or dirty basal deposits.

On average about 17% of an iceberg is visible above sea level, hence the infamous term ‘tip of the iceberg’. Icebergs predominately made of basal material or melt water are denser and float lower in the water. Pure melt ice is almost translucent and seems to sit on the water with little protruding above the surface.

Melt water ice represents the greatest hazard to a vessel like Acadia. While on this expedition the crew encountered thousands of icebergs, products of the enormous Greenland icecap and thousands of years of snow and ice accumulation. It’s breathtakingly beautiful and at the same time concerning as rapid changes and melt rates seem to be accelerating.

Inspecting an iceberg that has entangled itself in the anchor chain

Reviewing the data collected over the last decade, it’s easy for those on Acadia to see evidence of the dramatic change under way. Scientists at the Arctic Station and from research institutions around the world studying Disko Bay and surrounding glaciers are providing tremendous insights into the impact of climate on this fragile ecosystem.

Acadia’s Disko cruise

Rohr describes Acadia’s Greenland voyage in detailed notes, from which we have taken extracts: ‘Acadia stopped at the mouth of the Evighed Fjord and journeyed 50km inland through the fjord’s winding passages and dominating ice-capped mountains, to meet our first and closest encounter with a calving glacier.

‘The next stop was Sissimut, the second largest town in Greenland, which has been inhabited for over 4,000 years. It’s a beautiful and successful fishing community with a collection of homes and buildings nestled in a valley and a spectacular natural harbour. Our Inuit guide, Nivi, shared her stories of life in the community and described how it has changed over the years.’

Acadia sailed on northwards towards the destination of Disko Bay and the settlement/harbour of Ilulissat. ‘Entering and exiting Ilulissat is a challenge for vessels like Acadia. The ice pack from the Kangia Glacier and ice fjord is very dense for 10-15km out into Disko Bay. Acadia, normally at home at sea, was out of her element in the pack ice. It took us six or seven hours to travel the 10km to the relative safety of Ilulissat harbour when first entering the area.

‘While crawling along and pushing ice out of way, we were regularly passed by Inuit fisherman in their small skiffs, greeting us with a friendly wave. Ilulissat, founded in 1741, is today is the eco-tourism mecca of Greenland and at its heart a fishing and hunting community.

Chart details of Disko Island with magnifier

‘We had tea with a local Inuit woman who told us stories of her life and family history, then visited a local hunter and fisherman while he fed his 18 dogs and shared fascinating insights. The area is peppered with ancient Inuit settlements, many dating back to 4,000BC, highlighting the impact of this incredible bay and the Arctic on the legacy of mankind.

‘Ilulissat’s major calling card is Kangia Glacier, a UNESCO World Heritage site and one of the fastest calving glaciers in the world, advancing at about 40m per day. Ice discharge from this glacier fills the fjord and much of Disko Bay with enormous icebergs, many the size of a city block.

It’s almost impossible to comprehend the grand scope of this glacier system and the enormity of its contribution on the environment.

Rachel Rohr and skipper Heinrich Mueller on watch passing icebergs

‘Disko Island across the bay is home to the Arctic Station and a number of beautiful fjords full of bird and animal life. A research arm of the University of Copenhagen, established in 1907, this centre sponsors and hosts researchers from around the world studying the glaciers, animal and plant life – a fantastic group of people conducting critical research to help build knowledge about climate change.

‘Claushavn is a small community of 90 people just south of the ice fjord, which became known by Acadia as whale central. Here fin, minke and humpback whales feed on the capelin, northern krill and plankton in these rich waters. Daily lunge feeding displays a co-ordinated behaviour that is a remarkable example of beauty and efficiency.

Acadia’s owner Mark Rohr with a local Greenlandic hunter and fisherman

‘We worked with Danish guide Mia Olesen to engage with the people of Greenland to learn more about their life and the Inuit culture.

‘Naturalist guide Jeppe Lang helped build our appreciation of the ice and animal dynamics of the region, while Professor Per Hansen of the Arctic Station helped expand our knowledge of the interaction between plant and animal life as scientists study the effects of climate change.’

What surprised Rohr about this area of Greenland were the people: “Everyone we met, the Inuit families, the men and women from the Copenhagen marine institute, the scientists and the fishermen. Everybody was stunningly wonderful – very welcoming, very engaging and so willing to invite us in and share their stories.”

The Acadia programme

Acadia launched two years ago and this voyage was the first of an extensive programme of cruises revolving around marine studies. The crew includes highly experienced skipper Heinrich Mueller, mate Brent Levenson and expedition coordinator Ali Hay.

“If you’re interested in oceanography you have to go to the transition zones to really get a sense of what’s going on,” Rohr explained when asked about the boat’s programme.

“So going to the Arctic and Antarctic, deep in the Pacific, areas like Panama, where you’ve got a combination of Humboldt current and deep ocean with mangrove swamps and heavy rain water – it’s those transition areas where you really see the most life and the most engagement of species. These are the areas where I think we can learn the most and gain the best understanding of what’s going on.”

Acadia was heading to Panama at the time of writing. “We’ll spend several weeks at the Institute for Tropical Ecology in Bocos Del Toro, studying coral and coral diseases to build expertise we hope to use when we get into the South Pacific,” Rohr explains.

Acadia‘s lovely Truly Classic lines looking more at home under full canvas

“Then we go through the canal to Galapagos where we’ll be working with scientists studying the impact of ocean acidification around natural carbon dioxide vents. These vents create elevated levels of acidity and can provide a glimpse of our future and the impact on flora and fauna.”

The plan after that for Acadia is to sail to Cuba, “where we’re supporting a scientist studying Elkhorn coral, coral ecology and the impact of pollution and ocean warming,” says Rohr. And in early 2020 Acadia will transit back through the Panama Canal to sail the South Pacific. It’s a busy but fascinating schedule.

The message

“We are very fortunate to have an opportunity to sail around the world, interact with so many fascinating people and learn from their experiences,” Rohr concluded.

“I hope Acadia can play a role in elevating awareness of the fragile nature of our marine environment and through that help get others involved to do what they can to protect the oceans and life on earth. We’re just trying to elevate awareness and to be honest we’re just getting started.”

The post Sailing Greenland’s frozen frontiers on 90ft modern classic superyacht Acadia appeared first on Yachting World.

Bente certainly isn’t following the crowd with its new 39, but does maverick style translate into usability?

And now for something different. Every now and then a boat comes along that is unusual, the result of different thinking and new ideas. As we cut upwind into the driving rain on a bleak spring day off Kiel, however, I admit I began to question whether this funky looking pilot saloon design, with its expansive use of glass and latte-coloured paintwork, had substance to match its style. Yes, the Bente 39 has character, but would it override the conditions? Could it make a lasting impression?

I quickly realised that this yacht is not simply fresh-looking, but is packed with intelligent ideas that work. For starters, it’s capable of producing a sailing experience that can make you howl with delight. I soon learned that, in the case of the Bente, being different is a good thing.

Bente is a young, dynamic German firm that creates yachts it describes as individual, sexy and affordable. The modish term for its approach is disruptive thinking. At the 2015 Düsseldorf Boat Show, the startup brand had a stand that admirably reflected the company’s blank sheet of paper approach, offering up a storyboard of its journey to create an affordable 24-footer, its first model, more than 100 of which have now been built.

Although quirky, the follow-up Bente 39 is no niche product. In fact it fits in to various categories, from a family pilot saloon or fast charter boat to an ocean racer or short-handed cruiser. Granted the coachroof/cockpit design won’t suit round-the-cans racing, but other than that it has broad potential and the first six sold have all had entirely different configurations. Can one design really serve so many purposes? It was time to find out.

Shaking up the market

To know Bente you have to know Alex Vrolijk, the turbo-talking, fast-thinking visionary behind the company and son of celebrated naval architect Rolf Vrolijk. This Bente 39 is born out of Vrolijk’s frustrations with the current cruising boat market. “I’ve been in the industry for 18 years and not seen a lot of development,” declares Vrolijk, who feels manufacturers are more likely to be influenced by other brands than by clients.

Vrolijk, who now sails with his wife and dog, and regularly needs to cover 200 miles to get to his desired cruising grounds, sought a yacht in which they “could sail faster and more enjoyably”. He wanted a Class 40 while his wife wanted a cruising boat so they ‘met in the middle’, with a design Vrolijk describes as a cross between a Dehler and a Pogo.

The result has a modern planing hull shape, a large cockpit and a glass-roofed pilothouse. He thinks it’s crazy to sit in a saloon ‘downstairs’ and wanted a companionway his dog could descend easily. The glass dodger, with the light and airiness it brings, is the real USP of the Bente 39. “You can see what’s happening from below when sailing and have an old school proper navigation seat,” Vrolijk explains.

It also creates superb protection for the cockpit, which includes a raised helm area to see over the superstructure. On boarding Vrolijk’s prototype 39 in Laboe, I instantly appreciated how this dodger might help give us some protection from the inhospitable elements that awaited.

Article continues below…

J/99 review: All thrills, no frills on board this double-handed racing machine

We ghosted down the Hamble River under mainsail alone, the water slipping silently past our red hull in the grainy…

JPK 1030 test: The intuitive French flier that’s easy for couples to control

Pip Hare feels right at home on the JPK 1030 – a quick, no-nonsense boat that’s ideal for short-handers

£103,730.00

What rain?

Having been handed some of the most miserable, wet conditions I can remember for a boat test, it is a testament to the Bente 39’s attributes that by the end of the day I had to be persuaded to head back to port and virtually wrestled off the helm with the threat of missing my flight home.

As we set out upwind towards Kiel, my immediate impression was of the easy, light and direct feeling you come to expect with twin rudders. You can tell it’s a stiff boat, which reacts instantly, almost jerkily, to helm command, more like a sportsboat than a cruising yacht, and I appreciated that direct level of control once the gusts kicked in. Bente puts a strong focus on shape and structure, featuring fully cored hulls and decks, which use vacuum-infused vinylester.

Sailing into a squally wind that would gust from 14-25 knots, with one reef in the main, the Bente 39 clocked 8-8.4 knots at 40° to the true wind in an average breeze of 16-20 knots. We did a few windward/leeward legs later on and played with various angles, but speeds remained consistently around or above 8 knots while on the wind.

The windward perch offers clear views for the helmsman

The traveller is key to depowering the main upwind, and is led to cam cleats each side so it can be actively played by the helmsman if straddling or sitting forward of the wheel. One enquiring look at Vrolijk after the boom passed inches from my nose during a tack was enough to be told the boom is going to be shortened by 20cm on the production boats.

The two winches on each side work well for trimming, but can get a little busy with both sheets and masthead runners to deal with. Bente is looking at adding a third winch option. Currently anyone sailing short-handed would need to activate the autopilot before managing sheets.

Turning to try to escape the black clouds, we hoisted the gennaker and let the fun really start. The majority of the time the wind was up around 20 knots or more and once the log touches 10 knots, the Bente 39 starts to plane.

The enjoyment simply ramped up as the conditions improved and we found the breeze and sea room to let the Bente loose. With a break in the weather we pointed the bow north-east out to sea, on a smoking reach across the waves towards the Danish islands.

The Bente 39 handles superbly in a fresh breeze

And what a blast! Free from any effects from the land, the wind stayed up at a consistent 22–30 knots. We kept one reef in the main and the masthead gennaker up and found a sweet spot at about 100-110° to the apparent wind. The Bente 39 sat on the plane for 90% of the time, even though the swell was coming across our port bows.

It was addictively easy fast sailing. We weren’t actively trimming – I simply carried the gusts down a little and watched the log dial up from 10 to 13.5 knots. It was consistently great fun at a pleasant angle of heel. The Bente 39 never threatened to broach – the chines run all the way aft to create a boat with wide shoulders and high stability.

The Bente has a racy enough feel to delight those who like sailing modern planing yachts, while still offering the full protection to the crew that the pilot saloon design brings. You can nestle into the aft-facing glass, with feet up on the cockpit bench and be completely sheltered from the wind and rain.

Handholds run the length of the glazed coachroof

Greenhouse effect?

The doghouse/coachroof proved an engineering challenge. Much glue and heat testing was needed to finalise the polycarbonate glass windows, which were pressure-tested to 3.5 tonnes per square metre. The frame is built in carbon from a four-piece mould, hydraulically pressed into the deck mould.

The impact of all that glass and natural light on board really connects those in the interior to the sailing. Heat and privacy will obviously be an issue. There are currently two flat opening panes for ventilation, while opening ports are also being added to the aft-facing coachroof windows. The test boat also had air con installed and Bente plans to use a reflective coating on the glass.

Clever deck details

The deck ergonomics have been especially well-considered. The Bente 39 proved an easy boat to get around, there is great protection and bracing, a reassuring toerail, and grabrails where needed, including rails integrated into the coachroof structure.

Toby scribbles some notes under the protection of the glazed canopy

The step-up from the cockpit to the aft deck and helm area is a practical design as it separates the helmsman from those seated in the cockpit and affords clear standing vision over the coachroof. It also means the traveller can be mounted outside the main cockpit.

The running rigging is organised through Constrictor clutches neatly mounted under the rigid canopy. These will take some familiarisation as they are installed very close together, while another tail bag would certainly help tidy up the rope tails. The lazarette area aft spans the full beam with two deck hatches for access and in the two-cabin version tested, there is even more stowage in a large, deep cockpit locker.

Lightweight, high-quality deck gear is used intelligently on the prototype. Approximately 350kg of furniture can be removed for racing, including the 40kg cockpit table, which is sturdy enough to stand on but has Seasmart quick fittings for easy removal.

Impressive natural light from the almost completely glazed coachroof

Looking out

The interior of the Bente 39 is one you will either admire for its originality, modernity and novel solutions, or be put off by its unconventional layout. Admittedly, there are accessibility and headroom issues in some areas, but my overriding impression was of an interior bathed in natural light and where you always feel connected to sailing and the water – which is the reason we go afloat after all.

There are no conventional ‘going below’ connotations. The pilot station itself is offset to starboard on the same level as the cockpit, before two gentle steps down into the galley/saloon.

“You destroy everything to create headroom in the saloon,” explains Vrolijk, who decided to give the lion’s share of space and light to the cockpit, pilot station and galley. The saloon, although large enough to seat seven around the table and include a 2.1m berth to port, only has seated headroom so feels more like a snug.

A central fridge unit connects both sides of the galley

For the production versions, the sole structure has been lowered 5cm to increase headroom. You can also remove the elm (or walnut) soleboards completely and leave it as bare grid structure, Pogo-style.

There are no liners, which helps keep weight down, and the painted surfaces and mouldings show a good quality of finish. The paint is different shades of white – the only colours you see are options for the upholstery and the soleboards. The clever use of shadow gaps in the main bulkheads also serve to break up the expanse of white. The Bente 39 will never be described as quiet, tranquil or cosy.

The pilot/navstation is a squeeze to get into, but can be made to measure. You feel secure once seated where you find a great place to lord it over the saloon, passage plan on the angled table, monitor sail trim and enjoy a protected watch keeping position.

The galley is spread across the beam. Here food prep can be done on either side/tack, with a central fridge and a large worktop that helps connect it to the saloon. The fridge structure also helps disguise an area that can be used for the future option of a swing keel.

The aft cabin has a large double berth, ableit with limited headroom

Smart materials

Bente tries to use sustainable materials wherever possible. The worksurfaces in the galley of the bente 39 are made from recycled PET, finished with recycled paper with a nano surface printed into it, which doesn’t mark. A plant-based epoxy and hemp is used for some internal mouldings, and the fridge uses cork for insulation.

The water tanks below the saloon berth take up valuable stowage space but are placed for optimum weight distribution. The comparatively small tankage will limit cruising range, but Bente told me the semi-custom build means tank capacity can be increased by around 50%.

The minimalist master cabin is situated forward

The forward master cabin is minimalist, with rolled up fabric in place of cabin and locker doors to save weight. But there is plenty of light and stowage, and headroom rises to 5ft 10in.

The aft cabin has a huge double berth under the cockpit on which you can sleep lengthways or athwarthships, albeit with only 50cm clearance inboard between the mattress and the cockpit sole.

It’s light and roomy with a hatch that provides quick access to the cockpit – a logical solution for a couple would be to use this cabin while on passage and the forward cabin in harbour.

The heads compartment is also generous with Perspex doors separating the heads/shower area from the washbasin and clever swing-out lockers to keep toilet accessories dry. A locker aft contains the majority of seacocks, all mounted in one easily accessible position.

Bente in build

Bente looked at how they could build a boat most efficiently and economically with its first 24, while this Bente 39 has a more low-volume, semi-custom approach. It is reportedly aiming to build five to ten a year and had sold six at the time of our test.

Bente shares a part of the Judel Vrolijk office in Bremerhaven and subcontracts its builds to Yacht Services in Poland, laminating specialists 5km from the German border used by many other brands including Eagle daysailers.

And the name? Bente is the wife of one of the design team, who said she wouldn’t go aboard the 24 if there was no heads. So from then on each idea had to pass the ‘Bente’ test.

The post Bente 39 boat test: The German yacht that dares to be different appeared first on Yachting World.

What would you want in an ultimate ocean cruising yacht? Here’s Kraken’s answer

“If you don’t like the weather in Cape Town, wait ten minutes,” is an adage the local skipper of the first Kraken 66 told us as we set sail. Thankfully, we had a good couple of days to test White Dragon, sailing around the stunning Cape Peninsula – but he was right about the ‘variable’ conditions. It would change from intense heat without a breath of wind one minute to an unsettling dense mist and cold Force 5 the next.

We’d chosen the ideal location to do a proper boat test on a bluewater cruiser built by a new brand with the specific requirement to be able to sail anywhere safely and comfortably. Still, as the first day passed, the conditions felt a little benign compared with the legendary Cape Doctor reputation.

As we awoke off Simon’s Town on the second morning, however, the wind was already whistling off the mountains. By the time we’d breakfasted, readied the boat and shipped the anchor, 45-knot gusts were already ripping the tops off any swell trying to make its way into False Bay. I smiled: we were going to get the very conditions we had come all this way for, to test the boat in the winds she was bred to handle.

Relatively low topsides maintain elegant hull lines. To gain interior volume a high coachroof and a camber to the foredeck is used

Thankfully, this first Kraken had already done more than enough to instil confidence in its abilities. Kraken yachts have integral keels, full-length, skeg-hung rudders and capacious tanks for long-term cruising. It may take belt and braces to a new level, but, as I was to discover, there is a host of good ideas and a lifetime of experience poured into this yacht that many can learn from.

Whether or not they suit your type of sailing is another matter – but I found myself swept along by the profusion of practical features, the majority born out of hard-earned sailing miles by Kraken’s founder Dick Beaumont.

What is Kraken?

Kraken is a Hong Kong-based brand, run by British sailors building yachts in China designed by New Zealander Kevin Dibley. Construction is subcontracted to a yard in Xiamen, which already builds boats for a number of brands including Passport Yachts.

Kraken founder Dick Beaumont at White Dragon’s wheel chatting to YW’s Toby Hodges

We tested its first boat and model, a Kraken 66 built for Beaumont, who clocked over 100,000 miles aboard his previous 58ft Tayana. “I made a book entitled ‘If I ever have another boat, do this’,” he explained. “That book became three books and, when grandchildren came along, I had the chance and desire to apply those lessons.”

When we joined him in Cape Town Beaumont had already sailed White Dragon 12,000 miles from China en route to exhibit the boat in Europe.

Local greeting

“Here is a boat that fills you with confidence”

Motoring out of a breathless and sweltering V&A Marina in central Cape Town, we immediately met the changeable conditions we were warned about.

Heading south along the western side of the cape, we were hit by a 15-knot onshore breeze, which was so much colder and so sudden that we wondered if the dozens of paragliders flying down from Table Mountain would land safely before it hit land.

Yet as soon as our sails were hoisted and trimmed, the breeze would die away or switch to an opposite direction. It was the start of a long day of frustrating conditions involving motoring and sailing spells, but the tour around the coastline of one of the world’s great Capes proved a good chance to learn more about the design and features of the Kraken 66.

It’s a fairly traditional centre-cockpit design inside and out, which eschews modern design trends in preference for a raked bow and relatively narrow transom.

The bow is shaped to prevent it from burying in seas and reduce slamming. Combined with the yacht’s loaded displacement, it certainly gave a smooth and steady motion when we ploughed through sharp waves upwind in a gale. The tucked-in stern sections, meanwhile, are to prevent the boat planing in waves.

Keels are a big topic for Kraken yachts. “The answer to the question ‘what do I do to stop my keel bolts coming off?’ is ‘don’t have any bolts’,” says Beaumont. Kraken firmly believes that having a rigid structure bolted into a flexible hull is a structural flaw.

The Kraken 66 has a total sail area of 214.7m2

The ‘Zero keel’ is its solution, a bulb- shaped keel that is integral to the hull – bonded securely with the hull and keel laminates, with no bolts needed (zero bolts mean zero chance of separation).

Integrating the keel into the hull mould is an innovative, though expensive, technique. Lead ballast casting is inserted into the lower section of the keel and enclosed within the single-piece hull moulding before the frames and stiffeners are installed.

White Dragon has an integral keel, but still uses bolts. The decision to use only Zero keels for all future Krakens means the company is building a new mould for subsequent 66s.

Following a two-mile excursion off the Cape to watch the Atlantic rollers explode onto the frighteningly exposed Bellows Rock, we unfurled sails again to round the point and venture up the eastern side of the peninsula.

White Dragon has an upgraded sail and rig package, with carbon Southern Spars mast and in-boom furling system. We made between 6.5 and 7 knots reaching in what I guestimate to be around 10–12 knots across the deck (the instruments were faulty and did not show true wind).

Article continues below…

Baltic 67 review: Finnish superyacht yard goes back to its roots with no-compromise cruiser

Were money no object and you wanted the ultimate yacht for long-term cruising, what would you choose? How large could…

CNB 66 yacht test: Intoxicating cruiser is a cut above the mainstream

Congratulations. You’ve finally received that hefty bonus. Or perhaps you cashed in your pension, married wisely, or are a successful…

Power of hydraulics

It should have been just enough of a breeze and an ideal angle to get a feel for the boat, but the Kraken’s hydraulic steering denies sailors the feedback that they rely on and relish. It’s a peculiar choice for this size of yacht, though cable steering does actually come as standard.

Hydraulic power is used wherever practical aboard White Dragon for reliability and to limit any reliance on electric motors. Hydraulic winches and furlers also make it easier for one person to control sail operations remotely from the helm.

The raised single helm station provides good visibility, but it is very central, so it can be tricky to view telltales. The helmsman can reach out from here to trim the three winches for sheets and traveller, however.

When the wind died again, we motored on at 2,200rpm making 7.8 knots. In a 24-hour period using genset and engine, the Kraken 66 consumes about 13lt per hour at this speed, reported Beaumont, down to 10lt per hour at 2,000rpm.

A deck locker for diesel fillers with raised caps to help prevent spillage

With nearly two tonnes of fuel tank capacity, that equates to a significant motoring range. “In remote places where you may not be able to get good fuel, it makes a big difference if you can run for two or three weeks,” he told me.

Brunton’s variable-pitch propellers and Sigmadrive flexible couplings are used for optimum fuel consumption and vibration reduction, together with the latest common rail Yanmar diesels for efficiency and reliability.

Every Kraken also has two main tanks that transfer to a day tank. This running tank cannot be filled directly from the dock – fuel has to go through the Racor fuel polishing system first to prevent dirty fuel getting through to the engine.

“Seventy-five per cent of the failures on my previous boat were fuel related,” Beaumont reports (the rest were to do with electric motors). “So we have ensured you’ll never have impure fuel – that’s what turns beautiful places into misery.”

Gale force sailing

Not many people go sailing in a full gale – not on purpose anyhow. On the morning of our second day aboard, we headed out into a Force 8 rising to a Force 9 to test the Kraken’s mettle and behaviour.

We unfurled the main, leaving plenty in the boom, equivalent to around two and a half reefs, and half the genoa. The apparent wind rose from a steady 35 up to 55 knots during our sail. The boat coped admirably, in its element even, as we fetched at 60-80° to the apparent wind averaging 8.5-9 knots. Even with this conservative sail area it was enough to induce a fair amount of load on the hydraulic steering and 7-10° of rudder angle.

Running rigging (and jib sheets) lead neatly to a bank of high-load jammers aside the cockpit

It didn’t feel quite in tune. I was keen to swap to the staysail, to use a fuller foresail with better shape and potential drive – and indeed, when we switched, White Dragon instantly felt happier. We still left three to four rolls on the staysail furler, but were then able to punch higher upwind at around 50°A in a consistent 45-53 knots, without losing any speed.

The Kraken tracked well, with a stable motion. Although the steering connection still felt alien, the load on the wheel helped relay the forces exerted on the boat to the helm. In all, it was a competent and distinctly reassuring display. Here is a boat that fills you with the confidence to consider sailing in such conditions.

On deck

Heavy-duty winches and Spinlock high-load jammers hint at the displacement and loads of this design – in the loaded condition we experienced, White Dragon weighed around 45 tonnes.

The traveller is well positioned within reach of the helmsman, but the raised cheek blocks on each quarter look awkward, combined with a genoa track that is too long. On future models the track will be on the capping rail, which should then improve the genoa lead and block placements.

The comfortable U-shaped saloon and proper pilot station

The cockpit is generous in size with a long table, but has angular benches with low backrests, which aren’t particularly comfortable and would benefit from the addition of quality cushions. Again the emphasis on safety stands out. Huge drains will reportedly empty a flooded cockpit in four seconds.

The liferaft locker is directly abaft the companionway, a position that Beaumont believes makes most sense if mustering in an emergency. And rather than using one hefty 12-person raft, two six-person rafts are stowed in here, to provide a spare and because their smaller size makes them easier to manhandle.

Extra water and fishing gear is stashed beneath the rafts and there is a grab bag locker under the companionway steps. The locker itself can also be removed in case there is ever a need to hoist out the engine.

Heated wet gear locker has a chair adjacent to make it easier to get into and out of your foulies

Practicalities below

Step below and you gain an immediate feel of solidity, which only increases with time spent aboard. Once more, intelligent features abound that are born out of experience.

To port there is a chair for perching on to remove foul weather gear, beside a heated wet weather locker. It’s a format that encourages you to do things in an orderly and seamanlike fashion – to keep your foulies and lifejacket together, away from the cabins, and to dry them ready for your next watch.

Moving forward, a swivelling pilot chair at the forward-facing navstation gives clear visibility over the foredeck and views of the rig through a hatch situated above. The remote engine throttle and autopilot control mounted here make this a viable position to stand watch in inclement weather.

The U-shaped deck saloon has a table that lowers at the push of a button, either right down to form a huge bed or children’s den, or partially to act as bracing to a pilot berth.

The real appeal of the Kraken 66’s layout for me, though, is in what lies beneath the saloon. The amount of tankage and machinery space is simply astonishing. A door abaft the saloon leads into a corridor of engineering, larger and more comprehensive than aboard any yacht I’ve seen below 90ft, with walkthrough access to two gensets, a dive compressor, DC hydraulic plant, aircon, and a hydraulic watermaker that produces 240lt per hour.

A bank of heavy-duty Racor fuel filters is mounted on the aft bulkhead and below the sole are the three main sea-chests (two for the main engine in case one gets fouled). Every pipe is clearly labelled. An ultra high-volume pump is mounted 3in higher than the bilge pumps, which only activates – together with a siren – in serious flooding.

There is also access under the central saloon sole forward to a compartment that houses a captive winch for the main halyard. There’s an emergency stop button for the hydraulics here, and on the cockpit pedestal.

The passageway galley is ideally laid out for use at sea

A huge battery bank of 1,040Ah at 24V meant we could cook silently all evening at a power drain of just four per cent. Up to 9kW can be drawn from the inverters alone – enough to run aircon in the tropics. And White Dragon has serious power backups in two generators and a power take off on the main engine.

The woodwork is satin-finished golden teak, but white oak or cherry are offered as options. The teak has solid frames with no square edges and the floor is solid planking. Beaumont explained that Kraken can provide this quality craftsmanship at a comparatively low price because of the labour rates in China.

Personally, I did find the interior styling somewhat plain and unremarkable. White Dragon has already sailed 12,000 miles and, in some areas, it showed.

The varnish was showing signs of wearing through in places, including in the heads and around hatches, while some interior metalwork showed signs of corrosion. There is room for improvement with finish quality and the insulation could also be better, both for the engine compartment and for the cabins.

Practical galley

The passageway galley is ideally laid out to work at sea, with excellent headroom and capacious, practical stowage. All worksurfaces are fiddled and there are deep drawers for appliances, ventilated areas for vegetables, plus deep double sinks and a scraps bin inboard.

A Quooker hot water tap (think boiling water in an instant with no wasted energy) is useful for a quick brew and makes sense in combination with White Dragon’s induction stove. The use of an induction cooker avoids the need to ship gas, is easier to clean and safer.

“We move heaven and earth to talk people out of using gas,” says Beaumont. He thinks it pointless and impractical to try to refill gas bottles or find the correct regulator sizes in foreign countries if you have a generator aboard. A front-opening freezer allows cool air to circulate properly. The fridges can also be set at different temperatures on each shelf, with a stainless steel rack at the back to prevent freezer burn.

The aft cabin island berth is square so you can sleep fore and aft or athwartships

Aft cabin

The fittingly large master cabin has generous stowage in large wardrobes and below the berth, and the layout can be tailored to suit. The vast island berth is square so, with the use of the fitted leeboards, it allows you to sleep either fore-and-aft or athwartships.

The downside of the layout is a comparatively compact heads compartment, particularly the shower. Recognising this, Kraken is increasing the beam on the new mould to gain around 8in more room here.

The twin bunk cabin furthest forward has an ensuite heads

Forward cabins

The layout forward of the saloon comprises two bunk cabins and a compact double, a format that will suit having plenty of friends or family aboard. Kraken wanted to avoid having a V-berth cabin, to keep the cabins further aft where there is greater beam and a better motion at sea. The heads/shower in the bows services the forward cabin, while the double cabin and port bunk cabin share a heads.

The cabins are plain in style, but have good headroom and stowage space in lit and ventilated lockers. The berths all have lee cloths, reading lights and useful USB sockets.

The post Kraken 66 test: Could this be the ultimate ocean cruising yacht? appeared first on Yachting World.

Can one new performance design appeal to many tastes? Toby Hodges explores the ideas and multifarious options offered on the new Grand Soleil 48P

Without meaning to sound too shallow, looks make a big impression. Take the impact of this opening photograph. Who wouldn’t want to be in that helmsman’s position, heading offshore at the wheel of a sexy new Italian performance yacht?

Its sharp design attracts buyers aboard, while owners of these yachts want heads to turn wherever they go. But Grand Soleil knows all too well that the Italian fast cruiser market is brimming already and that looks alone won’t translate to sales. The 48 Performance has therefore been designed with plenty of smart thinking to back up the seductive styling.

It’s conceived as a versatile new model, which comes with a multitude of options to make it suitable for inshore and offshore racing and sporty cruising. Designer Marco Lostuzzi describes the Grand Soleil 48P as a ‘transformer’ because of the flexibility of layouts and versions it boasts.

A fixed composite bowsprit contains the anchor roller

There are three different keels offered, three sailplans, three cockpit layouts, three different build materials even, and the choice of four, six or eight winch packages. “It’s not easy to do all these solutions on a production yacht – that was the main challenge,” Lostuzzi reveals.

Is the Grand Soleil 48P today’s answer to the cruiser-racer all-rounder then? We joined builders Cantiere del Pardo for its annual Grand Soleil Week in Portopiccolo to find out.

Reinvention for the times

When you think of Grand Soleils over the last 45 years, it’s the dependable cruiser-racers of the 1980s and 1990s that spring to mind, designs that hit the demand to be cruised hard and raced harder. But times have changed, along with how we spend our time afloat.

Article continues below…

X-Yachts X4-9 test: Danish yard strikes a tough balance with hybrid design

The X49 is squarely aimed at the no-compromise sailor who wants it all. It combines a comfortable, stylish interior, with…

Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 490 test: A boat that demands to be noticed

Pip Hare tests the first Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 490, the eighth generation of its hugely popular cruising range

£218,322.00

In response to that change, this Italian brand has completely reinvented itself. Seeing the decline in the racing market, it brought out its first cruising yacht, the 46 Long Cruise, in 2015 and this has already proved to be one of its most successful, with over 50 sold.

Then came a new powerboat line, for which there has been huge demand. And now Grand Soleil has launched its biggest yacht to date, a maxi-style semi custom 80-footer.

Designer Marco Lostuzzi trims while Toby helms

But is there still a market for a mid-size cruiser-racer? Grand Soleil has already sold 18 of this 48 – over half have been to Italians and four have been full Race versions – so the company is obviously on to something.

“They like the racing looks but with cruising comforts inside,” says Lostuzzi of the buyers so far, adding that the design allows them to mix and match the choices between the standard Performance (cruising) and tricked-up Race versions.

He studied 120 hulls in CFD (computational fluid dynamics), because the yard wanted to win races, particularly in ORC. The answer he came up with was a relatively light and stiff hull with a powerful shape and a sheerline that rises gradually to the bow, a generous 4.55m of beam and a deep, single rudder.

I’ve sailed both versions of the Grand Soleil 48 now and they were at opposite ends of the performance spectrum. The Race model was fully tricked up with all the carbon extras, while the Performance version was set up for easy cruising, with the standard shorter alloy mast, shallow draught keel, self-tacking jib, minimal winches and Vinylester used in the build as opposed to epoxy.

For my trial of the Grand Soleil 48P on the north-east Adriatic we managed to find only brief spells of light wind, typical Med conditions you might say. But this is precisely when you want a relatively lightweight performance design, to hunt down and maximise fickle breezes.

Well heeled under full sail during our test

And with the aid of the all-important Code 0, we were able to match wind speeds as low as 4-5 knots true. The code sail had quite a deep cut, which made for better reaching than fetching – around 90-100° to the true wind seemed ideal.

And when the breeze did fill in briefly to double figures, it helped us clock 8.5-9 knot speeds. Even when sailing deep with the code sail heading back to shore we made 7 knots in 11 running low at 135° to the true wind.

Here is a yacht that you feel privileged to helm. To stand in the quarters with excellent visibility over the low coachroof as the Grand Soleil 48P heels onto its full waterline is very special indeed. In the more stable wind we sailed under jib at 6.5-7 knots in 9-11 knots.

Tidy deck layout with a low coachroof that gives excellent forward visibility

Although it was a doddle to get the boat up to speed, I found it tricky to find a groove. It was enjoyable sailing, but there remained a nagging amount of weather helm – which Lostuzzi thought might have derived from too much rake set-up in the rig. The wheel should be akin to a musical instrument in such conditions, yet it still felt as if some tuning was needed.

Foot chocks can be added and the flat side decks make a comfortable perch for the helmsman, although the split backstay can foul your head when standing. There is a good slot between the wheel and winches which invites you to sit forward of the wheel and trim. This is particularly pertinent to this cruising deck layout combined with self-tacking jib, which makes it easy for one person to enjoy actively sailing the boat.

So although the Grand Soleil 48P has a powerful sailplan, it is easy to handle. The placing of winches and sail controls is particularly well thought out. The aft end of the benches join the side decks seamlessly and are punctuated by two Harken winches (optionally powered) each side, both in reach of the helmsman, with one positioned inboard.

Running rigging is led aft, with rope tails neatly stowed

The wide coamings house the conduits for the running rigging, led aft neatly to these winches. The single point mainsheet is also routed here, German style, meaning along the boom and back aft, while decent-sized tail bags do a good job of keeping the cockpit tidy.

The deck design is ergonomic yet minimalist. The flat-topped coachroof is kept very low indeed, which certainly adds to the sharp styling, but when moving forward along the side decks this does mean you need to bend double to grip the coachroof handrail. There is, however, a wide and comforting toerail, which has a scupper to guide the water run aft and overboard, and also helps keep the helmsman’s perch dry.

The wide cockpit contains a large fixed table with long benches but, true to Italian trends, the backrests are rather low. Those seeking some more comfort can lean back against the aft-facing coachroof. Other than the sprayhood, there is very little in the way of protection offered to those in the cockpit.

There’s space to helm both forward and aft of the wheel

Cockpit bench lockers have been surrendered in favour of headroom in the aft cabins, so the only stowage aft is in the stern locker. The quarters of the stern space are closed off for machinery, but there is enough room in the central locker for an inflatable tender.

Adaptable interior

The Grand Soleil 48P’s design and engineering allows for the modular fit-out of lockers and furniture. Consequently, those choosing the Race version will be able to strip out weight (the displacement of the 48R is already one tonne less than the Performance version) and create more space for sail stowage.

The Performance version has a more substantial interior including a larger, L-shaped galley and considerably more stowage. Carbon is used in high stress areas on both models including chainplates and the top of the grid structures. The saloon floor is placed on an aluminium frame above this structural grid.

The Performance version of the boat has an L-shaped galley and better stowage than the Race model

The Grand Soleil design looks particularly clean, something that is a trademark of Nauta Design. Nauta designs tend to allow in plenty of light, and it comes here from multiple coachroof and hull portlights. The white headlining and light oak trim also play their part.

The grain and feel of the veneer used on the test boat was excellent and made me wonder why anyone would want to pay €10,000 to upgrade to teak. Cotton fibre hull lining and tasteful, indirect lighting also add a quality feel.

A feeling of space

Beam and volume help generate a great feeling of space, although this will be far more appreciated in port than at sea. Grand Soleil has maximised the saloon area to create enough room for eight to sit around the fixed table. Both saloon berths are also long enough to sleep on.

Light and airy feel to the interior, which has a generous saloon but no proper nav station

There’s no navstation in the standard version, just a switchboard behind the sofa to starboard. A bank of drawers forward could be used, but only if sitting sideways. The layout does have a second heads and separate shower with a seat and wet hanging locker, with private access from the starboard cabin. There is enough space enough in this cabin for twin berths.

The modest galley has a large resin worktop with fiddles, but only a two-burner stove and the stowage for pots and pans is limited. Elsewhere stowage is good, especially in the forward cabin, where there are deep drawers below the central berth and a bank of raised lockers high up at the hull sides. The space for clothes and belongings here will be a boon for anyone planning to spend longer periods of time aboard.

48 Race

We also tested the Grand Soleil 48 Race version, which had optional extras such as a carbon rig and sails, extended bowsprit, deep keel, twin backstays, eight winches, transverse jib tracks and a hydraulic ram on the forestay.

The Grand Soleil 48 Race is priced at €605,000

Although this nearly doubled the standard price of the boat, it helps extract considerably more potential for racing. The sailing on this model was rewarding and we were able to maximise the 10-knot breeze to clock up to 7, 9 and 11 knots under jib, Code 0 and gennaker respectively. Planing at consistent speeds under gennaker was a highlight of the test.

Helming was engaging rather than thrilling, with good feedback and control from the single rudder. The cockpit was well thought out for manoeuvres, and the full-beam traveller and transverse tracks helped get the most from the square top main and jib.

The Race version, including carbon rig, deep keel, deck gear and hydraulics, is a €146,000 upgrade.

Low coachroof height emphasises the Grand Soleil 48P’s sleek lines

The post Grand Soleil 48P boat test: A yacht you’ll feel privileged to helm appeared first on Yachting World.

This quirky French cruiser has the soul of a race yacht and is full of innovations. Toby Hodges sails the JPK 45

Pascal and Alexis Loison entered the sailing history books in 2013 for an extraordinary achievement. Not only did the father-and-son team win the Rolex Fastnet Race overall, but they did so double-handed, racing against more than 300 fully crewed yachts. They were sailing a JPK 1010 named Night & Day.

Any racing sailor who hadn’t heard of JPK before then will now know all about these IRC performers, which are built in Brest. In the last few years JPK yachts, and in particular the 1010 and 1080 models, have continued to dominate just about every coastal and offshore race in British and French waters.

They are competent in most conditions, whether sailed short-handed or fully crewed. Now the JPK 45 is the yard’s brilliant take on a cruising yacht.

The optional composite frame is strong enough to stand on, to dive off and to lift and stow a dinghy. It also provides a useful support and position for carrying solar panels and antennae

Cruising sailors may be less familiar with this brand and builder. The JPK 45, one of the 2017 European Yacht of the Year nominees, is only the yard’s second cruising model. We tested number one of this purposeful looking design, which was commissioned by a group of three French owners for global sailing.

We sailed her out of La Rochelle with Monsieur JPK himself, Jean-Pierre Kelbert, just after the boat had returned from a ten-month, 12,000-mile transatlantic circuit. And what we found on board left me in no doubt that the JPK brand’s reputation for building cruising yachts is only going to grow from here.

Hitting it off

It is pretty rare for me to step aboard a new boat and feel totally confident and at ease with its ability. The first word written in my notebook during our sea trial was simply “YES!!” And this was despite what could otherwise have been quite a nerve-racking experience.

Article continues below…

JPK 1030 test: The intuitive French flier that’s easy for couples to control

Pip Hare feels right at home on the JPK 1030 – a quick, no-nonsense boat that’s ideal for short-handers

£103,730.00

Jeanneau Sun Fast 3300 review: The pocket rocket inspired by foiling IMOCAs

Jeanneau’s latest Sun Fast is a whole bundle of fun, as Pip Hare discovered on a full test of the…

£100,750.00

Having just boarded the JPK 45 from a RIB off La Rochelle, Kelbert handed me the helm and set about unfurling the headsail. All around us, however, was a fleet of more than 80 Mini 6.50m race boats, together with a hoard of spectator vessels.

The Minis were racing under spinnaker towards the finish line, but I quickly realised there was little cause for concern. Both the direct control of the JPK 45 and the calm confidence of Kelbert himself put me instantly at ease. With the 110 per cent genoa unfurled we were up to speed in no time. The wind played ball too, picking up to 10 knots – the most we had seen all weekend.

The Dacron sails looked exactly as you would expect from a suit that had done an Atlantic circuit, having lost a little shape. Not that this seemed to affect the performance of the JPK 45. She maintained a handsome 8 knots in 10 knots true at 31-33° to the apparent wind (and 7.3 knots in 7.1 knots true).

Toby at the helm of the JPK 45

And it felt wonderful behind the wheels. The helm is relatively neutral, as can be expected from a modern performance yacht with twin rudders, but is light and responsive to the touch. She is a slippery, stiff boat, too.

You can feel the soul of a race boat within her lightweight construction. The JPK 45 has more curve in the bilge turn compared to JPK’s racing models and more volume forward. But beamy aft sections, long, hard hull chines and a high concentration of ballast low down in the fin keel provide oodles of righting moment.

A twin headsail set-up, with genoa and staysail furlers controlled from the cockpit, is a useful cruising solution. It allows you to easily adapt the sailplan to the conditions. Short-tacking through the congested waters proved a little slow under genoa, however. Although there is good clearance between the headsails, you still need to pull the genoa through manually from the foredeck if trying to tack without furling.

Our spell of breeze in the double digits was short lived. Kelbert is a typical short-handed racing sailor, happiest tweaking and changing sails to suit conditions and angles. So a large red asymmetric sail on a snuffer was then efficiently hoisted.

This helped produce figures of high 7s in 8.5 knots at 60° apparent – and allowed us still to match or exceed the true wind speed when it dropped to 6 knots.

With the kite doused and stowed in the sock, Kelbert was back on deck, hoisting a gennaker on a furler for the long fetch back to La Rochelle. This is a useful sail for a cruiser’s arsenal too, which Kelbert says can be used from 60° to the true wind right up to 120°.

We typically clocked 7 knots in 8 knots true, close reaching at 35-40° to the apparent wind. It was the type of sailing you never want to end. It is gratifying to be able to tune a cruising yacht easily and to be able to take advantage of light breeze conditions so well.

Mini skippers waved to Kelbert as we threaded our way through the fleet, which by now was queuing to get into the old port. We furled the gennaker in the channel and gybed into the marina as if we were on a sportsboat.

As the main dropped into a stackpack, I started the engine and eased the JPK 45 into a tight pontoon berth. To do this on a new boat in a seriously congested channel and marina is a testament to the confidence this boat instils.

The inboard winch and clutch layout with rope bin stowage is superb

Deck layout

The winch and clutch layout is superb and particularly well suited to short-handed sailing. The two Harken Performa winches each side are located inboard, within easy reach of the wheels and in a position where it is easy to stand and grind.

It continues to amaze me that so few cruising yachts have primaries mounted inboard like this. Standing over a winch in the cockpit is so much safer than crouching over the coaming. It can also negate the need for powered winches at this size as you can use your body more efficiently when working the handle.

The JPK 45 has eight clutches each side through which the running rigging and sheets are led to the winches. Even the backstay and runners feed to these winches (although spinnaker halyards use a mast base winch), while large boxes directly below swallow the tail ends neatly. The only negative point of the JPK 45’s clutch and winch set-up is the friction caused by the 90° turning blocks for the headsail sheets and furling lines.

An optional rigid doghouse provides excellent cockpit protection and keeps the mainsheet clear. The forward window panel opens for ventilation

Keeping the sailing systems in a compact area aft, near the wheels, also helps maximise cockpit space. The rigid doghouse (which is optional) provides all the protection you could wish for in the cockpit without needing to rely on a high coachroof or coamings. The benches are long enough to seat four on each side of the large fixed table, and flat coamings allow a particularly easy step out to the side decks.

The doghouse also helps keep the mainsheet out of the cockpit. Instead of a traveller, a bridle attached to the roof is a practical cruising compromise. The blocks attach to the boom using simple lashing strops and the sheet leads forward to the mast before returning aft to the winches.

The JPK 45 has a safe deck. Non-slip grip is incorporated into the whole deck, a toerail is moulded in and there is a handrail on the foredeck. The swim ladder is a clever design as it doubles to form the central section of the aft guardrail when in raised mode.

A deep chain locker includes space for housing fenders and warps. The composite bowsprit carries the anchor rollers (one or two anchors). Note the foredeck hand rails too

Beneath the aft helm seats is a large gas locker to port and a liferaft locker to starboard. The latter has an aft-facing flap that operates via a pulley hidden under the foot brace. A large central locker aft also provides access to the JP3 Vectran steering gear.

Why no frills works

Modern French performance cruiser builders, such as Pogo, Django and JPK, keep their interiors lightweight, simple yet practical. But they are in danger of feeling spartan. The interior of the JPK 45 is just the right side of utilitarian for an offshore performance cruiser – basic maybe, but seaworthy certainly.

The light, bright and practical interior is finished in bleached oak veneer. After 12,000 miles of non-stop hard use by seven to eight sailors, it still looked new down below (although Kelbert admitted it needed a good scrub after its recent return). The waterproof vinyl used on the soles and hull linings is a smart, wipe-clean solution that is vacuum-glued on for a simple light finish.

The test boat had three double cabins, a Pullman and a single heads. While the central galley/saloon section of the layout cannot be altered, there is the option to remove the Pullman in favour of a second heads. One of the aft cabins can also be replaced with a workshop/utility cabin.

The large, near vertical coachroof windows help provide plenty of natural light without glare. The saloon is slightly raised to allow room for tanks to be kept as central and low as possible below, and it shares the beam with the longitudinal galley.

The fixed table can seat six. A central unit around the mast base, which resembles a keel box (there is an option for a lifting keel), provides both stowage in drawers and support when working at the galley on starboard tack. Otherwise there is little usable stowage space in the saloon, but plenty under the berths.

The modern interior is simple, practical and light – both in terms of weight and natural illumination

The layout is less conventional forward of the mast where there is a chest of drawers-cum-workdesk unit to starboard and a Pullman cabin to port. The forward cabin is simple, with ample natural light, 6ft 1in headroom and a large, high double berth with roomy stowage below.

The compromise to the layout of the test boat is that there is only one heads (which is relatively compact). But this still has the practical inclusion of a large wet-hanging locker within the shower area.

The secret to JPK’s success?

What makes JPK’s race boats win so consistently and its cruising yachts slip along so well? Smart design and resin-infused foam sandwich construction. The whole hull is infused in one shot for rigidity.

JPK uses a labour intensive method: virtually all the parts that go into the boat are moulded and all the interior furniture is foam sandwich, laminated into the hull to contribute to the structure. But this method is expensive – the JPK 45 is around twice the price of a series production Beneteau/Hanse of similar size and more comparable in price to an X-Yacht or Solaris.

Light floods the modest longitudinal galley. Note the French racing-style bucket seat (far right) and large chart table

Jacques Valer, who has designed all the JPKs, calculates the weight of every single component that goes into the boat. There is only around 200kg of wood in total on the JPK 45 – even the doors have foam inside.

The JPK 45 is designed to be efficient to sail upwind – and strong. It is reinforced in key areas with high-density foam, which Kelbert likes using as, unlike balsa, it accepts some water and deformation. In fact, the build technique sounds like a similar approach to that of Pogo.

But Kelbert says JPK uses more lead ballast. “JPKs are not as fast in a crosswind, but are faster and more comfortable at other angles,” he says. “If the wind is on the nose, it has to be comfortable.”

From windsurfers to Fastnet winners

Jean-Pierre Kelbert (pictured right), who founded JPK, is a former professional windsurfer and European champion in 1988 and 1989. He founded his own board manufacturing company in 1992, but by the late 1990s windsurfer production had moved to Thailand so he started moulding parts for other shipyards.

Kelbert is also a successful short-handed sailor and it was while racing his JOD35 one-design in 2003 that he saw (and lost to) his first Jacques Valer design. He asked Valer to design a 960, which quickly found success (a JPK 960 won its class in the 2007 Rolex Fastnet Race).

But it was the launch of the 1010 in 2010 that really put JPK on the racing yacht map. Together with the subsequent 1080 (2014), the 1010 ‘has won everything,’ says Kelbert – referring to IRC crewed races, double-handed, the transatlantic Transquadra etc. “The 2013 Fasnet Race win created a lot of international recognition – since then we’ve always been full of orders.”

Kelbert says he still tries to train as much as he can, including lots of double-handed racing in Brittany. “It’s because I practise a lot that I know where everything should go on deck and know the height everything should be.”

For the JPK 45 cruising yacht design, Kelbert was thinking of the boat he’s always wanted to have. “I love racing but equally want to spend time cruising with my family. It’s all about having fun – maximum pleasure.”

The post JPK 45 boat test: A performance cruiser that provides memorable enjoyment appeared first on Yachting World.

An inflatable handheld wing that’s a cross between windsurfing and kitesurfing rigs, the Naish wing-surfer is refreshingly straightforward

First came sailing and surfing, then windsurfing, before kiteboarding, paddleboarding and more recently foiling arrived to light up the watersports market.

The trend for 2019 is this Wing-Surfer – an inflatable wing, which is a cross between a kiteboarding sail and a windsurfing rig, but with no strings or rigging needed.

It allows a very simple, pure method for a board rider to harness the wind, be it on a foiling kiteboard or a SUP – just blow it up, grab the handles and go.

The Wing-Surfer was developed by legendary Hawaiian windsurfer Robby Naish and is built like a kiteboarding sail using a Quad-Tex canopy and Teijin Dacron leading edge.

The 4m² sail inflates quickly to provide enough power for light breeze cruising on a paddleboard or get a foil board airborne in mid teen winds. We asked local kitesurf tester Rich Boughton for his thoughts having tested the prototypes in Tarifa:

“What the Naish Wing Surfer offers in spades is pure simplicity and practicality. For seasoned wind sports enthusiasts from both the kite or windsurf disciplines, it’s a refreshingly straightforward affair with a fast learning curve.

“Pump it up, hop on the board, point it downwind and with a quick pump of the sail you’re off and cruising. It feels a little awkward at first, but once you learn how to handle the wing and keep the tip out of the water it becomes plain sailing.

“From a ground-up perspective, anyone who’s competent on a paddleboard could pick this up with basic instruction. You can also rig it exceptionally easily from the back of a yacht (where kites can be downright mischievous).

Article continues below…

Could the wonderfully weird Inflated Wing Sail make sailing easier?

As the mist rose off the water’s surface in the picturesque harbour of Morges on the north bank of Lake…

Bluewater cruisers recommend their top new gear and marine equipment

Yachting World readers can be found all over the globe, some chilling out in the Med and the Caribbean, others…

“This Wing in particular packs down much smaller than an average sized kitesurf kite and it’s completely soft, without any battens or boom, making it very safe for those first few crashes inevitable in the learning process.

“On a standard SUP, expect to be pottering about and just about making upwind, while on a hydrofoil things inevitably get far more adrenaline fuelled.

“As an activity it’s just in the beginning phases and it could open up locations which have restrictions or a lack of space to kitesurf.”

Prices start from $799.

The post Naish inflatable wing-surfer: The crazy water toy you didn’t know you needed appeared first on Yachting World.

Toby Hodges test sails the Garcia Exploration 52 – a bluewater adventure cruiser that is made of stern stuff

If you were to take your partner or family to some of the world’s most remote waters, exploring the oceans from the tropics to the polar regions, which yachts would you shortlist for the job? Be honest.

For true peace of mind, for something that will look after you in all conditions, including shallow anchorages and drying harbours, you would probably relegate performance, speed and response on the helm to the back of your mind and focus on finding the sailing equivalent of a 4×4 off-road vehicle.

The Garcia Exploration 52 ticks all the boxes. It’s a rugged, aluminium bluewater cruiser with a shallow keel, lifting centreboard and twin rudders that enable it to dry out. But it is not simply a bare metal battleship; it also includes a deck saloon with an internal steering position, and premium accommodation.

The Garcia Exploration 52’s bright, comfortable deck saloon

It is a yacht that seamlessly blends the world of luxury cruising with out-and-out expedition yachting. It invites you to go off the beaten path, but in substantial comfort.

The Exploration 52 is in every sense the larger sister of the original Exploration 45, which was conceived by bluewater cruising guru Jimmy Cornell and designed to be a go-anywhere yacht. Cornell, the founder of the ARC, has logged over 200,000 cruising miles. His brief for Garcia, and designers Berret-Racoupeau, was to create both the ideal bluewater cruiser and a yacht rugged enough to take on the North West Passage.

“I wanted a strong, fast, comfortable, functional and easily handled boat perfectly suited for both high latitude and tropical sailing,” said Cornell, declaring the resulting Exploration 45: “as close as can be to my ideal long- distance cruising boat.”

Article continues below…

Kraken 66 test: Could this be the ultimate ocean cruising yacht?

What would you want in an ultimate ocean cruising yacht? Here’s Kraken’s answer

£1,366,000.00

The perfect boat: what makes an ideal offshore cruising yacht?

Choosing a boat for offshore cruising is not a decision to be taken lightly. I have researched this topic on…

The Exploration 52 shares the angular, robust look of the 45, including the bare alloy hull and the reverse angled, ship’s bridge-style coachroof windows, but offers more space, stowage and comfort.

The build quality is also the 45’s equal, incorporating watertight fore and aft bulkheads. The bow/forefoot section is reinforced for ice breaking and includes a towing eye so that the yacht can be dragged ashore with a tractor, if necessary. Yet within the alloy hull and its welded stringers, you’ll find a wonderfully warming, high-quality finish, a forward facing navstation and a deck saloon offering 270° views.

Aquarius, the yacht we tested, was the first Garcia Exploration 52 to launch and was highly customised for its owners, who were setting off for the Canaries the following day on the first leg of a five-year world tour. The family/utility cabin was being used for loading a cargo of medical supplies bound for Senegal.

Like Cornell’s boat, which was designed to sleep a number of friends and family, the interior of Aquarius has a flexible layout that can accommodate up to ten at a time. Yet on the 52, unlike the 45, the interior feels neither cramped nor short of stowage.

The view aft from the navstation. Note the watertight companionway doors and fiddles on all furniture

Under sail

We sailed the Garcia Exploration 52 in fine conditions from La Rochelle, with a Force 3 to 4 and only a slight sea. Under genoa and main we achieved 6 to 6.5 knots pointing at 45° to 50° to the apparent wind. She certainly felt like a sturdy 20 plus tonne yacht.

Aquarius was laden with a few tonnes of extra payload (she can carry 6.5 tonnes over her lightweight displacement) and the resultant helm sensation was more neutral and purposeful than particularly rewarding.

But once we footed off to reach at 100° to the apparent wind, and hoisted the A-sail, we were averaging a respectable 9 knots in 12 to 15 knots of wind. Once under way, she keeps a consistent speed, our maximum on the day was 9.5 knots.

Thedavitsandtender launching system are incorporated in the stern arch

But heat the Garcia Exploration 52 up too much and you can lose grip on the rudders. I found this a little surprising for an ocean cruiser with twin rudders, but bear in mind the blades are deliberately short for beaching purposes.

Indeed, designer Olivier Racoupeau confirmed that the blades are 1.15m deep compared to 1.45m on a more conventional non-centreboard design, but says that the shallow draught of the Garcia Exploration 52’s rudders is by no means extreme.

I enjoyed the sail, but only when there was enough apparent wind in the sails. Aquarius has the optional cutter rig with genoa and a self-tacking staysail, which is an ideal way to adapt the sailplan to suit conditions. The staysail is used in 25 knots plus, according to Garcia, hence we sailed under full genoa.

Hull no 1 Aquarius features a cutter rig and is fully loaded for offshore cruising

Once the wind was down to eight knots we were wallowing at 4.5 knots under white sails. Any negative thoughts about the Exploration 52 being sluggish, however, need to be balanced by the fact that she was fully laden for world cruising. Two pallets of medical equipment filled the starboard cabin and her full tanks added an extra two tonnes.

Admittedly the rig looks short, confirmed by her conservative sail area/displacement ratio, but this is all in keeping with the go-anywhere, dependable nature of this boat. The centreboard obviously reduces the amount of ballast beneath the water, but Garcia and designers Berret-Racoupeau address this with smart weight allocation.

The fresh water can be pumped from side to side for ballast, the tanks are low and central, and even the chainlocker and windlass are located well abaft the bow, near the mast foot.

The hard-top that overhangs the coachroof on Aquarius is customised to the owner’s height. The area beneath this overhang can be sealed off with a canopy, trapping the heat coming up from the interior. I cannot recall a better cockpit position from which to stand a watch, no matter what the weather.

Of course, the navstation down below would provide even greater shelter, but it gives me shivers just thinking about how bad the conditions would need to be for me to need more shelter than the forward end of this cockpit!

The cockpit is set up for the crew to sail the boat without needing to leave its protection. The inboard primaries are just in front of the twin helms – a practical and safe position to work – and all control lines are brought aft under the coachroof where they can be easily managed.

The forward slant of the deck saloon windows protects the interior from the sun’s glare

There are useful cubby holes in the coamings to keep rope tails tidy. I particularly like the Marine Deck cork decks and cockpit surfaces, which the owner specified. This material is cheaper and more sustainable than teak, yet it’s grippy, comfortable for bare feet and can be washed with soap and water.

Aesthetically, the stern arch will attract and repel buyers in equal measure. Aboard the Garcia Exploration 52 it is a practical solution for mounting an array of aerials, solar panels, a wind generator and even the davits, although when sailing offshore, the tender can be hoisted on to the foredeck using the genoa pole.

Aquarius is also fitted with a hydrogenerator. “At over six knots running speed, the Watt&Sea hydrogenerator should cover all our power needs,” says the owner.

The large, practical cockpit is comfortable, deep and superbly protected at the forward part, with well laid-out sailing systems that can be managed easily from the wheels

Down below

Step through a pair of heavy-duty doors and you move from sheltered cockpit into a haven of comfort. The deck saloon has 270° sightlines out of the slanted coachroof windows. You can see the horizon while standing in the galley and adjust the autopilot or operate the throttle from the forward-facing navstation.

It is a relaxing and settling interior, finished in either teak or oak. There is a step down to reach the accommodation forward or abaft the saloon, as with any deck saloon, but the benefits include light, space and views plus the central stowage and tankage beneath the floorboards. There is even space to increase the standard 1,000lt fuel capacity by an extra 400lt.

“One of my requests was to be able to sleep up to ten at a time,” said Aquarius’s owner. To this end, the starboard midships cabin can be used for stowage or sleeping, and the port aft cabin has a second fold-down bunk. The deck saloon table also lowers to form a large bed.

The berth in the forward master cabin is positioned just forward of the mast. Note the radiator on the bulkhead. Aquarius has a central heating system

The comfortable forward cabin contains an offset double berth directly in front of the main bulkhead, so the owners won’t feel like they are in the bows of the boat. Instead the heads and shower are situated forward, with two watertight bulkheads further forward.

The engine room is abaft the companionway, and is well insulated with access both sides. The 660Ah battery bank is located centrally. In addition to the solar, wind and hydropower, generators, there is a diesel genset and second alternator.

Watertight hatches in the aft cabins provide access to the stern compartments and all through-hull fittings are welded in aluminium with valves above the waterline. There are separate wet and dry hanging areas in the aft heads compartment.

The post Garcia Exploration 52 test: The sailing equivalent of a 4×4 off-roader appeared first on Yachting World.

A superyacht with a performance yacht feel, the SW105 Kiboko Tres is a winning combination of experienced owner, semi-custom design and clever build

Repeatable designs are where the safe money is being spent in sailing superyachts today. While some custom yards are still attracting one-off orders, in recent years it has been designs such as the Swan 115 and the Hoek Truly Classic 128s that have secured multiple orders. And in the 80-110ft sector, Southern Wind has long dominated this market.

We were given the chance to trial a prime example of its latest design in ideal conditions off Palma, Mallorca. Kiboko Tres is the third Southern Wind for this particular owner and shows the benefits of consistency and reliability that using a tried and tested recipe brings.

But what about the pizzazz, the magic? Some might wonder if, on a yacht this size, the helmsman can still feel that connection to sailing that a yachtsman craves.

However, as I was very happy to discover, to stand at the windward wheel when heeled to a gunwale and fully powered up, is to feel on top of the yachting world.

It may be superyachting, but it is most definitely still real sailing. And that is the essence of what the serial yacht owner of Kiboko Tres wanted when he upgraded from a SW94 to this SW105.

Perfecting the recipe

The brief was for a performance-oriented yacht for superyacht regattas and family sailing, but which should be easy to handle. Southern Wind consistently uses a design partnership of Farr and Nauta for its mini-series runs, resulting here in a powerful design with wide aft sections and an open transom.

Article continues below…

Southern Wind: two new performance cruisers around 100ft

One of the conspicuous growth areas of yachting, albeit a specialised niche, is performance cruisers of around 100ft. This is…

On board My Song: Inside the Baltic 130 Custom superyacht

The first thing you see on descending into the saloon from the deck of the 40m sloop My Song is…

Kiboko, the second of three hulls already delivered in this series, is optimised for performance with a larger sailplan, three tonnes more lead in the fixed keel and twin rudders.

“This calculation of additional sail area and weight provides 3.5% more stability and a higher sail area/displacement ratio,” says Jim Schmicker, vice-president of Farr. He adds that the sail area and stability parameters were chosen so it could compete on the Mediterranean superyacht circuit.

Weight is calculated meticulously at Southern Wind – more on that later – and the yard favours vacuum-infused epoxy sandwich construction with carbon used for the hull, deck and bulkheads.

Nauta’s interior for this raised saloon model is light, airy and kept deliberately simple

The choice of appendages is key to the type of sailing its owners seek. A fixed keel was chosen for Kiboko for best performance to cost ratio and maintenance benefits, whereas hull number one has a telescopic keel and number three a lifting keel.

Kiboko’s owner, a friend of the founder, the late Willy Persico, is a serial Southern Wind owner and now one of the shareholders of the company. His SW72 launched in 2006, followed by a SW94 in 2010. Raimon Pasco has been employed as skipper for all three yachts, and has followed the builds through construction.

“The idea for the boat was to keep it as simple as possible,” he explains while showing me over the systems. “So the passarelle, for example, is manual – it’s 60kg less weight and much more simple. The owner enjoys the boat, sailing and the sea. He doesn’t want anything fancy; he wants to sail and trim.”

Joystick controls for the mainsheet and traveller on the pedestal

I asked why the owner wanted to keep upsizing. The skipper explained that it involved a balance between finding the ideal space on board for his large family and finding the right number of professional crew.

“But the big challenge for him was to go bigger without losing touch with the water,” says Southern Wind’s commercial director, Andrea Micheli, of the 94 and 105 Kiboko upgrades.

In comparison with the SW94, Kiboko Tres has room for a second genset and watermaker and a garage for a proper size tender. “Yes, it’s going bigger, but not too big.”

Direct steering linkage to the twin rudders gives the helmsman great feedback and control

Another benefit to upgrading to the SW105 is that it has a wider groove to sail in, thinks Micheli: “You can push harder while staying comfortable. And owners liked the fact it’s fast in all conditions. When cruising, it’s very rare to sail in less than five knots – which means this keen sailor is always helming.”

“He’s also a good businessman and he sells when the time is right,” adds Pasco. “He sold the 94 to the first client who saw it.” He points to the timeless style of the interiors: “Always up to date but not necessarily fashionable.”

The combined experience of owner, skipper, design team and yard helps ensure a quality product with good resale value. Southern Wind now has three decades of experience with semi-custom composite performance cruisers.

In race mode in Sardinia earlier this year. Sail area and stability were chosen to ensure she would be competitive

The Italian-managed Cape Town yard, which built 13 of the SW100 in four years, has built a reputation for combining technology with seamanlike design.

After launching in the autumn of 2018, Kiboko sailed to her Palma home berth via Cape Verdes. She took part in the Loro Piana Superyacht Regatta in June where she notched up an impressive 2nd in class.

Speed and power

Kiboko is Swahili for hippopotamus and the name was chosen to reflect speed and power. Those are certainly two of the most dominant impressions you get when sailing her.

An unhindered view forward for the helmsman over the low coachroof

It was thrilling to take Kiboko out in ideal conditions to witness this exhibition of her power. But, as mentioned, what also struck me is how connected you feel to the sailing, something that’s hard to achieve on a superyacht.

Ideally, size should be irrelevant to the helmsman of a performance yacht – although you do feel the increase in power and scale – but that communication between the sails, hull and wheel should remain. Southern Wind has helped to achieve this using its very direct connection to the quadrants.

Short-run Vectran steering cables link the chain and sprockets in the pedestals to a car running on an athwartships track that connects the rudders stocks, a system favoured on offshore racing yachts.

Kiboko is a yacht that makes you want to helm and trim actively

Setting sail on a particularly hot day with 12-15 knots blowing across Palma Bay, Kiboko quickly powered up and felt utterly in her element.

I looked up from the numbers on the mast base repeaters, remembered I was sailing a 100-footer and could not suppress a broad grin.

We were immediately up to 11.5 knots in 15 at 45-50º to the true wind. Pasco says that, with her wide transom, Kiboko likes to heel at a relatively high angle of around 25°.

So those wanting thrills can foot off a little, pop the windward rudder clear of the water, hold on and enjoy!

With temperatures in the mid 30°Cs, and 30 knots of apparent breeze now blasting over the decks, it felt like having a hair dryer constantly blowing in your face. Whether sitting to leeward looking at the telltales or standing to windward, way up high with full visibility over the low coachroof, it was truly absorbing.

A B&G readout showed 14 tonnes of forestay pressure as we sliced upwind, with speeds now nearing 12 knots in 18 true. With the breeze continuing to build at the south-east end of the bay, we reached the upper limits of the full genoa.

Personally, I’d have liked to have kept pointing a little higher to see how she handled when you feather the gusts a little, but with the boss due to arrive the following morning, the skipper was understandably keen not to push the boat.

Depowering is a simple tweak of the joystick-controlled mainsheet from the pedestal – the hydraulic captive winch responds almost instantly. Indeed, the boat is well set up for two or three people to be able to trim and get the most out of sailing her.

So on the outer edge of each pedestal are push button controls for the cunningham, vang, outhaul and backstay. An ‘active’ button, which you need to hold down when you select the desired option, is an intelligent way to prevent anything from being activated accidentally.

Fuss-free sheet leads

There is plenty of hydraulic flow available from two gensets and a PTO, allowing the crew to give full torque to any winches or furlers that may require it. We were able to furl, gybe and deploy the genoa without losing much momentum. There is also a powered padeye further forward on the stem for a code sail.

Smart systems

Below the aft sailing cockpit is a garage that includes a particularly clever system for launching the fore-and-aft stowed 4.3m/14ft tender. The yard built an H-shape high beam carbon crane within the garage, which spreads the load over its two longitudinal beams.

It’s a simple manual system that uses jib tracks to slide the tender along and a winch to lift it without placing any stress on the transom door, which means that you can use it in more swell than you can with most tender garages.

The clever H-shape carbon crane in the dinghy garage spreads the load onto two longitudinal beams

The steering system is still easily accessible from the deep quarter lockers, from where you can change the toe-in of the rudder angle, too.

Further stowage is found in a cavernous sail locker. Here the chainlocker is offset and mounted vertically, adding to the useable space, while a longitudinal partition helps keep the sails to one side.

Southern Wind has replaced the hydraulic rotating motors it used previously for retracting anchor arms with a lighter system that’s easier to maintain. This employs two hydraulic rams to pull lines attached to a quadrant and allows for a manual back up as well.

The spacious galley adjoins crew mess and quarters

Micheli went on to describe how every piece of equipment is itemised and weight tracked before it goes onto the boat to help calculate the exact centre of gravity.

The yard was reportedly 300kg below overall target weight for the RP90 Allsmoke. “We monitor the weights so carefully during construction because we know they will be sailed loaded,” says Micheli.

A crew companionway leads directly from the sailing cockpit to the nav station and crew area. This tried and tested Southern Wind layout is a hard one to better for big yachts. It separates the lion’s share of owner and guest accommodation forward, while giving full separate access to the working areas.

Meanwhile, from the shallow, beamy guest cockpit, with its split tables, it’s a gently angled descent into the tranquil raised saloon. An extra wide, sliding curved companionway hatch pours light into this area, which is split between dining to one side and sofas to the other.

The light Nauta styling is punctuated by Mallorcan-style blue and white upholstery. The interior design is based on simplicity. “Show, don’t hide, was the key,” says Nauta’s Massimo Gino. “Furnishings, suspended from the yacht’s structural elements, let us showcase the shape of the yacht and bring out some of the elements of her construction.”

As well as creating good views through the hull and coachroof ports, the raised saloon format buys the space to house the engine and machinery room below. On a lower level forward is a snug area with day bed, facing a central longitudinal bulkhead and huge flatscreen TV where the optional lift keel would be concealed.

One of the guest twin cabins

Guest accommodation is in a double ensuite cabin forward of the saloon and identical twin cabins, before the crew area, with all cabins having an inviting feeling of space and light.

A hallway into the forward owner’s suite provides space for a generous allocation of stowage. Moving into the tastefully furnished cabin, with low central walkaround berth (with leecloth fixings), it again feels welcoming and light thanks to a large hatch and portlights, light upholstery and trim. After a hot day’s sailing, it felt decidedly calming and comfortable below decks.

Moving aft from the twin cabins, a sliding door can close off the galley and crew area. The skipper has, quite sensibly, allocated himself a comparatively large double ensuite cabin (considering the two other bunk cabins share a heads), while all crew berths can be canted to suit the heel angle.

Skipper Pasco talks Toby through the engine room systems

Showing me around the engine room, Pasco explained how he insisted on having a workbench area and tool stowage in the control room – in an area that, surprisingly, has less room than the SW96.

The beam in the engine room at this length makes up for that a little, with plenty of volume and access around the engines and gensets.

Both the insulation and the attention to ventilation are noteworthy. Numerous air intakes on deck allow air to enter passively through watertraps, which, together with a constant extraction of air, results in a healthy circulation without using too much power.

The shipyard has worked with Dutch specialist Van Cappellen for the last few years to ensure rigorous levels of sound insulation.

For example, according to Micheli, there is 800kg of fire and sound insulation in the engine room alone, a mix of mineral wool and aluminium cladding with melamine foam, covered with a plywood, cork and rubber laminate.

Different materials are used for different applications and frequencies. “The key is not to protect the user from the source but to isolate the source,” says Micheli.

The owner’s suite

Performance and comfort

The consistent theme is the yard’s methodology of using the right amount of material to boost performance without sacrificing comfort. Matching that to the needs of each owner is, for Micheli, the thing that defines Southern Wind: “We like to bring our opinions to the table, which can make things more challenging, but works for a more practical boat in the long run.”

So although it does build custom boats, the company’s focus on semi-custom small series has created a winning recipe for refined yachts with less lead-time. And the ability to enjoy engaging, fast sailing with only a small crew is invaluable – in Kiboko’s case it allows her owner to take his 100-footer daysailing easily from Palma.

The post Kiboko Tres: This 105ft carbon superyacht delivers the full sailing experience appeared first on Yachting World.

Toby Hodges is impressed with the power and poise of this wonderfully slippery new design from Italian yard Advanced Yachts

A multitude of shiny new yachts drifted across the Bay of Cannes, like a painting of a seascape reflected in the mid-morning calm. It was early September, the day after the 2016 Cannes Yachting Festival, and a prime time for trials for prospective owners and press. But the Advanced Yachts 80 was the only yacht visibly moving under sail.

I had gone aboard the A80 with little expectation of being able to sail; I hoped for a tour of the bay under motor at most. But we proceeded to spend a couple of hours actually sailing in apparently lifeless conditions and that is a testament to the potential of this mile-eating cruiser.

I was given a commanding demonstration of why a relatively light and slippery performance yacht is a good option for sailors who will inhabit waters where the wind doesn’t always whip the salt off your face.

First impressions may lead you to think this is a showpiece yacht designed for performance cruising between glitzy Med ports. Actually Advanced Yachts creates thoroughbred cruisers designed to tackle the world’s oceans at speed.

‘Easy handling, sailing performance and distinguished design are the key elements of the Advanced bluewater yacht,’ states the Milan-based firm. This first A80 is quickly living up to these promises.

Apsaras sailed from the Med back across the Atlantic to Brazil and then onto Cape Town. On the leg to Brazil they reached in 15-knot winds under Code 0, covering 800 nautical miles in three days. Photo: Tim Wright/photoaction.com

Apsaras launched in the summer of 2015. Following the Monaco Yacht Show she went directly to Las Palmas to take part in the ARC, where she won line honours in the cruising division. Her Asian owners, who did the crossing, were delighted. Her performance has raised awareness of the Advanced brand, which is now being represented by Berthon International.

Form and function first

A Reichel Pugh design built in glassfibre-carbon composite with engineering by Gurit equates to a yacht centred around performance. The A80 has beamy, modern generation hull lines for speed combined with generous interior volume and deck space.

Build quality is excellent. Hull and deck are made from CNC-lathed female moulds at Advanced’s 3,000m2 shipyard near Fano, Italy. The glassfibre sandwich hulls have carbon reinforcement, the deck is in carbon and glassfibre composite that is vacuum-infused with epoxy.

Article continues below…

Contest 85CS: This Dutch superyacht is a seriously efficient sailing machine

Cruising the world in a large, fast, comfortable yacht is everyone’s dream. Even if your finances allow the dream to…

Baltic 67 review: Finnish superyacht yard goes back to its roots with no-compromise cruiser

Were money no object and you wanted the ultimate yacht for long-term cruising, what would you choose? How large could…

Unidirectional carbon fibre reinforcements are added in the keel, chainplates and other high load areas, plus longitudinal stiffeners line the hull. The furniture is mostly made from a sandwich of foam core with teak veneer.

Apsaras is a relatively standard boat – in so much as an 80-footer can be. Her owners wanted tried and tested basic systems and hardware to make servicing easy in Asia.

We were aboard a 40-tonne yacht sailing upwind in just 3.5 to 5 knots of breeze under main and genoa, yet the log consistently showed our boatspeed to be one knot faster than the true wind. In a demonstration of her performance potential, we peaked at 6 knots in 4.2 knots of wind at 60° TWA.

The stern tender garage is big enough for a 3m RIB. The guest cockpit is very shallow.

Generating wind

Those are impressive figures for what is promoted as a cruising yacht. A glance at the dimensions and ratios illustrates a potent, powerful yacht, one that carries stacks of sail for her relatively light displacement – indeed her sail area-to-displacement ratio is nudging that of the all-carbon Swan 60. The polars confirm she’ll hit double figures in anything over 7 knots true wind and she has clocked 25 knots in the Atlantic.

This is also a sailor’s yacht. When helming, I was surprised just how light and communicative Apsaras was for such a large boat, with finger-light movements all that was required. Reichel Pugh was reportedly against the concept of twin rudders for this model and drew the A80 with a deep 3.2m single spade rudder.

The use of a central, hydraulic-powered mainsheet winch, maxi-style, works well, and is something Advanced employed on its first model, the A66. The traveller is recessed neatly into the deck and operated via a remote line driver.

We liked the use of a central mainsheet winch and traveller to control the large mainsail

Together, the winch and track make for an effective way to trim and tame the powerful mainsail. The hydraulics are powered by both DC and a power take-off drive on the generator, allowing a choice of silent sailing or extra grunt when required. I would like to see some form of stowage designed in for the sheet tails – the pin-on bags look like the afterthought they obviously were.

Under engine, we made 10 knots at 2,400rpm while consuming 17 to 18 litres of fuel per hour. With 2,000lt of tanks, the A80 can motor for five days and nights at this speed.

It did, however, seem noisy under engine in the aft guest accommodation, with noticeable vibration from the propulsion. It was fine in the saloon and further forward, however owners will obviously be happier if they can sail rather than motor in light airs!

On deck

For a relatively new brand, Advanced Yachts has done a commendable job of creating a family friendly look. The A80 has a very powerful design that is complemented by a sleek yet masculine coachroof line, a signature styling from superyacht design specialists Nauta Yachts. The chunky bowsprit enhances her purposeful form.

The bowsprit is for attaching the tack of the Code 0 or gennaker and also helps keep the anchor chain clear of the plumb stem. It is designed to be strong enough to take both the tack loads and high snatch loads of the chain without the need for a bobstay.

Abaft the forepeak and chain locker is a superb sail locker sandwiched by two watertight bulkheads. The deep locker contained spare sheets and halyards and has plenty of space for flying sails.

The foredeck is kept clean thanks to the use of recessed furlers for the genoa and the staysail. At the mast base are two deck winches to handle the running rigging from the Hall carbon mast and PBO rigging (owner’s choice).

The coachroof has a relatively flat top and this helps make the wide side decks feel secure to walk along. It also contains a foldaway sprayhood, which can withstand 30 knots of wind.

The guest cockpit is long and super-shallow. Indeed, without padded cushions on the coamings there would be little in the way of comfortable seated support – or protection. Two large daybeds aft serve a second purpose of helping create headroom in the aft accommodation.

The aft master cabin with twin sofa berths

The beamy aft deck also has room for two more sizeable sun loungers. The cockpit sole is at a single level from pushpit to the offset companionway, making it easy to move from cockpit to aft deck.

The tender garage can fit a 3.22m dinghy facing forwards. This area doubles as a generous lazarette, although access from both quarters would be preferable. A passarelle extends neatly out of the aft quarter to starboard.

This is the third Advanced Yachts model I have sailed and all have particularly inviting interiors by Nauta. They display Italian design in subtle tones; not too flamboyant or operatic.

The lovely raised saloon of the A80 draws you in. This centrepiece of the yacht is bathed in natural light through the large coachroof and hull portlights and a big skylight hatch.

Natural light floods in to the raised saloon from the large skylight

Raising the roof

A raised saloon area also helps keep the machinery low and central. The engine space below the A80’s saloon floorboards is excellent and includes two gensets, a watermaker and aircon.

The large daybed to starboard seemed a bit of a waste of saloon space to me, but Advanced Yachts manager Aldo Tomasina pointed out that owners can use this for resting on passage without feeling cocooned below. The insert to this bed also slides across to the table to seat two.

The A80 has a proper nav station by the companionway. The switchboard is noteworthy for its easy access to the wiring behind, where every wire is labelled – a captain’s dream. Not only is there a good size lifting chart table, but the saloon table also hinges open to store full-size A1 paper charts.

The compact galley is located forward to give maximum raised saloon space

The layout of this first boat is similar to the A66, including a galley and dinette forward of the saloon. The key benefit of this is that the owner and guest accommodation is completely separated from the ‘service’ end.

Advanced operates a flexible semi-custom approach to its interiors in terms of both materials and cabin layout. There are two layout schemes for owners who want forward master cabins.

Guest cabins comprise two identical en-suite cabins abaft the saloon. The headroom was notable despite the cabins being below the cockpit. The aft cabin makes full use of the A80’s 6.2m beam.

The standard design for the owner’s aft cabin has an offset double berth, but as Apsaras’s owners are contemplating chartering the yacht, the cabin was fitted out symmetrically so that it could easily convert into two en-suite double cabins in the future. A benefit of this format is that the large sofas each side of the island berth double as useful passage berths.

Apsaras normally operates with three permanent crew and the crew accommodation forward also has plenty of space. The two Pullman cabins forward of the galley can sleep four crew sharing a heads and a shower.

The post Advanced Yachts A80: Lightweight luxury cruiser can sail in the lightest breeze appeared first on Yachting World.

Stuck for Christmas gift ideas for the sailor who has it all? Yachting World is here to help with 41 great ideas

Are you wondering what to get the sailor in your life for Christmas? Here is our pick of 41 top products that are perfect Christmas gift ideas for sailors:

1. Garmin inReach

Christmas gift ideas: Garmin inReach

This is a clever portable device that provides an affordable way to keep friends and family in touch with your whereabouts when offshore. It allows you to send and receive SMS text messages to any mobile phone, email address or other inReach device, anywhere in the world, via the Iridium satellite constellation.

In Reach works like a Sat phone and provides live online tracking and email and can also be sinked with your phone and operated through an app.

inReach SE+ £399.99. explore.garmin.com

2. Henri Lloyd neoprene gloves 

Christmas gift ideas: Henri Lloyd Cobra Winter Glove

Sailing with cold hands sucks. We tested a selection of winter gloves and these came out top. The full-fingered gloves have neoprene thermal insulation, which means that even when they (inevitably) get wet, they keep your hands warm.

The grippy surface on the palms proved particularly good when handling intricate jobs and overall we were really impressed with this glove. Tough, flexible and easy to get on and off even when wet.

£30-35. henrilloyd.com

3. Yachting World subscription

Christmas gift ideas: A Yachting World subscription

A hardcopy of the world’s favourite sailing magazine every month from £18.49 a year – or an ipad/iphone digital issues for £15.49…

Now THAT’S Christmas!

See the latest Yachting World subscription offers

4. Musto Corsica BR1 Jacket

Sailor gift ideas: Musto Corsica ladies jacket

Warm, waterproof, and ideal for both winter sailing or walking the high street, the Corsica jacket is lined with heat-retentive Arctec fleece that keeps much of its insulating power even when wet.

£160. musto.com

5. Gill Tarp Barrel Bag

Christmas gift ideas: Gill Tarp Barrel Bag

All sailors need a decent kit bag. This 60L no-nonsense barrel bag is made from durable waterproof tarpaulin and features a two-way zip and padded shoulder strap.

£60. gillmarine.com

6. Jerrycan backpack

Christmas gift ideas: Dacoblue portable jerry can

Dacoblue founder Conny Dahlin became all too aware of the difficulties of transporting fuel and water during a five-year circumnavigation on his Oceanis 411. His solution? These sturdy, UV-resistant 20lt bladder that can be carried with a shoulder strap or full backpack style harness.

The bags can be lashed for stowage on deck when necessary using stainless steel eyelets around their edges. Once empty the bladder can be folded away and stowed in a locker, eliminating the need to have the deck festooned with empty cans. Different colours and labels are available for fuel and potable water.

From $176. dacoblue.com

7. Wing-Surfer 

For the person who has or wants every toy, this is the latest compact watersports trend. The inflatable handheld wing offers a cross between windsurfing and kitesurfing rigs, but with no strings or rigging needed. It allows a very simple, pure method for a board rider to harness the wind, be it on a foiling kiteboard or a SUP – just blow it up, grab the handles and go.

From $799. naishkites.com

8. Papa’s Pilar Rum

Christmas gift ideas: Pilar rum

Because every sailor enjoys a drop of rum, right?! Inspired by Ernest Hemingway’s adventures between Florida and Cuba on his boat, Pilar, this rum brand was created in collaboration with Hemingway’s estate, and the family remains involved and donates a majority of its proceeds to charity.

The blonde rum version costs $29.99. Dark rum $39.99 papaspilar.com

9. Waterproof iPhone housing

Christmas gift ideas:Proshotcase waterproof phone housing

GoPros and similar action cameras are great devices, but they are both expensive (some more than £500) and need charging. Recent smartphones have a camera that is just as good as a high-end action camera. This neat case turns an iPhone into a fully waterproof action camera.

It’s waterproof to 50ft or 130ft, depending on model, and is compatible with all GoPro mounting accessories. Full control of the phone’s camera is achieved via the volume buttons.

From US$119.99 proshotcase.com

10. Carboteck bracket and bezel

Christmas gift ideas: Carboteck bracket

An upgrade for the dinghy sailing enthusiast in your life. This forged light and impact resistant carbon bezel is designed for use with a Velocitek Prism or a Raymarine Tacktick Micro Compass. The forged carbon is created by mixing paste fibres with resin, then squeezing the material into the desired shape.

Prices: Bezel £49.99; Compass bracket £89.99. carboteck.com

The post 41 great Christmas gift ideas for sailors – our pick of the very best kit appeared first on Yachting World.

Rustler’s stunning new flagship, the Rustler 57 may cause you to re-evaluate what comfort is all about when cruising

There will be times when you get caught out, when the weather doesn’t do exactly as forecast and the sea state becomes worryingly erratic. These are the sort of times when you feel the eyes of the young or less experienced members of the crew turning to you, wanting reassurance you may not be able to give. This can be the unpredictable nature of cruising.

At times like this it matters little how many sunpads you may have on deck, what size your flatscreen TV is, or which toys are lurking in the lazarette. You’d trade any of them for a comfortable and forgiving motion, safe passage on deck and a minimum of unnerving noises.

You want to be able to set the correct sail to the conditions. You may also re-evaluate what makes life comfortable: proper protection in the cockpit; a navstation where you can think and plan; somewhere to dry wet gear, make a hot brew safely, or cocoon yourself on a berth with a sturdy leecloth.

These may not be the sexy features that sell yachts at boat shows, but they could make a crucial difference to the enjoyment of an offshore passage. Rustler Yachts knows this well. It builds very elegant-looking cruising yachts, but they are designs that shun fashion for exactly this type of pragmatism.

It’s no fluke that the top three of five finishers in the retro, attritional Golden Globe Race 2018 were Rustler 36s. The Penryn, Falmouth, yard takes a belt and braces approach to its builds. Its range has spanned modest sized cruising yachts up to 44ft – until now. This new Rustler 57, by far its largest model to date, is still a yacht that its creators hope will provide that total reassurance.

Article continues below…

Amel 50 review: An indoor sailing experience to excite even hardened sailors

Amel has a long established following for yachts designed and built to match the needs of liveaboard and bluewater cruisers.…

Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 490 test: A boat that demands to be noticed

Pip Hare tests the first Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 490, the eighth generation of its hugely popular cruising range

£218,322.00

No frills introduction

First impressions are reassuring: a sweeping sheerline rising to a raked stem, a spoon bow and an elegant counter, and a deep underbody with a softly turned bilge are all traits that have stood the test of time. They help produce a reliable, kindly motion at sea, with the added bonus of lines that are exceedingly easy on the eye.

Rustler’s go-to designer, Stephen Jones, who joined us for the first day of trials, explained that he endeavoured to keep the freeboard of the Rustler 57 as low as possible – no easy task with today’s demands for internal volume. His solution lay with modern influences: a fuller bow shape, noticeable in the forward cabin, and broad beam aft which buys valuable space in the two aft guest cabins.

This yacht is refreshing in its conservative, dependable nature. At this size and price range, there’s no shortage of competition in the luxury cruiser market, but the Cornish yard is sticking to what it does best and, for that reason, the Rustler 57 stands out. Director Adrian Jones describes it as a scaled-up version of the company’s venerable 42.

A sweeping sheer rising to a high bow, helps keep a low freeboard and graceful look. All photos: Richard Langdon

“What our owners want is to not follow fashion,” he says, pointing out that the hull shape, protective skeg and single wheel are the antithesis of the offerings from most modern production yards. The rig is also unusual these days: “We stuck to our guns with parallel spreaders and a cutter rig,” says Jones.

Where this first Rustler 57 differs from the standard boat is in the rig and keel set up. The owner didn’t want the boat to draw more than 2m, nor have an air draught over 25m. Rustler’s solution was to use a long chord, lead keel case with a bronze fin centreboard that can lower to give another 1.5m draught. The carbon Seldén mast and V-boom carries a fully battened mainsail, which uses a Harken switch track to stow closer to the boom.

From the moment you step aboard the Rustler 57 via a proper boarding gate in the guardrails, walk along its secure side decks between sturdy toerail and handrails, noting features such as the Samson post and protected dorades, and settle in the deep cockpit, you feel enveloped in a luxurious safety blanket.

Sailing from the heart of the boat. Note how deep in the cockpit Toby is at the helm, yet still with clear sightlines

Before moving on to performance, it’s important to point out where the money goes. This is a hand-built boat, more than 22,000 hours of it in fact. It’s a yacht built to last.

“We use a monolithic layup with a glass stringer matrix for all of our cruising yachts, as we genuinely believe it to be stronger,” Adrian Jones explains. He maintains that, compared to sandwich construction, this copes better with deflection, is easier to repair and won’t delaminate.

The result is a medium-displacement yacht, weighing 27 tonnes – similar to the new Amel 60, and just under two tonnes more than the Oyster 565. However, as we’d soon discover, you don’t pay a real penalty for that weight as the nearly two tonnes of tankage is positioned low and central in a deep bilge, and a long waterline length helps maintain a healthy speed.

Moving through the gears

I’m a fan of cutter rigs and twin headsails on cruising yachts. It’s prudent to be able to change your arsenal of canvas easily to match conditions, and keep correct sail shape without needing to leave the cockpit.

Our first reach away from Mylor was under full mainsail and yankee, making an effortless 9-10 knots. But once out into Falmouth Bay and into gusts that brought 25 knots over the deck, we needed to adjust our sail area for comfort. Having the option to swap to the staysail, and/or drop a reef in the main via the single line reefing system, was fuss-free and no one needs to venture forward.

It was a lively first sail, fetching upwind, then broad reaching under yankee and staysail, the Rustler 57 fully powered up and topping 10 knots. The motion through the water was superb.

The Rustler 57 gets up to speed easily and keeps way on handsomely, however we experienced abnormal load on the helm during that first morning. The boat had only recently launched and was still being tuned, but even with a reef in the main it was still an effort on the wheel.

The Rustler’s lines are exceedingly easy on the eye

Stephen Jones was convinced there was too much belly in the mainsail. Sailing into the Helford for a pitstop lunch gave us the chance to move the outhaul and reeve clews further aft on the boom. By flattening the mainsail considerably the helm instantly felt much more balanced.

Further tweaks of the Lewmar geared steering may make the autopilot’s life easier too, but it no longer felt like we were fighting the boat. Indeed, the Rustler 57 let us know politely and with plenty of time to ease sheets if it was feeling pressed.

The rest of that afternoon and the following day was a joy in classic late summer West Country conditions, which provided an ideal mix of wind strengths. When the breeze is around 12 knots or above, the Rustler 57 consistently clocks 8.5 knots on most angles.

In the average 20-knot conditions we had on the first afternoon, we reached along at a consistent 9.5 and over, which points to delightfully easy passagemaking potential.

It’s also a relatively nimble yacht, for which I was grateful as we beat into St Mawes, navigating through a dinghy racing fleet. It can match single-figure wind speeds down to 6 knots or motor at an admirable 8.5 knots at 2,200rpm.

Some potential modifications could make the Rustler 57 easier still to sail. When the wind gets up, the long yankee sheets can be a handful as they whip about during a tack. The electric winches arguably need to work faster to tame these, but my preference would be to furl the yankee during tacks in anything over 15 knots of wind.

The side decks, finished in non-slip gelcoat, feel really secure thanks to the wide cap rail, high guardrails and sturdy handrails along the flat coachroof top – although checkstays hinder access a little

The hydraulic backstay and vang and electric furlers ease the task of sail trim and handling. But with running backstays, two sets of headsail sheets and the mainsheet to consider during tacks, it might prove sensible to lead the staysail sheets to a self-tacking track. It would also make sense to use the mainsheet winches to adjust the traveller from the helm, which would simply involve the addition of a turning sheave.

From the helmsman’s position, there are good sightlines through the fixed windscreen and under the foot of the high-cut yankee. I had a preference for standing behind the wheel, but it is possible to sit out on the coamings. The V-boom on the test boat seems large, which not only impacts on the yacht’s aesthetics, but can prevent you from seeing the telltales to leeward from the helm.

A focus for Rustler was the creation of a deep, protected cockpit. I can’t stress enough how this puts you at ease at sea, and you feel inside rather than on top of the yacht. If salt water does somehow reach the cockpit, a bridgedeck step abaft the companionway ensures it remains outside.

Davits can carry a large dinghy – an 11ft/3.5m RIB with 20hp motor in the case of the test boat.
The swim platform hinges off the sealed transom, with steps down from the pushpit

Stowage has been planned carefully on deck. Handy cuddies in the coamings also hide remote controls for the electric primaries as well as shorepower sockets. There are practical lockers beneath the helm seats for washdown gear on one side and warps the other.

The top of the rudder stock and the emergency steering connection are also beneath the helm seat, which would make it quick and easy to fit an emergency tiller. Surprisingly, however, there is no permanent provision for sheet tails – the mainsheet tail bags and halyard hooks are additions.

The bountiful lazarette, large enough for full-size bicycles on the test boat, is a watertight area as the swimming platform hinges off the sealed transom. A quarter locker houses two 13kg gas bottles and the deep sail locker forward can easily swallow a downwind sail and fenders.

Sumptuous saloon

The lion’s share of space on the Rustler 57 has understandably been allocated to the cockpit and saloon. Fiddles and handles guide you safely through an interior that oozes hand-built quality.

I was drawn to the proper navstation, where you can settle behind the chart table, scan the displays on the angled, raised panel, check the sea state through the hull portlight or the mainsail through the hatches, all while in communication with those in the cockpit, galley or saloon.

Layout is logical – things are where they should be. The switchboard, for instance, is divided up so the deck lights are in close reach from the companionway. The 24V systems are on one panel, 240V on another, with the breakers mounted separately below. It’s intuitive. Proper shelving for pilot books is built into the bulkhead behind the pilot seat and the grab bag is below. This is a yacht designed for passagemaking.

Long coachroof windows, hull portlights and overhead hatches provide plenty of light to the vast saloon

That said, the Rustler 57 has an impressive allocation of social space for time at rest. The galley and saloon create a colossal communal area; it’s rare to find this much saloon space below superyacht or large cat level. Eight can sit around the large table with another four on the sofa.

Ample natural light and ventilation help create a light, airy ambience. The owners of this boat chose satin-finished teak, together with traditional blue upholstery. The standard finish is in a lighter European oak.

These owners also opted for a washing machine, separate dryer, dishwasher, microwave and extra fridge freezer. So despite the intelligent layout of the galley, I actually found it a little wanting in convenient stowage space for everyday utensils. However, the yacht boasts plenty of stowage in general, including in the deep bilge.

The owner’s cabin forward has generous stowage and natural light, plus an adjoining heads and separate shower

The engine is, unusually, mounted centrally below the inboard area of the galley’s work surface for optimum weight management. “Our view is that you should be able to do daily checks but otherwise it should be as central as possible,” explains Rustler’s co-director Nick Offord. The sole boards and bin area surrounding the engine lift away to give easy access to the filters etc.

The prop shaft runs through a large Aquadrive unit and Halyard silencers, so despite the engine’s position in the heart of the interior, it was quiet underway. The space beneath the companionway is used to house the genset, and there is room for a washing machine or wet hanging above (there is also a rail in the day heads for drying gear).

The full bow buys plenty of volume in the master cabin, with beam enough to allow steps up each side of the double berth and for the headboard to mount on the forward bulkhead.

The aft cabins, meanwhile, also with ensuite heads, are where the price is paid for the elegant counter and traditional hull shape, as headroom and bilge space quickly reduces going aft. The berths are on two levels in the twin cabin – nice passage berths but they could get a little cramped for guests spending longer periods aboard.

The post Rustler 57 review: This traditional British cruiser was built to rule the waves appeared first on Yachting World.

Is this Oyster 565 the boat that secures the British yard’s future? Toby Hodges takes an exclusive test sail

For the sake of this iconic British brand, the new Oyster 565 can’t just be good, it has to be exceptional. Nothing less will do. When the Oyster 825 Polina Star III lost her keel and sank off the coast of Spain in July 2015, the fortune it subsequently cost Oyster directly contributed to the company going into receivership.

Its backers, Dutch firm HTP Investments, ceased to provide financial support in February 2018 and the company went into administration. When gaming software entrepreneur Richard Hadida bought Oyster six weeks later, many wondered how he could rebuild the credibility of the brand and turn the business around.

So all eyes were on the Oyster 565 when it launched at the Southampton Boat Show in September. This is the first completely new design under Hadida’s watch and it sits at the core of the British firm’s market. This is the yard’s most popular size, replacing the 56 (75 sold) and 575 (45 sold).

There is the option of an extended transom design with tender garage, but all owners so far have favoured this standard shape with davits for carrying a dinghy. This yacht has a substantial bathing platform, alongside which you can tie up the dinghy. Photo: Brian Carlin

Hadida has introduced some key developments to help it succeed. Oyster now moulds its hulls in-house rather than subcontracting this work, and he wanted third party oversight, so a Lloyd’s Register surveyor inspects all yachts in build once a week to approve the design, materials and build quality of the hulls and decks. This brings a level of assurance to new owners and should restore faith in the build quality.

The new owner introduced a diverse group of board members, including designer Rob Humphreys and sailor and former Formula 1 team boss Eddie Jordan as well as other business authorities. He also put the Oyster Rendezvous regattas and successful Oyster World Rally back on track. However, this groundwork counts for nothing if the Oyster 565 flops.

I travelled to Barcelona to spend two days testing Panthalassa, the first 565 to launch. Knowing there is a huge amount riding on this model, I wondered whether it would deliver. The answer is a resounding yes. The Oyster 565 is one of the finest production yachts I have ever sailed.

The design is contemporary and sympathetic to Oyster’s existing line-up, but with more volume, comfort, simplicity, speed and stowage space than its predecessors. The deck and interior layout is right up to date, the engineering behind the scenes is of high quality, and the finish is a step beyond what almost any other production yard can offer.

Article continues below…

British tech entrepreneur buys Oyster Yachts, boat building to resume

Oyster Yachts has been bought from administrators by British gaming software entrepreneur Richard Hadida. Hadida won the bid from a…

Rustler 57 review: This traditional British cruiser was built to rule the waves

Rustler’s stunning new flagship, the Rustler 57 may cause you to re-evaluate what comfort is all about when cruising

£1,300,000.00

Times have changed

I found the Oyster 565 berthed alongside an Oyster 56 in Port Ginesta, which conveniently illustrated how hull shapes and deck layouts have changed in 20 years. The Oyster 565 has around 30cm more freeboard, the beam is carried much further aft, and it has a broader transom. The cockpit in particular is much larger, easier and safer to get into, and there are no sheets for guests to trip over.

The design strikes a balance between respecting the legacy of the 56 and the ten-year-old Oyster 575, and introducing modern features such as a flush foredeck, clean lines and a greater hull volume. Some traditional cruisers may mourn the loss of a skeg-hung rudder and cutter-rigged headsails, but the ease with which you can handle this Oyster 565 in most conditions should convince the majority that modern design wins here.

A robust bowsprit extends the yacht’s length to 59ft. Although the hull length of the new Oyster 565 is shorter than the 575 it replaces, its waterline length is longer and it boasts 10% more volume. Its full bow sections also create space for a sail locker, a crucial asset for stowing the offwind sail needed to supplement the blade jib.

The Oyster 565 is clearly the product of a yard used to building high-end large yachts, as opposed to one pushing up in size into a level of engineering and quality with which it is less familiar. This is perhaps why Oyster describes it as a ‘pocket superyacht’.

In this respect, the appointment of Paul Adamson as Oyster’s chief commercial officer was shrewd. Adamson is a seasoned Oyster skipper who took Eddie Jordan’s Oyster 885 Lush around the world (the yacht now belongs to Richard Hadida). He brings practical, hands-on expertise and big-boat knowledge to the yard.

The Oyster 565’s £1.5m price tag is steep, but it is comparable to similar-sized yachts from competitor brands and, unusually, comes with a very high standard spec. This includes hydraulic thrusters, furlers, and windlass, tri-radial sails, powered winches, a generator and a full electronic navigation package. You’ll even find 100m of 12mm chain in the anchor locker.

Secure side decks and great views in and out. Photo: Rick Tomlinson

The Oyster 565 comes ready to go, with all the equipment the company knows will make for comfortable ocean cruising, gleaned from decades of experience and owner feedback.

It is immediately obvious as soon as you go on board that every detail has been thought through. The high guardrails have boarding gates built in. If berthed stern-to, a cassette-style passerelle (an extra option) extends at the push of a button, and its handrail rises automatically. Moving forward between the twin wheels, you enter a generous-sized, deep centre cockpit.

A bluewater yacht needs to have a kindly motion at sea, be easy it is to sail and remain comfortable when heeled. During our trials, the Oyster 565 was to prove genteel, safe and enjoyable to sail.

Powering to weather under blade jib. There is a large sail locker forward, removable dorades and a huge ‘skylight’ hatch above the forward cabin. Photo: Brian Carlin

The 565 is simplicity itself to get on and off a berth. It comes with retractable bow and stern thrusters as standard, which allow you to spin the boat around its keel. The hydraulic thrusters are powerful enough to park sideways against a crosswind and easily correct any misalignment when approaching the dock.

Easier sailhandling

The hydraulic furling makes it equally simple to deploy sails even in a strong breeze or awkward seaway. I am not usually a fan of in-mast furling mainsails, but here the ability for one person to set and furl away the main without leaving the helm outweighs any negatives.

Oyster has also ensured that you can manually furl sails should the power or hydraulics fail. Both the mainsail and jib furlers have sockets that allow you to winch the sail by hand or, easier still, operate them with a cordless drill (a fully charged 18V drill will reportedly manage 15 mainsail furls).

The Oyster 565 is the first all-new model to be launched since the yard’s 2018 buyout. Photo: Brian Carlin

The blade jib enables the Oyster 565 to point higher and tack or gybe faster and more easily than previous Oysters with cutter rigs, and without the risk of yankee or genoa sheets whipping around the cockpit. It also proved the ideal sail for our long beats upwind in 12-20 knot winds. The Oyster 565 is a powerful design with a medium displacement, able to maintain consistent speed with a soft motion through the waves that makes for a quiet and comfortable ship.

The twin rudders provide the helmsman with total control and forgiving handling. When the apparent breeze reached the high 20s and the leeward gunwale was immersed, we were on the verge of needing a reef, yet the helm remained light, with only a slight increase in weather helm. This means light work for an autopilot. You can really load the boat, so would need to keep an eye on true wind speeds and when to reduce sail.

The test yacht’s bright red asymmetric spinnaker helped us get the most from the Oyster 565 offwind. Again it was the consistent speeds that stood out: 9-9.5 knots in flat water with winds in the low teens, rising to double figures when going with the swell. Once the breeze was up to a Force 5 on our second day we were sailing consistently at 10 knots. I was hooked: this is an indulgent way to tick off mile after mile.

The cockpit is split into helming and guest areas. The latter has deep benches, a large, fixed table with insulated cool box, a good sprayhood with large, clear panels and an optional bimini or full cockpit enclosure. Photo: Rick Tomlinson

Most sail controls and sheets are within reach of the twin pedestals yet clear of the guest cockpit. When standing at the helm it is possible to straddle the coaming to release a sheet or reach the powered winch buttons during a tack.

Short-handed control

For owners who want to sail short-handed, however, it might be more practical to have the primaries closer to the helms, allowing them to hand steer the boat through a tack rather than relying on an autopilot. Leading the jib sheet to the aft (spinnaker) winch might make more sense, as it is closer to the helm and easier to reach without leaving the cockpit.

The mainsheet winch is directly abaft and in reach of the helmsman. It feels awkward turning round to trim the main, but I guess it is something you would get used to, or would settle for engaging the autopilot before trimming the main. There is currently no option for a traveller. Adamson believes that, for most owners, clear access to the cockpit is paramount, and a powerful vang was chosen to control the main instead.

Safe and secure on deck

The distance between the two wheels is perfect. Footwells help ensure that you feel in, rather than on top of, the boat while helming – that was not always the case on previous models. And wraparound backrests at the seats and handrails on the pedestals both create a feeling of security around the helm areas.

Moving forward along the wide side decks also feels safe thanks to high guardrails and handrails along the coachroof. Outboard shrouds and inboard jib tracks leave a comparatively clear side deck. The shrouds disappear neatly into composite chainplates below the toerail.

Going below feels less secure when the Oyster 565 is heeled, however. The flat companionway steps are steep, and curved sides would be more practical. The interior has plenty of handholds and solid fiddles, but there is so much headroom in the saloon I could only just reach the overhead handrail on the centreline.

When sailing, you have this hypnotic view from the saloon of the sea foaming past the leeward hull windows. Photo: Toby Hodges

It is easier to move forward along the starboard side of the saloon, though, and elsewhere the layout suits life at an angle. It is remarkably quiet below decks, a hush belied by the mesmerising sight of the sea foaming past the big leeward hull windows.

Behind the scenes

The British yard has stuck to a tried and tested interior layout for the Oyster 565 and has furnished and finished it impeccably. The standard of joiner work is as good as any you’ll find at production yacht level. The galley and aft cabin would be hard to better, and the utility cabin amidships, a workroom-cum-laundry with an optional pilot berth and access to the walk-in engine room, further compliments the proven layout.

Unusually at this size, Oyster offers the option of a master cabin forward with two double cabins aft. But unless you plan to spend long periods berthed stern-to, the standard owner suite aft with the magnificent views it provides will surely win every time.

The ensuite owner’s aft cabin has an abundance of light and views, good headroom and stowage – it’s difficult to believe you’re actually aboard a yacht of less than 60ft. Photo: Rick Tomlinson

Every part of the accommodation is used to its full potential, and stowage is maximised without any part feeling cramped. Practical touches include the cedar-lined, lit and ventilated wardrobes, clever use of indirect lighting, and deeply fiddled work surfaces that are shaped, moulded and laminated in-house.

However, it’s what lies behind the scenes that impressed me most. All services are easy to access for maintenance. The headlining is mounted on Velcro, while floorboards use the Fastmount panel system – although Oyster really needs to find a way to stop these sole panels creaking as it spoils an otherwise quiet interior.

Look below the saloon sole and you’ll find a proper, deep bilge sump in the keel stub. Bilges throughout the boat drain here through limber holes, which ensures any water stays in the lowest part and doesn’t slosh around. This is the most logical place for bilge pumps and by mounting them on removable plates Oyster has ensured they can easily be lifted to clean the strainers.

Sole boards lift to allow access to underfloor systems and the deep bilge. Photo: Toby Hodges

Installed beneath the companionway are two large bronze seawater inlets, one for the domestic side, such as fridge and air con, the other for the engine and generator. These systems are linked so that if one becomes blocked you can shut it down and use the other. It is also comforting to see the surrounding pipes all clearly labelled ‘Lloyds approved’.

The companionway steps lift for stowage and access to the top of the 11kW generator. Here you notice the thickness of the sound insulation. Adamson says Oyster has learned a lot about this through building its larger models. The engine room, for example, is surrounded by plywood with a high-density core and insulated with a composite of foam and sound-absorbing materials. When the engine is on tickover, it is almost impossible to hear it in the cockpit.

Besides walk-in access to starboard, panels below the galley sink can be removed for access to the port side of the engine room. The engine block sits on flexible mountings, below which is a sump that prevents any oil from running into the main bilge area. There is an electronic pump-out for an oil change, a powered fuel polisher and a water-in-fuel alarm – systems normally only found on larger yachts.

The longer you look, the more you appreciate the careful planning and the intricate detail that has gone into this yacht.

The post Oyster 565 yacht test: This bluewater cruiser marks the rebirth of a legend appeared first on Yachting World.

Having tested 15 yachts shortlisted for the European Yacht of the Year 2020 awards, Toby Hodges reveals the winners and why they won

Yachting World has been a jury member for the European Yacht of the Year awards since its inception in 2004. This involves shortlisting the best annual prospects into categories before testing them all to elect the winners.

The awards have grown to include 12 judges from across Europe, each leading voices on boat testing in their respective countries. Each judge sails every boat before we discuss the competition at length. The result is the largest, most influential and widely respected boatbuilding prize worldwide.

In October we were able to gather the 15 shortlisted yachts together in one location for the first time – Port Ginesta, Barcelona – for six days of testing.

The five European Yacht of the Year 2020 winners were announced on the opening evening of the Düsseldorf Boat Show, on 18 January. Look out for our March 2020 issue, which features the winners and nominees in more detail.

Performance Cruisers

Nominees: Beneteau First 53, Italia Yachts 11.98, RM 1180, X 4.0

Winner: X4.0

X Yachts took already excellent boats in the X 4.3 and X 4.6 and refined and refined them to produce this, arguably the benchmark for today’s 40ft performance cruiser.

European yacht of the year 2020 winner X 4.0

The X 4.0 is a sailor’s yacht with plenty of modern styling and proved a lot of fun to helm in comfort. Although the focus is on cruising, the ergonomic cockpit set up can still suit racing.

The proportion of space is also superb throughout, from the cockpit to the accommodation. It’s a design that’s hard to fault.

Price: €257,500 (ex. VAT)

Luxury Cruiser

Nominees: Amel 60, Grand Soleil 42LC, Oyster 565

Winner: Amel 60

Another beautifully built and finished boat by Amel, this is a similar, refined and extended version of the award-winning Amel 50.

It features tried and tested traditional Amel concepts including the central enclosed cockpit (which might not suit an active helmsman­), huge watertight engine room and solid guardrails but in a modern looking package.

European yacht of the year 2020 winner Amel 60

The Amel 60 boasts enormous volume and stowage, has a truly luxurious feel to the interior, and comes with an impressively high standard spec including a carbon mast for €1,650,000.

Race Yachts

Nominees: ClubSwan 36, Dehler 30 OD, J/99, Jeanneau Sun Fast 3300, JPK 1080

Winner Race: Dehler 30 OD

This is a very well executed concept, one with up-to-date looks in an appealing, versatile design. It can be sailed short-handed or crewed, and has a proper little interior – a mini offshore racer that you can sleep on.

European yacht of the year 2020 winner Dehler 30 OD

Dehler has packed in the features, which include a carbon mast and carbon-reinforced hull structure, water ballast, a retractable propeller, and serious sail area including a square top main, which is balanced by a deep keel and twin rudders.

It’s as fun to sail as it looks. A stiff, responsive, current and fun sportsboat at a respectable price.

Price: €108,900 (ex. VAT)

Innovation prize

Winner: ClubSwan 36

To my mind, this is the coolest looking production yacht afloat and the most fun to sail – in both directions! Why would an owner-driver even consider a TP52 or Fast 40 when you could have a sportscar like this for so much less?

European yacht of the year 2020 winner ClubSwan 36

Even without the C-foil (which, counteracts leeway upwind but still needs some fine tuning to get the best out of it), this is the most exciting boat – bravo Swan for doing something radically different, once again.

We featured a full test on this missile in the February 2020 issue.

Price: €385,000 (ex. VAT)

Family Cruisers

Nominees: Beneteau Oceanis 30.1, Elan Impression 45.1, Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 410

Winner: Beneteau Oceanis 30.1

European yacht of the year 2020 winner Beneteau Oceanis 30.1

Credit to Beneteau for addressing the entry-level market with a modern, easy-to-handle, spacious and affordable 30ft cruiser. Polish build helps keep the price low, a clever hull shape buys volume, the cockpit and rig design help make it easy to sail, while an options list that includes four different keels provides versatility and will attract sea and lake sailors alike.

Tall headroom, saloon berths long enough to sleep on and an L-shape galley is all somehow fitted in below decks. This is an appealing, small family yacht on which to enjoy simple sailing and overnighting.

Price: €69,400 (ex. VAT)

Multihulls

Nominees: Excess 15, Lagoon 46, Neel 47

No winner announced

Despite the recent explosion of cruising multihulls, this was a disappointing category this year. The Lagoon wasn’t able to make the trials and we had concerns over steering problems with the Excess and the finish quality of the Neel 47.

The post And the winners of the European Yacht of the Year 2020 are… appeared first on Yachting World.

Oui Fling is a Spirit Yachts 52D, a stripped-out spirit of tradition racer custom built for Irvine Laidlaw for racing in the Solent

It may have been high season on the Solent, but among the eclectic mix of race boats both big and small, one yacht was turning more heads than any other. Spirit Yachts’ new 52D (D is for distilled), Oui Fling, is an out-and-out modern race boat concealed behind classic lines and a wooden structure, and takes the term ‘spirit of tradition’ to a whole new level.

Oui Fling belongs to Baron Laidlaw, a serial racing yacht owner with a fleet of yachts called Highland Fling, and a veteran of big boat and maxi events in the Mediterranean and Caribbean.

Having bought a house on the Solent, however, Laidlaw decided that he wanted a yacht that he could campaign in both evening IRC racing out of Lymington and classic/spirit of tradition events. He was not interested in sailing a traditional classic, but an elegant yacht that his core pro crew could push hard around the course. He rang Spirit Yachts.

The foredeck is exceptionally clean. Note there are no stanchions or lifelines and no bow roller. Photo: Paul Wyeth

After speaking with Spirit’s founder and designer Sean McMillan, Laidlaw flew to Ipswich last December to discuss ideas for a new race yacht. They settled on a 46-footer, which swiftly grew to 52ft (the same length as McMillan’s own Spirit, Flight of Ufford).

An evening racer

Laidlaw’s current fleet includes 31ft, 52ft, 82ft and 115ft racing yachts. “I’ve got a lot of fast carbon boats so I thought it would be fun to do something different,” he told me as we headed out of the Lymington River on a particularly blustery Solent afternoon.

“I wanted to do the evening races, so I was limited by draught.” Laidlaw added that he wanted something pretty and had always considered Spirits attractive.

The result is this first flush-decked Spirit Yacht: a stripped-out wolf in sheep’s clothing. The Ipswich based yard has launched over 65 wood epoxy boats in 25 years, but Oui Fling is rather different than most.

Article continues below…

Revolver: Bruce Ritchie’s gentleman’s racer blends traditional and modern craftsmanship

“I wasn’t expecting this,” said Michael Ritchie when his 83-year-old father Bruce showed him the lines he had drawn up…

Anna: The modern classic yacht that conceals some serious technology

When approaching Anna moored at the dock, it’s hard to immediately tell whether she is a restored classic or a…

“I enjoy the boatbuilding process,” said Laidlaw, candidly. “I enjoy the process of planning it, seeing it through – then how to make it go faster.”

The Spirit 52D was a fittingly bespoke project. Laidlaw specified a cockpit to suit his race-only crew, something much larger than the conventional keyhole shape used on most Spirit yachts.

Oui Fling also has separate cockpits for both the helmsman and tactician. Laidlaw only races his yachts and never spends the night on them; hence he didn’t require any home comforts or facilities below decks.

The two berths (seated headroom only) are structural and provide longitudinal stiffness along with the full-length stringers running along the hull. Photo: Paul Wyeth

Oui Fling’s build was fast-tracked. She launched just seven months after those initial discussions and, a week after arriving in her now homeport of Lymington, convincingly won her class in the Panerai British Classic Week.

“The drive was to make it the best racer within the spirit of tradition ethos,” said Spirit’s managing director, Nigel Stuart. Laidlaw’s initial plan for only racing her in the UK has now broadened to more spirit of tradition racing in the Med next year. Oui Fling is purposely small enough to be transported abroad by road.

Bespoke detailing

Oui Fling fascinates on many levels: the Spirit aesthetic is melded with the latest technology and modern influences. The closer you look, the more innovative the details that come into focus. And whereas the deck design is a study in racing ergonomics, below decks is a visual feast.

The sapele ring frames and longitudinals that form the shell. Note the grand prix-style string take- down system that runs the length of the boat to pull downwind sails rapidly below. Photo: Paul Wyeth

The joinery is compelling aboard any Spirit, but you can normally only see glimpses of the planking and frames – here the entire construction is left completely exposed.

McMillan drew the hull, using similar lines to his own Spirit 52, Flight, but with less buoyancy in the distinctly lighter new boat. The structure is still all in wood, using sapele ring frames and yellow cedar strip planking.

Two layers of kaya double diagonals were laid over this, before the whole hull was glassed. But there is also carbon hidden in the structure and deck in localised patches to stiffen certain load-bearing areas.

The traveller control lines exit at these cam cleats on the same pedestal. Photo: Paul Wyeth

“There was a lot of input from people we don’t work with normally,” said Nigel Stuart. Composite specialist Graham Eeles in Brightlingsea laminated the keel fin and rudder blade using one-off CNC-built moulds.

Hall Spars, which has worked with Laidlaw in the past, constructed the high modulus carbon mast, while Dutch company Smart Rigging did the composite standing rigging. “There’s no point in doing it in-house if it’s not our skill set,” is Spirit’s philosophy.

“This was one of the fastest built boats we’ve ever done,” says Stuart. A lot of input, particularly with regards to getting the hardware and deck layout right, also came from Oui Fling’s South African skipper and ex-Volvo Ocean Race bowman Mike Pammenter.

Irvine Laidlaw’s fleet is green in colour. For Oui Fling, Awlgrip Jade is used on the topsides with a gold leaf cove line. Photo: Paul Wyeth

Weight was minimised wherever possible. The structure is in yellow cedar rather than Douglas fir, the keel and rudder are made of carbon fibre. Super B Lithium-ion batteries were selected for their high power-to-weight ratio.

Even the teak used is thinner than normal to keep the ballast ratio as high as possible. Elsewhere, the designers have replaced many metal fittings with soft padeyes and loops piggy-backing from deck padeyes.

The result is that Oui Fling launched at 6,954kg (with 3,250kg of that in her lead bulb). McMillan’s well-tuned Spirit 52 is nearly two tonnes heavier.

The extra-large cockpit has a clever self-draining design. When racing, the drains are shut, bringing the through-hull fittings flush to the hull, with water then led to a pump. Below the waterline all is reportedly perfectly faired.

Electric winches avoid the need for a coffee grinder or crew weight having to move to leeward. In fact the primaries are to be switched for winches with free spinning bases so the sheets can be cross-led to keep the weight up. Laidlaw is adamant that what you lose in rating with electric winches you gain in speed and weight optimisation.

The sail inventory is also impressive. Laidlaw has previously been a North Sails client, but as Spirit Yachts has long worked with John Parker at One Sails, Laidlaw decided to commission a full set of sails from both lofts to compare.

The electric winch controls on the mainsheet pedestal can be reached by foot from the rail. Photo: Paul Wyeth

The One Sails set uses the latest 4T ‘naked’ membrane, a grand prix racing sail that has no Mylar film or taffeta protection. It makes for a good comparison with North’s 3Di Raw. The 4T is also the first official ‘green’ sail, as it can be recycled, which is in keeping with Spirit’s proactive views on using sustainable materials.

A Oui blast on the water

Unsurprisingly, Oui Fling is a little wet to sail. The owner and crew were keen to try the One Sails mainsail for the first time, so we went out a couple of hours earlier than the evening race.

With full main (there are no reef points) and No.3 jib hoisted in 26 knots of true wind, we soon had the equivalent of a near gale blowing across the deck while heading upwind. I quickly reached for a hiking handle, more for security than from any desire to contribute to righting moment.

Oui Fling is a Solent-based boat, so is set up for running both symmetrical spinnakers and A-sails. Her owner has a preference for eight in the sail numbers as it is regarded as a prosperous number in Asia. Photo: Paul Wyeth

We then had a fast and furious downwind blast under spinnaker, rolling along with boat speed in the low teens. The water passing off the transom was notably smooth and quiet.

Laidlaw uses a core of professional crew who race on his big boats. It was a pleasure to watch them work the boat like it was a large dinghy, but also to note how much they enjoyed sailing her. “We all prefer sailing this,” said skipper Mike Pammenter. “There are only ten of us aboard, so there’s a lot more to do.”

I asked if they missed the planing speeds of the big carbon yachts? “Speed is relative, because we’re sailing at the same speed as those around us. But coming into the bottom mark, there’s a lot more going on. I do the bow on the 82 and 115, where you clip the tack on and that’s it, whereas here it’s full-on!”

Irvine Laidlaw kindly gave me the helm long enough for me to report that Oui Fling sails handsomely. She has the lines and length to sail properly through the waves upwind, yet she is light enough and sufficiently tuned for very direct and finger-light control of her carbon rudder blade.

Given the choice, time and funds, I wonder how many of us would choose to race a wet boat in the Solent in our retirement years. Laidlaw is a real sailor and his latest yacht is perhaps the ultimate sailor’s toy for the UK.

“It’s something completely different to anything I’ve had before,” said Laidlaw. “I’m very pleased it’s very pretty, and I’m very pleased it’s fast.”

Highland flings

Sir Irvine Laidlaw (pictured above) took up sailing in his 30s as a distraction from building the first of his successful businesses, the conference service company IHR. He advertised in Yachting World for a boat share partner, and bought a Varne 27.

Five years later he became sole owner of a Westerly GK 29 called Gonna Katcha, which was swiftly followed by a new GK 34, the first Highland Fling, which Laidlaw sailed out of Hong Kong.

Invited to represent Hong Kong in the 1981 Admiral’s Cup, he was soon hooked by grand prix racing, and successfully campaigned a series of IOR yachts. Highland Fling 5 was his first of three Nautor Swans, followed by Farr 40s, IMS designs, a 12 metre, Wally 82 and a Reichel/Pugh 82, Highland Fling XII.

He also owns a variety of smaller boats, and a 98m motor superyacht.

Specification

LOA: 15.71m (51ft 7in)
LWL: 10.61m (34ft 10in)
Beam: 3.38m (11ft 1in)
Draught: 2.37m (7ft 9in)
Displacement: 6,933kg (15,284lb)
Ballast: 3,200kg (7,055lb)
IRC TCC Rating: 1.150
Design: Sean McMillan

First published in the October 2017 edition of Yachting World.

The post Spirit Yachts 52D: This stripped-back racer is a wolf in sheep’s clothing appeared first on Yachting World.

The Nixon Base Tide Pro is a durable sports watch that’s ideal for anyone wanting a clear reference to local tides. Toby Hodges puts it through a six-month test

I live in a tidal area, where the height and times of the tides are crucial to deciding whether we can get afloat. Tide tables and sailing apps help most of the time, but that is not necessarily instantly attainable information.

The appeal of Nixon’s new Base Tide Pro, which is designed for surfers – hence the funky colours – was its ability to show a clear tide graph on the home screen. This, combined with digital watch functions including a countdown timer, would suit my needs well, I reasoned.

The watch is pre-loaded with tidal data for 550 locations worldwide for 15 years. However, as this selection is designed to cover the major surf spots around the world, there are only five locations for England (14 in the UK) with pre-programmed tide data. The closest location to my homeport is therefore 40 miles away, in St Austell. Thankfully St Austell’s tide times are within a few minutes of my south Devon harbour so have actually worked out fine.

You can customise tide times by using the ‘basic tide’ mode and inputting your local times and heights into that algorithm, but I found that doesn’t provide total accuracy and requires resetting occasionally to keep it in sync.

For those after more functionality, there are other GPS and wifi-enabled tide watches now available that allow users to update and check the conditions in any location in real-time. The Base Tide Pro has a dedicated tide page as well as one for sunrise and sunset times (plus dates in the future), which I like, along with normal digital watch benefits such as dual time, timer and alarm.

It has proved to be a brilliant, durable watch in general over the last six months. I particularly like the rugged silicone strap with double lock, the chunky buttons, the backlit display and the colour options (mine’s bright orange). It’s also waterproof to 100m/10ATM. But it is a big unit – so large that some people assume it’s some sort of fitness computer – and some identification of the five different button modes would be useful.

The post Nixon Base Tide Pro review: Rugged watch gives local tides at a glance appeared first on Yachting World.

If the number of visitors waiting in line to see the new Bavaria C42 at Boot Dusseldorf 2020 is anything to go by, the German yard is on its way to restoring its name as the top value cruising brand

Bavaria’s C-series, first launched two years ago, marked a step change in design thinking and styling for the company, some of whose models had arguably started to look staid.

Cossutti Yacht Design is responsible for the C42’s hull, which has obvious chines, with plenty of topsides flare right aft to reduce wetted surface area in light airs and allow for a single rudder.

Nevertheless, maximum beam at deck level is carried almost right aft. The extra topsides flare in the bow and stern sections aid stability as well as increasing interior space, with all cabins benefitting from large berths.

A proportionately larger sail plan than those of earlier Bavaria models should deliver better performance in light airs and reduce the amount of time spent under power, especially if the 85m² Code 0 and 140m² asymmetric are specified.

The two-spreader rig is fitted with a backstay tensioner, while the standard self-tacking jib can be replaced by a larger conventionally sheeted headsail.

Specification

LWL: 39ft 4in (11.98m)
Beam: 4.29m 14ft 1in
Draught: 1.70m- 2.10m (5ft 7in-6ft 11in)
Displacement: 9,678kg (21,336lb)
Price: €151,584 (ex. VAT)

The post Bavaria C42 yacht tour: Inside the boat they queued for hours to see appeared first on Yachting World.