Toby Hodges looks at the best daysailer yachts on the market, from ultra-modern cruisers to classically-styled masterpieces
Modern daysailers
1. Saffier Se 33 UD
Saffier Yachts now has eight designs between 21ft and 37ft. The investment and knowhow the Hennevanger brothers have put into the production facility really shows too – the vacuum-infused builds and finish quality are top class.
Saffier builds seaworthy designs, tests all new models thoroughly in the North Sea and ensures its yachts can be sailed easily single-handedly.
Launched in 2014, the Saffier Se 33 is a sporty design but with a practical self-draining cockpit and optional solid sprayhood, which help it handle most weather conditions. It has a fast underwater shape, a generous sailplan and a fixed carbon bowsprit. The extra-large cockpit features 2m benches and a folding transom and there is space enough for four to sleep below.
Saffier’s brand new Se 27 also looks like a seriously fun design and has been averaging speeds in the mid-teens with the kite up, clocking over 20 knots in its early trials this spring.
Prices for the Se 33 start at €114,500 (ex. VAT).
2. Domani S30
The S30, launched in 2018, is Belgian company Domani’s first model – a trailable sportsboat designed to be comfortable, fast and beautiful, says founder Michael Goddaert.
Inspired by Riva’s Aquarama motor boat, it has a large minimalist cockpit, spacious aft sunbed and a classy-looking compact interior. The narrow-beamed S30 weighs only 1,700kg, is offered with a long, two-part carbon rig, and has an electric drive as standard. A Lounge version is being developed which is similar to the Tofinou 9.7 in terms of deck layout.
Price ex. VAT: €88,000.
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3. Black Pepper Code 0.1
Those lucky enough to have sailed at Les Voiles de St Tropez may have seen these neo-classic daysailers from chic brand Black Pepper.
As well as this range of Code-branded daysailers/weekenders, the yard has just launched a new Sam Manuard-designed, scow-bowed IMOCA 60 for Armel Tripon’s Vendée Globe campaign.
The original Code 0, by Marc Lombard, is a high-performance dayboat with a distinctive squared coachroof, which is built light in carbon and epoxy with half its displacement in the keel bulb.
A new Code 0.1 version (pictured) launched last year, and is available in Open and Spirit (performance/regatta) versions.
Price ex. VAT: £148,000.
4. A-Yachts A27 / A33
A-Yachts founder. Michael Gilhofer helped to develop the original B30 (pictured below) and was distributor for B-Yachts in Germany for 17 years. He commissioned the in-demand Lorenzo Argento, who formerly worked with Luca Brenta, to design a new range of luxury daysailers built in Slovenia and finished in Austria.
The first two A-Yachts models (the A27 is pictured above) are focused on performance daysailing, whereas B-Yachts has gone for more cruising comfort below. An exciting new model, the A39, is due for launch in 2021.
Prices ex. VAT: A27 €98,500, A33 €215,000.
5. B-Yachts B30 / B34
The Brenta B30 is the iconic Italian daysailer. A real looker to keep berthed at your Portofino residence, it has a lightweight carbon/epoxy build and a high ballast ratio, for tantalising light airs sailing. B-Yachts is the brand that took the daysailing concept to the limit with the fiendishly indulgent (and very white) B60, which we tested, open-mouthed, back in 2008.
Although stagnant for some years, the company was acquired by Luca Brenta’s cousin Alberto Castiglioni in late 2018. Brenta, along with designer Alessia Lee, has worked up the design for a new B34 model due to launch this year, and they are now working on a B40.
The B30 (above) is now a modern classic, with more than 40 built, but the refreshed company has made some upgrades including a new rudder profile, fixed bowsprit, revised deck gear, a more functional interior and the option for an electric engine. But it’s still got those killer lines.
Prices ex. VAT: B30 €118,000, B34 €190,000.
6. Esse 330
This is the sixth model from Josef Schuchter’s yard on Lake Zurich, which builds fast, stiff and sporty designs. The new 330 is the first Esse that offers the ability for weekend/overnight sailing. Schuchter told us it is designed more for pleasure sailing than racing but has the same performance as the yard’s 990, using a 1m shorter mast and with greater stability and comfort.
Umberto Felci designed the 330 with a self-tacking jib, a carbon deck-stepped mast with no backstay and a high ballast ratio to help ensure it can easily be sailed short-handed. A lifting keel reduces draught to 1.55m and an electric drive is offered.
Price ex. VAT: €134,000.
7. Flax 27
A plumb stem and square coachroof give an alluring pilot classic style to this Judel/Vrolijk design, but it is the materials from which it is crafted that are most intriguing. Built by Bremen-based Greenboats, the flax (plant) or linen (fibre) is vacuum-infused with bio epoxy and can be given a clearcoat finish to help show off the fibres.
The focus is on weight-saving for this performance daysailer, using recycled PET as the core material. The deck is made from cork, the ropes are made entirely from recycled plastic bottles and the sails are recyclable.
Price ex. VAT, ready to sail: €126,000.
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