BEST NEW YACHTS FOR 2020
TOBY HODGES HIGHLIGHTS EUROPEAN YACHT OF THE YEAR NOMINEES AND UNVEILS THE WINNERS
European Yacht of the Year panel judge Toby Hodges highlights this year’s nominees and unveils the winners
If you wanted to identify the best new yachts on the market how would you go about it? The obvious answer would be to set up a comparative on-water test, but with yards spread across the globe this presents a significant logistical hurdle.
Yachting World has been a jury member for the European Yacht of the Year awards since its inception in
2004, a programme that enables us to set up such comparative tests. The testing panel has grown to include 12 judges from across Europe, each leading voices on boat testing in their respective countries.
This time we were able to gather 14 shortlisted yachts at Port Ginesta in
Barcelona for six days of testing. In terms of trends, 2019 saw the rise of the short-handed race boats. These are punchy pocket rockets of 30-35ft that can be tweaked and trimmed, plane easily and respond to the growing demand for racing fast with a smaller crew.
The 40-55ft monohull sector is dominated by fast cruisers, yachts that can be raced but are designed first and foremost for enjoyable, speedy cruising with minimal crew.
Cruising-orientated multihulls are also starting to edge further towards performance.
At the top end of the price bracket are some seriously impressive bluewater yachts that offer a perfected recipe in a ready to sail package.
PERFORMANCE CRUISERS NOMINEES:
In recent years performance cruisers have moved away from conventional cruiser-racers to fast and fun yachts with leisure-orientated decks and comfortable interiors. These boats can be handled easily, are a joy to sail at pace and may be optimised for occasional racing. And they always make for one of the tightest and most exciting categories.
The Italia 11.98 is perhaps the nominee slightly at odds with this description in that it is prioritises the racing aspect – the second hull won the ORC Worlds soon after launch. Designer Matteo Polli explained that the company wanted to make this model competitive across the full wind range while still being straightforward to sail.
Unfortunately this was the only trial for which I had no wind at all. However, with only white sails hoisted, the 11.98 never stopped ghosting along, while all other yachts were parked up or motoring. No surprise then that those judges who sailed it in proper breeze were quickly smitten.
A deep rudder allows you to push it hard without having to reef early and the deck layout is impressive, in that any winch can handle most operations without chafing surfaces. Below decks is a light, stylish and very Italian looking interior, albeit compact, in three cabins and two heads.
Converseley, the new First 53 is not out of the First 40.7type cruiser-racer stable, but aimed more at the luxury fast cruising end of the performance spectrum. Despite the aggressive, modern look there’s no traveller and the winches are designed to be in reach of the helmsman and used by short-handed crews rather than race teams.
You might expect this all-italian design to come from a yard like Grand Soleil or Solaris, but it is designed and built to undercut such competition. Beneteau argues that the 5m/16ft 4in beam of the 53 provides the volume of a typical 55 but for the price of a 50. ‘These boats can be handled easily and are a joy to sail at pace’
Designers Roberto Biscontini and Lorenzo Argento both joined us for the trial and explained how the weight management was particularly impressive – the boat is designed to take a cruising payload plus add-ons such as teak decking yet still perform well.
Indeed, with anything over 4 knots of true wind we were able to match the breeze or surpass it with the aid of a Code 0. The steering is impressively direct, the helm lovely and light.
The interior is something new and different in both layout and finish. Argento insisted on curved furniture and fiddles, encouraging Beneteau to return to the more traditional method of using moulded wood and this has paid off. Look out for our full test next month.
[Note: the RM 1180 was not able to make these trials.]
WINNER PERFORMANCE: X4.0 X-yachts has taken its already brilliant X 4.6 and
X 4.3 and refined them into what I consider to be the benchmark for today’s 40ft performance cruiser.
The X 4.0 is a superbly proportioned boat. It boasts an inviting saloon, with berths long enough to sleep on, a chart table, a proper galley you can cook in, and two (or three) double cabins, with headroom to gratify a lofty Dutchman.
It’s an equally well-rounded yacht to sail. Although the focus is on cruising, the cockpit set up can still suit racing. A delight on the helm, the X instantly instils a feeling of true quality. Sailing upwind in 15 knots, it felt supremely balanced – stiff, with plenty of rudder grip and feedback and a soft motion through the waves.
Reaching home under gennaker at 8-8.5 knots was as relaxing and enjoyable as fast cruising gets, and without anyone even tending a winch.
Verdict: The X40 provides an overriding feeling of reassurance. It’s a joy to sail from an ergonomic cockpit, and looks good inside and out. This is a design that’s hard to fault. Priced from €257,500.
RACE YACHT NOMINEES: Clubswan 36 // Dehler 30 OD // J/99 Jeanneau Sun Fast 3300 // JPK 1080
The year 2019 saw race boats around 30ft come back with a bang. The surge in interest in short-handed offshore racing and future Olympic class potential has created a boom in exciting offshore IRC and/or onedesign boats. On paper then, this could have been the most exciting category ever, and had the Sun Fast and the JPK been able to make it to the Port Ginesta trials, it would surely have been the hardest to decide a winner.
We featured full tests on all three of the French nominees last year. All came out favourably for their own reasons and all have proved themselves in various offshore events since. During the trials, the J/99 shone as a versatile package for crewed or double-handed racing or cruising. It is offered with single or twin rudders, a bulb keel or fin keel and symmetrical or asymmetrical spinnakers.
Add the Dehler into the mix, a German design and build but which could easily be mistaken for a French racer, and you have an intoxicating array of new offshore race boats. And the Clubswan adds some grand-prix glamour in a wickedly cool one-design package.
WINNER RACE: DEHLER 30 OD
Here is a small boat bursting with potential. It can be sailed short-handed or crewed, and has a proper little interior – a mini offshore racer that you can sleep on.
Dehler has packed in the features, which include a carbon mast and carbon-reinforced hull structure, water ballast, a retractable propeller, large sail area including a square top mainsail, a deep keel and twin rudders.
Smart production keeps the price and weight down. The majority of parts are prefabricated in moulds, then glued in place, which helps create the precise weight attention needed for one-design racing.
A stealth drive system hinges the Nanni engine’s prop shaft into to the hull. The 200lt ballast tanks each side can provide the equivalent of bodies on the rail for short-handed offshore legs.
The Dehler is as fun to sail as it looks. I had a glimpse of its potential as we clocked 8 knots upwind and 9.5 knots offwind under white sails (the genoa can be reefed, making for a wide-ranging sail). However, just as we popped the kite and really started shifting, touching 15 knots on a wave, the spinnaker halyard stripped through the jammer. Typical!
Fellow jury members confirmed it’s a blast in breeze and that once the 95m2 A-sail is hoisted, average speed remains in double figures. The plethora of control lines encourage active trimming, but can
quickly create a snake pit in the cockpit, however.
The minimalist yet smartly styled interior features two berths aft and a V-berth forward, neatly done but perhaps unnecessary on a boat that will surely only be used for racing.
Verdict: a very well thought out concept, one with up to date looks in an appealing, versatile design. A stiff, responsive, fun sportsboat. Prices start at €108,900.
WINNER INNOVATION PRIZE:
CLUBSWAN 36
We featured a full test on this missile last month, but to summarise my thoughts: this is the coolest looking production yacht afloat and the most fun to sail – in both directions!
It’s educational and enjoyable to helm. Let it heel without fighting the rudder, get it planing to reduce the wetted surface and let the C-foil kick in. The foil then pushes you to windward, countering leeway.
We had an absolutely sizzling run under kite, skimming the water at 12-15 knots and surfing in so much control. To sit to windward, tiller in hand, feet securely braced on the foot bar, with acres of space to enjoy in the cockpit, is a supreme helming experience. It’s what owners pay millions for in grand prix boats but in a more manageably sized, radical looking and much fairer one-design package.
Verdict: why consider a TP52 when you could have a sportster like this for so much less? Even without the foil this is the most exciting production boat. Bravo Swan for doing something seriously different, again.
From: €395,000.
LUXURY CRUISER NOMINEES: Amel 60 // Grand Soleil 42LC // Oyster 565
Were I a millionaire, the choice of what to buy to cruise the oceans in the most comfort without crew could be genuinely difficult. With up to €2m to spend on a new yacht your shortlist might not look very short at all: Amel 60, Contest 55CS, Discovery 58, Gunfleet 58, Hallberg-rassy 57, Oyster 565, Rustler 57 etc – and that’s only monohulls between 55-60ft.
We had two of these yachts in the luxury cruiser category this year and their quality ensured the selection process was one of the most drawn out to date. There was also a much more approachably sized and priced production yacht, the GS42LC, at the more conservative end of the luxury scale to factor in.
The Grand Soleil provides a hefty measure of Italian performance and style on a comfortable cruising yacht. It gifted me with a memorable evening sail, with rewarding helming under Code 0. In order to maximise cockpit space and make it easy to sail short-handed, however, the winch layout is arguably too compact.
It’s a tempting package for the price, with a bright and modern Nauta interior, but is more of a light wind Med cruiser than an offshore passagemaker.
This left a battle of the big guns between the Oyster and the Amel. I have seen and sailed most ‘luxury cruisers’ of this size and era and can honestly say these are two of the finest examples you’ll find.
If you read our full boat test report of the Oyster 565 in the January issue you’ll know that I consider the 565 to be the best boat Oyster has built in years. Both yachts have sumptuous aft cabins and a level of build and finish that is near faultless.
The decision for a potential buyer will come down to taste in aesthetics and how much value they place on active helming. The Amel provides pushbutton automation of all manoeuvring from a completely protected centre-cockpit so will suit those on lengthy solo watches. The twin helms of the Oyster are much more exposed, but the joy of steering the boat compared with the Amel is like night and day. Both are thoroughbred horses for bluewater courses.
WINNER: AMEL60
A beautifully built and finished boat, it features tried and tested traditional Amel concepts including an enclosed cockpit, vast watertight engine room, solid guardrails and faux teak decks, all wrapped in a modern looking package.
The 60 boasts enormous volume and stowage, has a truly deluxe interior, and comes with an impressively high standard spec including a carbon mast. Turn to page 50 for our full boat test. Price: €1,650,000.
‘Credit to Beneteau for an affordable 30ft boat’
FAMILY CRUISERS
NOMINEES Beneteau Oceanis 30.1 // Elan Impression 45.1 Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 410
This year’s family cruiser category arguably reflects the rather stagnant state of the midsize production cruising yacht market. The nominees comprise an entrylevel value-for-money offering, a refined example of a successful formula from Jeanneau and a reworking of a 16-year old, albeit highly popular, model from Elan.
The Sun Oydssey 410 takes some of the main features that made the SO440 and SO490 so popular, including the full bow shape and walkaround deck, and fits them into a voluminous 41-footer. A key addition is the option of a lifting keel – a pity then that the yard wasn’t able to provide that version to test.
Elan has sold around 500 of its Humphreys-designed Impression 434/444, mostly into charter, since its
2004 launch. So it knew it had a proven recipe when reconfiguring the hull mould to produce the 45.1. The transom was straightened to create a larger cockpit and walkthrough access to a swim platform and a new interior and deck saloon was designed.
The result is a lot of respectably built and finished boat with plenty of options for a good price. It just looks and feels a little dated now compared with the competition.
WINNER:BENETEAUOCEANIS30.1
Credit to Beneteau for addressing the entry-level market with a modern, easy-to-handle, spacious and affordable 30ft cruiser. Built in Poland, a clever hull shape buys volume, the cockpit and rig design make it super easy
to sail, while an options list that includes four different keels will attract sea and lake sailors alike.
This smart Finot Conq and Nauta design marries the successful blend of performance and volume found in the 46.1, the latter particularly felt in the forward ends, together with an easy to handle sailplan. The test boat had a square top main and genoa, but an in-mast main and self-tacking jib are optional. It needs tuning – a saggy forestay and a lack of pointing ability were the downsides of not doing so during our sail for example. But twin rudders make it light and assured on the helm.
Tall headroom, saloon berths long enough to sleep on and an L-shaped galley is all somehow fitted in below decks. And the sub 3m beam, shoal draught and a mast rotating system allow the yacht to be trailed.
Verdict: The 30.1 provides the space of a 35-footer from yesteryear in an appealing, small family yacht on which to enjoy simple sailing and overnighting.
Price from €69,400.
MULTIHULLS NOMINEES: Excess15 // Lagoon 46 // Neel 47
Despite the recent explosion in numbers of new cruising multihulls, this was a disappointing category this year. The Lagoon wasn’t able to make the trials and we had concerns over steering issues with the Excess and the finish quality of the Neel 47.
We featured a report on the Excess 15 last month, the first boat from this new catamaran brand. Although it has many promising aspects, such as very appealing, bright and voluminous accommodation, the jury submitted a number of concerns to Groupe Beneteau, including excess rudder pressure in stronger breeze. It has responded professionally, and the jury’s concerns have lead to scrutiny of the design and engineering of the production models. Future builds will have modifications to the rudders, for example, and will be issued with tuning guides as a result.
The Neel 47, meanwhile is the boat that frustrates me, as I am a real fan of the design and concept of this trimaran. The sailing performance is undeniably better than a comparable cruising cat – indeed this model proved itself by winning line honours in ARC+ 2019.
However the finish quality of the test boat was unacceptably poor: too many sharp edges, an overreliance on mastic, misaligned joinery and areas that are too bare and minimalist for purpose.