2017 DUSSELDORF BOAT SHOW IMPRESSIONS

Starting with a positive impression: Some brands had over the structure of the keel and keel bolts a plexiglas, instead of the normal floor, for visitors to be able to take a look at one of the more important parts of the sailboat, the boat structure and the keel bolts.

Azuree 41

Obviously I did not visit all boats but among the ones I visited the More 55 (picture above) and the Azuree 41 had that particularity. X Yachts had in exhibition the huge steel structure of the X6 and Grand Soleil had not only in exhibition the keel structure, but also it had many cuts of several parts of the LC 46 , not drawings but real pieces showing how the hull is made, how  the connection between hull and deck is done and how  the reinforcement on all the parts of the hull subject to stress, cleats and other items is achieved (  with special aluminium inserts).

Halberg Rassy 44

An example to follow, from boats that clearly have something to show of positive on that area, even if I doubt many that visit the boats will care or look at that. Maybe that will change in the future if sailors start to ask to have a look at the boat structure.

Passing to a negative point: the tendency to diminish storage space to an insufficient minimum, saving all the space for increasing the interior. And I am not talking only of mass produced main market boats but also about brands that are associated with offshore sailing and passage making and I am not talking about small boats but about 46 fters. One would think that a 46fter would have more than enough space for storage, but no, incredibly some don't have it and I am not asking for much space.

Saare 4

And the worse are precisely the ones that a certain type of sailors see as the more adapted to passage making, center cabin boats, with a relatively small cockpit area and a huge keen cabin on the transom...and that cabin is really the problem because it takes all the available space. Two examples of new boats that fit that bill, the Halberg Rassy 44 and the Saare 46, both with center cockpit and offering as storage only two deep but relatively small and unpractical outside lockers, on the aft part of the deck. Those deep narrow lockers are not really a good idea for storage, except for fenders.

The Halberg Rassy does not have an option to diminish that shortcoming even if on the version with two separate berths on the aft cabin (that I believe nobody will want) they have joined both the two small deep lockers on a central more practical one. The Saare 46 offers a version with a smaller head cabin to manage the space to provide a forward locker, and that is an improvement, even if the overall storage space is only now on the limits of the acceptable for a 46ft cruiser boat. A pity because I find the Saare 46 a great sailing boat, on a conservative way, especially at will on upwind passages, an overall fast and pleasant to sail yacht.

I find ridiculous that a boat that has the seaworthiness and strength to be considered especially suited for passage making to have less storage space on the outside lockers than my 41ft performance cruiser. That means clearly that boat builders know that most of the boats are bought by the interior, many with a decisive vote from the wife and therefore it is on the interior of the boat that they invest all the available space, even if does not make much sense to cruise extensively on a boat that has not a decent outside storage.

Regarding storage on main market boats, of about this size, two boats have impressed me in a positive way, an expensive one, the Contest 42 CS and a mass production one, the Bavaria Vision 42/46. They both offer a big voluminous saloon and a large storage area.

I was truly impressed by the Contest 42 CS, a boat different and more modern than its bigger brothers, so impressed that I will make a post about it soon. I would say for now that it is hard to find a 42ft boat with so much (nice) space, with a bigger saloon, with a bigger storage space, so well rigged for solo sailing and so well built and finished. Truly a surprise...and I know, that for that type of boat, it is a fast one too....they even call it a performance cruiser on the shipyard 😉

Bavaria Vision 46

Finally a word regarding multihulls that were this year more present than ever. A big number of small sportive cats, several with flying foils, a considerable number of small cruising trimarans, from the Dragonfly to the Corsair passing by the Tricat and several condo cats, being the more interesting the new Nautitech 46 made by Bavaria and I say more interesting because it is the fastest and less condo of all cruising cats in exhibition.

Unfortunately the one I wanted to see was not there, the Outremer 4x, that won the European Yacht of the year on the multihull category. It seems that Europeans have a clear preference for trimarans in what regards performance small cruising multihulls, a preference that justifies each year a bigger number of trimarans on the show, while performance cruising cats never appear in Dusseldorf, contrary to condo cats that are on the rise and increase their number every year.

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