GULLIVER 57 A GREAT FAST ALUMINIUM VOYAGE BOAT

Cigale 18

The Italian nautical press has been talking a lot about a new Italian voyage boat, according to them a very innovative boat, the Gulliver 57. It is certainly an interesting one but the total absence of reference to the Cigale 18 left me not only surprised but also pissed.

Bad journalism, by ignorance or voluntarily, since the Gulliver 57 is nothing more than a version of the Cigale 18 with a lifting keel made in Italy. And the Cigale 18 is just a bigger version of the Cigale 16, a boat that has existed for decades.

The Cigale 18 and the Gulliver 57 share the same main dimensions, the same interior generic layout and the same designer (Marc Lombard).

Above the Cigale 18, below the Gulliver 57

This is a very good fast aluminium voyage boat and certainly the lifting keel is a very good contribution since the 2.85m draft of the Cigale leaves something be desired in what regards world wide accessibility to small ports and getting close to the coast on anchorages for better protection.

I never saw the interior of the Cigale 18 but regarding the one of the Cigale 16 this one is looks more luxurious. It really looks very well done with a lot of clever details (see the movie). It would be interesting to make a price comparison but neither give any information about the price.

These boats are beamy, light (15.5t) with hulls based on the ones used for long range solo racing and have a good reserve stability due to big draft, torpedo keels and a good B/D ratio. The one on the Cigale is 32.3%, 27.4% on the Gulliver. Even if with a smaller B/D probably both boats have a similar stability since the draft of the Cigale is 2.85 and the Gulliver one 3.5m, with the keel down 1.7m with the keel up.

Alubat, the firm that makes the Cigale is experiencing some difficulties. I hope they surpass them and also that they introduce the Cigale with a Swing keel, that is a far better solution, for the use intended for the boat than, a fixed keel or even a lifting keel as it is proposed on Gulliver. A lifting keel, even if provided with a crash box is always a more fragile solution than a swing one in what regards accidental groundings.

Two great boats for long range cruising even if they seem a kind of overkill to me: certainly the much less expensive Cigale 16 is more than enough for the job, with a  2.46m keel dispenses a lifting keel expensive solution, allowing access almost everywhere. It offers already a good storage, three cabins and two heads. A post about the Cigale 16:

https://interestingsailboats.blogspot.pt/2016/03/adventure-55-cigale-16.html

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