New boats

French manufacturer Jeanneau Yachts scored a big hit with the 33’ Sun Fast 3300, with big fleets springing up across Europe. It is therefore unsurprising that it has followed up with the smaller Sun Fast 30. Unlike the 3300 which was designed by Daniel Andrieu and Guillaume Verdier, the 30 is a VPLP project who has teamed up with Multiplast to produce a strict one design yacht at a competitive price. The new boat features full forward sections married to light (2,700kg) displacement, twin rudders and flat aft sections to provide a boat that planes easily and early. The boat is available in two versions: One Design and Club.

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Bestavaer Yachts is a Dutch boatbuilder specialising in steel construction. It is reputed for building handsome steel ‘go anywhere’ yachts, generally in the 50-70’ bracket. The announcement of an all-new 36 footer is therefore something of a surprise and not an unwelcome one. The new boat marries a big rig with a decent displacement to provide a boat that is both seaworthy but none too slow. As with her bigger sisters, the 36 is designed to be a very practical cruiser and is therefore equipped with a swing keel which will allow her to take the ground when required, and the draft is a mere 0.7m with the board up and a substantial 2.4m with the board down.

l bestavaer.com l carkeekdesignpartners.com

Ran 8 is one of the latest launches from the drawing board of Shaun Carkeek and is a boat that has already cut a dash by taking overall and line honours in the RORC Channel Race. This is a boat that comes from the same mould as Oystercatcher XXXV, launched to much fanfare in 2021. The new boat boasts an uprated water ballast system which is designed to reduce the number of crew required from eight to seven. In addition to this, electric propulsion has been introduced. The boat is not designed to one particular set of rules and the main aim is simply to design a boat that will go as fast as possible in a range of conditions. The result is a boat optimised for offshore conditions, in which she will be somewhat quicker than a TP52.

Bavaria Yachts appears to be Teutonic to its very core but the fact is that for many years it has been flirting with an Italian designer. Mauricio Cossutti to be precise. This will be the Italian designer’s sixth dalliance with Bavaria and the result is the new C46, an upgrade on the old C45 launched back in 2018. The boat boasts more volume and – at least theoretically at this stage – better performance. The increased volume comes from following the current trend for full bow sections above the waterline and fine below. This is hardly a new concept but Bavaria trumpet it as its ‘V’ bow. And why not I suppose. The boat offers a wide choice of accommodation layouts, including a four cabin/four heads charter model, and three-cabin/three head option with a big owner’s suite forward.

l bavariayachts.com

Italian boatbuilder Grand Soleil’s new 65 is a very big yacht that looks every inch the flashy Italian Med performance cruiser. She is designed by Matteo Polli, who made a real name for himself with the Italia 9.98, a yacht that cleaned up in the ORC class a few years back. The 65 is obviously a different kettle of fish but, like the 9.98, it is optimised for light weather sailing and has very fine waterlines that swell out aft to give the boat more power in stronger conditions. The boat is offered in LC (cruising) and Performance configurations.

l grandsoleil.net