New boat news

New boats

DESIGNS | LAUNCHES | PROJECTS

Jeanneau 65

French boatbuilder Jeanneau broke the mould back in 2014 when it announced its all new ’mini superyacht’ the Jeanneau 64. Many argued that the demand for such a mammoth yacht would be limited. Well, they were wrong. The boat has been one of the biggest success stories of recent years and has been imitated by all of Jeanneau’s rivals. Anyway, skip forward some years and the company have finally put the 64 to pasture but are back with an all new 65 footer from the same design team of Andrew Winch and Philippe Briand. In fairness, this looks very much a Mk2 version of the 64 that has been enlarged and refined. Nothing wrong with that of course. Anyway, the boat features top end luxury and plenty of potential for customisation with the choice of four different interiors.

l jeanneau.com

Italia 20.98

Italia Yachts has been turning out top notch cruiser/racers for a number of years now but has sat pretty firmly in the 40-50’ bracket. A change of ownership seems to have prompted the boatbuilder to think big and the result is the Italia 20.98. Measuring in at 66’, this is definitely a big yacht and is dubbed a ‘mini maxi’ by her builders. This Cosutti designed yacht is also very sleek and features relatively modest beam albeit carried right aft. Displacement is moderate for a big yacht and the sail plan is powerful, all pointing to a boat that will make short work of a long offshore passage. The interior is luxurious and stylish while there is a nod to cruising practicality with the choice of a telescopic lifting keel.

Dufour 32

French manufacturer Dufour has unveiled an interesting take on an entry level yacht with its all new 32 which features a range of thoughtful and sometimes innovative solutions to age old design conundrums. Perhaps the most notable is the inflatable bathing platform which encloses the cockpit but can be dropped down to provide either a standard bathing platform or detached to serve as a sort of mini stand-up paddleboard. It is, if nothing else, intriguing. Aside from that, this Felci design features wide hindquarters and champagne glass shaped forward sections which all add up to masses of volume for a relatively small boat.

l universalyachting.com

Marlin 33

Marlin Trimarans are a new Danish boatbuilder that seem to be the brainchild of Danish sailor Jan Andersen who is a big noise in Denmark and both designed and built this interesting new boat. The concept seems to be for an ultra lightweight tri that can be trailered thanks to folding sponsons and also decent accommodation. This is a laudable concept and the early signs are good, with weight kept down to 1,460kg thanks to carbon construction. Headroom is 1.95m inside which is pretty decent and the boat looks like it will be very fast into the bargain. Kick up rudders and centreboards also point to good cruising practicality. Fellow Danish trimaran boatbuilder Dragonfly, who previously cornered this market, must be vaguely concerned.

Domani S32 Lounge

Domani Yachts is a small Dutch boatbuilder that specialises in fast, stylish weekenders and day sailors. The S32 is their latest boat and is also the largest yet she sticks to the template of being a stylish, speedy little boat with little pretension of being either a full blown racer or a long distance cruiser. The yacht was actually developed out of the desire to fit a steering wheel to the S30 to provide another option alongside tiller steering. With time, however, the design team came to see that the boat needed to be enlarged and reconfigured and the S32 was born. One notable feature is the large aft deck with integrated sun loungers. This is a feature the boat shares with rival Dutch boatbuilder Saffier. The boat is light as 2,000kg and features a decent sail area, electric propulsion as standard and the choice of fixed or lift keels.