Januar 2017 - Hightide

BOOT Düsseldorf / MORE55 is the eyechatcher of the fair.

30. Januar 201731. Januar 2017Alex Beck

I was in between two appointments when I crossed the booth of MORE Boats. I don´t know anymore if I first saw the yacht or the corresponding hostess of the display. Both were exciting.

First of all the hosts were the most stylish on the fair and that should be an extra post. Back to the boat. The colour in light blue looks different to the rest of the yachts in that price range. On the first view you can see that it is a performance cruiser. Sporty lines, a low greenhouse and the tables in the cockpit are easily to restore complete. That´s a bid. Above that the deck is quite clean and promises racing. You see a lot of skylights which makes the cabin very light. The sheets are running under deck; looks great, but I´m afraid of it. Just in case something happens. At that point it is difficult to replace them.

With about 16m length and 5m wide you have also enough space in the cabin. The interior was too dark for me. There are other boats on the fair which are more modern in the cabin. But they told me that you can get a lot of different kind of wood and colours. We have to see. The Details are not clever and the colour matching is not really conservative maritim, but also not modern. That´s a pity compared with the exterior. Whereupon especially for the fair they made a plexiglas floor where you can see the stainless-steel frame of the boat. That´s a highlight. Also the different door handles, they look strange but they feeling good in your hands.

Another cool thing is the dinghy garage. Cause of the wide stern you can store the dinghy crossways. That´s cool but difficult to get in I think. In the version on the BOOT the yacht also had a skipper´s berth in the bow which is quite small, but everything is there. Fair enough.

The MORE55 is build in Croatia. Therefore you will find a big fleet there and above that MORE is also offering a charter fleet there. I know I will BOOK it. I´m really taken with the MORE55. It is a true performance cruiser. You feel the passion of the team. Their idea was to build a fast cruiser and they had a few meetings with different wharfs and no of them could realise their idea. Therefore they build it by their own. Good story!

BOOT Düsseldorf 2017 / CNB, that´s performance cruising.

29. Januar 2017Alex Beck

CNB was on my radar for the last years, but I hadn’t the chance to look at them. The days at the BOOT were always to busy. In 2017 it was my goal to look at them. That viewing changed my life.

I get on the booth for my appointment with Vincent. Unfortunately he was not available at that time and the CNB team was very sorry that he wasn’t available. They were very committed and asked me if it is OK when another colleague will show me the yacht. For sure it was fine for me and I met Cedric Beaumont, he´s not just a expert of CNB, he is always the skipper of the wharf. He´s a real genius in sailing. He startet his Ocean Career four years ago. He was at a point where he asked himself what to do? He had a save life, but he decided to do something with passion. Chapeau. He did, what all of us wanted to do. Right now he´s the skipper for CNB and for the owners of CNB yachts who needs his support on the oceans around the world. From my point of view CNB get´s the right man for that job. He has the skills and the passion you need for that job. Perfect conditions to get the boat explained by him. With his expertise, I get the info I need.

The CNB 76 is quite pure, the first impression is the flush-deck. There is nothing where your eyes get stopped. It´s all in the flow and a pleasure if you like it pure and simple. The lines are straight and elegant. It´s a unique styling of the yacht. One USP is the decksaloon. If you are insight you have a 360° view. That´s really awesome. Especially when you see the mega winches in Front. At the back you see the two outboard helms, which are at the right place. The finish of them is one of the best I´ve ever seen. A mixture between carbon-fibre and wood. Really awesome craftmanship. Back in the insight; the design is outstanding. There is no yacht which has a interior like that. It´s quite light and open. Above that you see a lot of good ideas. Most of them I like the sofa on starboard. You can combine it as one sofa, or you have two club chairs beside a sexy storage for your drinks. You have to see that awesome. The only thing which doesn’t match my style are the Philipp Starck lamp FLOS Miss K ALU. That´s a relict out of the 90ies.

CNB itself stands for Construction Navale Bordeaux and is part of the Beneteau Group. That makes them convenient to produce, in which convenient is relative. We are talking about luxury yachts. We don´t talk about the price. It´s enough. But much more importantly in this group construction is the way CNB can produce for that price. You will get a modular build scheme which make your yacht semi custom. Another benefit of that modular system is the time to build. You will get your dream within six month.

When you are aboard it takes no minute that you realise for what the boat is build. Yeah you can do races with it. Yeah you can do a show-off in St. Tropez. The real sense of the yacht is performance cruising and you can feel it. It´s not a yacht for posers. It´s a beautiful boat for connossieurs.

You can also see that in the daily needs aboard. There is for example a powerful pump in the storage for a fast inflating of the stand-up boards.

At the end I´m addicted to that yacht. I cannot understand why I haven´t been there before. For now on CNB is always on my radar. I´ve checked the charter possibilities today on MerexYachts. I have to be on one, sooner or later and than I will give you the cruising report.

BOOT Düsseldorf / A Day for a Daysailer.

25. Januar 20174. Dezember 2017Alex Beck

Sailing is the essence of all. It helps you very fast to find yourself, or it helps you to forget all around you. Yes, it´s a kind of a meditation. With a big ship it´s sometimes very complicated to go for a quick cruise in the evening or on a sunny Sunday. On the other hand the catamaran, or the Laser is much to wet and you don´t want to wear a neopren, or wetsuit all the time. If these thoughts are not unknown for you, I bet you are a fan of a daysailer.

These kind of boats are really booming and beside the well known MELGES, b/one, XTREME26, J/70 or the legendary DYAS and TRIAS and at least don´t forget the DRACHEN. Which is perhaps the definition of a daycruiser.

You see the concept is quite old, but still modern. It reduces sailing to the max. No electric, no hassle. When you have wind it will be cool, if there is no wind, it is your island of serenity with a beer or wind in your hands.

At the BOOT 2017 the topic shows us more the premium site of that kind of boats. We had a look at the TOFINOU which is since two years on my radar. But in that year I visited their display an I was excited. The materials and the design is a mixture of the elegance of the past combined with the step ahead. I like the carbon fibre elements, the colours and the wonderful lines of that boat.

The one which is the definition of asceticism ist the ESSE with their three models. Every type of them is awesome. Incredible colors,whereupon colour is the wrong term. It´s just a attractive mixture between grey and white combined with a teak that makes you insane. The lines of the boats are so simple that you ask yourself; why I haven´t done it. The normal thing when you see something such beautiful. Think about Giacometti or the 911.

Last not least the Black Pepper Code#. I saw it for the very first time at the BOOT. On the first view I walked by and than I stopped and thought, huh, that´s outstanding. A few minutes later of friend of mine told me the same and than we had a closer look. That daysailer is a benchmark. Unfortunately the price is also massive.

BOOT Düsseldorf 2017 / CLUBSWAN 50

25. Januar 201725. Januar 2017Alex Beck

In 2016 SWAN celebrated its 50th anniversary. For that reason the Fins launched a outstanding yacht; the ClubSwan50. The 4th one-design-class in the history of Natur´s Swan.

The yacht is a revolution in pure and powerful sailing without loosing the pleasure in style. This boat is a hell of a yacht. Powerfull enough for an ambitious crew and a dynamic performance cruiser for a easy crew of two.

When I came on the Swan booth at the BOOT I was impressed by the yacht. You approach the ClubSwan50 from an angle and your eyes get lost at this massive keel. Your pulse get´s higher and than you will recognize the wavepiercer bow and the fat stern with the double rudder. Each of them has markes at the end like a samurai sword. It´s all for the hydrodynamic and it is a pity that you cannot see it all the time.

The Rigg is very modern and inspired by the VOR65 Racers. The mast is quite in the middle of the boat with an extreme rake to the back. In combination with the boom, which is longer than the end of the yacht it is spectacular. It´s a kind of a PS4 optic. You know that design from rc yachts. I like that, it´s so excessive and WOW.

The deck is huge and clean. Everything is at its place and reduced to the max. It´s all a question of the weight. You see that also in the cabin. It´s not the typical look of a swan, but you feel the Swan DNA. It´s all about weight. There are everywhere options to reduce more. In the inside there are also a few options which you can choose. E.g. the galley could be placed in the front. Whatever you like.

At the end it is a real beauty and state of the art in yacht engineering. A kind of little TP52 which can also be sailed by a sporty family. The only weakness for me is the low freeboard with that open stern. Both looks great and sexy, but I cannot imagine that this combination is helpful for a amateur crew in heavy weather. From my point of view a Swan must always be ready for the ocean.

Hightide – Life Aboard

Monat: Januar 2017

BOOT Düsseldorf / MORE55 is the eyechatcher of the fair.

BOOT Düsseldorf 2017 / CNB, that´s performance cruising.

BOOT Düsseldorf / A Day for a Daysailer.

BOOT Düsseldorf 2017 / CLUBSWAN 50