WINTER 2011
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Boat Tests > X-Yacht > 41
Two for one
WORDS + PHOTOS:
BARRY TRANTER
Racing or cruising, this new import can handle it all.
Most of the new boats from Europe these days are cruiser/racers, meaning they are yachts that can go fast but also accommodate people, usually in considerable style. The performance varies a bit and the style varies a lot, but the principle remains constant from range to range, builder to builder.
The Danish X-Yacht range has three categories: Cruising, Performance Cruising, and Racing. Performance Cruising is by far the biggest. The three types are different and perform different tasks but, for the life of me, if I wanted to mix cruising and racing I wouldn't go past this X-41 to get to a more hedonistic boat.
Perhaps if I had to put 500,000 hard-earned dollars on the line I would reach a different conclusion, but that, on both counts, is highly unlikely.
SAILORS SALIVATE
The X-41 is a racing yacht with full accommodation. It has, as standard equipment, wonderful detailing to help performance, including hardware go-fasts that will make a racing sailor salivate. The table, and the cupboards behind and above the settees, lift out for racing. Anchor, chain and (wait for it) the electric anchor winch live in a bin in the bow, which is removable; you can leave the whole thing on the dock. Not so much to save weight, I suspect, as to getting that weight out of the bow to help the pitching moment.
read on below advertisement
The 41's accommodation, while not as opulent, as avant-garde and high style as some, has a traditional look and feel and is comfortable enough for the use the average owner will demand. X-Yachts are more conservatively styled than most Europeans but to my eye it's a traditional look that may not date as quickly as the more frenetic styles. I admire the avant-gardists, but I like this one, too.
Shipwrights tell me that X-Yachts are well built. They look well built and I have met a couple of owners who would not fault their craft. A galvanised steel H-frame supports the foam-cored hull and accepts the loads from rigging and keel. The top part of the keel is cast iron, incorporating a sump to collect water. The lower keel is connected to the cast antimony-hardened lead bulb, and the lot is encapsulated in an epoxy shell. One shipwright mentioned that he was impressed by the lifting eye incorporated into the H-frame ? a lifting strap is included in the options list.
ACCOMMODATION
There are three cabins, the master cabin in the bow, two aft, all with double berths. There is one bathroom, forward on the starboard side, next to the master cabin but it's simple and it is not en suite. The trim throughout is conservative, white moulded areas and horizontal-grained teak.
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BARRY TRANTER
Racing or cruising, this new import can handle it all.
Most of the new boats from Europe these days are cruiser/racers, meaning they are yachts that can go fast but also accommodate people, usually in considerable style. The performance varies a bit and the style varies a lot, but the principle remains constant from range to range, builder to builder.
The Danish X-Yacht range has three categories: Cruising, Performance Cruising, and Racing. Performance Cruising is by far the biggest. The three types are different and perform different tasks but, for the life of me, if I wanted to mix cruising and racing I wouldn't go past this X-41 to get to a more hedonistic boat.
Perhaps if I had to put 500,000 hard-earned dollars on the line I would reach a different conclusion, but that, on both counts, is highly unlikely.
SAILORS SALIVATE
The X-41 is a racing yacht with full accommodation. It has, as standard equipment, wonderful detailing to help performance, including hardware go-fasts that will make a racing sailor salivate. The table, and the cupboards behind and above the settees, lift out for racing. Anchor, chain and (wait for it) the electric anchor winch live in a bin in the bow, which is removable; you can leave the whole thing on the dock. Not so much to save weight, I suspect, as to getting that weight out of the bow to help the pitching moment.
read on below advertisement
The 41's accommodation, while not as opulent, as avant-garde and high style as some, has a traditional look and feel and is comfortable enough for the use the average owner will demand. X-Yachts are more conservatively styled than most Europeans but to my eye it's a traditional look that may not date as quickly as the more frenetic styles. I admire the avant-gardists, but I like this one, too.
Shipwrights tell me that X-Yachts are well built. They look well built and I have met a couple of owners who would not fault their craft. A galvanised steel H-frame supports the foam-cored hull and accepts the loads from rigging and keel. The top part of the keel is cast iron, incorporating a sump to collect water. The lower keel is connected to the cast antimony-hardened lead bulb, and the lot is encapsulated in an epoxy shell. One shipwright mentioned that he was impressed by the lifting eye incorporated into the H-frame ? a lifting strap is included in the options list.
ACCOMMODATION
There are three cabins, the master cabin in the bow, two aft, all with double berths. There is one bathroom, forward on the starboard side, next to the master cabin but it's simple and it is not en suite. The trim throughout is conservative, white moulded areas and horizontal-grained teak.
next page »
« go back