PEGASUS TAKES OFF

MIXING NEW AND PROVEN IDEAS, PEGASUS HAS CREATED A SHORTHANDED FAST BLUEWATER YACHT WITH A MARKED DIFFÉRENCE, AS TOBY HODGES DISCOVERS ON A TWO-DAY TEST SAIL

- TOBY HODGES

Three towering masts pierce the skyline off Trieste, where the impounded Sailing Yacht A lies forlorn at anchor like a crippled leviathan. The Russian-owned Philippe Starck design makes a fittingly stark reminder of how going so big has its drawbacks - never could the now shackled hulk, an empty floating metropolis, be more evidently impractical.

I can't help but think it makes for a neat contrast when viewed from the Pegasus 50 as we sail out of the pretty Slovenian town of Izola nearby. Don't get me wrong, I'm not calling a €1m 50-footer simple, but it is designed particularly well to manage easily short-handed, and is notably different to most other monohulls, particularly in layout. It's also a design typically chosen so far by 'downscalers, as Pegasus co-founder Miha Breskvar describes them - those who've previously had larger yachts and become put off by their complexity or need for crew.

If you find the Pegasus design faintly reminiscent, it's from the hand of Marko Paš, who (with J&J) was responsible for developing the Shipman carbon cruiser designs around 20 years ago. You might notice influences in the Pegasus's superstructures, cockpit and galley layout.

The Pegasus 50 is a powerful-looking yacht. The large coachroof runs into the arch and hardtop dodger protecting the deep cockpit. The general layout is also quite different, making you question assumed needs. For instance, in my house the kitchen and living room are larger than my bedroom, and rightly so I feel, yet that's rarely the case on today's yachts which typically have suites for master cabins. Here, the Pegasus gives the bigger proportion of space to the cockpit, saloon and galley, and boasts a superb amount of stowage space - prime considerations for bluewater cruising.

The Pegasus has an individual look, and despite the practicality of the hard dodger it won't appeal to all.