Grand Soleil 48P Aims to Appeal To Many Tastes
Yachting World|September 2019

Can one new performance design appeal to many tastes? Toby Hodges explores the ideas and multifarious options offered on this new grand Soleil.

Grand Soleil 48P Aims to Appeal To Many Tastes

Without meaning to sound too shallow, looks make a big impression. Take the impact of this opening photograph. Who wouldn’t want to be in that helmsman’s position, heading offshore at the wheel of a sexy new Italian performance yacht?

Its sharp design attracts buyers aboard, while owners of these yachts want heads to turn wherever they go. But Grand Soleil knows all too well that the Italian fast cruiser market is brimming already and that looks alone won’t translate to sales. The 48 Performance has therefore been designed with plenty of smart thinking to back up the seductive styling.

It’s conceived as a versatile new model, which comes with a multitude of options to make it suitable for inshore and offshore racing and sporty cruising. Designer Marco Lostuzzi describes the 48P as a ‘transformer’ because of the flexibility of layouts and versions it boasts. There are three different keels offered, three sailplans, three cockpit layouts, three different build materials even, and the choice of four, six or eight winch packages. “It’s not easy to do all these solutions on a production yacht – that was the main challenge,” Lostuzzi reveals.

Is this today’s answer to the cruiser racer all-rounder then? We joined builders Cantiere del Pardo for its annual Grand Soleil Week in Portopiccolo to find out.

Reinvention for the times

When you think of Grand Soleils over the last 45 years, it’s the dependable cruiser-racers of the 1980s and 1990s that spring to mind, designs that hit the demand to be cruised hard and raced harder. But times have changed, along with how we spend our time afloat.

この記事は Yachting World の September 2019 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

この記事は Yachting World の September 2019 版に掲載されています。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トライアルを開始して、何千もの厳選されたプレミアム ストーリー、9,000 以上の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしてください。

YACHTING WORLDのその他の記事すべて表示
5 EXPERT TIPS BOB BEGGS ON SAILING IN COLD WEATHER
Yachting World

5 EXPERT TIPS BOB BEGGS ON SAILING IN COLD WEATHER

As temperatures drop, Andy Rice gets tips on how to handle the cold from self-confessed Arctic weather fan and winning Clipper Round the World Race skipper Bob Beggs

time-read
3 分  |
December 2024
SPECIAL REPORT EXTENDED CRUISING IN THE BALTIC
Yachting World

SPECIAL REPORT EXTENDED CRUISING IN THE BALTIC

Sweden offers cruisers a warm welcome for winter - Janneke Kuysters has advice on how to boost your sailing time in the region

time-read
6 分  |
December 2024
NIKKI HENDERSON
Yachting World

NIKKI HENDERSON

SEARCHING FOR MORE SPEED? BEFORE TINKERING WITH TINY ADJUSTMENTS, MAKE SURE YOU'VE GOT THE BASICS RIGHT THE POWER DRIVING THE BOAT

time-read
3 分  |
December 2024
MATTHEW SHEAHAN
Yachting World

MATTHEW SHEAHAN

WHAT WILL THE BOATS OF THE 38TH AMERICA'S CUP LOOK LIKE? THAT'S THE $20 MILLION QUESTION IF BRITAIN OR NEW ZEALAND DECIDE TO DEPART FROM THE AC75

time-read
3 分  |
December 2024
60-knot squalls hit Middle Sea Race
Yachting World

60-knot squalls hit Middle Sea Race

The 45th running of the Mediterranean offshore, the Rolex Middle Sea Race, saw a spectacularly random mix of conditions - even for a race which is famed for its variable weather patterns.

time-read
2 分  |
December 2024
Italy win first Women's Cup
Yachting World

Italy win first Women's Cup

The first ever Women's America's Cup was won by Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli after a single, twoboat shoot-out final on 12 October.

time-read
2 分  |
December 2024
'Three-peat' for ETNZ
Yachting World

'Three-peat' for ETNZ

As Defender, Emirates Team New Zealand came into this year's 37th America's Cup as clear favourites. But the Kiwi camp has far more than just the structural advantage of being the ones that wrote the Protocol for the competition, and the originators of the AC75 concept.

time-read
3 分  |
December 2024
ROOM WITH A VIEW
Yachting World

ROOM WITH A VIEW

SWEDISH DESIGNER GABRIEL HEYMAN POURED A LIFETIME OF IDEAS INTO THIS PILOT SALOON CRUISER, WHICH INCLUDES ARGUABLY THE LARGEST COCKPIT AVAILABLE AT THIS SIZE

time-read
10 分  |
December 2024
LIVING HISTORY
Yachting World

LIVING HISTORY

THE ICONIC SEASON-CLOSING REGATTA LES VOILES DE SAINT TROPEZ WAS AN IMMERSIVE HISTORY LESSON FOR CROSBIE LORIMER

time-read
8 分  |
December 2024
CHANGE OF PLAN
Yachting World

CHANGE OF PLAN

LEAVING AUSTRALIA, MARIANNE URTH NEVER PLANNED TO MAKE LANDFALL IN THE ISLANDS OF VANUATU, BUT THE EXPERIENCE WAS MAGICAL

time-read
9 分  |
December 2024