LINJETT 39

THIS LONG-ESTABLISHED, YET LITTLE KNOWN, SWEDISH YARD BELIEVES IT HAS THE PERFECT FORMULA FOR A CONTEMPORARY YACHT WITH TIMELESS APPEAL

How quickly will today’s new yachts date? A handful are surely destined to become design classics, but many will be quickly forgotten, becoming the floating equivalent of an ageing mass-market car. Part of the reason is many big boatbuilders see sales volumes tail off only a few years after each model is launched, necessitating its replacement.

Smaller yards, by contrast, can take a different approach, emphasising the long term. Linjett is a family firm in the Stockholm archipelago, building 10-15 boats a year across a three model range from 34-43ft. It enjoys outstanding customer loyalty and looks after 220 Linjetts every winter – a quarter of all boats built since the brand’s inception 50 years ago.

The small production numbers of new yachts means design and tooling costs must be amortised over a long period – each model is expected to remain in production for up to 15 years, which in turn leads to different ways of thinking. From a distance this 39 has echoes of classic early 1990s designs such as Stephen Jones’ Sadler Starlight 39. Closer up, and especially once you start sailing, it’s very clear this is a contemporary design in many respects, with performance and handling to match.

Broad reaching under the cruising gennaker in 16 knots of true wind we clocked 9 knots boat speed, with the true breeze a little aft of the beam and the apparent well forward. The boat was very powered up at this stage and lacks the rock solid feel in gusts of today’s twin-rudder boats that also have full forward sections and therefore extremely high form stability.