There are boats on which you want to play it safe, reef early and hunker down. The Elan E4 is not one of them; this is a boat that makes you want to get stuck in and enjoy some proper, fun sailing. The solid Force 5 gusting 6 that was pushing a lumpy sea into the Easter Solent off Portsmouth only added to the sense of anticipation as we set out for our test, and lines were rigged for the whopping asymmetric spinnaker.
I had in mind that I really wanted to see what this boat could do, having heard much about her predecessor, the Elan 360, of which is she is a very slight update, and reuses the same Humphreys- designed hull of the original Elan 350 from 2012. While the 360 was not perfect, it is a boat that one sailing friend tells me was ‘pretty much my dream boat’. The E4 itself has been around since 2018, but as we still hadn’t tested it, I thought I better get on one to find out if she really was as good as all that.
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Denne historien er fra Summer 2023-utgaven av Yachting Monthly UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
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Midsummer on Hanö
This wonderful little island in the south-east of Sweden is a real gem off the beaten track
ADVENTURE SAILING TO HAITI
After spending two months in the Dominican Republic, Andy Brown sails west to Haïti bringing medical and school supplies to the town of Mole Saint Nicholas
In celebration of bad sailing
New owner Monty Halls tests his sailing skills with his family aboard their Colvic 34 ketch, Sobek. A recently qualified Day Skipper, Monty faces a few unexpected challenges...
Winter brings excitement and opportunity
Oddity’s double glazing, insulation and heating create a warm, homely environment as I bash out this column.
ADVENTURE MAISIE GOES TO GOES
To depart or not to depart? That is the question. Is it safer to stay, or suffer the wind and weather of a rough North Sea?
'MAYDAY, GRANDAD OVERBOARD!'
When David Richards and his grandson Henry went out racing from lowey, they didn't expect their sail to end with a lifeboat rescue
VERTUE
For a 25-footer, the Vertue has a huge reputation and has conquered every ocean. So what makes this little boat quite such an enduring success? Nic Compton finds out
Sailing siblings
Mabel Stock, her brother Ralph, a friend Steve and an unnamed paying passenger passed through the Panama Canal in December 1919 on the sturdy Norwegian cutter Ogre. They were towed to a quiet anchorage in Balboa away from the boat traffic but within rowing distance of the shore.
TECHNICAL MAINSAIL MODIFICATIONS
Safety and performance improved hugely when Mike Reynolds reduced the size of his mainsail and re-configured the systems controlling it
PILOTAGE DONE PROPERLY
Chartplotters are an amazing aid, but can detract from your real-world pilotage if not used with caution, says Justin Morton
