Sunday, January 22, 2017

2017 EUROPEAN FAMILY YACHT OF THE YEAR : RM 970


After the success of the RM 890 it seems that RM managed to do even better with their new baby and that was not easy. The RM 970 won not only the competition on the contest, as it was praised by all testers with great compliments regarding its sailing potential, its comfort and the excellency of its cruising interior, in what regards functionality and enjoyment. Think I am exaggerating? listen to what the test sailors of the main European sail magazine said about it:

The Jury:
"RM970, more beauty, more speed, more comfort: this is a highly customizable sailboat that offers many options to the customer . In addition to the ten standard hull colors available, the future owner can choose between tiller or double-steering wheels. Also two keel variants can be chosen, a monokeel or a twin keel that allows the boat to dry out. An aluminium mast comes as standard with a carbon mast as an option.

Perfect comfort below deck: with a length of 10.57 and plywood epoxy construction the French from RM yachts delivered to the market a cruising yacht for the entire family. The articulated program results in a modern elegant design that is optimized by the shipyard for performance and speed. In doing so, the French managed to create a spacious, light-flooded atmosphere under the deck, which invites you to feel good."

Bert Bosman. Waterkampioen, Netherlands:
"The most beautiful and best sailer from the RM so far. The contemporary and striking interior is fresh and as bright and transparent as a greenhouse."

Joakim Hermansson. Båtnytt, Sweden:
"The plywood and epoxy construction sound a little weird in what regards building method in the era of GRP, but they, in the RM shipyard at La Rochelle know very well what they are doing. Their new 970 is relatively expensive but with a very good sailing performance, a great feeling at the helm and definitely safe, with enough capacity to navigate with a large family. It is understood why sailors faithful to RM buy their boats over and over again."

Roland Duller. YachtRevue, Austria
:
"A boat with a modern look, very habitable, both on the cockpit and inside. Impressive sailing performance in 20 knots of wind: very stable in close upwind and very fast in planing mode downwind."

Pancho Pi-Suñer Oses. Boats & Yachts Magazine, Spain:
"May seem a small boat from the outside but inside it achieves an incredible feeling of space, thanks to the design of the bow window, with its large size, providing plenty of light and feeling of spaciousness. Fast and comfortable sailing on the cruise mode, completes the range of RM between 890 and 1070."

Loïc Madeline. Voiles et Voiliers, France
 :
"The RM 970 is very attractive and a bit pricey as a family cruise. But it is a pleasure to sail it, really quite fast and it offers a very nice and aggressive look. We also enjoyed the interior layout, with lots of light and a great outward view. The table card and the technical room are great features and the pieces of varnished wood are beautiful: the RP 970 punctuates in all the boxes."

Axel Nissen-Lie. Seilas, Norway:
"The French Atlantic coast is very demanding. Here sailors require high standards of building quality and functionality. The RM meets these requirements. It's a boat you can push on while sailing fast. At RM they are also masters of design. Both the interior and the exterior stand out and mark a trend."

Jochen Rieker. Yacht, Germany:

"In a varied mix of nominees, the RM wins thanks to its innovative design and practicality. It has one of the best cockpit distributions, a cool interior and sails convincingly. All that put together makes it a very versatile boat. You may not like the cabin open to the bow and the somewhat limited space in it, but it gives you a great feeling of volume."

Alberto Mariotti. Vela e Motore, Italy:
"A family cruiser that is comfortable even if offering  a lot of fun and emotion at the wheel, especially downwind. In a breeze of 18 to 25 knots it sailed close upwind at seven knots and went over 11 downwind with the gennaker. Some doubts about the large window that is slippery in wet conditions and not very effective against cold and high temperatures. The position at the rudder, seated, is a bit tight. The interiors are bright. There are two double cabins and a nice fixed chart table table that is there to properly navigate, a rarity in this type and size of boat nowadays."

Troels Lykke. BadNyt, Denmark
:

"I really like the RM 970 concept of construction using plywood. The RM 970 has a good sailing performance, offering at the same time lot of space on cockpit and inside. The salon is resolved in a minimalist way with lots of light coming from the large frontal panoramic window."

Lori Schüpbach. Marina.ch, Switzerland:
"With the RM 970 the naval architect Marc Lombard has landed again a new bombshell. A spacious and comfortably equipped family cruiser that is impressive while sailing, with a surprising potential for speed and a great level of stability. Another plus: customers have the option of ordering their RM 970 with tiller or double wheel, as well as with a monokeel or a twin keel."

Toby Hodges. Yachting World, Britain:
 "Again the plywood specialists have produced a worthy winner, a model that demonstrates perfectly why the designer Marc Lombard is so astute in the middle segment, with boat lengths around 30 feet. The 970 packs an all-in-one thrilling performance on a fun, voluminous, versatile, refreshing, simple family cruiser. The design of the deck, including the rig solutions and the distribution of the winches only deserve praise, as does the feeling at the helm. It provides a really sporty feel but also offers the ideal balance for a quick family cruiser."

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