DUSSELDORF 2020: SMALL FAST CRUISERS

They were not many, if compared with bigger boats, but we could find at Dusseldorf some very interesting small fast cruisers or cruiser-racers, some with B or C certification and able to weekend-cruise or camping cruise along the shores, others certified Class A and able to cross oceans.

First let me say that this choice is personal, I mean, there were many interesting small cruisers at the boat show, some of them with a strong traditional or classic flavor, some putting as much cruising comfort as it was possible on a small hull, but in what regards this choice it is the kid in this old body that talks: these are the boats I would like to sail or own, if I were younger.

When I look at these small boats I just think to myself: WOW! I would like to have fun sailing that and I know that if I were younger I would love not only day sail those boats but also cruise along the coasts or offshore for weeks (depending on the boat), in fact when I was young I have done just that in a boat that had less conditions than any one of these.

Among de smaller boats, B or C certified, there were two that really got me, for the performance, price or beauty, the Speedlounger 8500 with a beautiful aluminium hull and luxurious accommodations and the Tricat 20, a trailerable small trimaran with basic cruising equipment and no luxury but fun fast sailing on the program.

The prices are very different and while the trimaran equipped for camping cruising costs 50 000 euros (with taxes) but no engine (outboard) the aluminium monohull costs 150 000 euros (with taxes) and it is a less logical approach unless of course you have no money problems and then how to resist its elegance and comfort?

The Speedlounger 8500 is certified as class C and can be certified as Class B with  higher life lines, but who cares, the stability is there on a beamy hull (3.08m) displacing 2150 kg of which 700kg  are ballast (33%B/D) in the form of torpedo on a fin keel with 1,6m draft, that optionally can be reduced to 1.12m.

It comes standard with an electric engine (diesel optional), a manual toilet with a black water tank or discharge to the outside, a small galley with an electric ceramic burner, an expresso coffee machine and a classy luxurious finish, inside and on the cockpit, with cushions on all seats.

The Tricat 20 has a  cruising pack (included in that price) with a smart mini galley that can pulled out, a camping gas stove and very simple accommodations.

It weighs only 580kg, the amas are foldable for transport or to fit on a small berth at the marina and it has two relatively deep daggerboards that give it a good performance upwind. With a length of 5.99 m and a beam of  4.5m it is a cute fast little boat.

The Tricat 20 is certified in Class C but they say, and I agree, that the legislation is more demanding in what regards little trimarans than monohulls, so, even if being Class C I would say that it would handle well coastal conditions, except in bad weather that one can avoid while doing coastal sailing.

Tricat has bigger trimarans but then the price raises sharply with the 25 costing already near the double (90 000 euros with taxes).

Another small interesting small sailboat, this one a Class A, was a new Django 8S , that used the same hull of the 7.7 but prolonged by a little "jupe" but a completely different cabin. A small fast offshore racing boat for two handed or solo races with a displacement of 2000 kg and 660kg of ballast (33% B/D) on a torpedo keel with 2.0m draft on a hull with 2.99m beam.

Lots of power and speed on this boosted mini racer that will sell (with carbon mast) ready to race for around 160 000 euros (including a 20% VAT tax). Fastnet, Silverruder, Transquadra, Caribbean 600 and many other races are on its program. A competitor for the new Dehler 30 OD.

Unfortunately the Django 7.70,  the smallest Class A cruiser and a very interesting sailboat, will not have (for now) neither the new cabin nor the extended hull but I would say that it is a question of time for the 7.70 to become 8.00.

The "old" Pogo 30 was also at the "Messe" and even if it "needs" a modern rounded bow to become more sexy and stylish, it is still a very interesting sailboat and the one of the 30fters that offers a better cruising interior even if on the spartan kind of style that Pogo uses, but that on this boat is very well suited and complements the boat very well, a nice looking practical interior that gives the Pogo a good storage and a great cruising potential.

The Pogo displaces 2800 kg, has 1000kg ballast (40%B/D) and it can be delivered with a torpedo keel (1.99m draft) or with a swing keel (1.05/2.50). It has a hull length of 9.14m with 3.70m beam and it will cost with an aluminium mast and torpedo keel 140 000 euros and with a carbon mast and Swing keel about 200 000 euros ( all prices including a 20% VAT tax).

Jboats was there too with the new J99, from the racing line, a boat with a cruising interior better than the one of the Django and the J112e, a cruiser racer, an endangered species that has here one of its finer examples, a very fast boat with a very classy and refined quality interior well suited for cruising and racing.

The J99 is a nice little racer with a hull length of 9.94 and 3.40m beam with a L bulbed keel, 1.99m draft and it displaces 3800kg with 1520kg ballast (40%B/D). Unfortunately it was not yet this time that Jboat designer Alan Johnstone has changed the transom shape for one that would maximize RM at high degrees of heel, kind of the transom we can see on Ker designs or on the new Italia racers.

That gives the boat an old looking transom and maybe contributes for its performance not to be as good as the other two top competitors on ocean races, I mean the JPK 10.30 and the Sunfast 3300.

That is less relevant on inshore races and light wind races where the boat has a very good racing performance, a really top one. We will need more time to see if this first impression, regarding the two main competitors and its comparative racing potential, will remain true since the boat is recent and has entered few top races.

The interior is a nice one for a racing boat and even if on the spartan side it will be perfectly adequate to do some sportive cruising and the price is not high for a Jboat. For around 150 000 euros, maybe a bit more, it will be possible to have one ready for sailing and it is good to remember that Jboats have a high resale price and are easy to sell on the used market where they are difficult to find.

The J112e is another story and here the classic style of transom should not matter so much in what regards performance,  but unfortunately for them it matters a lot in what regards sales, because many sailors that like performance boats refuse to own the J12e because they don't find the "ass" sexy LOL (believe me, it is true) and therefore that transom ends up to be a real deal breaker.

Sexy ass or not, the J112e is an extraordinary sailboat, very beautiful in an elegant way, with a very delicate shape and a very good cruising interior, well designed and with a great finish.

It is also a very fast boat in real time and handicap, so good that it looks like the racer is not the J99 but the J112e since it is this one that has been winning a lot. The racing results are awesome, winning last year the World ORC championship, the St Petersburg to Havana Race in 2018 and winning overall the IRC European Championship.

The J112e has a length of 10.99m, 3.60 beam, displaces 5125kg for a ballast of 1769kg (35% B/D) with 2.10m draft on an L bulbed keel and it has a beautiful and long retractable carbon pole. The J112e (that is made in France) costs ready to sail about 250 000 euros with an aluminum mast (20% tax included) and with the same tax, 280 000 euros with carbon spars but with more cruising extras it can easily reach 300 000 euros.

And last but not least one of the boatshow stars, the Dehler 30 OD, always with a crowd around its stand. The little boat is beautiful with its narrow foil keel with a torpedo and a big draft (2.20m). With a hull length of 9.14m and a 3.28 beam, all pulled to the transom, it is less beamy than it seems and for instance the J99, with a smaller water line (8.72 to 8.97), is beamier (3.40). The Dehler displaces 2800kg ( J99 3800kg) for a ballast of 940 kg and a 34% B/D (J99 1520kg B/D 40%).

The Dehler 30 has 21 cm more draft than the J99 and also a more efficient keel but I doubt that would be enough to annul the difference between the two B/D. Regarding hull form stability the Dehler transom design will bring more RM but then there is a considerable difference in max beam in favor of the Jboat.

The Dehler 30 comes already standard with a 200 L water ballast system  but the outriggers and I suppose more equipment that I saw at the boat at Dusseldorf are optional.The  Dehler has a small 9.9hp diesel engine while the J99 comes with a 18hp diesel engine.

The Dehler uses a very nice system that allows to retract the propeller  manually into the hull while the Jboat comes with a folding propeller.

The announced price is 108,900 euros without taxes or sails, about the same as the J99, but it is really hard to know how much a boat will cost ready to race, because the prices for all optional equipment are not yet public, but probably a well equipped racing boat (with taxes) will not cost less than 160 000 euros, maybe more, I would say much more than what many are expecting.

Regarding the price it is good to remember than the Jboat comes with a 18hp diesel engine while the Dehler comes with just a 9.9hp one but if you want the optional water ballast on the J99 you will have to pay for it.

It would be very interesting if the Jboats made a version of the J99 pointing to the solo/duo racing market and races like the Silverruder, Transquadra, Fastnet (duo) or other similar races that are on the rise, a standard boat with water ballast and a similar keel to the one of the Dehler 30, with 2.20m draft and a torpedo keel.

That would probably allow the J99 weight to go down substantially, for the same RM, which would give both boats a very even performance, with two very different approaches, being the Delher better downwind and beam reaching and the Jboat better upwind and in light winds.

Well, that's dreaming, unless they do that and if they don't do it, it is a shame. The Jboat in what regards seaworthiness has a considerably bigger overall stability (due mostly to its bigger displacement) and it has also a better and more comfortable interior.

We can argue that the one of the Dehler has a more modern look but the fact is that the folding screen to give some privacy to the head that is the middle of the boat is hard to operate and a worse solution in all aspects than the one used on the J99;  the seats and cushions are much more comfortable on the Jboat and while the Dehler comes with a fixed single gas stove, the J99 has a two burner gimballed gas stove.

But there is a thing that is obvious,  the Dehler looks much more faster and sexy than the J99. In what regards being much faster I am not sure but in what regards looks the Dehler wins by knockout and Jboats should really do something to give a look at their boats compatible with their performance.

The bow and the transom need desperately a remake: the ones that like sport or racing boats want not only boats that go fast or win races but also boats that look fast and sexy and while the Dehler looks like the future the J99 looks deja vu.