ELAN IMPRESSION 43 AND THE COMPETITION: A MORE SEAWORTHY OPTION?

I am getting a bit tired of writing about boats that, for one reason or another, I would not have, whatever the sail and cruising program, but they are interesting because, for one reason or another, they are better than the competition, and therefore a good option for some.

This one will particularly suit a cruiser who wants a boat with a huge and nice cruising interior, with some reasonable sail ability (to save some diesel in good sailing conditions) and a big engine for cruising at slow revs (and for safety too), a boat with good overall stability and better safety stability than average.

Don't take me wrong, I know that this is what most cruisers want, and therefore most mass-production cruisers are designed to satisfy these requirements, and it is with those boats that the new Elan Impression 43 has to be compared.

Like all mass-produced yachts, the Elan Impression 43 is designed to look what it is not, a fast boat. Its slim cabin contrasts strongly with its fat underbody and with the bow's large entries. 

Maybe a too-big contrast that instead of making the boat look more elegant, gives it a slightly odd look, like a lady with a slim upper body, huge hips, and a big ass.

The Elan 43 is, in fact, a 42ft sailboat, with a 12.82m HL and a 13.60 LOA (including bowsprit). It has a 4.25m beam, and 11.110kg displacement. It compares with the smaller Dufour 430 (41ft) which has more beam (4.30) and it is lighter (9700kg) and with the also smaller Jeanneau 449 (41.5ft) which has a similar beam (4.29m) and is also lighter (8561 kg). Bavaria, Hanse or Beneteau don't have comparable boats in size, they are either bigger or smaller.

Two things stand out, the Elan 43 is heavier and not as beamier as most big brand yachts and, in what  regards that,  it is similar to Jeanneau, and that means they are the narrowest yachts (even if beamy) among the mass-produced big brands.

In regards to weight, things can look different if we consider that the Elan is by far the boat with more ballast, 1261kg more than the Jeanneau, and 941kg more than the Dufour, and even considering that the Jeanneau and the Dufour have more draft (2.2 and 2.10 to 1.95m) and a slightly more efficient keel, it would not compensate the bigger Elan B/D (31.9%) that compares with Jeanneau 26.6% and Dufour 26.8%. 

That means that a big part of that displacement difference is ballast, and that is the kind of extra displacement I don't mind having, quite the contrary.

Above, Jeanneau SO 440, below Dufour 430 

Therefore the Elan will have a bigger and better overall stability (heavier) and also better safety stability (positive stability over 60º), and that, if it is as well built as the Jeanneau or the Dufour, will make it a better bluewater sailing boat, even if that does not necessarily mean faster.

In regard to speed, these boats with their large bow entries and large beams, don't have fast hulls. The bigger Elan B/D can improve sailing ability in strong winds, beam reaching, and especially upwind. 

But with lighter winds the Dufour and the Jeanneau will be faster, having a considerably bigger SA/D. 

Being a more stiff boat with bigger stability the Elan can carry more sail than the other two, but that is not the case according to the proposed sail plan. The three boats have more or less the same sail area, but the Elan will be able to maintain full sail with more wind, and will reef later than any of the others.

Above, Salona 41, Below, Dehler 42 and Jeanneau SO 440

In what regards building, I asked but I did not receive the Elan standard specifications, but they say the hull is built using their vacuum-assisted infusion lamination process and the vacuum-assisted infusion lamination is applied also to the vertical and lateral stringers. If that is true (and not an option) and if the hull is a sandwich one (you have to check it out), it will make for a better-built hull, more resistant to flexion than the ones of Jeanneau or Dufour, that are monolithic hulls with a "contre-moule" bonded to the hull.

The interior is nice, with the exception of the grey cabinets, which they will probably offer as an option with the same wood finish as the rest of the interior. The mast is a deck-stepped one with just what appears to be a very small compression post. That would leave me a bit worried, but you will find the same in most mass-produced cruising boats, including the Jeanneau and the Dufour, even if the one in the Elan seems to be even smaller. 

Maybe that's just in the drawings.

In regards to sail hardware, the Elan follows big mass producers, presenting a very simplified one, with 4 winches, apparently without the possibility of upgrading to a 6 winch system. 

The standard boat comes, like the two others with a self-tacking jib, with optional travelers for a genoa and without a traveler for the main, It can have an in-mast furler for the main or a single-line reefing system.

Above Elan, Below Jeanneau

For the ones who want a true motorsailer, with a capacity of facing almost any sea while motoring the Elan would be ideal because it offers an option for an 80hp engine! and also as an option a 470L water tankage.

But in what regards long-range cruising it is not all good news and if the inside storage is good, with plenty of cabinets and enough space between the two aft cabins to install equipment, like a generator or a watermaker, the outside space notwithstanding a nice sail locker and two cabin lockers under the seats does not offer a large cockpit aft locker, but three smaller aft lockers that do not take advantage of all available space, that is left unused.

Above Dufour, below Dehler and Salona.

All in all a nice boat, an option to the existing mass-produced big brands, and a better one, if frequent ocean crossings are part of the program.

If for ocean crossings, on the trade winds, the Elan sail area will be sufficient, for coastal cruising in lighter winds it will not be a match for Jeanneau or Dufour and will have to motor more.

If like me, you like to sail, dislike motoring, and for living comfortably aboard you don't need huge standing heights or large space volumes, other than the necessary space to live with comfort (space today is viewed like a luxury), you would be better with a Salona 41 or a Dehler 42.

They are as well built (or better) than the Elan 43 impression, offer equivalent safety stability (even if Salona overall stability would be smaller), have more resistant keel stepped masts, will keep sailing when the others have to motor, will sail much faster, and will be much more enjoyable to sail, not to mention that they will waste a lot less diesel.

Above and below, Elan Impression 43

Yes, I know, they both are older designs and have not been replaced because demand for really good cruising sailboats, with emphasis on the sailing, has been small, but even so, they are much better sailboats than any of the others, and contrary to what their names suggest they are not significantly smaller than the Dufour 430 or the Jeanneau SO 440, that have a 12.50 and 12.64m HL while the Salona 41 and the Dehler 42 have 12.50 and 12.42m HL.

The main difference between these two different types of boats is not length, but beam, B/D, and much narrower bow entries. 

In regards to the difference between bow entries, just compare the hull shape, that is visible on the interior layouts. 

While the Dufour and the Jeanneau have 4.30m and 4.29m beams the Salona and the Dehler have 3.89 and 3.91m. Regarding B/D, the Dufour and the Jeanneau have 26.8% and 26.6% while the Salona and the Dehler have 33.0% and 32.2%.

Both the Salona and the Dehler have not only more sail area upwind than the Dufour or the Jeanneau, but they develop less drag and therefore they will be considerably faster and will need less sail area to sail at the same speed, which makes them easier to sail in difficult circumstances. 

They also offer more and better sail hardware that allows them better control of the sails and a better and more effective sail shape, but even if you want to reduce the sail hardware to a minimum (because you don't want to trim the sails) and want the main sail traveler mounted over the cockpit (for having a big bimini) even so, they will sail much better and faster than the Dufour or the Jeanneau.

The only point that can be disadvantageous regarding cruising is the bigger heel angle that both the Salona and the Dehler need to sail faster, especially upwind. 

But you cannot make omelets without breaking eggs: the bigger heel is necessary to extract more power from the keel and to make the bigger B/D be worthwhile, in terms of extra power.

That will allow a much better pointing ability, in good conditions something like an 8º to 10º difference, that in what regards VMG against the wind makes for a big difference, that will be even bigger when that difference allows these boats not to tack and maintain course, while the others will have to tack.

Of course, if you, like many, prefer to motor upwind then nothing of this will be relevant and the huge 80hp engine on the Elan Impression 43/ will make all the difference, in a positive way, even if the large beam and large bow entries will make going against the waves a very uncomfortable ride.

I don't like much the Dehler interior design, even if the layout and quality are good, but the interior design of the 42 will probably be modified, as it was already done in the 38 and 46, with a new SQ version, making it a much more attractive one, even if not as voluminous as Elan 43 interior.

Regarding prices, the Elan costs without VAT at the shipyard, 270 000 euros, about the same as the Jeanneau, Dufour and Dehler. 

Of course this is an indicative price because after having the sailboat equipped the way you want (and need), the prices can be quite different, and if you will never have in the Dehler or Salona the interior volume the others offer, it is also true that you will not have available in any of the others the sailing equipment that Dehler, or Salona, offers as optional.