match 40 sailboat

12 Nov Match 40

Oakcliff has 8 Match 40s. These boats were designed specifically for the World Match Racing Tour and closely resemble a mini ACC boat.  Cool fun fact, these boats were designed to fit within a standard 40ft shipping container for easy transport to each venue on the Swedish Match Tour.

These boats are available for Sponsor: Yes Charter: No Sale: No

Boat Specs: Designer: Pelle Petterson

Builder: Maxi Yachts Length: 39’ 4” Beam: 7'6" Displacement: 8,377 lbs

Draft: 6’ 10”

Helm: Tiller Oakcliff Crew #: 1 to 2

Total Crew #: 2 to 5

Sail Specs:

Spinnaker: 1076 sq ft (100 m 2 )

Mainsail: 430 sq ft (40 m 2 )

Jib/genoa: 126 sq ft (11.7 m 2 )

Foresail: 215 sq ft (20 m 2 )

*Oakcliff is a 501(c)(3) Non-profit and your donations are tax-deductible to full extent of the law.

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New Petterson design for Swedish Match

• July 4, 2003

A new yacht with similar lines and performance to the America's Cup class yachts has been designed for the Swedish Match Tour

A new yacht with similar lines and performance to the America’s Cup class yachts has been designed for the Swedish Match Tour. The Swedish Match 40 is a new custom built match racing yacht designed by Swedish sailing legend Pelle Petterson.

Petterson commented: “I was very excited about the prospect of designing a boat that will be sailed by the world’s top match racing teams at events around the world. The Swedish Match 40 is a unique design based on the most recent America’s Cup class yachts. It provide sailors and teams with a perfect tool to develop their match racing skills on the road to the next America’s Cup in 2007.”

After relying on event-supplied yachts for the first four years of the Swedish Match Tour, a desire arose to design and build an exclusive fleet of boats for the Swedish Match Tour that could provide a consist quality of yacht from event-to-event. The boat also needed be of a “grand-prix” nature, utilizing the latest technology and designed in way that would continue the Swedish Match Tour tradition of holding the racing on short courses in shore-side venues, allowing spectators to see, first-hand, sailing at the highest level. She’s also been designed to fit in a 40ft container allowing a fleet of Swedish Match 40s to be shipped to each event on the tour.

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Swedish Match 40's

• Thread starter Alan
• Start date Aug 16, 2008
• Forums for All Owners
• Ask All Sailors

Just got finished today with my first match racing a pair of Swedish Match 40's. We had five rotating teams of four sailors. One team was the Russian match racing team and their skipper is ranked # 13 in the world. We lost to this team but held on to win the silver beating all the other teams. What a fantastic experience to be racing these magnificent boats with an umpire boat calling the fouls and a committee boat setting the races. We went through the 'dial up' in pre-start as they do in Americas Cup racing sailing in circles and bring the boats head to wind and holding position for minutes at a time to see who could gain an advantage. The owner of these boats owns no less than six of them at a cool $250K each. He also owns a number of other boats and a fleet of Shields which we race on alternate days. Racing again tomorrow and I can't wait to get back out there, WOW!!  

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MAXI YACHTS

Swedish match 40 (fleet of 6) - maxi yachts.

Specifications

• All Specifications
• Detailed Information

Basic Information

Builder: MAXI YACHTS Category: Racing Sailboat Model Year: 2004 Year Built: 2004 Country: Portugal

LOA: 39' 5" (12.01m) LWL: 31' 6" (9.60m) Beam: 7' 7" (2.31m) Min Draft: 6' 11" (2.11m)

Speed, Capacities and Weight

Displacement: 8289 Pounds

Accommodations

Hull and deck information.

Hull Material: GRP Deck Material: GRP Hull Configuration: Centerboard Hull Designer: Pelle Peterson

Engine Information

Manufacturer: None

Broker's Comments

This is an opportunity to purchase a fleet of 6 identically matched Swedish Match 40 yachts. A chance to set up a match race center or add to an existing fleet.

Construction

Hull Construction:

·          The hull is laminated by hand in a female mould.

·          White, high-temperature Reichhold NGA gelcoat is sprayed up in the moulds.

·          The hull is partially laminated in vinylester, partially in DCPD-Ortho polyester. 

·          A sandwich laminate made of 15mm PVC core is used on the topsides above the turn of the bilges.

·          Bi-axial and Triaxial E-Glass is used as reinforcement.

·          The direction of the axial reinforcement is dictated by the major loadpaths of the structure.

·          Hull laminate reinforcements are added at the centreline joint, in the keelbox area, at the rudder bearing and around the mastbase. Hull is topcoated in white in areas where crew is working.

·          The hull internals are hand laminated into the hull.

·          All hull internals are made of PVC foam cored multiaxial glassfiber reinforced polyester.

·          One pair of primary longitudinal stringers makes up a backbone from the stern to the forward ring frame.

·          Two secondary stringers stiffen the hull panels at the turn of the bilge.

·          Six ringframes and bulkheads are sparsely spaced through the hull.

·          A longitudinal mastbase girder extends from the front of the keelbox under the mast bulkhead to a transverse stiffener

Finish of Hull Centreline Joint & Keel:

·          Polished hull joint above the waterline.

·          Sanded hull joint below the waterline.

·          The keel is primed with epoxy paint.

Deck Construction:

·          The deck is laminated by hand in a female mould with integrated antislip surfaces.

·          The deck is laminated in DCPD-Ortho polyester.

·          A sandwich laminate made of 15mm PVC core is used in all horizontal surfaces.

·          Biaxial and Triaxial E-Glass is used as reinforcement.

·          Chopped Strand Mat is used in around recesses for hatches.

·          All fittings are fixed in either single laminates or a sandwich with a high-density PVC core.

·          The deck is glued to the hull using polyester putty, and subsequently laminated on the inside along the sheerline.

·          The deck includes grooves and platforms for hatches and lids.

·          The deck has a recess for two self-bailers.

·          The steering pedestal is integrated with the deck laminate.

·          The deck internals are hand laminated into the hull.

·          All deck internals are made of PVC foam cored multiaxial glassfibre reinforced polyester.

·          One pair of primary longitudinal stringers makes up a backbone from stern to the first webframe.

·          Local single laminates are used where fittings are attached.

·          The main sheeting point is attached on top of a bulkhead.

·          Structural members are positioned in close proximity to the winches.

Keel & Rudder:

·          The keel box is hand laminated with glassfibre reinforced polyester. 

·          The assembly is then hand laminated into the hull and deck.

·          The bottom edge of the keelbox is wedge-shaped.

·          Two transverse bulkheads are hand laminated either side of the keelbox extending to the primary stringers.

·          Composite keel with a cast iron keel fin attached by bolts to a lead bulb.

·          The fin and bulb is painted with a base primer.

·          The assembly is then epoxy filled and faired.

·          The keel fin-bulb joint is joined with filler and molten lead.

·          The keel fin is housed in the keel box, which is integrated with the deck.

·          In the raised position the hull rests close to the bulb in the cradle, hence the whole yacht and cradle fits into a 40´ container. In the lowered position, a wedge shape in the keel ensures zero play.

·          In the event of running aground the energy is absorbed by a polyurethane impact moulding aft in the keel box.

·          Hand laminated rudder blade using Biaxial and Unidirectional E-Glass reinforcement in a polyester resin.

·          Double tapered aluminium rudderstock with three wings welded to the stock.

·          The wings of the stock are laminated to one half of the rudder before assembly.

·          The blade halves are laminated and glued together.

·          Keels modified to be easily fixed down.

Propulsion & Steering :

·          Lewmar draglink steering system.

·          The steering wheel is attached to the bevel head gear, which in turn rotate a torque tube attached to a reduction gearbox. The reduction gearbox actuates the draglink which connect to a cast aluminium tiller arm.

·          The steering pedestal is integrated into the deck moulding.

·          The aluminium alloy rudder stock is mounted in self-adjusting needle bearings in the hull and a needle bearing in the deck. 

·          5-spoke wheel with cover.

Plumbing Systems

Bilge Pumps:

·          The yacht has double manual membrane 1 ½” (38mm) bilge pumps fitted in the sides of the cockpit.

·          The strainers have integral non-return valves and are fitted in the bilges close to the keelbox.

·          Bilge pumps modified with 2 x inlets in bow and stern.

Accommodation

Crew Area in Front of Mast:

·          21mm plywood floor.

·          Painted white using topcoat.

·          Non-slip finish on walking surface.

·          Finger hole.

·          Floor reinforced with fiberglass to support bowman jumping in.

Deck Equipment

·          I: 43’ / 13.1m.

·          J: 13’2” / 4m.

·          P: 44’4” / 13.5m.

·          E: 13’9” / 4.2m.

·          Mast is fractionally rigged with a keel stepped mast base.

·          Seldén C5L 193x102mm mast section made of anodised aluminium which is tapered above the hounds.

·          Headbox with sheaves for main halyard, clevis pin for backstay, crane length 750 mm.

·          Windex, crane length 750mm.

·          At the hounds there is a nose fitting for the headstay, spinnaker leadblock.

·          Plate for shroud T-Terminal attachment.

·          One sheavebox for topping lift.

·          2 sets of anodised aluminium airfoil sectioned spreaders. Sweep angle 19°.

·          Diagonals fitted in seats in spreader bases.

·          Mast section can be split below lower spreader pair.

·          2 x Spinpole eyes.

·          Cast aluminium alloy gooseneck with reef hooks.

·          Aluminium alloy maststep.

·          Cast aluminium alloy vang attachment.

·          Cast aluminium alloy mastring with attachments for tierods, mast blocks, halyards and a seal.

·          Tie rods.

·          Anodised aluminium alloy boom section 230x65mm  custom designed for the SM40.

·          Cast aluminium alloy outboard end with 3 sheaves for outhaul and 2 reef lines. 

·          Cast aluminium alloy inboard end.

·          Vang fitting.

·          Webbing for mainsheet attachment. Webbing for the clew comes with sails.

Standing Rigging:

·          Discontinuous stainless steel 1 x 19 strands wire rigging.

·          Stud-toggle bronze rigging screws.

·          Forestay, 7mm, fork terminal – fork terminal.

·          Backstay, 5mm, eye terminal – fork terminal.

·          2 x V1, 10mm, t-terminal – stud toggle bronze rigging screwns.

·          2 x V2 & D3, 8mm, t-terminal – eye terminal.

·          D1, 8mm, stemball – stud toggle bronze rigging screws.

·          D2, 6mm, stemball – stud toggle bronze rigging screws.

Winches (Andersen):

·          2 x 44 Aluminium standard.

·          2 x 40 Aluminium standard.

·          Mainsail: 43.8m2 / 471ft2.

·          Genoa: 32m2 / 344ft2.

·          Spin: 85m2 / 915ft2.

·          All yachts in fleet have 1 set of sails.

·          Storage of large articles through hatch in cockpit floor.

·          Foot rails incorporated in aforementioned hatch.

·          There is a GRP moulded foredeck hatch guided by tracks.

·          The vertical sides on the cockpit contain GRP mouldings that can be used for storage of loose equipment.

·          A hatch is provided in the deck above the rudderstock and bearings for service and inspection.

·          A loosely fitted lid is placed on top of the keelbox recess in the deck.

·          For sliding foredeck hatch.

Stainless Steel Fittings:

·          2 x 25mm pipe bends are fitted in the bow either side of the headstay attachment.

·          2 x 25mm foot rail is fitted along the sheerline of the foredeck.

·          2 x 25mm handles for spinnaker pole storage.  

·          1 x 30mm umpire cage which include mooring points is fastened aft of the helmsman.

·          2 x Deck protruding chain plates with holes for 2x fork turnbuckles. Fitted to the main ring frame.

·          1 x Deck protruding bow chainplate. Holes for 1x headstay fork terminal and 1x sail attachment.

·          2 x Backstay attachments.

·          3 x Latches for hatches in cockpit.

·          12 x Studs to ensure both cockpit hatches are secured in a fixed position.

·          Forward and aft M20 keel securing bolt in the top of keelbox.

·          M20 bolts for joining the bulb and keel fin.

Anchoring & Mooring Equipment:

·          4 x 12mm 6m long mooring ropes.

·          4 x Fenders.

Covers, Canvas & Cushions :

·          Canvas mainsail cover. 

Yacht name «SWEDISH MATCH 40 (FLEET OF 6)» – MAXI YACHTS is for sale and located in Lisboa Region, PORTUGAL.

Racing Sailboat  «SWEDISH MATCH 40 (FLEET OF 6)» built by manufacturer MAXI YACHTS in 2004 — available for sale. Yacht location: PORTUGAL. If you are looking to buy a yacht «SWEDISH MATCH 40 (FLEET OF 6)» or need additional information on the purchase price of this MAXI YACHTS, please call: +1-954-274-4435 (USA)

Only deal with professionals!

The new entry level Sweden Yachts 40

• Sweden Yachts 40

The Sweden Yachts 40 combines modern design and materials with traditional comfort and high performance. The Sweden Yachts 40 is built on the same successful concepts as the Sweden Yachts 42 and 45 with the same live aboard comfort. This includes the much favoured “easy to handle” sail plan with self-tacking jib.

Every Sweden Yachts 40 is built to the owner’s specification, with choices of installations to match any desire for ease of handling, speed and comfort. The high-standard specification can, among others, be extended with different keel and rigg options.

Prices and preliminary specifications are available on request from Sweden Yachts. .

SPECIFICATIONS

Deck &interior layout.

The interior layout of the Sweden Yachts 40 is both practical and spacious. The standard layout provides three double berths along with a comfortable dining area, galley, navigation table and two shower rooms. At Sweden Yachts we pride ourselves on being adaptable to our customer’s bespoke requirements, any layout can be altered to suit the customer.

The deck has been kept as clear as possible without compromising any sailing or safety components.

PERFORMANCE & STABILITY

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Class 40 Mighty Mites

• By James Boyd
• May 23, 2023

For sailing fans visiting from ­outside France, the Route du Rhum is a cultural shock, barely to be believed even once seen. It is France’s oldest singlehanded race, first held in 1978, and run every four years from St. Malo in northern France 3,500 miles across the North Atlantic to Guadeloupe. The fleet of 138 boats that assembled for the start in November 2022 was incredible, with an estimated value of 260 million euros—from the implausible 100-foot Ultime trimarans to a record fleet of 38 IMOCA 60s and a similarly impressive fleet of 55 Class40s. Dock sides are crammed with spectators, many hoping to catch a glimpse of the top skippers—some are genuine sports stars. Had the 2022 start not been delayed, French President Emmanuel Macron was to have attended. It’s that much of a big deal.

In the days and hours before the Route du Rhum started, more than 1 million people passed through its race village in St. Malo. In this environment, even non-French amateurs, such as the two US Class40 skippers, Alex Mehran and Greg Leonard, gained celebrity status with relentless autograph signing, selfies with fans and press interviews. Usually outshone by the bigger, higher-profile boats, the Class40 is the most successful 40-footer of all time. While the Farr 40 never topped more than 40 boats at a world championship, this is the second Route du Rhum in which more than 50 participated. To date, 192 Class40 hull numbers have been allocated.

While “Open 40s” once competed in the OSTAR and Around Alone, the Class40 came about independently. Born in France in the early 2000s, two designs defined the class: the Pogo 40 and the Jumbo 40. But the success and longevity of the Class40 is due to its highly constrictive box rule, drafted by a group that includes wise French sailor and journalist Patrice Carpentier, which remains robust 18 years on.

The box rule’s basic parameters are a maximum length overall of 39 feet, 11 inches; max beam of 14 feet, 9 inches; draft of 9 feet, 10 inches; average freeboard of 3 feet, 6 inches; max mast height of 62 feet, 4 inches; max working sail area of 1,238 square feet; minimum displacement at 10,097 pounds; and max water ballast of 1,653 pounds per side. Most brutal are the materials limitations: Carbon fiber, aramid, honeycomb cores and pre-preg resin are forbidden from the construction of the hull, deck, interior structure and fittings; go down below on one and, joyously, thanks to the GRP construction, it is not coffin black.

Carbon fiber is permitted for the mast, boom and ­bowsprit, while standing rigging must be steel rod. Sails are limited to eight, and all but two and the heavy-weather jib must be polyester and nylon. A single fixed keel and as many as two rudders are permitted, but daggerboards and foils are banned, as are canting, rotating masts, mast jacks, and adjustable or removable forestays. However, complex kick-up rudders are permitted. (Although their effectiveness to kick up in a collision is allegedly dubious.) Over the years, displacement and average freeboard have slightly reduced, but the biggest rule amendment has limited “how scow” Class40 hull shapes can be. While the latest foiling Protos in the Classe Mini (the “flying bathtubs”) are fully flat-bowed, Class40 has two max beam limits just short of the bow to prevent this. Naturally, costs have risen, but the rule has successfully limited them; today, a top Class40 costs 700,000 to 800,000 euros.

Those sailing the Class40s in the early days were a mix of pros and amateurs. Today professionals on sponsored boats are the majority. As for aspirant French pro sailors, the Class40 has become a significant stepping stone between from the Classe Mini and Figaro circuits to the IMOCA.

As skipper of Groupe SNEF , leading Mini and Figaro skipper Xavier Macaire says: “The transatlantic races like this [Route du Rhum] are very interesting to us, and the boat is not very expensive. The Class40 is easy to maintain and prepare, and is not a complicated boat like an IMOCA where you need 12 guys. With this, you need two or three, not full time. It is an easy, fast boat.”

With more top pros like Macaire joining, 30 new Class40s have been launched in the last four-year cycle. The most recent Route du Rhum podium, for example, comprised two-time Solitaire du Figaro winner Yoann Richomme ( Paprec Arkea ) and Mini Transat winners Corentin Douguet ( Queguiner-Innoveo ) and Ambrogio Beccaria ( Allagrande Pirelli ) of Italy.

Of the French classes, the Class40 and the Mini remain the most cosmopolitan, with entries from other European countries, notably Italy at present, while the United States, Australia and South Africa were also represented in the Route du Rhum. Far from being put off by the pro element, Americans Alex Mehran and Greg Leonard were thrilled to be on the same starting line. “It is such a privilege to race against some of the top offshore sailors in the world,” says Leonard, who hails from Florida. “It is like playing football against a first team in the NFL—it is that level of quality. There are not that many sports you can do that in.”

Both American skippers came to the Route du Rhum from similar paths. With his Mach 40.3 Kite , Leonard is a professional economist originally from Texas. He campaigned a J/120 for many years with his remarkable son Hannes, who raced his first doublehanded overnighter with his father at age 13. Now 18 and with thousands of race miles under his belt, both in the US and Europe, he is a Class40 expert. For his father, the Route du Rhum was his first singlehanded race.

Over the years, several top shorthanded sailors, notably British Vendée Globe skippers Mike Golding and Miranda Merron, have raced with him, also coaching him. He is very enthusiastic about the Class40: “They are beautiful boats, such fun to sail. When we delivered her to St. Malo, we had 28 to 40 knots just aft of the beam, and we just hung in the low 20s boatspeed, and it was finger-light steering.”

Mehran skippers Polka Dot , which has the perfect pedigree, being Yoann Richomme’s 2018 Route du Rhum winner—a Lift V1 design. Growing up as part of the St. Francis YC Laser squad and subsequently a Brown collegiate sailor, he met Welsh Class40 designer Merfyn Owen in 2009 and raced one of his designs. Remarkably, he won his first major singlehanded race, the 2009 Bermuda 1-2. He subsequently graduated to an Owen Clarke-designed Open 50, in which he set a record in 2012’s singlehanded Transpac. He then went off, had four kids, and developed his commercial real estate business before getting the itch once more last year. He competed ­doublehanded with Owen in the 2021 Transat Jacques Vabre on an old Class40, but as Mehran puts it, “We needed to get ­something scow.”

He too has been receiving coaching from Merron and Golding, among others. According to Mehran, one of the most difficult things to explain to those back home is less the offshore-racing fever that afflicts French fans, but that their skippers are not multimillionaires. Instead, they come from a wide age group and all have commercial backing to either buy a secondhand boat or—if they are higher-­profile, more accomplished or just plain lucky—build a new one. So, returning to the Route du Rhum podium, Paprec’s business is waste disposal (admittedly, its owner races his own Wally 107), Arkea is banking and insurance, Queguiner is building materials, Innoveo is an app-­development platform, and Pirelli makes tires (its CEO has a Wally 145).

Over the last two decades, the Class40s themselves have evolved, despite Draconian design limitations. What started as cruiser-racers with fitted-out interiors became racer-cruisers and are now refined pure racers. They may not be black inside, but the build quality of the latest-generation designs is of the highest ­standard, and it seems no longer possible to buy a cruiser-racer.

A delight of the Class40 is that no one designer is dominant; eight different designs make up the 30 boats built over the last four years. Pogo Structures, last of the original builders, is on its fourth version of its Pogo 40, the S4, designed by Emirates Team New Zealand’s naval architect, Guillaume Verdier (who also designed Structures’ scow-bowed flying Proto Mini).

The man who developed the first blunt-fronted scow Mini, David Raison, produced the Max40, built by JPS in La Trinité-sur-Mer. Also built by JPS are Sam Manuard designs—the Mach 40.4, such as the 2021 Transat Jacques Vabre winner Redman , skippered by Antoine Carpentier (nephew of the original rule’s writer), and now its evolution, the Mach 40.5, of which two competed in the Route du Rhum.

In 2020, VPLP made its first foray into the class with the Clak 40, built by Multiplast, of which four raced in the Route du Rhum, the top finisher being Martin le Pape’s Fondation Stargardt. Etienne Bertrand, another successful Mini designer, had two Cape Racing Scow 40s in the race, while Allagrande Pirelli , believed to be the most expensive of the latest crop and campaigned by last year’s Mini Transat winner, Ambrogio Beccaria, is an all-Italian affair designed by Gianluca Guelfi and built by Sangiorgio Marine Shipyard in Genoa.

However, after the recent Route du Rhum, ­nosing in front in the design race is Marc Lombard with his Lift V2s, of which seven were racing, including Yoann Richomme’s winner, Paprec Arkea . Lombard is one of the longest continuous players in the Class40, and has worked with Tunisian manufacturer Akilaria on its RC1, RC2 and RC3 models since 2006, of which 38 were built. His latest designs have been the Lift, introduced in 2016; Veedol-AIC , one example, took Richomme to his first Route du Rhum victory. The Lifts were custom-built with a hull and deck made by Gepeto in Lorient, but finished off by the V1D2 yard in Caen, and were more precisely engineered and built than the Akilarias. They were superseded this cycle by the Lift V2, the most popular of the new Class40s, with seven competing.

For Richomme, the Route du Rhum was a small distraction from having a new IMOCA built. He entered the Route du Rhum to defend his title and stay race-fit. If the first Lift was an early scow, the present one is at the limit, to the extent that it has a bump in the hull 2 meters aft from the bow at the limit of where the Class40 rule restricts the max beam to prevent such extreme scowness.

The scow bow provides more righting moment, but it also does interesting things to the boat’s hydrodynamics. “With a pointy bow, the keel is more angled and creates more drag,” explains Richomme, who is also a trained naval architect. “When a scow heels, the hull is almost parallel to the keel, so sometimes when we go over the waves, we can feel the keel shudder when it is producing lift. The chine is low and therefore very powerful, and when we heel, it makes for a very long waterline length. Also, we have very little rocker, whereas other [new] boats have a lot, which creates a lot of drag so they don’t accelerate so well when they heel.”

The Lift V2 “is a weapon reaching,” Richomme says. “We can hold the gennaker higher than we used to. Last time, I didn’t even take one. But with the power going up, so have the loads, and we are having problems with the hardware. I have broken two winches already.”

A downside of the big bow and straight chine is downwind, where the technique seems to be preventing the bow from immersing. Paprec Arkea is typically trimmed far aft, including the stack and the positioning of the 1,653 pounds of water ballast (most new boats have three tanks each side), while its engine is 19 inches farther aft, and the mast and keel 11 inches farther aft than they were on his previous boat. They are 77 pounds below the minimum weight, which Richomme admits may be too extreme—during training they broke a bulkhead.

Otherwise, their increased cockpit protection is most noticeable on all the new designs (although not to IMOCA degrees), while most have a central pit area with halyards fed aft from the mast down a tunnel running through the cabin. On Paprec Arkea , a pit winch is mounted just off the cockpit sole. With the main sheet and traveler lead there as well, Richomme can trim from inside the cabin.

Most extraordinary about the scows is how fast they are. Anglo-Frenchman Luke Berry, skipper of Lamotte-Module Création , graduated from a Manuard Mach 40.3 to a 40.5 this year and says: “It is a massive improvement both in speed and comfort. Reaching and downwind, we are 2 knots faster, which is extraordinary.”

The top speeds he has seen are 27 to 28 knots. “Most incredible are the average speeds—higher than 20.”

This effectively turns yacht-design theory on its head, with ­waterline length and hull speed having less effect upon defining the speed of a boat that spends so much time planing. On the Mach 40.5, the waterline is just 32 feet, with a length overall of 39 feet. Compared to the Lift V2, it has more rocker, supposedly making it better able to deal with waves.

Nowhere is the speed of the latest Class40s more apparent than where they finished in the Route du Rhum in comparison to the IMOCA fleet. Paprec Arkea arrived in Guadeloupe ahead of 13 IMOCAs, or one-third of the way up the IMOCA fleet. Richomme says he used to sail on a Lombard-designed IMOCA 20 years ago, when they would make 10.5 knots upwind. “On a reach, I reckon we are faster than them now. We can do 20 to 22 knots average speed.”

Ugly seems to be quick, but when it comes to the Class40, beauty is in the eye of the beholder of the trophy.

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Best Midsize Cruiser 40-44 Feet

• By Herb McCormick
• Updated: December 12, 2017

Winner: Elan GT5

This is going to be a tough category,” said Bill Bolin of the Best Midsize Cruiser 40 to 44 Feet division. “We have three very different but very good boats in this class — the Elan GT5, the Hallberg-Rassy 412 and the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 440.”

To begin, Bolin said of the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 440, “It’s the best Jeanneau I’ve ever seen.” The judging panel agreed, crowning the boat the fleet’s Most Innovative design for 2018.

And what, exactly, led to that designation? “One big reason is the side decks,” said Tim Murphy. “One of the design features is wide-open side decks all the way aft” that permit easy egress going forward without the need to scramble over cockpit coamings. “It’s a clean path ahead,” he noted. Imitation being the sincerest form of flattery, it’s something we expect to see on more boats, including a scaled-up Jeanneau 490, in the very near future.

“You go down below and, maybe for the first time, Jeanneau has separated the mast compression post from the main bulkhead,” he added. “Now there’s just a compression post that runs down into the main saloon, and the main bulkhead that would’ve come to that position is now several feet forward. So they’ve opened up more space in the main cabin and taken it away from the forward cabin, where they’re arguing you don’t need it quite as much. I think that’s also a fine change. It has twin rudders, and under sail, I thought the helm was beautiful. It’s a solid boat.”

So, too, thought Bolin, was the Hallberg-Rassy 412. “This is the largest aft-cockpit model Hallberg-Rassy has built,” he said. “There is a 40-foot center-cockpit model, but this is a different hull entirely, optimized for upwind performance, with a code zero sail for downwind work. There’s a retractable bow thruster — we saw a lot of those this year — to reduce drag and get the thruster deeper in the water and farther forward as well. The boat we inspected had upgraded sails, and when we went sailing, they were ­spectacular. There was a beautiful full-­battened sail and the boat sailed very well.

“It had a slippery hull and moved nicely,” he added. “We sailed it in 12 to 14 knots of breeze, so there was decent wind. Most of the time we were making 6.5 to 7 knots. As we fell off on a beam and then a broad reach, I think this was the first boat where we didn’t see a drastic drop in speed. It performed well on all points of sail. It had a nice big wheel and great visibility forward. It would be an easy boat to single­hand. I really like it.”

“This is a mainsail-driven boat, and I think that might explain why it’s so peppy off the wind,” said Murphy. “So the sail plan is a small jib with a big main. They’re one of the few remaining builders that are giving us a true traveler but also genoa sheet-lead controls from the cockpit, showing that they’re concerned about sail shape, and rightly so. Going down below, it’s the classic Hallberg-Rassy mahogany interior, and it’s just lovely, as lovely as it ever was. We’ve talked about good handholds, but on this boat, they weren’t just good, they were also beautiful. The fiddles are these beautiful rounded shapes that are perfect for your hand. They look great and feel great. Very nice.”

That left the Slovenian-built, 43-foot-4-inch Elan GT5. The company builds dedicated lines of racing and cruising boats, but, said Murphy, “The GT5 is sort of a hybrid between those two lines. It has a high-­performance hull and a very comfortable cruising interior.

“Sailing it was pretty joyful,” he continued. “We sailed in very light air and it was still moving very nicely. It looked really good on the water. It really seemed to have answered the performance side of Elan’s DNA.”

“The company is doing some progressive things in terms of systems,” said Ed Sherman. “The electrical system on the boat has a nice, graphically designed power distribution panel with push buttons that light up things to let you know, for instance, that the running lights are on and that sort of thing.”

“I was really taken with this boat,” said Bolin. “It looks like a race boat from a distance, and as Tim mentioned, its DNA is rooted in that. But you go below and it’s very unique, with lots of special features. I like the galley-­forward arrangement a lot. You come down into the main cabin and you’ve got max beam where the living quarters are, you have a great sense of entry. Figuratively speaking, you’re not walking through the back door and the kitchen to get into the house. I think this layout makes very good use of space. And there’s lots of storage. Finally, I’d say it’s a high-tech boat, vacuum-bagged with 100 percent vinylester. There’s a lot to like about it.”

At the end of the day, Bolin’s colleagues agreed, which is why they chose the Elan GT5 as the Best Midsize Cruiser 40 to 44 Feet.

Other Winners:

• Best Midsize Cruiser 44-47 Feet/Overall Winner
• Best Pocket Cruiser
• Best Full-Size Cruiser 50-54 Feet
• Best Full-Size Cruiser 54-58 Feet
• Best Cruising Catamaran
• Best Luxury Cruiser
• Most Innovative

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• Meet the Judges
• More: Boat of the Year , Boat of the Year 2018 , hallberg-rassy , jeanneau , Sailboats
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Home > Find Your Sail > Search by Make and Model > Swedish Match > Swedish Match 40

Swedish Match 40

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Let's connect, why it's important to partner with a designer on your swedish match 40 sail.

The design is the most critical part of your new sail. Ensuring the sail fits and performs its best is a must for our crew. The Precision Sails Design team are experts at their craft. Unlike other sail lofts all of our sailors work one-on-one with a designer to perfect their Swedish Match 40 sail.

No Two Swedish Match 40 Sails Are Alike

There are many factors that affect the performance and design of your sails. Location, sailing experience, and weather conditions all come into play when picking the perfect sail. Two mainsails made for two Swedish Match 40’s in California and Florida will have different designs, sailcloth, and options based on what is best for the sailor.

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As experts in design, communication, and production our team is ready to take on the task of making sails for your boat. Give us a call to get started.

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Product: Mach 40.4

Type:  OSR Structural Plan Review

Module:  EQA – ENAVE Quality Assessment

For this Class 40, designed by Sam Manuard, created by JPS Production, ENAVE has revised the calculations and structural plans on behalf of the World Sailing Federation, releasing the Structural Plan Review. The Structural Plan Review is the process by which a boat’s construction according to ISO 12215 structural sizing standards is certified

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