2021. From sail to motor. The other half of the sea

Welcome to the special section “BAM 35 Years.” We are presenting “cult” articles from the Motor Boats archive, starting in 1990. A journey through time among stories unobtainable today, even in the great sea of the internet! A dive into the world of epic moments in motor boating. Here is one of the stories we were most passionate about.

The other half of the sea

From Boats by Motor 2021, no. 18, April/May, pp. 52-60.

More and more sailboat builders are espousing the motor philosophy. A current phenomenon, but one with very deep roots. And it is not always just a market move.

Open, closed, cabin cruisers, for long sailing, very fast, comfortable, with one, two or three hulls. In short, there are dozens and dozens of types of boats, but the first, inescapable question is always the same: sail or power? The difference between the different ways to approach sailing divides the market rather sharply: two halves of the same passion and the same sea. There are, then, some cases when a sailor, due to age or other need such as may be the limited time available for vacations, decides to buy a motor boat. For boatyards, however, the opposite usually happens. From sailing they switch to motor. The most recent examples are Denmark’s X-Yachts and Finland’s Nautor’s Swan, which unveiled their first motor boat between 2020 and 2021. Both shipyards have focused on an open boat with a Mediterranean flair for this debut: theX-Power 33 C in the former case and the Swan Shadow in the latter. To be fair, X-Yachts made its entry using the experience and know-how of an existing motor company, Hoc Yachts, acquired in 2019. With this entry, however, two other brands that until yesterday had kept themselves “pure” by building only sailing yachts are now also embracing another vision. Why this? A first and simple, but very valid motivation may be potential customers. Numbers in hand, sailboats are only 8 percent of the total boats that are on the road in the world. Being able to find the right recipe, it is clear that this kind of choice can have huge effects on a boatyard’s turnover.

A (successful) case history is offered by Cantiere del Pardo, which has been known in the sailing world for decades under the Grand Soleil brand. The arrival in motor under the Pardo Yachts brand has been overwhelming, to say the least. Starting with the Pardo 43, followed by the Pardo 50 and the Pardo 38, the yard has managed to establish itself in markets around the world with the Italian-style walkaround. Result? From 20 million in sales in 2017, the site has grown to about 60 million in 2020. Then in Europe there is no shortage of groups or brands that are major players in both sectors. Think Beneteau, Jeanneau, Bavaria, or Hanse Yachts AG with the Fjord, Sealine, Dehler, Hanse, and Moody brands. Presiding over as many market areas as possible, consistent with brand objectives and identity, is undoubtedly something that brands have in mind when moving in this direction. Another motivation, which does not exclude the previous ones (and perhaps complements them) may be the desire to decline their vision of boating into another type of boat. It happened with Perini Navi when, in 2007, it announced its debut in the world of powerboats with three models from 50 to 70 meters: the Picchiotti Vitruvius. The connection of these three models with sailing runs deep and finds its roots in the naval architect Philippe Briand, who collaborated on the design. The line of Perini Navi ‘s three Picchiotti Vitruvius was, in fact, inspired by the hydrodynamics of sailboats.

Even today these boats remain instantly recognizable in their design. “For Wally, everything stems from sailing,” Luca Bassani, founder of Wally Yachts, explains, “and it all started when a German client entered our studio in Monte Carlo one day. We were only making sailboats at the time, and he told me he was not interested. But he asked me to make a motor boat in the spirit of Tiketitan (Wally’s 27-meter-long sailing yacht, Ed.), what I call the sailboat of war. From this idea came the first Wallypower, the 118.” Bassani was already planning to bring his “pleasure boat revolution” to the engine. In his case, as is often the case in boating, it was a single owner who set off the spark. From there was born the first Wally motor yacht, capable of developing the 60-knot speed, which in hydrodynamics took its cue from the Wally sailboats starting with the shape of the bow. With the same philosophy, as an endorsement of the large sailing Wallys, came the very famous Wallytenders in the late 1990s, just as the Wallypower 118 was being built. Then there are those in powerboats who rediscovered their origins, such as Solaris Yachts and the very young Solaris Power brand. The Solaris yard had been among the very first yards in Europe to build a lobster, the 47-foot Express Cruiser by Bruce King, designer of the celebrated Hinckleys. Today the Solaris Power family consists of eight models, ranging from thirteen to twenty-one meters. To trace one of the earliest examples of a shipyard with a double soul, however, we have to go back at least one hundred and fifty years. We are talking about Baglietto, now part of the Gavio Group, at the top of the Italian shipbuilding industry. The shipyard founded in Varazze, in the province of Savona, in 1854, was a leading player in both sailing and motor at least until the 1960s. Then the engine component took over and today the shipyard devotes itself solely and exclusively to the design and construction of motor yachts. What was undoubtedly an emblem of the hybrid, not only at the shipyard level, but also as a boat is represented by Ferretti‘s Altura motorsailer, born in the 1970s. A middle ground between sail and motor that was able to fascinate many boaters. Sailing was then left behind, but without denying that vision of the sea, from which was born in 2009 theAltura 840, a flybridge motoryacht designed for long sailings.

From motor to sailing: the atypicals

Hinckley ‘s history is very special. Founded in 1928, the shipyard built its first motorboat, a 36-foot powerboat, in 1933. Hinckley is located in Manset, Maine, a place that attracts many sailing enthusiasts to the East Coast of the United States. “Because of that,” Innes McGowan, European sales manager for the Henry Hinckley shipyard, explained to us, “he has seen many beautiful sailboats sail from there. He knew, however, that he could build sailboats just as good, if not better. So he had the naval architects at Sparkman & Stephens design a sailboat just for him. The first one was 29 feet and was finished and launched in 1938. The company became famous,” Innes continued, “for its sailboats, and the Pilot 35 and Bermuda 40 dominated the business until 1994. “A total of 650 sailboats were built. The trend, however, has radically changed today. How? With the birth of the first 36-foot Picnic Boat about 25 years ago. “The Picnic Boat changed everything for the company. With the addition of new powerboat models from 29 to 55 feet, the engine is now central.” The importance of the motor part is clear just by looking at the numbers: motor-powered Hinckleys are already up to 1,200 units sold, and that number continues to grow. And from 2021 they will also be outboards with theHinckley 35. How the Spanish Rodman shipyard was “forced” to build sailboats is incredible. It was in 2002 when the then King of Spain, Juan Carlos of Bourbon, gathered his team and ruled, “I want a boat to win in regattas. And it has to be built in Spain.” At the forefront was Pedro Campos, a famous America’s Cup sailor and the ruler’s right-hand man, who set to work. He chose the strongest designers of the moment, the Germans Judel&Vrolijk, and ordered Spain’s leading shipyard, Rodman, to build seven boats, all the same, as the king wanted. Rodman, who had never built a sailboat, thus made the Rodman 42s, winners of regattas all over the Mediterranean.

Catamarans

Yards that build motor multihulls deserve special mention, because this slice of the market offers a macroscopic example of this trend. Sunreef, Fountaine Pajot, Lagoon, Bali, and Nautitech are just a few of the big names of historic manufacturers of sailing catamarans that are now focusing on motor as well. Recently the Leen brand, a power version of the Neel trimarans, has come on the market. In short, this kind of multihull is increasingly in the spotlight, and almost all sailing cat manufacturers have sniffed out the business in the motor. It must be said, however, that it is not enough to “take off the mast” to get a power catamaran. What does it mean? That behind this kind of choice are major investments that the shipyards are convinced will pay off as they steadily expand this market. And the numbers, so far, are proving them right.

by Gregorio Ferrari

• Check out all the articles from the Motor Boats archive in this section