Apart from the Swan 45 and Laser keelboat, there are few brand-new sailing yachts at this week’s London Boat Show. However, one not to be missed is the Maxi 1050, the 10.25m performance cruiser from the drawing board of Pelle Pettersson.

Despite her cruising tag, however, this boat, thanks to her racy twin-spreader, keel-stepped Selden rig and top of the range Lewmar deck gear, should be as equally suited to the racing scene. While her performance against similar classes such as the X332, J/105, J92 and Sigma 33 has yet to be evaluated, Maxi Yachts’ Roger Moon is optimistic about her racing performance. ‘We’ve sold four boats so far all of which will be based on the south coast and used as racer/cruisers. This boat at the show will be raced in the forthcoming Warsash Spring Series in Class 3 and should perform as well, if not better than other similar boats.’

At 10.25m, the Maxi 1050 is surprisingly spacious below with six comfortable berths. The main saloon offers a comfortable, light, navigation station, a galley (on the port-hand side), dining/seating/sleeping area, and plenty of headroom for even the tallest of crews. The heads/shower room is situated aft together with a double berth cabin. She has a draft of 1.75m and a displacement of 4,700kg. And the price tag is ‘102,000 ready to race including vat.

Details from SD Marine, Hamble Point Marina, Hamble, Southampton. Telephone 44 (0) 23 8045 7278. Or e-mail: sdmarine@tcp.co.uk.