Granted, the sight of Grand Soleil’s president Gigi Servidati sailing the beautiful Grand Soleil 65LC off Portofino arm in arm with his partner, tanned and clad in white linen, screams Italian cool. It’s picture poster stuff, sailing’s equivalent of an Italian supercar pinup from a lifestyle photoshoot.

But that’s not what draws my eye. However well Grand Soleil has perfected such a chic theme, we’ve seen this type of imagery before. Rather, there’s a certain angle of photography showing the yacht’s lines that hooks me – the aft quarter shot – everything else becomes peripheral. Show me those flared sections.

Sexy lines sell. And the Grand Soleil 65LC boasts the blend of qualities that befit a pure performance cruiser: contemporary powerful lines mixed with a look that stands out yet should age well. It has a little of the Advanced Yachts 66 to it – another Italian model that perfected the wraparound raised coachroof look (also by Nauta Design) and has stood the 10-year test of time handsomely. But then it adds the modern kick-ass beam, together with a very subtle chine leading to those distinctly flared aft sections… Oof!

When the GS 72 launched two years ago, these lines stood out. That Matteo Polli has managed to replicate it on a more ‘manageable’ size without losing any of the wow factor shows a young designer at the top of his game. The GS 65 is, naturally, an evolution, using the same powerful, sporty design.

Polli explains how the hull form “maintains the pronounced V in the bow and low wetted surface of the Grand Soleil 72 for less resistance, greater dynamic stability when heeling and better performance in light airs”. It’s a design he optimised for a broad wind range, “from lightship in racing conditions up to full load in cruising mode.”

And the overall beam of the Grand Soleil 65LC is only 20cm less, at a formidable 5.95m (viewed stern-to from the dock, the transom stops you in your tracks). It contains much of the same features as the GS 72, including the same genset and watermaker, but with that brings its own challenges, Polli explains. As the lightships and loaded displacement is a larger range on the GS 72, the attention to weight and wetted surface area becomes stricter on the smaller yacht.

Again it’s offered as a Long Cruise (LC) or Performance (P) model, with the variations found in the coachroof – or lack thereof – and internal layouts. Whichever version you choose, it’s quite a minimalist deck and cockpit. Helms aft leave a roomy cockpit, with very long, wide benches – you can seat 10 around the long central table – so the higher coachroof coamings and backrests of the LC make a lot more sense for cruising, offering at least some comfort and protection. It can also house a large sprayhood.

The lines and layout of the LC do it for me personally, however the orders so far are split evenly between the Long Cruise and Performance models – across both the 72 and 65 designs.

Turning it on

You can perhaps sense my eagerness to sail this boat. Following a long, hot and humid, windless Mallorcan morning, just as I was beginning to fear we might not get a chance to experience this 65 LC properly, the sudden arrival of a moderate breeze from the west-northwest was highly welcomed. The uncalibrated wind instruments were not working, but the white caps forming further out in Palma Bay suggested the breeze was in the teens, and at the upper end of that in gusts.
With full sail set and a lively amount of heel on, it felt special to lean onto those powerful aft sections and surge to weather. We clocked a steady 9.5 knots upwind, and could nudge into double figures by footing off a little.

You may notice that the mast is comparatively far aft. This increases the jib’s sail area and also brings the boom further aft –  “more sail without raising the centre of effort,” Polli told me. This also increases the headsail options, including a removable inner stay, and a shorter bowsprit for the same gennaker area. The 65 LC comes with a self-tacking jib as standard, although the test boat had a more conventional slightly overlapping jib.

It was an increasingly rare pleasure to again sail a performance yacht of this size with a single rudder. This high-aspect blade is mounted comparatively far forward, acting as a foil with plenty of grip. That said, and for a yacht with such a balanced sail plan, I found that upwind leg a little heavy on the helm. The 65 LC carries a significant amount of sail for her relatively light displacement so playing with the sail and weight trim more should help (we had 10 aboard, a mixed ability crew and in cruising mode).

A shimmering halo surrounded the bright afternoon sun, which, together with the breeze ruffling the sparkling seas, made for distinctly pleasant conditions. The wind freshened up more as we approached the lighthouse at the bay’s western point of Cala Figuero. It was now 15 to 18 over waves with clear white caps, the GS 65 still clocking 9 to 9.5 upwind with full sail. We could push up to 10 knots in the gusts if we dropped off a few degrees, but even when close-hauled I noted we were not pointing particularly close, tacking through almost 100°.

This is perhaps explained by the wider angle of the headsail sheets, which is reportedly 12° rather than the 8° of the Performance version. The coachroof on the LC version finishes before the mast, with the jib tracks pushed out to the side decks, where the roof on the Performance model extends past the mast and carries the tracks on top and further inboard.

As with the GS 72, the project was spearheaded by veteran racer and boatbuilder Franco Corazza, who stressed how good the coachroof line is for a raised saloon boat – seated at either helm under sail, you can still clearly see the bow. That said it’s very much a Med-style performance cruiser deck, where streamlined looks come above cruising practicalities and comfort. This is particularly noticeable at heel.

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Reaching machine

We were gifted a lovely, long, early evening leg back from the lighthouse. The wind was blowing off the island over clear, flat water so it was easy to see each bullet of breeze approaching our aft quarter. With a deep reaching A0 set and pulling from a furler midway along the bowsprit, we averaged 9-10 knots in the lighter breezes, up to 11 in the gusts.

Heat it up a little and you can feel the power. The Grand Soleil 65LC has a potent amount of sail area and relies on the form stability of her powerful hull shape for righting moment. So while it can harness light breezes and puffs, loads should be respected (and the temptation to carry too much sail avoided!).

It was certainly enjoyable sailing, but perhaps not the fully exhilarating ride her shape promises. I also found the winch setup a little unusual, particularly for the mainsheet. It’s led neatly each side through the deck to clutches right by the helms and winches further aft. Although these are within reach for those wanting to sail short-handed – or when the trimmer is in contact with the helmsman – the winches are right in the quarters. Here you’re also conscious of the significant beam and flat deck space to cross, and a lot of open transom behind.

The mainsheet is a reverse T system, led to a single point as on the test boat, onto a winch on a central plinth, or to a captive winch. You can also opt for a recessed and powered traveller. Mastbase halyard winches help keep the cockpit clean, plus there are tailing lockers. But with a completely open transom I’d worry about lines trailing overboard, and the pushpit rail is only 2ft high so I’d want a third guardwire higher up.

The styling on deck is slick, especially the way the teak deck rises up on the coachroof coamings to help lower the visual line. The tender garage is low but provides enough room for a dinghy up to 3.1m, and there’s deck access from above for stowing fenders. The sail locker is also generous, with a heads and pipe cot within, yet still plenty of space for spare warps, sheets and sails.

Semi-custom step-up

The GS 65 and 72 are available as this ‘LC’ model, though they’re different beasts to the smaller LCs in Grand Soleil’s range (more suited to their ‘Long Cruise’ name). “Over 60ft the concept and the owners change,” Corazza explains. He oversees these more semi-custom builds, in a separate facility to Cantiere del Pardo’s main production site.

A composite sandwich build, with composite main bulkheads and interior furniture all foam-cored, produces a light displacement of 26.5 tonnes on the GS 65. The hull is built by vacuum-infusing Vinylester resin into biaxial glassfibre (in one shot), with unidirectional carbon used for reinforcement. The infusion is all done in-house.

It’s an impressive, semi-custom approach. “It’s why we bought Adria Sail,” says Corazza, referencing the quality and experience of the Fano shipyard which has built custom yachts for a variety of Italian brands. Next up is a Grand Soleil 80 which will really see the brand kick ahead with this new semi-custom range.

The LC version of the 65 provides a generous amount of natural light to the semi-raised saloon and the natural teak veneer finish looks smart (also available in Alpi and natural oak). It’s offered with three or four cabins and a midships galley, while the Performance version sites the galley aft.

As well as the 270° views it brings, a prime benefit of the LC’s raised saloon format is that the generator and tank space is all contained below the saloon sole. This also helps to maximize the space of the two aft cabins as no technical/engine room is needed between them.

Here we see the volume gains the flared sections and all that beam brings. Indeed, these aft cabins can be chosen with doubles or twins and have wider berths than the master cabin (they are noisier though, particularly under engine).

The port side has separate day-head access, but this is via the shower – somewhat unconventional considering those in the optional fourth cabin will likely need to use this heads too. Although there is space for a crew berth in the large sail locker, the fourth cabin option makes a wiser choice for those wanting to keep a crew for any length of time. This Pullman features good sea-going berths opposite the mast base, tall locker space and is aside the galley, though it’s also right next to the owner’s cabin so lacks segregation.

The standard layout sees a dinette area rather than this fourth cabin. As well as providing a mess area, this could also benefit those wanting extra office space (he writes, while working on his kitchen table…), as the navstation is an aft-facing affair that adjoins the saloon sofa berth. Opposite, the U-shaped galley has a relatively compact but practical format with good work surface and refrigeration space, even if it lacks the finesse of customised crockery or glass stowage.

The test boat costs €2.8m without sails, but with a high level of equipment included. Which is a lot of money. It’s a very appealing and well-done package, with a high-end stylish interior that maintains the Italian chic theme, but it’s not quite premium finish quality. Some joinerwork didn’t line up, floorboards creaked underfoot etc (Grand Soleil says it is changing the sandwich floorboards because owners don’t like the flexing). I’m sure such areas will keep improving as the brand pushes more into this semi-custom sector.

Grand Soleil 65LC specifications

LOA: 21.60m / 70ft 10in
LWL: 18.50m / 60ft 8in
Hull length: 20.10m / 65ft 11in
Beam: 5.95m / 19ft 5in
Draught: 3.50m / 11ft 6in
Displacement: 27,500kg / 57,320lb
Ballast: 7,200kg / 15,837lb
Water: 840lt / 185gal
Fuel: 825lt / 181gal
Sail area: 278m2 / 2,992ft2
Sail area/displacement ratio: 29.2
Disp/LWL ratio: 117
Design: Matteo Polli & Nauta Design
Builder: grandsoleil.net

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