Bavaria C57

Bavaria has been promising something big and, sure enough, the C57 is Bavaria’s largest yacht yet. As you can see from our first look videos, the length, 57ft, is comparatively modest by production yard standards today, but this is a particularly large yacht for its size – 88sq m of living space is the largest in class says Bavaria. And it is expected to be the start of bigger yachts to come.

Bavaria has a relatively new management team in place and has changed its preferred yacht designers, introducing a modular build technique and vacuum infusion to save weight (and the environment). ORC racer cruiser specialist Cossutti Yacht Design was commissioned to do the lines of the C57 with the interior design and engineering by Pulse Yacht Design.

Cossutti predicts this twin-rudder design flying 136m2 of upwind sail area and sporting a generous 232sq m gennaker will have better performance than the 55 in all conditions and points of sail, especially light winds. Pulse’s chief engineer Leo Curin reports that the use of vacuum infusion for the hull and deck, together with longitudinal stringers and bulkhead receivers, means that a lot more structural stiffness has been built in. This has also allowed Bavaria to build blocks of furniture, entire cabins even, outside of the hulls.

Price €374,900 ex VAT www.bavaria-yachtbau.com

Dufour 63 Exclusive

Umberto Felci has drawn a very contemporary looking yacht for the first of Dufour’s new Exclusive range. The 63E has considerable beam, stark black-and-white styling, prominent slab sides and very flat, clean decks. A sculpted groove runs longitudinally along the hull portlight line – a visually clever way to break up the high topsides.

The large, wide cockpit – there is quite a distance between the two helms – is straddled by a carbon arch, which helps keep the boom clear. It’s a nice shallow step up to the wide flat side decks with deep rope tail stowage below for the halyards and sheets, which are led to two winches aft each side.

Over the past couple of years Dufour has introduced an optional exterior ‘galley’ – a grill, fridge and sink that opens out on to the bathing platform – which is already a popular feature on many motoryachts. On the 63E these appliances are of a good size and positioned at the right height to work at. They stow beneath the central aft sunbathing seat. Beneath the aft deck is a garage large enough to house a 2.95m jet rib, each side of which is a set of steps down to the swim platform.

As seen on the first look video above, the interior of the boat displayed at the Düsseldorf show was particularly inviting with its shallow, welcoming companionway leading into a carpeted saloon finished in oak veneer and nubuck.

The cabins forward and abaft the raised saloon and galley are another few steps lower down. Hull number one has both an owner’s cabin and a Pullman aft, plus two double cabins forward. A forward owner’s cabin is also an option.

Price from €1m ex VAT www.dufour-yachts.com

Elan GT5

It’s been a quiet few years for Elan, but the Slovenian builders were back with a bang with the launch of this GT5 at the Paris Boatshow in December. The model branding is deliberately taken from cars – it’s a ‘Gran Turismo’ and ‘Grand Touring’ yacht, says Elan.

It may use the same Humphreys designed chined hull as the old E5, but the GT5 is a very different looking yacht. The modern deck design and raised coachroof with wraparound windows bring more cruising comforts to the sporty hull shape. She is slightly longer and higher and that extra volume and coachroof make her 1,700kg heavier than the original E5.

The result is that she feels like a capacious 43-footer – indeed marketing project manager Matic Klemenc told me she has the same size cockpit as the Impression 50.

Price ex VAT: €189,000 www.elan-yachts.com

Hanse 588

The 575 is the most successful model Hanse has ever produced in terms of sales – see the video of our test here – an astonishing 175 have sold since its launch four years ago. So, it is no surprise to learn that the German manufacturer is borrowing the same Judel Vrolijk-designed hull mould for this updated version.
What’s interesting is that Hanse will continue to sell the 575 too. “The dealers didn’t want us to take the 575 out, so the customer now has one hull with two different layout options,” Hanse’s marketing manager, Florian Nierich, told me.

The hull shape and sailplan of the 588 should ensure a lively, enjoyable yacht to sail. Hanse is focusing on performance and versatile sailing by giving the 588 a taller rig than the already powerful 575. She keeps the tried and tested self-tacking jib, but now has the option of a furling code sail on a second forestay to improve her reaching or light upwind performance. All sails are controllable from the helm.

Price ex VAT €399,000 (£342,900) www.hanseyachts.com

Solaris 55

When the wonderfully alluring and contemporary Solaris 50 was launched in 2015, it proved popular enough for the Aquileia yard to commission its trusted designer Javier Soto Acebal to produce slightly bigger and smaller versions models. The 47 launched last year and is now followed by this 55.

The 55 is Solaris’s first model with twin rudders. She closely follows the winning recipe of the 50, but is a little larger in all dimensions, creating extra space down below for accommodation.

Solaris maintains its exhausting run of new model launches in 2017. Following this 55 debut at Düsseldorf, the first of two new 68s is due to splash in June.

Price (Solaris 55) ex VAT: €690,000 www.solarisyachts.com

Hanse 675

Hanse says that with the splashing of its first 675, the company has launched the largest ever serial production yacht in Germany. That production yachts are reaching this scale is certainly a telling sign of the times.

With multiple large hull ports and deck hatches including an electric sliding skylight, the 675 is particularly light below. There is an extensive selection of glitzy options, including coffee bar, wine cooler, optional hard bimini aft with integrated speakers and spotlights, and a cockpit with three 21in displays that can be used either for navigation or entertainment.

The 675 is designed with professional crew in mind, so crew quarters are kept separate from guest accommodation. Crew have private access on the port side of the cockpit that leads to the galley and a cabin for up to three.

Price ex VAT €999,000 (£735,770). www.hanseyachts.com