In 2016, the shipyard in Split announced its cooperation with Maurizio Cossutti's design office in Italy for a Salona 380. At the time, the new ship was a replacement for the popular J&J design Salona 38 (test in YACHT 3/2012). The yacht builders in Croatia have now rejuvenated their 11.60 metre long performance cruiser and are now launching the boat on the market as the Salona 39 with a few changes.
Overall, however, the revisions remain within a manageable framework. The most significant innovation is that the shipyard has redesigned the deck in collaboration with designer Maurizio Cossutti and apparently also built a new mould for it. The windows on the cabin superstructure have become larger and longer, and they are now made of real glass rather than acrylic glass. There are also more and larger hatches on deck, and the hull windows have also been redesigned for more light below deck.
The typical performance cruiser layout with cockpit remains the same. The genoa sheets (106 per cent overlap with hole points on the coachroof) and the mainsheet (German Cupper System with traveller on the cockpit floor) are operated via primary and secondary sheet winches on the cockpit coaming. The halyards and the remaining trim lines run via stopper batteries on two winches on the side of the companionway. The rigging also remains largely unchanged. An aluminium mast with two spreaders is placed on the Salona 39 ex shipyard. A sturdy backstay with sheet cascade is part of the standard equipment.
A retractable bowsprit for a gennaker or code zero was still standard on the previous Salona 380 model. This will no longer be available on the new boat. Instead, customers can have a fixed bowsprit fitted as an option. The sporty cast iron keel with lead ballast bomb is around 10 centimetres deeper on the 39 than on the previous model. The draught is now 2.15 metres, and the very long and slim rudder blade is almost as deep. The shipyard has not yet specified options for the hull appendages with a shallower draught.
Below deck, Salona Yachts has mainly worked on the design. The interior now looks lighter and more open. Instead of mahogany as before, the shipyard now uses light-coloured oak as standard. However, there is a wide choice of woods and colours for the upholstery. The general layout and expansion options for the Salona 39 remain unchanged compared to the previous model. The boat comes as standard with two double cabins and a large forecastle, which can also be accessed from the inside. In this version, the longitudinal bulkhead aft is built over the centre of the boat and the double berth on the port side is therefore generously wide. Optionally, a separate shower room can be added to the wet room at the rear of the two-cabin model. The Salona 39 is also available with three double cabins. The layouts of the individual extension versions can be seen in the following picture gallery.
Salona Yachts builds the hulls and decks of all models as a GRP sandwich using a vacuum infusion process with a foam core and vinyl ester resins. The more heavily loaded structures in the hull in the area of the keel, rudder shaft and shrouds are additionally reinforced with carbon fibre inserts. And as with all Salona boats, a glued-in steel frame provides additional hull stiffening for the 39.
A list of prices and options is not yet available from the shipyard. However, there is already an initial price announcement from Split: the new Salona 39 will cost 204,000 euros net, i.e. 242,760 euros including 19 per cent VAT. As is usual with performance cruisers, the basic price ex shipyard does not yet include the sails.
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Michael Good
Editor Test & Technology
