Half dinghy, half small cruiser: Sailart expands its portfolio with the 17.5
The new boat sailed for the first time at the weekend, and shipyard boss Frank Störck is very pleased with his design: "The new Sailart 17.5 combines two categories. It should be light and sporty like a dinghy, but also safe and stable like a small cruiser. We were pleasantly surprised at how securely the narrow hull sits in the water and how the bow cuts through small waves."
With its negative stem, distinctive chines and low freeboard, the 17.5 has a very sporty look. It is 5.00 metres long, with a gennaker nose and rudder system it has an overall length of 5.70 metres. The width of 2.00 metres and the weight of 400 kilograms promise easy towing. A 13.4 square metre squarehead mainsail and 5.8 square metre genoa provide plenty of propulsion. On rough courses, a 25 square metre gennaker should ensure fast planing. The folding keel, which is up to 1.26 metres deep, has a high righting moment of 130 kilograms and ensures a high level of safety. Nevertheless, the foresailor can also ensure ideal weight trim using a harness.
The boat should be able to be slipped and rigged by just one person, and with a trailer weight of 570 kilograms, no SUV is required as a towing vehicle, and a normal garage is sufficient as a parking space.
The basic price starts at 19,950 euros. The so-called launch edition includes a trailer and gennaker and costs 22,950 euros.
