Shipyard boss Michele Ricci calls it "wave design", referring to the beautiful, curved lines on the deck of the new Solaris 50, which harmonise perfectly with the contours of the hull. In addition, the slightly negatively sloping bow stem and, as a speciality, the concave side flanks of the hull in the aft section. To the eye, everything fits together wonderfully, a ship from a single mould. Unaffected, unadorned and yet excitingly beautiful. The designers at Javier Soto Acebal (Argentina) have designed the new boat. The 50 is now making its world premiere at the boat show in Düsseldorf and will still be attracting attention until Sunday, 25 January (Hall 16, Stand D 37).
Dealer Dines Pontoppidan ( Diamond Yachts, Laboe ) runs across the boat. At first glance, the completely unbuilt deck layout catches the eye. Logically, there are no lines yet on the exhibition ship and there is no rigging. Nevertheless, you can imagine what the Solaris will look like ready to sail: sleek, clear, organised. Sheets, halyards and trim functions run as far below deck as possible and are redirected all the way aft to two large, electrically operated 60 mm winches in the working cockpit. The guest cockpit and companionway, on the other hand, remain free of all lines.
In the stern, in front of the folding bathing platform, a dinghy could be stowed athwartships, even with a motor. The exquisitely laid teak deck with its intricate grey joints is a real eye-catcher. This is boatbuilding craftsmanship of the very highest calibre. Naturally, the beautiful, high-quality deck hatches from Solimar are flush-mounted and drained.
The boat at the trade fair will be fitted with a self-tacking jib at the customer's request. In the normal version, the 50 is fitted with a short overlapping genoa (106 per cent). It also has a high, high-performance aluminium rig. Of course, a carbon fibre rig with rod shrouds from Hall Spars is also on the options list. However, a ready-to-sail touring boat of ten metres in length is available at the stand around the corner for the extra cost of 80,000 euros.
The series of boat-building delicacies continues on the tour below deck. The interior fittings are of the highest quality and have been realised with great style. Solaris has sourced bleached (not whitewashed) oak wood for the exhibition boat and covered the upholstery with fabric of almost the same colour. Of course, the customer can choose the types of wood, colours and fabrics themselves and put them together according to their own taste.
For yachts around 50 feet in length, prices are generally only directly comparable to a limited extent, as the quality, construction methods and equipment standards are too different. The Italians are currently asking €571,200 for the basic version of their new 50-footer.
