Three of the four from the first series have already been delivered to customers. "We are naturally very pleased about this," says Torsten Schmidt, head of the shipyard, which seems to be defying the otherwise rather difficult market environment completely unperturbed. "We achieved 115 per cent capacity utilisation in 2013, in a market where some would be happy with 50 per cent." 115 per cent? This is possible because the plastics production of parts of the Sirius 31 DS has been outsourced to Freienohl. Comfortinas are also manufactured there in the halls that used to belong to Dehler. And it is well known that the Sauerland-based company is a true plastics specialist.
The northern lights from Sirius, on the other hand, specialise in deck saloon yachts that cleverly use the widest part of the hull on two levels. "This creates the feeling of space of a 50-foot ship on 40 feet," explains Schmidt. "But we asked ourselves whether there weren't areas that others could do better or just as well as we could. And as we see our strengths in project management, interior fittings and technology, we were able to outsource part of the plastics production to Freienohl after a series of tests. The collaboration is very fruitful!"
A plus point for the shipyard in Plön is that the ships are largely customised. For example, a ship that was raised by five centimetres was recently delivered to an owner who was over two metres tall. Of course, future owners of the 40 DS will also have this freedom. What's more, they can look forward to a whole range of refinements that the new boat has to offer. According to the shipyard boss, these points often arose from ideas that customers and interested parties were able to contribute during the design process. One example is the lowerable bathing platform, which closes the transom when in a vertical position and then has a door to the aft passageway.
The variety of possible keel concepts offered by Sirius is also remarkable. The variants: simply made of cast iron, simply made of lead, deeper for more power or as a chine keel for falling dry. Even a retractable ballast centreboard is possible. Clearly a unique selling point of the big ones from Lake Plön.
A lot can also be expected from the Von-Ahlen design under sail: with a large genoa, it has a sail load factor of a proud 4.8, but only 4.0 with the self-tacking focus. Nevertheless: with a large headsail, it will probably still be fun to sail even in light winds.
Below deck, there is a sheer variety of options: long or short galley amidships, dog berth, technical room, forecastle or double berth aft and three different layouts forward. And then there is the shipyard's speciality of being able to respond specifically to customer requirements thanks to a high level of vertical integration. However, this is also rightly expected by the target group. After all, anyone who can spend a little more money on a boat is probably no longer used to having off-the-peg products.
