The Italians at Cantiere del Pardo have developed an elegant weekender with a hull length of ten metres and are focusing heavily on an ecological design. Following the highly acclaimed world premiere at the Boot trade fair in Düsseldorf, the racy Italian has now been made available to YACHT for a first test run on Lake Garda.
The Cantiere del Pardo shipyard and the Grand Soleil brand are breaking new ground with this concept. Until now, the yacht builders in Forlì on the Italian Adriatic coast have focussed on their two successful lines for fast performance cruisers and sporty blue water yachts. With the Grand Soleil Blue, the programme is now being expanded further and the brand's smallest boat is being introduced at the same time.
The name Blue stands for the colour of the sea and is intended to underline the shipyard's efforts in terms of sustainability and ecology in yacht building. The environmentally friendly project goals are achieved by using thermoplastic and therefore fully recyclable composite materials for the construction of the hull and deck. The boat is also powered by an electric pod motor.
Pretty to the eye, strong under sail
The design of the Grand Soleil 33 comes from the office of Matteo Polli Yacht Design, who is now responsible for all new construction projects of the Grand Soleil brand. Polli is known for his successful designs, particularly for the ORC handicap. However, as a pure weekender with little demand for special regatta suitability, the new boat was not specifically designed to be optimised for measurement. The sporty lines with the typical Polli stern shape stand for good, high-performance sailing characteristics, which the boat impressively demonstrated in the YACHT test.
Technical data Grand Soleil 33 "Blue"
- Designer: Matteo Polli Yacht Design
- Design: Nauta Design
- Hull length: 9.99 m
- Overall length (with bowsprit): 11,00 m
- Width: 3.70 m
- Draught standard keel: 2.20 m
- Draft short keel: 1.80 m
- Weight: 3.3 tonnes
- Mainsail: 36.0 m²
- Self-tacking jib: 26.0 m²
- Gennaker: approx. 100.0 m²
- Motorisation: Electric pod drive
- Price: 272,250 euros, gross incl. 19 % VAT.
