Heyman 42 PPH: New, probably the best-looking deck saloon yacht on test

Anyone travelling on her for any length of time, and even a day and a half in late summer on the windy Baltic Sea is enough, will inevitably ask themselves at some point why not all cruising yachts are built as deck saloon constructions. Even boarding the Heyman 42 is like a revelation.

The companionway, if you can call it that at all, leads down just two shallow steps, not into the cellar, which has become obsolete as a metaphor in modern boatbuilding anyway, because today practically all ships have hull windows and therefore plenty of natural light below deck. On the Schwedin, however, the term "transparency" takes on a whole new meaning. The interior merges so seamlessly with the exterior that the crew in the saloon or galley never lose touch with their surroundings - be it the Kiel outer fjord or the berth at Treidelsteg in Schilksee, where we were able to try out the impressive boat for the first time as part of the selection process for Europe's Yacht of the Year.

Also interesting:

• Sirius 40 DS: The best-built production boat?
• Moody DS 41: The smallest Moody in the YACHT test
• Test: Nordship 420 DS - year-round deck saloon yacht

It has been on our test list ever since we were able to view the first drawings two years ago, for many reasons. Firstly, there is her designer and namesake, Gabriel Heyman, who may not be one of the best-known architects in the trade, but is undoubtedly one of its most innovative minds. There are the many ingenious ideas that put the boat above the majority of the market, such as the "false" aft hull windows that can be folded out to form side steps, or the solar panels that can be set up on the forward cabin superstructure, which enable a higher power output or optionally form a comfortable backrest if you want to stretch out on the foredeck.And then there is the overall concept of a universally usable long-distance vessel with all the comfort of a deck saloon yacht and the draught of a small cruiser, which is unrivalled on the market.

Heyman 42 PPH is not lacking in distinguished elegance

Like all boats of its kind, the new Scandinavian is of course an expensive pleasure: She costs around 700,000 euros ready to sail ex shipyard. Anyone who can spare this sum can look forward to a rare and rarely well-built yacht that will attract favourable glances in any harbour.

Her lines have something of the seriousness and practicability of a pilot boat: a lot of leap, classic yacht stern, straight superstructure. Nevertheless, the Heyman is not lacking in distinguished elegance. Because she was deliberately designed as an owner's boat, she only has two cabins and a wet room, all of which are located amidships or forward.

This leaves a huge cockpit aft, which is also low, but with a high cockpit and very large forecastle boxes. The cockpit alone offers more than 4.5 cubic metres of storage space; there is also a large forepeak that accommodates light wind sails, mooring lines, fenders and anchor chain, including an electric winch with mooring capstan. This is exactly how it should be on a boat that is designed to accommodate its crew for weeks and months on board.

The interior, which alternates between mahogany and matt white lacquered surfaces, is inspired by yachts from New England. Surface quality, gap dimensions and solidity effortlessly reach upper class level. Even at 6 Beaufort and a bumpy Baltic Sea wave, no squeaking or creaking could be heard below deck.

This is not surprising: the Heyman is built in Estonia at Ridas Yacht, a shipyard for the most demanding composite orders, one-offs, refits and small series models. You have to think of the company as a manufactory, not a factory with a production cycle. You can see and feel this throughout the ship, for example in the mobile phone and small parts locker opposite the dedicated oil locker in the central dinette, where each compartment has its own USB charging socket. It is such endearing solutions that make the boat special.

Various improvements planned

But the Heyman 42 also offers more than usual in the standard disciplines. The comfort dimensions such as headroom, berth length and width, seat depth and backrest angle in the saloon are all just right. The stowage spaces below deck, like those on deck, fulfil even the most demanding long voyage requirements.

There are only limitations in the comfort rating with regard to the guest cabin, which is located below the deck saloon. Although it is large, airy and bright, it has no direct fresh air supply from the shipyard; the hatches only open towards the saloon, not to the outside. However, a quiet fan can be ordered on request, which draws air in through the grille aft of the port superstructure window and pumps it downwards.

In both the dinette and the guest compartment, construction number 2 had some upholstery partitions that did not quite match the access to the storage compartments below. This means that two cushions have to be removed to reach a compartment. Gabriel Heyman, who is maintaining a list of further improvement measures, assures us that this will be rectified in future boats.

Other sensible points are also on the agenda. For example, the drainage of the large access hatch to the engine room in the cockpit floor will be improved and extended from two to four drainage channels. The gap between the cockpit and the bathing platform will be sealed with a spring-loaded silicone membrane. This is intended to prevent any trailing water from creeping into the low-lying cockpit, as happened occasionally during the test; conversely, however, it should open to allow any excess water to drain quickly aft.

What cannot be easily remedied in terms of design is the generally limited access to important components: The upper rudder bearing is difficult to inspect. To reach the maintenance-free AGM batteries, the optional cooling drawer in the galley has to be removed. Like the keel bolts, the bilge well in the GRP keel flange is located deep under the saloon floor and is barely visible. And the diesel engine, a Yanmar 4JH57 as standard, or optionally a Volvo Penta D2-75, can only be accessed from above, not from the side via the forecastle boxes.

Sailing performance is fine

Its location far aft in the ship is also a Heyman speciality, a deliberately chosen part of the overall concept. The completely separate installation location, for which certain concessions have to be made during maintenance, ensures very low noise levels in the living areas. On the other hand, even in the event of leaks or when bleeding the fuel system, no diesel odour penetrates into the ship's interior.

The real reason, however, lies in the centre of gravity distribution and the unique underwater hull of the Heyman. Its keel can be thought of as a conventional ballast hull, except that it is arranged horizontally instead of vertically - similar to a moderate long keel common in the seventies. This was the only way to achieve the shallow draught of 1.48 metres, where otherwise a good 2 metres would have been usual. A stepped GRP flange extending far downwards, together with the lead ballast suspended underneath, nevertheless ensures comparable rigidity.

Gabriel Heyman has spent countless hours on CFD analyses and used findings from towing tank tests to determine the hull shape and give the boat the best possible efficiency in terms of its key figures. While he usually likes to talk about the parameters in detail, he remains silent about the rudder configuration due to an ongoing patent application. He only likes to reveal this much: that it could make twin rudders obsolete.

In fact, the strong wind test showed that his boat always remains easy to control, even in stronger winds, and shows no tendency to sunshade. If necessary, the 42 PPH can also be forced from an upwind course to a downwind course with tightly set sheets. She requires a firm hand, but follows every steering impulse willingly and predictably.

The sailing performance is fine for a stable cruising boat. The Heyman doesn't run with quite as much height or as much speed through the water as a Hallberg-Rassy 40C, which currently sets the benchmark for tourers. Considering the shallow draught and the choppy sea, turning angles of around 100 degrees and a cruising speed of 6.6 knots are certainly respectable.

If you can get to grips with her comfortable nature, which is well suited to a deck saloon yacht, you probably won't be bothered by the cockpit layout, which is not very trim-friendly. Only two winches are available for all sheets, halyards and outhauls led aft. This means frequent stopping and releasing of the lines when reefing, for example. Otherwise, the boat can be operated at the touch of a button, as the furler and Andersen winches are already electrically powered as standard.

Quasi out of competition

In terms of its overall characteristics, the Heyman 42 really is almost unrivalled on the market. Only the Sirius 40 DS from Plön is comparable - and can be configured much more individually - if it is ordered with bilge keels. However, it is preceded by such a stellar reputation that it has a delivery time of more than three years despite its significantly higher price.

The Moody DS41 doesn't quite come close to it either, which remains somewhat cheaper in terms of basic equipment, but doesn't quite have the unusually complete equipment of the Heyman and, like the Nordship 420 DS, which also has a more modern style, has significantly more draught.

If you are looking for a comfortable cruising yacht with a deck saloon, the 42 PPH is definitely worth considering. Incidentally, the abbreviation in the model name stands for "Pocket Pilot House" and goes back to Gabriel Heyman's earliest ideas for a compact tourer. It was originally only intended to be around eight metres long, i.e. a small cruiser.

But then what often happens in yacht development happened: First the comfort requirements grow, then the length, with it the complexity and finally the price - especially as small series production of this quality is never really cheap. When the designer tells the story of how it all came about, there is a sparkle in his eyes. The seemingly impossible fascinates him, no question about it. And maybe, maybe one day there will be a Heyman to which the term "Pocket Pilot House" actually applies. It would be desirable.

Designer Gabriel Heyman is an atinkerer

Few people outside Scandinavia know him. Yet Gabriel Heyman deserves to be more popular. The experienced designer has been one of the quiet but profound thinkers and practitioners in his field for decades. He has accompanied elaborate tests in the towing tank for various fuselage designs and refined them through analyses in CFD programmes.

One of his favourite disciplines is the optimisation of the lateral and buoyancy centre of gravity. This also influenced the development of the 42 PPH, whose moderate long keel is a speciality in modern yacht building. This enabled him to reduce the draught to less than 1.50 metres. Heyman holds several patents, including one for a trim tab on the keel fin named after him. Similar attachments proved to be victorious in the America's Cup in the 1990s, for example in America3. He is currently patenting another idea that will make double rudders obsolete.

The measured values for testing the Heyman 42 PPH

The Heyman 42 PPH in detail

Technical data of the Heyman 42 PPH

• Design engineer: Gabriel Heyman
• CE design category: A
• Torso length: 12,66 m
• Total length: 13,52 m
• Waterline length: 11,83 m
• Width: 4,30 m
• Draft/m. Centreboard: 1,48/3,02 m
• Mast height above WL: 20,48 m
• Theor. torso speed: 8.4 kn
• Weight: 11,8 t
• Ballast/proportion: 3,65 t/31 %
• Mainsail: 53,0 m2
• Self-tacking jib: 40,2 m2
• machine (Yanmar): 42 kW/57 hp
• Fuel tanks (2): 440 l
• Fresh water tanks (2): 500 l
• Faeces tank (1): 120 l
• Batteries (6 x 110 Ah): 660 Ah

Equipment, prices and shipyard

• Base price ex shipyard: 693.770 €
• Standard equipment included: Engine, sheets, railing, navigation lights, battery, compass, sails, cushions, galley/cooker, bilge pump, toilet, fire extinguisher, electric cooler, holding tank with suction, sails (furling jib, S-jib), 25 kg Spade anchor with 50 m chain, fenders, mooring lines, epoxy primer, antifouling, clear sailing handover
• Price ready to sail: 693.770 €
• Guarantee/against osmosis: 2/5 years

Surcharge for comfort equipment

• Hole points: n.a.
• Traveller with line guide: n.a.
• Electric windlass: incl.
• Tube kicker: incl.
• Backstay tensioner: incl.
• Jumping cleats: incl.
• Sprayhood/Dodger: incl.
• Flexiteek in the cockpit: incl.
• VHF radio with AIS: 3.820 €
• Log and echo sounder: incl.
• Wind measuring system: incl.
• Autopilot: 6.550 €
• Charger: incl.
• Electrical package: incl.
• Shore connection with RCD: incl.
• 230 volt sockets: incl.
• USB sockets: incl.
• Heating: 10.470 €
• Pressurised water system: incl.
• Hot water boiler: incl.
• Shower WC room: incl.
• Cockpit shower: incl.
• Comfort price: 714.610 €
• Also included in the price: Electric winches, electric furling main and jib, laminate sails with aramid load fibres, bow thruster, deck wash pump, inverter

As of 2024, how the prices shown are defined can be found here!

Cockpit

The cockpit is huge, especially for a boat with only four fixed berths. It offers seating for up to twelve people. Two fixed folding tables are fitted as standard; they are also available with electrically lowerable supports on request.

Davits

The dinghy easily fits into one of the two-cubic metre storage boxes. However, it is better to drive it on the specially developed davits, whose mimicry is precisely matched to the bathing platform.

Expansion

The Heyman is finished in khaya mahogany with contrasting matt white lacquered surfaces. It is also available in light oak (€8,810) or teak (€25,470) for an additional charge.

Shipyard

Ridas Yacht, 76411 Harjumaa, Estonia. www.ridasyacht.com

Distribution

Heyman Yachts, Gothenburg, Sweden. Phone 0046 707 790 003. mail: info@heymanyachts.com

YACHT review of the Heyman 42 PPH

The Heyman 42 is probably the best-looking deck saloon yacht currently around twelve metres in length. Her ingenious design impresses with high cruising comfort and very good build quality. However, the cockpit layout makes operation unnecessarily complicated, and build number 2 was not yet completely flawless

Design and concept

• + Well integrated deck saloon
• + Fair price
• - Low-lying cockpit takes water from aft in rough seas

Sailing performance and trim

• + Push-button operation
• + Transparent control ...
• - ... with a little too much rudder pressure
• - Moderate upwind performance

Living and finishing quality

• + No crackling, no creaking
• + Very comfortable berth dimensions
• - No fresh air supply in the guest chamber

Equipment and technology

• + Famous standard equipment
• - Limited accessibility to important components such as engine, batteries, bilge wells