What the pirate is on home waters, the polyvalk is in the Netherlands. The Falcon 22 is its contemporary new edition. The Dutch design is now being built by Neptun Yachts. First pictures of the test.
Klaas Goos designed and built the Falcon 22 in the Netherlands ten years ago. The most striking innovations are a very large cockpit that is open aft. The cockpit is raised by the inner shell and water can simply run off aft. There are air chambers under the cockpit and the seat thwarts, which provide plenty of buoyancy in the event of capsizing and make the Falcon 22 unsinkable. In addition, 160 kilograms of ballast in the keel reliably right the boat. The Falcon sails very stably and safely thanks to the high dimensional stability provided by the bowsprit. In addition to increased safety and comfort, the Falcon 22 has a very wide range of uses: its high level of safety makes it ideal as a sailing school boat, while its comfort makes it a cosy daysailer. But regatta sailors should not miss out either: The extended mainsail and a retractable gennaker pole also promise fast sailing fun on the regatta course. The very spacious cockpit offers enough room to use the Falcon 22 as a travelling dinghy.
In the test on the Heeger Meer, the Falcon was able to show what it can do in 15 knots of wind. Up to nine knots were possible under gennaker. The Falcon could always be steered safely. Pascal Ernst from Neptun Yachten bought the design from Klaas Goos. Previously there was a standard, touring and racing version. Neptun now only builds the Falcon 22 Race with more sail area and the gennaker pole. The test boat was equipped with a permanently bolted keel, which makes a crane necessary for launching. However, there is also an optional version with a retractable keel. This makes the boat easy to trailer.
Technical data Falcon 22 Race
- Hull length: 6.56 m
- Width: 2.07 m
- Draught: 0.95 m
- Weight: 525 kilogrammes
- Mainsail: 18.6 m²
- Genoa: 9.8 m²
- Gennaker: 30,2 m²
- Number of people (maximum): 6
- CE category: C (inland and coastal waters)
