IJMUIDEN – Saffier Yachts says its new flagship, the SL-46, “is a luxury cruising sailing yacht, with a lightweight displacement,” ensuring speed, good sailing characteristics and an interior and cockpit of utmost luxury.
With the SL-46, the Dutch maker of world-class, high-end daysailers breaks into cabin yacht cruising. In the first edition of its SL-46 newsletter, Saffier explores the design of the SL-46 hull in an interview with Kees van de Stadt, the designer and naval architect of the yacht. He makes these points:
“The starting point of the SL 46,” says Van de Stadt, “was to create a luxury cruising sailing yacht, with a lightweight displacement that ensures speed, has supreme sailing characteristics, can cruise the world and has an interior and cockpit that give the utmost luxury. We started with the creation of the hull, designing from the outside in, like we do we with all Saffier Yachts. This ensures the best sailing experience possible.”
Weight is a key factor in designing and engineering any yacht.
“Therefore, we looked carefully at the weight distribution throughout the yacht and used vacuum techniques to ensure a strong and lightweight hull. Weight reduction is critical because the maximum speed, which is determined by the length of the waterline, is significantly influenced by the yacht’s weight.”
“The Saffier SL 46 has a modern hull shape that optimizes speed, comfort and safety. A flatter shape boosts speed. A more rounded hull handles waves better and provides increased comfort and safety. We have shaped the hull of the SL 46 to effortlessly covers miles at high speed, with ease and safety.”
“The Saffier SL 46 has a relatively soft-edged hull design to ensure planing and surfing waves downwind. We have optimized the width at the waterline and reduced the depth of the hull a little to achieve this. The hull shape of the Saffier SL 46 guarantees comfort and safety in all weather conditions. “Furthermore, the effortless control of your sheets, halyards and trimlines allows you to easily harness the yacht’s performance.”
“The keel can be customized to your preferred sailing destination to perfect performance and comfort. “The Saffier SL 46 features a versatile hull design suitable for both shallow and deep waters, making it ideal for journeys to, for example, Scandinavia or to warmer climates such as the Mediterranean. Hence, we designed two different deck layouts: the Saffier SL 46 MED and the Saffier SL 46 NORTH.
