BOAT TEST
Fast but safe. Open but sheltered. Spacious but cruise-friendly. Is there any thing Axopar’s 45 Cross Top can’t do?
You could easily argue that Axopar has been instrumental in forcing boat builders across a whole range of sectors to try that bit harder with their deck layouts. So spoiled have we become since the advent of this stellar brand back in 2006 that it’s no longer enough for a seat to be a seat, a bulkhead to be a bulkhead or a bulwark to be a bulwark. We want a great deal more than that and increasingly, we tend to get it. So how does Axopar stay ahead of the game? How does it create fresh advantages that enable it to retain its position as the chief mover in the ultra-competitive adventure segment? Well the fact of the matter is that, with a boat like the flagship 45, it has more to do with targeted tweaks than wholesale reinvention.
After all, we’ve already seen a very successful pair of 45s in the form of the Sun Top open boat and the Cross Cabin pilothouse variant – so what about taking the Cross Top concept from the entry-level 25 and recreating it for the flagship? What about a sheltered but flexible open boating platform that delivers the best of both worlds? That is exactly what the new Axopar 45 Cross Top is all about. But before we get into that, we have a job to do. The Cannes Yachting Festival is a frantic testing venue and time is short so we need to get straight out on the water for a play.
FLAT, FAST & FRUGAL
Sexy though this boat looks, the first and clearest character trait to make itself evident is user-friendliness. With the wraparound glass of the Cross Top structure, plus the independent overhead sunroofs, both shelter and visibility at the helm are first rate. The ergonomics are also as close to perfect as you could want, and your access to the bow, to the stern, to cleats and to tying-off points makes solo helming a breeze. In short, Axopar might be known for its capacity to open up a closed structure but its capacity to shelter an open one looks equally advanced. And as we get up to speed, the sheer practicality gets even better...
Tracking, for instance, is dead straight. You simply point and go and, whether you’re running at speed or creeping along a channel at six knots, progress is absolutely rock steady. And the transition to plane is just as comfortable. At eight, ten, 12 or 14 knots – speeds that would generally cause a planing boat to bog down behind its own hump, point its nose skyward and burn fuel for fun – our progress is astonishingly flat and linear. That enables us to pick pretty much any cruising speed we like, from four to 34 knots, without incurring obscured visibi
