This long-established, yet little known, Swedish yard believes it has the perfect formula for a contemporary yacht with timeless appeal. Rupert Holmes put her through her paces
SPECIFICATIONS MAKE Linjett
MODEL 39
PRICE FROM 4,624,000 SEK ex VAT (ca. £415,142 inc VAT)
DESIGNERS Linjett Design Team
BUILDER Linjett Yachts
Today’s new designs are invariably variations on a common theme. Happily they tend to sail better than earlier designs, while also offering more accommodation volume. But are other approaches to yacht design viable today?
The Rosättra Boatyard, 90 minutes north of Stockholm, definitely believes there are better options. The firm, which has only had one change of family ownership since it was founded in 1886, introduced the Linjett range of cruiser racers in 1973.
Today it quietly produces 10-15 performance cruisers a year across a three-model range from 34-43ft. The yard also enjoys outstanding customer loyalty, looking after 220 Linjetts every winter – a quarter of all boats built since the range’s inception. The small production numbers of new yachts means design and tooling costs must be amortised over a long period – each model is expected to remain in production for up to 15 years. Together these factors foster a long-term mindset, and the promise a boat that won’t date as quickly as more mainstream offerings.
The Linjett 39 is the latest model and, like the rest of the range, was designed in house. From a distance it has echoes of classic early 1990s designs such as Stephen Jones’ excellent Sadler Starlight 39. However closer up, and especially once you start sailing, it’s very clear this is a more contemporary design in many respects, with performance and handling to match.
LOGBOOK
TESTED BY Rupert Holmes
LOCATION La Rochelle
WIND 5-16 knots
SEA STATE slight
I have long believed light airs performance is a good test of a thoroughbred design. The Linjett’s hull has plenty of curvature on the fore and aft rocker shape and, without maximum beam carried right aft, can be surprisingly quick in light airs. This translates to less time spent under power, bringing forward the blissful moment when the engine can be switched off.
Immediately after leaving La Rochelle’s Port Des Minimes marina we hoisted the main, deployed the furling nylon cruising gennaker and sailed out of the narrow channel at decent speeds despite having just 7-8 knots true breeze.
IMPRESSIVE NUMBERS
We headed upwind with the 107% jib and made a useful 4.7 knots boat speed, which reduced to 3.8 when the wind eased to 5 knots. There are not many yachts with displacement close to 9 tonnes that match these numbers.
PERFORMANCE FIGURES
