THIS LONG-ESTABLISHED, YET LITTLE KNOWN, SWEDISH YARD BELIEVES IT HAS THE PERFECT FORMULA FOR A CONTEMPORARY YACHT WITH TIMELESS APPEAL
RUPERT HOLMES
Where: La Rochelle, France, October.
Test conditions: 5-16 knots true wind, slight sea.
Model: main extras include Vetus joystick docking system, electric winches, complete Flexiteek deck, oak interior.
How quickly will today’s new yachts date? A handful are surely destined to become design classics, but many will be quickly forgotten, becoming the floating equivalent of an ageing mass-market car. Part of the reason is many big boatbuilders see sales volumes tail off only a few years after each model is launched, necessitating its replacement.
Smaller yards, by contrast, can take a different approach, emphasising the long term. Linjett is a family firm in the Stockholm archipelago, building 10-15 boats a year across a three model range from 34-43ft. It enjoys outstanding customer loyalty and looks after 220 Linjetts every winter – aquarter of all boats built since the brand’s inception 50 years ago.
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, which in turn leads to different ways of thinking. From a distance this 39 has echoes of classic early 1990s designs such as Stephen Jones’ Sadler Starlight 39. Closer up, and especially once you start sailing, it’s very clear this is a contemporary design in many respects, with performance and handling to match.
Broad reaching under the cruising gennaker in 16 knots of true wind we clocked 9 knots boat speed, with the true breeze a little aft of the beam and the apparent well forward. The boat was very powered up at this stage and lacks the rock solid feel in gusts of today’s twin-rudder boats that also have full forward sections and therefore extremely high form stability.
Nevertheless, it is still much better in this respect than earlier designs, partly thanks to a hefty keel bulb and a fairly deep 2.15m draught. This gives a good compromise for the Stockholm archipelago – it doesn’t restrict where you can go, but is sufficiently deep for good sailing performance and stability. The powerful 1.85m-deep rudder is set well forward, away from disturbed water at the transom. Single-rudder yachts tend to offer more feedback than twin rudder designs and this one is no exception, with a positive feel on the helm that builds in a predictable fashion as the rudder becomes progressively loaded.
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