Sailboats of the 2022 Sydney International Boat Show

Back at Darling Harbour after its enforced pandemic break, the 2022 Sydney International Boat Show gave sailing fans plenty of new craft to climb aboard from the major international brands like Beneteau, Dufour, X-Yacht, Hanse, Swan and Grand Soleil.

You only had to see the piles of deck shoes on the marina docks to know the city's sailors had turned up in force to inspect the latest offerings in keel yachts and catamarans.

And there was a lot to catch up with. Notably, the top European brands have made a significant shift to Italian/Med styling with more streamlined deck cabin profiles and stylised window ports on the topsides.

With plumb bows and beamy deck widths extending right to the transom, these new yachts boast noticeably more deck space and powerful hulls that will go fast when the breeze is up.

Fold-out stern swim platforms and wide, open transoms now give easier walk-through access from the dock. 

More generous cockpit seating also makes this new generation of yachts more user-friendly and suited to our warm climate, though the sunbeds on deck might be a touch too Mediterranean for our hot Aussie summers.

Twin steering wheels are now standard practice across the cruising yacht scene, and it makes for easy access to the stern, especially when going for a swim.

The trend to even more volume is dramatically evident in the latest Beneteau Oceanis 40.1 that now features a spacious island berth master suite up front. The full-volume chine hull makes for a roomy craft below for cruising and easier for a couple to handle.

Ease of handling is a universal theme now with new models featuring tall, fractional sloop rigs providing a powerful mainsail and easy-to-tack short-footed headsail.

The days of big, overlapping genoas that need muscle-bound gorillas to winch home have gone.  Indeed, optional self-tacking headsails and electric sheet winches give couples the freedom to sail these big yachts on their own.

Cabin interiors have been given a much-needed lift with light American oak and Nordic pine replacing the traditional dark timber hues. Cabin living spaces are also benefitting from larger hull window ports that draw in far more natural light.

The global pandemic seems to have more than just hit the reset button on factory production. It also seems to have bought about a market resurgence in second-hand sail-cruising yachts as people looked to enjoy the outdoors safely amidst social distancing restrictions.

This has been a positive boost for sailing and with the current problem of war in the Ukraine and fuel costs skyrocketing it continues to make sail-cruisers a sensible lifestyle choice in 2022.

Let’s run through the brand highlights at the 2022 Sydney International Boat Show.

The legendary French range of Amel is all about long-range blue-water cruising. It only builds 20 yachts a year and the attention to detail and build quality is superb as witnessed by the new Amel 50 sloop on display. 

What’s refreshing about the Amel is a centre-cockpit design that provides a full roof shelter for the helmsman and guests whilst retaining a nice swim deck at the stern.

The owner’s rear ensuite cabin is spacious and makes sense if you want privacy from guests and quietness at anchor.

Features like the electric furling sails and stainless life rails put these yachts in a league of their own. Expect to pay the Austrealian equivalent of about $1.9 million.

The Beneteau Oceanis 40.1 is a brand-new model that will tick the box for many people looking for a comfortable family cruiser that can still account for itself in the odd twilight or fun regatta.

Its eye-catching styling features a distinctive chine line in the hull and cabin roofline integrated with the coamings.  Ready to sail price is $600,000.

The Beneteau Oceanis 40.6 we’ve seen before but she’s still one of the most cutting-edge designs in terms of deck space and can produce a nice turn of speed, especially with an optional taller race rig and asymmetric spinnaker.

Also on display this year was the all-new Excess 11 catamaran.

This 37-footer combines the high-level sophisticated finish of a Beneteau yacht along with an exciting sailing performance of a performance catamaran.

It also features twin steering helms at the stern so skippers can get the most out of the sailing experience.

A spacious, light-filled interior deck saloon and sleeping cabins in the hull make her a good choice if you plan to stay aboard or cruise afar. 

The new Corsair 880 is a stylish new raked bow sports-racer trimaran that can be trailed due to its folding float arms.

Its centre-hull cabin has full standing headroom and there are sleeping berths and a galley.

But the main attraction here is the fast, exciting performance under sail and being able to road-trail to great new cruising grounds or fun regattas such as Airlie Beach.

The price of the Sports model with an extra tall carbon rig is $300,000, or $320,000 with a road trailer.

Great to see the Aussie-built Cygnet 20 keeping trailer-sailing alive and thriving.

Some 40 now sold of this pocket-size yacht with neo-classic styling that can be sailed and raced by two people, as well as sleep two adults and two kids.

This little beauty is super easy to trail due to the split gunter rig and removable water ballast.  The price is $72,600 

The German Dehler range this year was represented by the Dehler 30 One Design, a small, sporty yacht designed for offshore in an event such as the Sydney Hobart with two crew.

The ride downwind in strong winds would be exhilarating fast and it is one of the reasons this sports model has featured in top places in major European races.

It can also be used for fully crewed racing and comes with proper saloon berths and a galley.

The iconic French brand that helped pioneer the concept of moulded cabin interiors this year showed off the new-look Dufour 390 and 470 models.

They are big-volume yachts that are ideal for pleasure cruising and ocean adventures. You have to love the rope winch controls leading aft to the twin wheels and clever galley options such as the longitudinal galley in the 390 and the forward galley option in the 470. 

Now a separate line built by an Italian yard since Dufour became a subsidiary of French cat-builder, Fountaine Pajot.

On show by itself the Dufour 48 cat was arguably the pride of the show in terms of its sheer size and massive presence.

We often dream about making a yacht a home, but this is a sailboat that is already a floating home!

It has huge saloon and veranda area plus four ensuite cabins. The price is $1.8m with all the luxury mod-cons spread over three levels including the flybridge helm station. 

The Slovenian-built brand has come a long way in recent times and that’s evident in the very stylish new Elan GT6 model with its eye-catching black wraparound deck cabin windows.

The automotive influences on this 49-footer are the result of exterior styling by Studio F.A. Porsche. 

The sense of space below is enhanced by lots of skylight hatches and big topside windows.

There are three large double berth cabins and a variety of interior layouts including galley forward or aft.

It performs well under sail thanks to a British Humphrey design, and is competitively priced from $850,000.

Founded in 1976 by the two French sailing legends who gave the company its name this yard has been a leader in creating fast, safe catamarans for offshore cruising.

There’s a lot more brands competing in the cat market nowadays but the Isla 40 model on show at Sydney proves this icon French brand is hard to beat for good design and sailing quality.

Key features include a master ensuite cabin and the raised helm position to starboard. 

This Italian brand has a reputation for style and up-market build. After a break, it returns to the Australian scene with two eye-catching models that classically define the term racer-cruiser.

The Grand Soleil 44 on show is a local owner’s boat that has been tricked out with top racing sails and carbon fibre spars.

The interior is quite luxurious so in this respect, it suits social cruising. The base price starts at $800,000.

The 34 model is its baby sister with the same wide but tapered-in-at-waterline stern to make her fast in light airs.

With a competitive base price of $450,000, it has a lot of potential as a club racer.

The German-built Hanse normally would have a big range on show but at least this year we got to see the two most important models, the new Hanse 418 and 460.

The latter has been crowned the European yacht of the year 2022 with more than 200 sold.

Key features here include big-volume hulls that suit bluewater offshore sailing and clean, practical deck layouts with sail controls led aft to the twin helms for ease of handling.

The South African Leopard range of catamarans is noted for its strong construction and blue water performance that make them ideal for the windy waters of Cape Town.

This year it was pleasing to see two Leopards on display in Sydney including the brand-new Leopard 42 and bigger Leopard 45.

Stepping aboard the 42 you are immediately impressed by the solid feel of the boat and high-quality finish.

One of the great features of this cat is a front cockpit extending out from the saloon. 

There’s a delightful wrap-around aft cockpit lounge too and island berths in all cabins and twin Yanmar diesel auxiliary engines. The price for a well-equipped 42 is around $1.2m landed in Australia.   

The Finnish-built Swan range has long been classed as the ultimate in production keel yachts.

In recent times the brand has focused on the maxi 100-foot-plus size yacht market, but it was great to see the current Swan 48 model on display.

It features the latest hull style with a plumb bow, cropped stern and big hull windows.

The Swan 48 also has the latest dual helm cockpit layout and carbon fibre spars. Similar to all Swans she is designed to race and hold her own in any fleet, however, Swans often race in their own regattas in exotic places such as Sardinia, so we don’t see many of them in this part of the world.

Similar to other famous luxury brands, you don’t ask about the price – just admire the quality.

Great to see the Aussie Seawind cat brand maintaining a loyal following here in Australia and overseas.

These days the brand is built in South-East Asia but retains a strong link to Australia.

The Seawind 1160 Lite (38 foot) is as the name suggests a light and nimble craft that will be fun to race or cruise in our waters.

It has a modern, easy-care interior that suits our warm climate and a spacious cockpit with a hardtop to protect the crew from the hot sun.

Twin electric-controlled outboard engines replace saildrives to help save weight and reduce water drag when sailing. The ready-to-go price is $725,000.

As with Princess Mary and some great TV dramas, there’s a lot to like about Denmark including the X Yachts range. These Danish yachts have a reputation for high quality and performance.

This year the X Yachts agents displayed the X46, a fine example of this performance-cruiser range that suits both club and IRC offshore racing.

This model features the latest cropped bow and stern look and stylish low cabin roofline.

Decks are all clear of furling and rope systems so there’s a very clean working area.

The demo model has many options including a full carbon rig and carbon furling boom for ease of handling.

An added plus is the air conditioning in the luxury cabin below.

Light-coloured Nordic pine gives a very modern apartment ambience to the interior and a three-cabin layout suits family cruising.

The price for a well-equipped model landed in Australia is $1.3m.