Superyachts to set sail for Windcraft?

With Hanse and Dehler as its banner brands, Windcraft has expanded its offerings with the premium European yachting marques of Solaris and Brenta.

Now, with both companies in expansion mode following the global trend to bigger yachts, Windcraft believes it's only a matter of time before it brings one of the latest 20m-plus yachts Down Under.

Responding to growing demand worldwide, Solaris and Brenta are both building new high-tech facilities to help advance their production and new model rollout and reduce the wait time for their 55-80 foot extreme sailing machines.

SOLARIS 55 AND 68
Italian brand Solaris, known for its high quality performance cruisers, has invested in a new, high-tech yacht hall in order to improve process and production. The new yard will be ready at the end of 2017 to help ramp-up production of the new Solaris 55 and 68.

The Solaris 55 is expected to have its world premiere at Dusseldorf Boat Show in 2017, while the Solaris 68 is already under construction with a launch scheduled for European spring 2017.

Windcraft says the Solaris 55 has been designed to set a benchmark in
the 16-metre class and is ideal for buyers looking for high performance sailing with a small crew.

Meanwhile, Solaris has revealed that hull number four of its new 20-metre yacht, the 68, which is said to combine elegance, strength and safety, is in the pipeline and three yachts have apparently been sold already.

BRENTA 80-FOOTERS
A collaboration with Michael Schmidt, formerly of Hanse, Brenta recently announced that construction has started on a new 3000sq m manufacturing facility in Germany.

Due to open in November 2016, the production facility is said to embrace modern technical standards for manufacturing sailing yachts between 20-30 metres, exclusively from carbon.

Of course, carbon yacht construction allows higher performance and faster cruising compared to conventional yachts, albeit at a cost.

But Schmidt’s collaboration project, the Brenta 80 DC, sure has got a lot of tongues wagging. The impressive, fast, carbon cruiser is on the money for today's high-end yachtsman seeking beauty, simplicity and performance.

Construction of the second Brenta 80 SRD, a veritable superyacht, is due to be completed in Ladebow in spring 2017.

WINDCRAFT GOING BIGGER
All of which has put some wind in the sails of Windcraft, which hopes our yachting market will embrace these new-age sailing superyachts Down Under.

"We are excited by the expansion of two of our top brands in Europe. These brands continue to push boundaries in design and construction and the new high-tech facilities will help continue that," said Ric Hawkins, the local brands' manager.

"We look forward to introducing these new models to the Australian market." More at www.teamwindcraft.com.

REICHEL PUGH 68
Meantime, interesting things have been happening in Finland with sea trials following the launch of a new Reichel/Pugh 68 (third pic). The boat is designed for a previous client in California and is certainly cutting edge.

The team involved in the project includes Baltic Yachts, A2B Maritime Consultants, Hall Spars & Rigging, Shipmotion Group, APM, Isotop Composites, North Sails, Harken, Carbo-Link, West Engineering, and Karver Sailing.

Some of the high-tech features on this new RP 68 include a custom underwater anchor system, fully powered winch package, and recessed jib tracks and pit jammers that keep the deck clean and uncluttered.