The X Factor starring X-Yachts

by John Curnow on 31 Aug 2016 X-Yachts do indeed have plenty to sing about. Testament to that is the three-year-old Xp 38 on display at the recent Sydney International Boat Show still looked brand new. This was no mooring minder either, but rather a boat that had gone up to Hamilton Island Race Week for each of those years and campaigned hard.

Going on board you got the sense that this is a lovely tune, they can also hold a note, and stay in time. Overall the impression is that X-Yachts are no five-minute pop diva, more like a legend; say in the mould of Dame Shirley Bassey, DBE. Now Denmark is known for lots of things, with design and quality certainly chief amongst those. Just look at Georg Jensen, Bang & Olufsen, Novo Nordisk, and Lego. Way outside the brief are Carlsberg and Hamlet, but we move on.

Now I got the chance to talk with X-Yachts’ Australian Representative, Andrew Parkes, at SIBS, to review their ranges and see why indeed there is a distinct and important X Factor in all the boats they produce. It also seemed very important to also set out the product range for this smaller importer.

Parkes said, “Yes, we've got a couple of different ranges. We have the Xp range, which is X-performance, and that covers 33 through to 55 feet. We also have our international one-design classes, the Xr, which are the X-35 and the X-41. Then going across to the more cruising-oriented boats, we have the Xc’s, and they are available in 35-footers through to 50-footers.”



“The newest development is the X-range, which comprises of the X4 and the X6, both of which were just recently launched in Denmark. The X8 comes soon. They are designed to offer a bit more comfort than the Xp’s, but not become an outright cruiser.” In other words they are something designed to allow for a speedier progress, without carrying too much furniture around. Go with built for comfort AND speed!

“We've put a little bit more volume into the bow sections of the boat to give them a bigger owner's cabin, and the fuller aft sections allow for better reaching. On the X4 we've got a nice sail locker up for’ard, which enables us to have a full-sized island berth in the owner's cabin”, explained Parkes. He actually has one of the early build slots for an X4, so as Molly always said, ‘Do yourself a favour!’



The inherent build quality was pretty evident from the display craft, including the microfibre on the settee. It got you thinking why is that quality there and how did it come to be? Parkes offered this as an explanation, “I think the big difference between X-Yachts and a lot of the other boats on the market is that X-Yachts are a small yard that’s been going for some 35 years. We only build 150 boats a year, so we can totally focus on the quality.”

“The joinery is a good example of that. We use a lot of laminated timber and the beauty of that is it gives you all those lovely curved surfaces, which make it look so good, along with being lighter and more durable. Also, you’re not relying on a corner join to take the load. If you have an impact on a rounded surface it, it's safer because you won’t injure yourself and it is actually stronger, physically. All of that combined with just careful boat building skills simply gives a beautiful interior that handles normal wear and tear very nicely”, said Parkes.

What was also self-evident to the testament of quality, and the owner, was that the ‘glass had not been left to bake out in the sun, and was obviously washed down and treated with respect. Simple maintenance had kept the boat in great order.

Parkes explained a bit of thinking there for us, “Yes, look, the other nice thing about an X-Yacht is that the gel coat is quite a bit thicker than some of the mass-produced boats, and that enables us to polish the boat occasionally. We often see a 20-year old X-Yachts in the factory that have been refurbished and they machine sand the whole hull, then polish it to bring it back, and it looks like a brand new boat again.”

Style is an incredibly personal thing. You either like the minimalist creations of Jensen for instance, or you don’t. X-Yachts clearly adopt a timeless and classic look that is stylish but practical as well. In terms of interior styling, X-Yachts use a matt varnish, so that if it's scratched, you can do a repair. High gloss is not so easy to attend to.

Now traditional certainly seems to be a fitting description for the profile as well. It also means it is very functional, to which Parkes just adds, “Classics never go out of style. If you go too far in one direction it's very easy for that fad to be over and all of a sudden the boat that you've bought is quite dated. Well-designed and functional things always maintain their value.” We’ll come back to that point a little later, as well.

Getting somewhat technical now, at 6700Kg the Xp 38 is fairly lightweight for a boat still carrying the furniture and all the rest of it. You do get the sense that this really was something instilled into the DNA, not only for this Racer/Cruiser, but the other ranges as well.

Once explained, there is certainly an ah-huh moment awaiting you. “X-Yachts have got a very long history in racing. One of the things we've always done is to build our hulls and decks with a foam core. Not only does this reduce the mass of the overall structure, you also get a much stiffer boat. So with the weight coming out of there, we can then put more in the keel.”

“X-Yachts generally have a ballast to displacement ratio of somewhere in the order of 44 to 45%. Conversely, a lot of the cruiser/racers that are marketed nowadays are in the order of 27%, so only a quarter of the weight is in the keel. The rest of the weight is in the boat, whereas nearly half the weight of an X-Yacht is in the keel. This adds to stiffness, which then moves performance along.”

Equally, that all means you can drive the vessel harder uphill, which is great in race mode. Now here’s the thing, stiffness also makes it more comfortable, because all the weight is central and low. A lower centre of gravity gives you a nicer motion through the water, especially if it's a bit rough. In turn, safety is aided too, for it won’t heel in the same manner, and if you’re below and in cruising mode, then it makes it even more pleasurable.

Adding to all of that, in an X-Yacht the stringers and runners are all foam and glassed in as well. In terms of the Xp’s, their efforts to get as much of the weight down below led them to make the keel frame from carbon fibre. The other upshot was even more inbuilt stiffness into the programme.

In the Xc, Xr and the new X ranges there is a galvanized steel frame. It's pre-fabricated and then glassed into the hull. The mast sits on it, the keel bolts to it, and the chain plates are attached to it. Outcome – all the important loads are distributed into a massively strong frame.

Almost as if seeing my next question, ‘What about corrosion and galvanized steel?’, Parkes added, 'Maintain it and look after it, and it will give you years of trouble-free sailing. I recommend that you pull your floorboards up once a year, hose the bilge out with fresh water and then when it is dry, give it a visual inspection. If you see any damage to the galvanizing, just clean it up with a wire brush and put some cold gal on it and you'll have no corrosion issues.'

Not only does the girder system take all the loads, it protects the hull in the event of a grounding. As the result of everything mentioned above, an X-Yacht can carry far greater rig tension because the whole structure, which is why they all come with rod rigging as standard.

“The interesting thing with X-Yachts is that it's not one particular thing. It's the combination of everything that makes the boats work the way they do. It's not the steel frame, it's not the foam core hull, it's not the narrow chain plates, and it’s not the rod rigging or the deep rudder. It's everything working together that just makes the whole package a good boat.”

Parkes added, “One of my clients said to me, ‘You know the best way to really describe an X-Yacht is that for a sailor it's like a petrol head driving a Porsche.’ I always say to people, steer the boat and see what an X-Yacht feels like to helm before you make a decision. Because once you’ve been on an X-Yacht, it's very, very hard to look at another boat.”

I can almost hear every potential owner now saying, “OK, OK. What’s it going to cost me?” The answer is for a similarly sized boat you will have a 60-100% premium to pay. Now before you all switch off and stop reading, think of this. The reason lies in pride of ownership, performance, safety and resale value.

Again, as if sensing my next question, Parkes went on to add, “At Boat Shows like this one people get on board an X-Yacht and they can see the difference in quality immediately. Yet more often than not, they see the boat and they go, ‘Well, it's lovely, but I'm not in a position to spend that sort of money.”

“It’s about that time that we talk about a good, pre-owned X-Yacht. Often, a five or 10-year old X-Yacht is still better than a brand new mass-produced boat. An X-Yacht is a boat that you can own for 15 years, and it will still be looking after you at that time. A lot of boats just don't age that well.”

Ultimately, if you want to go to a performance and not just a show, then an X-Yacht could well be the answer for you. There won’t be people screaming out every note. Rather, you will be enjoying your own, almost private concert, with arguably the best seat in the house.

To check it out, especially the new X-4 that’s soon to be here, call Andrew Parkes on (02) 9719 9411 or visit www.x-yachts.net.au and get set to appreciate your own understanding of the term, X Factor.