Elan 37 finalist in AMIF Boat of the Year Awards

by Helen Hopcroft on 23 May 2007 Elan’s 37 Performance Cruiser is a finalist in the AMIF Boat of the Year Awards in the imported non trailerable sail category. The 37s have proved to be the top selling model for Australian importer Navsail. Gael Moldan and Rod Parry of Navsail said that they are a true ‘racer/cruiser’: a comfortable yacht for competitive people.

Sail-World asked Rod Parry why he thought the boat was nominated for the award.

‘The main one would be performance, because there’s very few boats around that can perform like the 37. And the build quality would have done a fair bit for it….you’ve also got a great saloon and galley.’

‘Your navigation station is forward facing, proper sized and you can lock yourself in there quite easily too.’

‘The saloon areas are nicely fitted out, they’re all U shaped and they’re quite big for what the boat is. Every bit of space we were able to get we’ve got.’

Gael Moldan commented that the 37 had been extremely popular with people who were keen about their racing, but who also liked the practical luxury that Elan’s interiors provide.

‘What you’ll find is that most of the people who have brought a performance cruiser are couples where they are enthusiastically doing their club racing, who do go and use the boat for cruising.’

One such owner was a man from Drummoyne who had been trying to win his club’s Twilight racing series for a number of years.

‘He and his wife brought it purely because they can race and they can cruise.’

‘He’d been trying to win the series for 17 years and never got there. Got his Elan: nabbed it’ said Gael with a smile.

Apparently the same owner came to within a point or two of winning his Club Championship Series, winning the following Twilight Series too, but was thwarted by a straight race boat, a Mumm 30. Nevertheless he was reportedly thrilled with the result.


Another boat that is performing well on the local racing circuit is the RPAYC ‘Sirocco’. The 37 bagged first place in the third division Summer Series Progressive Point score, with second place overall for both the Inshore and Offshore point score, and a third place in the Commodore’s Cup Series.

Gail and Rod are also keenly following the progress of two other 37s which are racing on the NSW Central Coast.

‘There are two new ones that have gone into Gosford; one only very recently. They are performance rigged and are doing extremely well.

He noted that the Elan 37 ‘has an IRC rating of 1.032 which is very good for that boat.’

The Navsail team recently returned from Europe where they had been attending the annual Elan dealers meeting. From Rod and Gail’s point of view the best part of the trip was test sailing Elan’s new 410 performance cruiser with one of Norway’s top sailors: they had a ball.

‘It’s a replacement of an existing boat which has been very, very successful for Elan for a number of years, which was the Elan 40.’

Although the Elan 410 is a scant 250mm longer than the 40, the waterline length has increased by 1010mm

‘This new boat is bigger, faster, longer waterline, latest technology, and three rigs, all sorts of things…’ said Rod enthusiastically. ‘Sleek, appealing lines, plum bow, a fine entry line, modern flush deck with recessed hatches, covered halyard run and nifty auto storing washboards…’

The washboards are a good example of Elan’s commitment to continuously refining design via R&D.

‘There’s an innovation that’s been introduced on the new range of the performance cruisers. And that is the washboards do not come out. They just go straight down and they have their own little house that they live in.’

It’s a clever design solution that solves the perennial problem of where to put the washboard. But wait, there’s more…

‘And this particular washboard then complies with Australian offshore racing certification because you can access it from outside and inside.’

A choice of Cruising, Club Racing, or carbon Grand Prix racing rigs will be available on the 410s. The carbon Grand Prix rig has a slightly different reefing system than the standard Selden single line cockpit reefing system.

‘With the Grand Prix rig the boom is different and your mast is different because it’s carbon. And they don’t have that type of reefing system. But the thing is if they’re going to race a boat like that, reefing is not a drama because they’ve got a full crew.’

With demand for the Elan 410 already strong in Europe, interested parties are advised to contact Navsail sooner rather than later.

‘The 410 was released early this year in Düsseldorf, which is now in production as of this month. There are already 40 odd of those sold so we have to be quick.’

Gail noted that the main reasons people chose Elan yachts were that they offer an excellent all round package from top performance to cruising to build quality.

‘All Elan yachts carry individual Germanischer Lloyd GL Plus certification. Some of the major boat builders are not certified. Some are self regulated by the factories’ said Rod. GL checks the structural integrity of Elan’s hull and rig designs and then provides technical supervision during production.

‘Plus you’ve got a Rob Humphrey’s design, who is well known and highly regarded throughout the world. I mean he’s the designer for many premier blue water cruisers, he’s the designer for Oysters, and then being responsible for some of the many round the world race formats…’

As well as designing fast cruisers, Humphreys Yacht Design has been involved in high profile race campaigns such as the America’s Cup, Open 60’s and Volvo 70’s.

Elan uses a 3-D vacuum infusion construction technique. During the construction process, vacuum is used to draw resin through the hull and deck laminates. This gets rid of excess resin, reduces the possibility of voids, and results in a higher resin to fibre ratio.

‘The difference between that and say hand laid is that the boats are lighter, the boats are 50% stronger build quality, and it’s the latest technology…’

Vinylester resin is used in the outer layers below the waterline to assist in osmosis protection.

At the end of the day, Gail says that people buy Elan yachts because they recognise that they are the best all round model in the size they want.

‘With Elan performance cruisers you’ve got truly a cruiser racer in all senses. You’ve got a boat that will perform, a well built boat and great comfort. And I think the biggest thing about the Elan boats is that they don’t compromise in any area’

‘People put cheaper boats onto the market, and it’s got to come off somewhere. In the hull construction or in the interior fit out.’

‘Some manufacturers have cheaper boats on the market and it doesn’t simply come from economics due to volume. There would be a compromise somewhere either in the hull construction, interior fit out or the equipment used. With Elan, the quality is successfully blended all throughout.’

‘If a buyer is purely driven by price, then they would perhaps look to buy something else that satisfies just that. Elan Yachts are for sailors who seek and appreciate and utilize those very attributes that these Rob Humphreys designed yachts offer.’

Rod Parry
Gael Moldán
N A V S A I L
Gibson Marina
1710 Pittwater Road
Bayview 2104
Australia
Telephone 61 2 9999 6730
elan@navsail.com.au www.navsail.com.au