HEAD TO HEAD: HANSE 348 & 418

What do two more metres get you on a boat? With Hanse’s range following the same formula, Graham Snook set the 348 and 418 against each other to find out...

- Graham Snook

HANSE 348

PRICE FROM £122,498 inc VAT

DESIGNER Judel / Vrolijk

BUILDER Hanse Yachts AG

Size matters, so the saying goes, but what do two extra metres get you on a modern cruising yacht? Usually, a bigger boat means a different layout or different features, but Hanse’s sub-50ft range of easy-to-sail family cruisers follow a tried and tested layout: forecabin, saloon, an aft-facing chart table and a heads compartment to port, an L-shaped galley to starboard and a cabin or two under the cockpit. Regardless of model, it sticks rigidly to this formula. We wanted to find out what you gain and what you lose by going bigger or smaller.

LOGBOOK

TESTED BY Graham Snook

WHERE Central Solent

WHEN November 2020

WIND NE, F4

SEA STATE Smooth

The two boats we chose were the 348 and 418 as they hadn’t been tested by YM before. Both had the same number of cabins and berths. Both are evolutions of older models (345 and 415 respectively), and both were released at the same time (2017). The two test yachts we used for this feature are also a similar age. In fact, on the water both boats were so alike to look at, only the number of hull windows distinguished between the models (the 418 has three hull windows, the 348 just one).

HANSE 418

PRICE FROM £193,314 inc VAT

DESIGNER Judel / Vrolijk