WANT IT YOUR WAY?

THIS PREMIUM QUALITY SEMI-CUSTOM SAARE 47 GIVES THEO STOCKER A PLEASANT SURPRISE DURING A TWO-DAY SAIL IN GERMANY

- PHOTOS Paul Wyeth

The afternoon sunlight had that sharp clarity of spring in the Baltic; warm and golden, but with cold shadows in which the world felt suspended, undecided at winter's retreat. Silently, we drifted out past the church spire, the lighthouse on the harbour mole, and the deserted basket-chairs on the white sand beach. The mirror flat water began to ruffle into the softest of carpets across which to glide, as the breeze tumbled over the town before steadying itself further out. With the wind gusting from 5 to 17 knots, and shifting several compass points at a time, our wake was that of a drunkard, though my eyes were glued to the telltales.

I was in Eckernförde, where Germany teeters on the edge of Scandinavia, to sail the new Saare 47, the luxury flagship of this small-volume boatbuilder. If you've not heard of Saare Yachts, that's because they only build half a dozen or so boats a year. The brand, though relatively young, grew out of a yard where 250 Finngulfs were built on the Estonian island of Saaremaa, where a centuries-old boatbuilding heritage predates the Soviet era isolation.

Many other well-known yacht marques have their hulls moulded on the same island, close to the University of Tallinn’s faculty of naval architecture. In 2016, the yard was bought by Saare’s German dealers, who now work hand in hand with their Estonian colleagues, with the aim of creating a small but steady stream of beautiful boats, built well, by a long-term sustainable business to designs that evolve slowly without chasing fashions.

Today's Saare 47 is a serious, long-distance bluewater cruising yacht, capable of taking on the world’s oceans. Light, flukey airs might not be the conditions you'd want to test a boat's heavy weather capability for mid-ocean storms, but they can tell you a lot about a hull.