FIRST TEST XC47

X-Yachts have taken a bold move to replace their cruising range and move to a semi deck saloon design, but has the gamble paid off? Theo Stocker finds out

- WORDS: Theo Stocker PHOTOS: Paul Wyeth

Rarely do boatbuilders start with a genuinely blank sheet of paper. The time and capital required to develop an all new boat make it a serious commitment, and the stakes for getting it right are high. With the Xc47, X-Yachts have not only developed a boat that is entirely new, they have also developed a new concept of boat and stepped into a new market segment, which, in the conservative world of Scandinavian boat building, is a gutsy move.

Now, a semi deck-saloon yacht from a yard with a pedigree in cruiser racers may well divide opinion. If you cut your teeth racing on an X-79, X-99 or X-332 – some of the yard’s most successful and popular racing boats of the last 46 years - then a 15-tonne blue-water cruiser complete with freezer, washing machine and sparkling filtered water on tap might be something of an anathema, aside from a brief foray into blue-water cruising with the X-73 deck saloon, of which two were built in 2001.

For X-Yachts, however, it is the more comfortable, heavier displacement cruising boats that have sustained the business through thick and thin with steady, consistent orders since the Xc range was launched with the Xc45 in 2008, followed by a 38, 42 and 50. Perhaps it is that new racing boats are more a ‘discretionary’ spend when things are going well. If you've got £1.2million in loose change and dream of setting off on cruising adventures, then you'll be fixed on setting sail whatever the economic climate, and a more conservative experience on the water may mean your family is more likely to be in on the dream.