Solaris 50

An award-winning Italian performance cruiser with an elevated sense of style

- Charles J. Doane

Solaris has been building trend-setting yachts in Italy for some 40 years now, and this recent offering falls in the middle of its range. Designed by Argentinian Javier Soto Acebal, who worked with German Frers for some 11 years before striking out on his own, the Solaris 50 certainly has stunning looks. Its sleek low-profile deck is dressed in acres of unblemished teak and recalls elegant fashion-conscious boats like those from the inimitable Wally Yachts. But the Solaris has substance as well as style. It snagged a European Yacht of the Year award in the performance-cruiser category in 2015 and more recently was chosen as Best Large Monohull in SAIL’s Best Boats competition.

DESIGN & CONSTRUCTION

The hull design features a slightly reversed dreadnought bow and hindquarters with a soft chine below a distinctive concave flare in the topsides. The T-bulb keel is raked slightly forward, mimicking the angle of the bow. Both shoal- and deep-draft versions of the keel are available, as is a retractable keel. The fixed keels are recessed into the hull and are secured with bolts less than 10in apart.

The hull and deck layup is fairly conventional—an E-glass composite laminate cored with Airex foam vacuum-infused with polyester resin. A vinylester skin coat is added to the hull to resist osmotic blistering. All interior bulkheads are laminated to both the hull and deck to increase rigidity. The deck joint is glued and secured with fasteners on 12in centers.

ON DECK