At Sea: Spain's Minorca

Built in the Balearic Islands’ second-largest—though considerably lesser-known island behind Mallorca and party haven Ibiza—Minorca is a 271-square-mile island surrounded by see-through blue-green water and arid cliffs.

- Jonathan Cooper

On the southern tip of Minorca you will find Sasga Yachts, a builder who has been selling family-size cruising yachts into Europe since 1978. Now, thanks to owner Jose Luís Sastre and a new partnership with Sarasota Yacht Sales (SYS) in Florida, the line of fiberglass boats is coming to the United States under the Minorca Yachts badge.

ABOUT THE LINE

Production boats in the Minorca line (called Minorchino if you happen to cross paths with one in Europe) start at 34 feet, which also happens to be the first model introduced to the States at this year’s Miami International Boat Show. Moving up, there are 42and 54-footers, offered in either sedan or flybridge versions. To cap it off, Sasga has drawings online for a sporty 68 fly.

Though the proportions are different model to model, they all share a similar genetic makeup. Each sports a heavily flared bow on a rounded foredeck, a near-vertical stem and fine entry, and hard chines on a semi-displacement hull. The defining characteristic of the look is a double-ended stern, which some may not like on the smallest model, though I find that it gives the boat an endearing quality that is uncommon on most of today’s production yachts. On the larger boats, the effect of the double ended stern is less noticeable and probably fits with the aesthetic better if you don’t find the 34 as cute as I do.

ON DECK

We met Paul Flannery and Rob Welling of SYS for a tour of the 34 during the 2017 TrawlerFest in Stuart, Florida.