FIRST TEST BROADBLUE 346

A prime example of how to squeeze a quart into a pint pot, the Broadblue 346 also demonstrates the versatility of twin hulls

- David Harding

Sometimes, if you stick around for jong enough, you will see things that appear and then disappear before reappearing some years later. It happens in all areas of life, including yacht design (does anyone still believe that foiling is a new idea?). And, now and again, an actual model of yacht will vanish from the scene before making a comeback - if it's good enough. Take the Broadblue 346, for example. She was launched back in 2007 as the Voyager 10, undergoing extensive sea trials before I took her for a spin on the Solent one breezy day the following year. A while later she became the Broadblue 345. Then Broadblue disappeared, and that might have been that as far as the boat was concerned.

As it turned out, that wasn't that. Broadblue was resurrected, production moved from China to Poland, and the 345 was re-introduced in slightly tweaked form as the 346. So it was almost with a sense of déja vu that I drove to Port Solent last autumn to test the Broadblue 346 with Mark Jarvis of Multihull World, who had been the instigator of the Voyager 10 and was later instrumental in bringing back Broadblue.

Conditions were very different this time. In 2008 we had had up to 30 knots of westerly wind against the tide, leading to a short Solent chop, several rolls in the jib and two reefs in the main. This time we had 7-12 knots from the north. That meant flat water, full sail and the lightweight reacher as soon as we cracked off the wind a few degrees.

I already knew how the boat behaved in brisk conditions, so it was a good opportunity to assess her in the sort of weather in which more people might be inclined to venture forth. And, of course, to see what had changed in the 16 years since my last outing.

FULFILLING A FUNCTION