Champagne sailing

French manufacturer Tofinou has always excelled at marrying speed with style. Their new 9.7 does not disappoint, as Sam Jefferson discovers

- Sam Jefferson

It is some years since the last sailors went down to the water to earn their crust by the power of the wind. Since then, going sailing has become a hobby; something whereby we gain pleasure. Yet a glance around our marinas suggest that there are a high proportion of masochists out there. Anyone who has sailed a Macgregor 26X, for example, will know that there is precious little enjoyment to be derived from ‘sailing’ this craft. One company that has not lost sight of supplying what you would think (hope) was the most basic requirement of a sailing yacht is the boatbuilder Latitude 46. This La Rochelle based manufacturer has been building the Tofinou line of day-sailers for over 30 years now and has stuck slavishly to an ethos of producing nice looking boats that sail well. Crazy fools!