FIRST TEST HALLBERG-RASSY 40C

The Swedish yard is turbo-charging its range of offshore cruisers, but have they left good old-fashioned seaworthiness behind? Theo Stocker spent 48 hours sailing her to find out

- Theo Stocker

Steep waves rolled in unchecked from a brutally cold Skagerrak, and the cold winter sun glistened in the spray scattering to leeward as the sharp bow sliced to windward. A Force 5 in late December on the exposed west coast of Sweden might not seem like the ideal setting for a boat test, but these are exactly the kind of conditions the Hallberg-Rassy 40C was built for.

The Swedish yard has long been a byword for high quality, long-distance cruisers; a reputation built on generations of beautifully executed and eminently seaworthy yachts that have taken sailors all over the world. Their understated styling and conservative design were a big draw for many, but the world of yacht design is changing rapidly and Magnus Rassy, the yard’s owner, was determined that Hallberg-Rassy should not become outdated. While fabulously wide transoms and twin rudders have been proliferating among racing and cruising boats alike, they are something of an anathema to traditionalists. Surely a deep hull, long keel, generous overhangs and a skeg-protected rudder are safer and more sea-kindly?

The Hallberg-Rassy 40C is their fourth boat to fly in the face of such received wisdom and Magnus Rassy insists she is the best sailing boat the yard has ever built. She is a dramatic departure from her two predecessors, the 40 and 40 MkII (the C in 40C stands variously for ‘cruising’, ‘centre-cockpit’, and the third model), while the 412 remains as the aft-cockpit option. The 40C’s modestly pretty sheerline, blue hull stripes, solid windscreen and brass rubbing strakes instantly mark her out as a Hallberg-Rassy. The vertical ends, integral bowsprit and vastly beamy transom look startlingly different.