BEST YACHTS OF 2022

24 YACHTS TRIALLED, 5 CATEGORY WINNERS, 3 SPECIAL MENTIONS. TOBY HODGES REPORTS ON A BUMPER EUROPEAN YACHT OF THE YEAR

- TOBY HODGES

It has become abundantly clear that, for all it’s heinously disruptive downsides, Covid has had little effects on smart yacht design and production. In fact, for the 19th year of the European Yacht of the Year awards, we had so many viable options it was a hard enough task shortlisting the top nominees. And, on top of our five overall category winners, we issued another three special mention prizes. European Yacht of the Year is without a doubt the most thorough and impartial awards programme for new production yachts. It involves all 12 jury members trialling each yacht to elect the winners. We collectively sailed over 2,000 miles during eight days of trials, held in La Rochelle and Port Ginesta, Barcelona during the autumn.

FAMILY CRUISERS

NOMINEES : Beneteau Oceanis 34.1 // Dufour 470 // Hanse 460 // Jeanneau SO380 // Neel 43

All these shortlisted yachts are worthy of closer scrutiny by anyone in the market for a new mid-range yacht to suit easy cruising, whether as couples, or with friends or family. The ‘space race’ continues to thrive but these designs prove you can have volume without unnecessarily impacting performance or enjoyment on the helm.

In the case of the Oceanis 34.1, a key priority for Beneteau when replacing its 35.1 was to ensure better performance in lighter air. The yard managed to save 500kg over the old model, while increasing the sail area. It also employed a lightweight bridle-style jib sheeting system, like Jeanneau, and also now offers a lift keel solution as per the smaller Sun Odyssey range.