Sail - July 2018

for a Code 0. h e overall ef ect, like that of the

boat as a whole, is satisfyingly, even elegantly

utilitarian, the kind of look any real sailor can’t

help but love.

ACCOMMODATIONS

As is the case topsides, there’s a lot going on

belowdecks. h at said, on passage wide open

spaces also mean that much more room to tum-

ble should you lose your footing. A lot of what

is “going on” also translates into storage space, a

critical feature aboard any serious cruising boat.

At the heart of the saloon is a large table raised

up to port with settees on three sides all with

a good view of the outside world, that and an

in-line galley to starboard. Between the two is a

substantial divider that houses the centerboard

trunk and also serves as both a great place to

brace yourself when i xing meals and somewhere

to store various food items. I am a huge fan of this kind of galley, since

there is something nice and solid to lean up against, but you can also dodge

one way or the other in the event anything hot spills of the stove.

h e owner’s cabin forward aboard our test boat was large and very comfy,

with the same ash joinerywork that, in combination with the many hatches

and ports in the cabintrunk, kept the saloon feeling light and airy despite be-

ing set far down in the hull. (Mahogany is also available as an option.)

My one complaint is that the quarterberths in the two at cabins of our

test boat were pretty cramped (although full-size double berths are also

available) at least for a six-footer like me, owing in part to the command

module overhead. Even just pulling my boots on was a challenge as I kept

bumping my head against the underside of the cockpit. If the boat had

ever been seriously banging around? Heavens!

h at said, it would be hard to overemphasize how nice it was having the

module, especially on a night watch or in stinky weather. h e view is amazing

and again you have everything you need—VHF, chartplotter, AIS, paper charts—

right where you need them. How much time does a sailor spend in a quarter-

berth anyway—besides sleeping, that is? Not much. I’ll take the module any day.

UNDER SAIL

My test sail consisted of a delivery from Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to

the Annapolis boat show with the boat’s owner: none other than SAIL’s

own cruising editor, Charles J. Doane, who has named his boat Lunacy,

at er his daughters Una and Lucy. Despite the fact we had to burn a fair

bit of fuel to stay on schedule, we still got in some good sailing, especially

between Buzzards Bay and Long Island Sound. Close-reaching with the

breeze in the high teens we clicked of 7-plus knots with ease. As the

wind built into the low 20s, the helm became a bit much to handle. But as

soon as Charlie put a reef in the main, we were back on rails.

Equally impressive was the boat’s motion through the swells. At the time,

some enormous rollers from Hurricane Maria were making landfall, cresting

dramatically in toward shore and creating some rather impressive conditions

in general. Lunacy, however, took it all in stride. Not only that, but her mo-

tion was at all times both easy and forgiving, with no slamming or whipping

about—the dei nition of a seakindly boat that takes care of its crew.

Later that same day, things got especially hairy as we entered h e Race

at the eastern end of Long Island Sound with nearly 20 knots of breeze

going forward on us and blowing against the incoming tide. But while

the helm loaded up a good bit in the puf s, the rudder never once broke

loose, thanks in large part to the aforementioned daggerboards. All in all,

a great boat for logging some serious miles. h e boat’s Code 0 will also be

an invaluable asset sailing of the wind.

UNDER POWER

h is is a big boat, the rudder is on the small side, and those daggerboards

won’t do you much good when close-quarters maneuvering. h at said, we

had no problem getting in and out of a fairly tight slip at Brooklyn’s One

o

15 marina in a fairly stif crosswind. Bottom line: this is not a boat for

casual sailors, and part of being a sailor is being able to maneuver this kind

of boat. A bow thruster is available as an option. Maxing out the throttle

yielded 2,800 rpm and 8.3 knots of boatspeed. On our delivery, we usually

had our 55hp auxiliary ticking away at around 1,800 and the boat moving

along at about 7 knots.

CONCLUSION

h e Boreal is an extremely well-made boat specii cally tailored to take

you pretty much anywhere in the world. To that end, it’s more than up to

the task of everything from battling big seas to navigating a thin-water

estuary. I hope Charlie takes me sailing with him again soon! s

SAIL MAGAZINE

Looking aft, the centerboard trunk

is to the right, facing the galley

DESIGNER Jean-Francois Delvoye

BUILDER Boreal SARL, Minihy-Treguier, France,

boreal-yachts.com

PRICE $555,780 (base price)

Boreal 47

SPECIFICATIONS

LOA 47ft 9in LWL 38ft 2in BEAM 14ft 1in

DRAFT 8ft 1in (board down); 3ft 4in (board up)

DISPLACEMENT 27,230lb (loaded)

BALLAST 8,377lb

SAIL AREA 1,074ft

2

(main and genoa)

FUEL/WATER (GAL) 160/200

ENGINE 55hp Volvo Penta D2

BALLAST RATIO 30

SA/D RATIO 19 D/L RATIO 220

What do these ratios mean? Visit sailmagazine.com/ratios