78
SVN Solovelanet Global
naged by the NSS Yachting group (that until recently
was the North Sardinia Sail group). The second trial
base is located in Marina Cala de' Medici, in Tuscany.
As it often happens here in Sardinia, the mistral blew
robustly, reaching peaks of 20 knots. The boat we
tested was purchased by a German customer, set
up in a charter layout and placed into a management
program.She is equipped with a self-tacking jib and
a mainsail furler with the sheet clew fixed on the
roll-bar. In the first phase of the test, with about 7-8
knots of wind, the sail area, very small (91 square
metres - 979 sq/ft) because of the self-tacking jib
and the furling mainsail, affected the performance of
the boat and caused her to struggle in finding a good
pace. As the wind rose, those small sails turned from
a drawback into a positive advantage, enabling the
boat to enhance her sailing capabilities.
With 13 knots of true wind, the boat already perfor-
med so well as to reach and exceed 9 knots upwind
when the wind exceeded 15 knots.
With balanced sails, the rudder is soft and responsive.
When the wind speed exceeded 20 knots, the main-
sail won on the jib, often causing the boat to broach
until we reduced canvas to find a new balance point
and so brought peace of mind back on board. With
balanced sails the boat, thanks to her straight edges,
bends moderately and keeps the course well.
The cockpit of the Oceanis 51.1 is particularly
large, so there is room for everyone and places
are divided between the crew, i.e. those who
take care of the manoeuvres, and the guests,
who just want to relax in the sun
In the centre, the First Line boat sailing with
a gennaker. Here above, the inflatable liferaft
stored in the locker under the table
