Radical, fast, and surprisingly spacious. These four innovative scow yacht launches are rewriting the design rules for cruising sailorsThe blunt-bowed scow revolution is no longer confined to the frantic starting lines of the Mini Transat or Class 40s. This year, a new wave of innovative yacht designers and French shipyards are taking the unmistakable, high-volume scow form and steering it firmly toward the cruising market.
\nFrom high-tech, semi-foiling speed machines to rugged aluminium globe-trotters and pint-sized dayboats, these four new launches prove that you can have electrifying offshore pace without sacrificing the comforts of life on board.
\nSkaw Paradise is designed to sail relatively level and maintain high average cruising speeds
\nSkaw Paradise
\nTwo-and-a-half years ago, we reported on a bold new concept for a cruising scow called the Skaw Paradise, set for launch in late 2024. It would measure 11.3m (37ft) but borrowed heavily from the Mini 6.50 to offer electrifying semi-foiling performance. By the time you read this, the first hull should be in the water, its distinctively blunt-bowed form tearing up the brine off Brittany.
\nIf there has been a delay, says Beno\u00eet Marie, the offshore racer and off-the-wall thinker behind the Skaw, it\u2019s due to a client coming on board with a specific set of demands. It now measures 11.95m and has a fold-down bathing platform. \u201cWe have done things properly,\u201d says Marie. \u201cAfter starting the design work, we found a client who asked us to adapt the design to his wishes, so we\u2019ve gone deep into optimising many systems.\u201d
\nBuilt under contract by the Grand Large group (Outremer, Gunboat, RM etc), the hull is in glass-epoxy with carbon reinforcing where it is necessary around the foil and structure. \u201cWe didn\u2019t want a full carbon boat for cost and acoustic reasons,\u201d Marie adds. No expense has been spared where it counts, with carbon foils and keel, North 3Di carbon sails, ECsix carbon rigging with Sailmon load pins and a Hall Spars mast.
\nManually operated C-shaped carbon foils provide powerful lift, doing the work of a heavy keel in terms of righting moment and keeping the boat unusually level. And by opting for a lighter lifting keel, it requires less sail (64m2 main and 184m2 spinnaker) and a shorter mast to accelerate. It will manage 25 knots in a blow, but the aim is to provide consistent passage speeds of 15 knots, says Marie.
\nThough he admits the very flat section of the bow makes for greater chances of pounding, Marie says the answer is simply to slow down in rougher conditions to ease the ride. He draws an analogy with supercars: \u201cYour Ferrari might do 300kmh, but you still slow down for speedbumps,\u201d he says phlegmatically. \u201cIt goes extremely fast when you crack the sheets a little. At 70\u00b0 apparent, you won\u2019t get wet but the boat goes twice as fast as close hauled.\u201d
\nUnlike the race boat on which its design has drawn, the Skaw Paradise has simplified sail controls for a short-handed crew. There\u2019s no running backstay, for instance, and the jib is a self-tacker. It has twin rudder blades with a tiller, although Marie says the design is flexible enough to accommodate almost anything \u2013 wheel steering included. When you head into port, winch the foils up inside the footprint of the boat, while the lifting keel reduces draught to 1.20m.
\nThe Skaw also contains all the necessities of cruising life, from a decent galley to showers. The two principal double cabins are positioned aft, but the seating in that broad bow can also be converted into two further double cabins using a textile divider. \u201cIt\u2019s a 40ft boat that offers the space of a 60ft monohull \u2013 the benefits of a multihull without the drawbacks,\u201d Marie adds.
\nSkaw Paradise specifications
\nLOA: 11.95m 39ft 2in
\nBeam: 4.87m 16ft 0in
\nDraught (variable): 1.2-3.5m 3ft 11in-11ft 6in
\nDisplacement (light): 5,500kg 12,125lb \u2022 Sail area (up\/downwind) 109m2\/248m2 1,173ft2\/2,669ft2
\nDesigner: Cl\u00e9ment Bercault
\nPrice: from \u20ac1.5m ex VAT
\nIDB Marine\u2019s Mojito 32 is a fairly technical boat to sail well. Photo: Jakez Le Gall
\nMojito 32
\nIn a theme that comes up time and again when talking scows, the Mojito 32 is built by a small French yard to a concept inspired by the Mini 6.50. IDBMarine has carved out a niche building fast boats that offer a cruising taste of racing performance, freed from any restrictions imposed by class rules. And the new Mojito 32 has already proved a hit.
\nDesigned by David Raison and Pierre Delion, it embraces the twin benefits of the scow form: exceptional speed and huge interior volume. It sets a big 33m2 genoa and a square-top main upwind, giving it ample power to accelerate a hull which is already light at under 4 tonnes. The lifting keel\/centre plate is a more efficient solution than a bulb keel, permitting easier access to tidal waters and even the ability to dry out using the special beaching legs.
\nWhile the Mojito lacks the Skaw Paradise\u2019s foils (see previous page), it remains a fairly technical boat to sail well. Running backstays are an option, and one you\u2019d want for serious offshore cruising. There\u2019s also a full three dimensions of trim for the jib sheets. In a recent sail trial the boat achieved high average speeds of around 15 knots, well reefed down in a 30-knot gale. \u201cContrary to received wisdom, the boat doesn\u2019t slam on the waves,\u201d says IDB founder Denis Bourbigot. \u201cIt passes over them.\u201d
\nThe five boats sold to date are in glass-epoxy, vacuum infused with a recycled PET foam core. Twin rudders are controlled by a classic offshore tiller, and there\u2019s the option of electric propulsion. A huge lazarette to starboard would store a roll-up dinghy with ease, and the open transom is ideal for bathing. Standard layout includes a large double berth on the port quarter and a semi-open Breton double berth in the bow. It sports a raised pilothouse look, which gives panoramic views, standing headroom and brings natural light flooding in.
\nMojito 32 specifications
\nLOA: 9.80m 32ft 2in
\nBeam: 3.45m 11ft 4in
\nDraught (variable): 1.00-2.73m 3ft 3in-8ft 11in
\nDisplacement (light): 3,100kg 6,834lb
\nSail area (up\/downwind): 70m2\/148m2 753ft2\/1,593ft2
\nDesigner: David Raison\/Pierre Delion
\nPrice: \u20ac191,038 ex VAT<\/p>\n
Z\u2019TOON 5.50
\nBuilt by a traditional wooden-yacht boatyard in Saint-Briac, Brittany, the eccentrically named Z-Toon is at present a rather elaborate one-off for a determined client, although Grand Largue is hoping to build more. The boat follows the same logic of turning the scow form to cruising ends, but this time designer Guillaume Verdier has shrunk the concept to the scale of a dayboat.
\nHe\u2019s a man who understands racing sailing, having signed some of the most innovative designs of recent years, from Magic Carpet e to Gitana 18. But the challenge here was different: packing in a lifting keel, twin rudders and planing performance to a boat just 18ft long.
\nGrand Largue built the boat in cold-moulded plywood epoxy for a total weight of just 730kg \u2013 around 180kg of which is ballast.
\nSpars are in aluminium and the mast is reduced to 8.80m to suit the owner\u2019s wishes, while running rigging is in Dyneema. The roller-furling jib is on a self-tacker, with the 10.8m2 mainsail small enough to go on a cam cleat.
\nThe boat is designed to make the most of heavily tidal waters by drying out \u2013 either for a weekend away or simply on a mud berth. She has a very basic interior which allows two to sleep, and provides stowage for sails. Outboard powered, it is now for sale.
\nZ\u2019TOON 5.50 specifications
\nLOA: 5.50m 18ft 1in
\nBeam: 2.63m 8ft 8in
\nDraught: 0.50m 1ft 8in
\nDisplacement: 730kg 1,609lb
\nSail area (up\/downwind): 18.9m2 203ft2
\nDesigner: Guillaume Verdier
\nPrice: \u20ac36,000
\nThe Seascow is primarily aimed at cruising couples who want the go-anywhere capabilities of an aluminium build
\nSeascow
\nAn interesting take on the scow is taking shape in aluminium at north Brittany yard Bord-\u00e0-Bord. The 32ft Seascow is designed to be a first, combining scow performance with the go-anywhere capabilities of aluminium for true bluewater cruisers.
\nGildas Plessis is the designer behind the concept, and he has a string of scow projects behind him in various racing classes.
\nWith the Seascow, there\u2019s the option of a lifting keel, bilge keels or a fixed keel, and the transom-hung rudders can also be raised. High coamings make for a cosy cockpit with a central winch pedestal and a tiller. A large domed doghouse slightly reminiscent of an IMOCA contains a fantastic, raised navigation station, with a passage berth to port and a compact galley to starboard.
\nWith the extra weight of the alloy construction, the Seascow has to pack a taller mast and larger sail area than some of the other boats mentioned in these pages. But performance is still punchy, and it should match other scow types from around 15 knots of true wind, according to co-owner of the yard Lo\u00efc Cheynet. A retractable bowsprit allows you to launch a big reaching or downwind sail, and there is a drop-down bathing platform aft.
\nBelow decks, the design uses that broad scow bow for a good double berth, separated by a half frame from the saloon. This space can also be portioned off into two narrower doubles, encroaching a little on the saloon.
\nThe seats here can also serve as convertible berths for four, but the concept is fundamentally for a cruising couple.
\nSeascow specifications
\nLOA: 9.99m 32ft 9in
\nBeam: 3.33m 10ft 11in
\nDraught: 0.6-2.2m 2ft 0in-7ft3in
\nDisplacement: 6,000kg 13,228lb
\nSail area (up\/downwind): 69m2 743ft2
\nDesigner: Gildas Plessis
\nPrice: from \u20ac399,200 ex VAT<\/p>\n
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Radical, fast, and surprisingly spacious. These four innovative scow yacht launches are rewriting the design rules for cruising sailorsThe blunt-bowed scow revolution is no longer confined to the frantic starting lines of the Mini Transat or Class 40s. This year, … <\/p>\n