Dusseldorf (GERMANY), 23 January 2010. The year 2010 began with some important news for Italian sailing. Cantiere del Pardo, which has been producing Grand Soleil yachts for over 35 years, one of the jewels in the crown of the “Made in Italy” label, has won the “European Yacht of the Year” prize for its latest project: the Grand Soleil 46.
The prize is awarded every year during one of the most important international boat shows in the world, the Boot trade fair in Düsseldorf. The prize is coveted by all the yacht boatyards in Europe. The seriousness of the prize is certified by an international jury of representatives from 11 magazines, led by Yacht, which is viewed as the “Bible” of international sailing magazines (in particular in northern Europe). The journalists on the jury tried out numerous boats during the last few months, and chose 5 finalists for each category. They then announced their verdict during the inauguration day of the Boot Boat Show.
The Grand Soleil 46 trounced the other four models which had been selected in the “Performance Cruiser” category, dedicated to the yachts with the best performance.
“During a period of recession,” said a spokesperson for Cantiere del Pardo, “it is worth following a strategy of investment in research and development. We have a young, motivated design team supported by a team of labourers with great technical and professional ability, of whom we are very proud”.
The victory of the Grand Soleil 46 was strengthened by the victory of the Dufour 405 in the “Family Cruiser” category. Dufour, like Cantiere del Pardo, is part of ISB (International Sailing Boats), a holding company which controls these two important boatyards, one Italian and the other French.
“It was a great team effort,” said Gian Guido Girotti, ISB’s Product Manager, when the victory was announced. “I would particularly like to thank ISB’s CEO, Federico Minoli, for putting his trust in our work”.
The Grand Soleil 46: a luxury fast cruiser
The Grand Soleil 46 combines luxury details and technology from custom-made yachts. This yacht is a fast cruiser whose waterlines, deck and interior design achieve a perfect balance. This is the result of the passion and care with which Cantiere del Pardo have obtained their position as an international market leader.
The Grand Soleil 46 provides unique pleasure when it comes to cruising: it is fast, lots of fun, well-balanced, comfortable and easy to steer, even with a reduced crew. In races, on the other hand, its competitive nature comes to the fore, with characteristics that make it a fast boat at any point of sailing, optimised to give the best possible performance in both IRC and ORC, as the first boats to be launched have shown with their victories.
Once again, the project was designed by the most talented and innovative design duo of the moment: Marcelino Botin and Shaun Carkeek.
Sail Area
Working Sail Area : 416.00 sq ft
Manufacturer Provided Description
The objective was to surpass the incredible success of the Grand Soleil 45R', in terms of units produced and also in terms of quality. We have worked to achieve the optimum from a new hull area distributing the volume to the extremities thus increasing the prismatic coefficients. This solution has increased the waterline length significantly, hence the maximum speed of the boat, while giving great cruising interior capacity.