Salona 45

2006 April 1
By Robert H. Perry

Performance cruiser

From the J&J Design office we have this new design being built at the AD Boats yard in Croatia. It's a handsome boat in the modern style and the brochure shows very attractive joinerwork and an unusual selection of interior layout options.

This hull makes an interesting comparison to the hull of the S&S Morris. Note the flat fore and aft hull rocker of the Salona compared to the dramatic rocker of the shorter DWL Morris. The two boats are about two-feet different in LOA but the Salona has a DWL of 40 feet, 6 inches compared to the 30 feet DWL of the Morris. The Salona is heavier at 22,000 pounds but with its longer DWL the D/L is 148. This is a big, beamy, L/B 3.22 hull that is perfect if you are looking for interior volume combined with sailing length. There is a deep keel drawing 8 feet, 4 inches and a shoal keel drawing 6 feet, 11 inches. This leads me to believe that Croatia must have some nice, deep cruising areas. My clients would laugh at me if I told them the shoal draft model would draw 6 feet, 11 inches.

There are three interior layouts. They each share the same saloon, galley, head and nav station in the center of the boat but the ends are arranged differently. You can choose from two three-stateroom layouts with either a centerline V-berth double or a Pullman-style double with the head forward. If you go for the centerline double you get a nice shower stall separated from the head. There is even a layout with four staterooms, which I presume is designed to appeal to charter groups. The quarter cabins aft look fine with their big double berths but the forward arrangement of the four-stateroom layout is a bit rabbit warren-ish for me. The galley is located forward adjacent to the forward end of the dinette. This is different and I think it will work fine. The galley appears to be big but the sinks are in an awkward position. There is a shower stall in the amidships head.

The SA/D ratio is 20.26 in a fractional configuration with three sets of swept spreaders. Note how far aft the keel is from the mast. This is good and in a beamy boat will help offset any tendency for the boat to build up helm as it heels. The styling of the boat is simple but effective.

I don't have any specs or a deck plan but I do have a nice, full color brochure. It's a shame the photographer chose a wide angle lens for some of the sailing shots, which distorts the height of the rig so that it looks like a jury rig or a rig off a 30-footer. I'm also not sure about the page of photos with the caption, "Love … you move in motion together and marvel at the endless love she returns to you." I love that nautical jargon. Whatever happened to "Aargh, matey." But the deck is in teak and it does look nice and there is a generous teak toe rail. One photo shows a closed transom but I think the component that closes the cockpit aft may be removable because the other photos show a totally open transom. There is no mainsheet traveler.

The standard auxiliary is a 54-horsepower diesel. There is tankage for 106 gallons of fresh water and 71 gallons of fuel.

The Salona 45 is a good-looking, well-designed boat with an interesting if not informative brochure. I'll leave you with another caption, "Passion … from the depths of her perfect surface sparks glitter-are they from the sun or the passion in your eyes?" Or have you been sniffing the holding tank again?