Elan Impression 43
An offshore cruiser with plenty of options for family cruising
The newest design in the Elan series of cruising boats is this Rob Humphreys-designed Elan Impression 43, which marks 20 years of Humphreys designs for Elan. The deck is designed by the Pininfarina studio. The interior design is by the Elan Design Team. The target is very familiar: Give the buyer the most accommodations possible in the given LOA while preserving enough performance to make the boat enjoyable to sail. Make the boat attractive to family sailors as well as suitable for charter. Given the fact that designers can’t change the ergonomics of the human body it makes sense that the various solutions to this design problem are beginning to all look very similar.
The D/L is pretty “normal” at 176 using Elan’s “standard displacement” figure. There is no chine. Freeboard is high, again to capture interior volume, and the DWL is 40 feet. Twin rudders should give good control at wide angles of heel. You can choose from a draft of 6 feet 5 inches or 5 feet 7 inches. There is an interesting crease topsides that to my eye would make a faux sheerline. There is a molded in, tapered bulwark above that. I like that detail. Note the very slight reverse rake on the stem.
You have two options in the interior layout. There is a three-stateroom layout and a four-stateroom layout. I feel weird calling them staterooms. They are adequate areas where you can sleep in privacy. If you go with the three-stateroom layout you get a generous forward owner’s cabin with an adjoining head and what looks like a nice big hanging locker.
After there are mirror-image double quarter berth cabins. From the deck-stepped mast location aft, the two layouts are identical. For the four-stateroom layout the forward double berth is pushed to the port side and the hanging locker is about half the size it was in the three-stateroom layout. Adjacent to the head, shared by the forward staterooms, is a head to port. It looks like there are stacked single berths in this starboard stateroom.
The main cabin features a large L-shaped dinette to starboard and aft of that a nav station with a chair. To port is the galley with front-loading refrigerator. The aft head has a small shower stall. The layouts are quite orthogonal, meaning there are lots of 90-degree angles. The interior finish is an unusual rustic-looking style that seems to me a bit out of place with the rest of the boat’s styling.
The 2D sailplan does not do justice to the overall look of this design. Maybe drafted by someone with more refined drafting skills it would, but today selling aesthetics is better done by 3D modeling and renderings. The renderings of the boat are beautifully done and show the complex contours of the Pininfarina designed deck. It’s a handsome boat if you like this general style.
The cockpit is huge and full of cruiser-friendly features like a built-in grill and a deck-accessed refrigerator in the area used as a seat for the helmsman. The optional table can be converted into a sunbathing area for two. Seat backs are quite high and taper down as they go aft. I’d be concerned that climbing out of the cockpit forward might be a bit awkward. Lines are lead aft to winches at each wheel. Lines coming aft from the mast are lead to clutches and winches flanking the companionway. There is a lot of thought and detailing in this deck design. You can have the standard small swim step or you can have the optional large swim step.
There is nothing special about the rig. It’s a Selden deck-stepped spar. You can go with the standard self-tacking jib system or there is an option for deck track for genoas. The SA/D is a modest 16.5 using the self-tacking jib.
Rob Humphreys has been one of my favorite designers for a long time. He has a great eye.
LOA 43’8”; LWL 40’; Beam 13’11”; Draft deep 6’5”, shoal 5’7”; Displ. 24,471 lb.; Ballast 7,807 lb.; Auxiliary 45-hp.; Fuel 78 gal.; Water 71 gal.; L/B 3; D/L 176; SA/D 16.5
Springline Yacht Sales
70 Essex St.
Mystic, CT 06355
860-415-4810
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