Here is a new Swedish boat built by Arcona Yachts and designed by Stefan Qviberg. The goal appears to be a comfortable cruising boat that has some race potential or, as the promo material says, "The perfection of beauty combined with exceptional performance and unequalled safety." That is indeed a common theme theses days so let's take a close look at how Arcona does it.

I have plenty of nice technical design drawings for this design but no hull lines, so we are going to have to use our imaginations a bit for hull shape nuances. The D/L is 146, so we can call that normal for an IRC type boat. Freeboard is high and the ends are short. Photos show the boat dragging a lot of transom at even moderate angles of heel. This may be good for volume aft but it's not fast, as those eddies cling to the transom edge and suck their way around, throwing up a nice frothy "bone in the tail." The bow is quite fine and the stern is very broad. These are just features we take for granted on modern production boats today. The L/B is 3.3, which is moderate. Max beam is well aft and fore and aft rocker is moderate with the forefoot knuckle right at the DWL. There are two keels: one drawing 7 feet, 6 inches and the other 8 feet, 4 inches. Both are lead bulbs on cast iron fins. All in all, this is a pretty normal hull.

Photos of the joinerwork look beautiful, with nicely rounded corners and a sensitive proportion to all trim details. You can have your choice of two layouts. You can have what I call the "California" layout, with the galley adjacent to the dinette running down the starboard side. This gives you a great galley; a bit spread out, but nice. The other layout has the traditional U-shaped galley aft to port and opposing dinette and settee amidships. There are no surprises in either layout but they are well proportioned and appear well detailed.

The rig is on the big side with an SA/D of 23.5. The headstay almost goes to the masthead but leaves enough room to keep the chute from jamming up. The standard jib drawn has a 106% LP but there is plenty of jib track drawn so you could carry much more overlap if you needed it. The triple spreaders are swept 16 degrees.
The deck layout features halyards that run aft under covers and exit at the winches flanking the companionway. The dodger disappears down into a molded-in trough for a nice, clean look. Instead of the typical twin wheel setup we see today, the Arcona has one big wheel recessed into a well. It does obstruct movement aft in the cockpit if you want to get to the swim step, but it will be a nice way to drive the boat.

I don't see anything novel in this design but it is a well-thought-out combination that should please a lot of sailors.

LOA 43'2"; LWL 39'6"; Beam 13'1"; Draft 7'6" (shoal), 8'4" (deep); Displacement 20,282 lbs.; Ballast 8,377 lbs.; Sail area 1,128 sq. ft.; SA/D 23.5; D/L 146; L/B 3.3; Auxiliary Yanmar 40-hp; Fuel 53 gals.; Water 80 gals.
Arcona Yachts, Kattholmen S-134 40 Gustavsberg, Sweden, 46-8-570-346-77, www.arconayachts.se. In the U.S., contact Gunnar's Yacht and Ship, P.O. Box 215, Oak Creek, WI 53154, (877) 442-3730, www.yachtworld.com/gys

OBE: $490,000
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