Salona 41: Fast Cruise, Nice Lines
The 2016 Salona 41 racer/cruiser offers a mix of European design and solid performance.
January 25, 2016
I walk down a lot of docks toward a lot of boats and I find most of them appealing, but some vessels—like the Salona 41—make me really take note of their lines. This is the latest addition to the Croatian brand and fits neatly between their 38 and 44 foot models, following up on last year’s introduction of the Salona 33. Upon sailing her, I have to say there’s more to her than beauty as she lives up to the old Racer/Cruiser moniker.
The Salona 41 will definitely stand out among the crowd, even in a packed harbor.
The Salona 41 is a bit of an anomaly among today’s angular designs that commonly sport ample freeboard to create volume inside. Her low profile, plumb bow, absence of hard chines, and a beam that comes in a little at the transom, make her sleek and attractive. The blue hull of our test boat further differentiated her from a sea of white at the dock.
An integral stainless-steel grid below the cabin sole and just above the keel provides strength, so loads from the keel, shrouds, and mast are spread evenly. The hull is hand-laminated and vacuum-infused polyester with a PVC foam core sandwich above the waterline and single-skin construction at the forward impact zone. The hull liner is reinforced with carbon fiber in high stress areas and the fore and aft bulkheads are watertight. The deck is cored as well and she comes in at just 16,000 pounds of displacement, which undoubtedly contributes to her good performance.
The Salona 41 offers two keel configurations: a standard extended L-shaped iron keel with a bulb that has a draft of 6’6” or an optional L-shaped performance lead keel that draws 7’6” and would be ideal for racing and performance cruising wherever there’s plenty of depth.
Deck and Rigging
A fixed bowsprit helps get the anchor well ahead of the bow and for the racing crowd, a six-foot sprit extends out of the portside bow to attach a gennaker. Lewmar hatches are flush, and six Harken winches and numerous Spinlock sheet stoppers control everything from the single-line reefing to the German-style mainsheet.
The 9/10s fractional rig has double aft-swept spreaders and a sail area of 1,350 square feet. Two headsails are offered: a 105% jib which pairs nicely with a reacher attached to the optional retractable sprit, or a huge 140% genoa on the Harken below-decks furler. Dacron cruising sails are standard but our test boat came with the upgraded laminated Italian One sails that could be drawn in drum-tight. Unlike many production boats, Salona’s rig is keel-stepped and the Selden mast is offered in aluminium or carbon with wire or rod rigging.
The transom of the Salona 41 is an open/close design with a split backstay and an optional full-beam athwartship seat, or just lifelines for racing.
In the cockpit, the recessed and covered traveler bisects the sole and provides end-boom sheeting for better control, especially for the club racing crowd. Twin carbon fiber wheels from Jefa steering look good and their elliptical shape feels great in the hand. B&G charplotters and instruments as well as compasses sit at the wheels on both sides, and engine controls are to starboard. Here, there’s also a remote for the Quick electric windlass so single-handed anchoring is possible.
The cockpit has an optional table, which may be removed for racing or enjoyed when cruising. Teak slats on the seats are standard but a teak-covered cockpit sole and decks are optional. The waste tank deck access on the starboard coaming is within inches of the winch, which is odd and potentially even risky.
Plush Interior
Racer/cruisers are usually short on comfort and woefully lacking in luxury (even ones like this, which lists at about a quarter-million dollars), but Salona has changed all that with the help of Italian interior designer Maurizio Cossutti. The finish on our boat was teak with a white headliner and trim. The finish was so nice it would be hard to drag gear and sails across it.
The 41 can be ordered with two or three cabins and one or two heads. The advantage of the former is the presence of a forward-facing nav station to starboard and a huge starboard lazaerette for good garage-style stowage. There should be twin overhead hatches in the saloon to increase both light and ventilation as there are only two other opening portlights.
The large saloon table, with built-in bottle stowage, opens to tie together both the U-shaped settee to port and the straight settee to starboard and will easily seat four or more for dinner.
The master is forward with a large V-berth. There’s a tunnel on the port side for the retractable sprit that’s wrapped in foam and white vinyl to blend in. The galley to port is L-shaped, and has a front-loading Waeco refrigerator/freezer, an Eno three-burner stove, and fiddles designed into the solid-surface countertops all around.
The forward-facing nav desk is a nice touch with today’s dependence on multifunction displays doing all the navigation. Another high point is the sheer number of drawers at both the galley and the nav station, a much-appreciated addition as boats tend to gather “stuff.”
The main head is aft to starboard and sadly, does not offer a stall shower. A second head may be tucked into the port side of the master cabin but I’m not sure many couples will be looking for that on this side of the Atlantic.
Performance
Auxiliary power is provided by a 40 HP Yanmar diesel coupled to a Saildrive. A two-blade Gori folding propeller is standard. On flat water with little breeze, we motored out at 8.2 knots at 3200 RPM (wide-open throttle). A more economical and realistic cruise would be around seven knots. Tankage is 58 gallons of both fresh water and fuel, which keeps her light for racing; for cruising, a little more of each would be desirable.
We sailed the Salona 41 on Chesapeake Bay on flat water and sadly, in little wind. This boat is raring to go and I was hoping for a gale, but we only had a breeze to eight knots. Still, the Salona strutted her stuff. At 5.6 knots of true wind at 45 degrees the boat delivered 4.6 knots of speed, and that jumped to six knots when we got an eight-knot gust. With the retractable sprit it’s easy to quickly set an asymmetrical spinnaker, so we had a bit of fun and got the boat to four knots with the chute in only five knots of breeze at 90 degrees.
The Salona was well behaved and you can see that whether the wind was five or 25 knots, sailing this boat was going to be fun.
She pointed well and as we tacked through 60 degrees, needed only a light touch on the wheel. The bow sliced through the waves and the boat was perfectly balanced—and I wished the day would have lasted longer.
Other Choices: Those looking for a racer/cruiser with added pedigree will want to look at the Blue Jacket 40. If a slightly lower MSRP sounds appealing, take a sail on the Hanse 415.
For more information, visit Salona.
See Salona 41 listings.
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Length | 41'0" |
| Beam | 12'7" |
| Draft (shoal/deep) | 6'6"/7'6" |
| Sail area | 575 sq. ft. main, 555 sq. ft. genoa |
| Displacement | 16,424 lbs |
| Fuel capacity | 58 gal. |
| Water capacity | 58 gal. |
