The new Elan Impression 45 is a thoroughly modern family cruising boat that can be tailored to each owner’s needs
The afternoon after the Annapolis sailboat show that we had a chance to give the new Elan Impression 45 a sail trial turned out to be very nearly flat calm. I was sailing with Rick Dieterich, owner of Springline Yacht Sales, who is a new Elan dealer, and with us was Matic Kelmenc, Elan’s marketing manager.
We rolled out the sails, adjusted trim for the light breeze and drifted around for an hour or so, trying to make the best use of the zephyrs that occasionally blew by. If we had been actually cruising and going somewhere, we would have had the engine on. But, we wanted to see how the 45 sails, so we made an effort to do so.
The 45 is a Rob Humphries design and is a family cruiser with a good turn of speed and handy performance. Humphries is a highly accomplished, British yacht designer. He designs all of the new Oyster Yachts and has created numerous fast racing machines, including an Open 60 for Ellen MacArthur in which she set a non-stop around the world record. Read more.
