The meaning of ‘performance’ in modern, production monohulls continues to evolve and the Jeanneau 3600 is leading the way.
Back in September, before the Newport International Boat show, I got a text from my older son Simon Day. He was having lunch with friends at The Moorings restaurant on Newport, RI’s waterfront, and parked right in front of him was a boat that pricked his interest. He photographed it and texted it to me.
“What is this boat? Really cool.”
I texted back that it is the new Jeanneau 3600 and, yes, indeed, it looks very cool. To get some perspective on the meaning of “cool’ in this context it is good to know that Simon is a yacht designer and an accomplished sailor, has raced his own Mini 6.5 in offshore events and regularly crews on Class 40s, including last summer’s Fastnet Race. He’s into broad beams, hard chines, twin rudders, overpowered boats that are designed to plane and are set up for singlehanders and smaller crews of three or four to race or cruise offshore.
That the boat moored in front of him that day had all of these attributes while also looking like a production boat is what pricked his interest. So, I concluded my text with the question, “Want to come on the sail trial next weekend?”
“For sure,” came the reply. Read more.
