PROJECT SIMPLICITY
FACTS
▶ Where we tested: south-west Mallorca
▶ Wind: 7-12 knots, calm seas
▶ Model: Y7 hull No1, Bella, with three cabins plus crew cabin. Carbon Axxon rig (standard), park avenue boom and fully battened main with no backstay
What is your idea of simple sailing? To a wooden yacht enthusiast it may be the pleasure of hand hoisting and trimming sails via block and tackle alone, where an owner of a modern glass fibre yacht might baulk at the amount of upkeep timber demands and prefer the ease of push button sailing. Others might look back whimsically to their youth and the joy of simply dragging a dinghy down the beach and sailing without any maintenance or financial woes.
Michael Schmidt’s latest creation is his solution to simple sailing at the luxury end of the scale. The decorated sailor who founded Hanse Yachts believes in a keep-it-simple philosophy with his models, which you may find hard to believe when looking at this new 70-footer and the levels of technical complexity that must lie beneath its carbon fibre/epoxy skins.
But having sailed the Y7 in precisely the light wind conditions for which it was designed, and felt the thrill of helming a perfectly balanced, potent and contemporary fast cruiser, I can vouch that it does have a theme of
