Sailing Magazine

Wauquiez PS41
Bluewater cruiserr

This new Wauquiez model designed by Berret/Racoupeau takes a bold approach to its styling. It’s not easy to put a rather bulky pilothouse on a hull and preserve any kind of classic proportions, unless you have an LOA exceeding 50 feet, and even then it’s tough. In this case the designers were asked to produce a shorter version of their successful 47-foot pilothouse model. To do this they used some unusual styling tricks.

I appreciate having a full set of hull lines for this review. The hull shape is very interesting and certainly not generic in any way. There are moderate overhangs. The L/B is low at 3.09, indicating a beamy boat, but the BWL has been pulled in and the topsides flared. The sections forward even show a hint of hollow in the area approaching the bow. Again, aft we see flared sections that appear to go hollow up near the sheer. I think what is going on here is an attempt to produce a fast hull while increasing the deck planform so that the pilothouse can be broad while leaving beam for adequate side decks. It works and the resultant hull shape is interesting to look at because it takes an original approach to the problem. Freeboard is high. In fact, if we measure freeboard amidships it is 11.2-percent of LOA. For comparison the Maestro 40 freeboard is 9.7-percent of LOA. Freeboard itself is never good for performance but allows the designer to raise the cabin sole and claim more useable interior volume. The D/L is 208. Draft options are available from 5 feet, 5 inches to 6 feet, 6 inches. This is a slippery looking hull shape.

The designers have extended the height of the pilothouse aft with a long sloping curve to allow the cockpit to be raised. This, in turn, makes room below for the aft cabin to move farther aft and become a true master stateroom. There is a head aft with a shower stall. The saloon features a raised section to starboard for the settee that puts the eye level in the middle of the large windows. There’s room for four to dine at this table but it’s going to be tight. The galley is to port and sunken so that some of the volume under the side decks can be used for galley lockers. This layout will work fine but seating options are minimized and with four on board you are pretty much going to be in each other’s faces all the time below so pick your guests carefully. Forward there is another stateroom with double berth and head. It’s an ambitious layout for a 42-footer.

I’m often asked, “What part of the boat do you design first?” I can only speak for me but I try to get an overall view of the entire boat in my mind prior to drawing the first lines. Then it’s many slow turns around the old “design spiral” as you try out and revise countless design options on your way to the final design. I think in the case of the PS41 the cockpit probably posed the biggest challenge. The interior layout dictated that the cockpit “go away” and not cut into the useable interior volume. By keeping those artfully sculpted cockpit coamings high, the seat level and the cockpit sole could be raised to make “headroom” above the aft berth. This cockpit has plenty of room for four sailors and features a T-shaped well to allow a large diameter wheel. There is a shallow swim step but this step is combined with a large section of the transom face that hinges down to make a deep platform that gives access to the life raft. Getting in and out of the dinghy will be a piece of cake.

The rig looks short as you might expect with this type of design and the SA/D is 14. So you won’t blast along in light air but neither will you need a reef when the apparent wind hits 18 knots. The traveler is really, really far forward. This requires a large mainsheet winch and it can put a big bending moment on the boom but if the winch and boom extrusion are up to the job it’s not a problem. There is a headstay and a solent stay on this rig as an option. You can leave a big genoa rolled up and sail around with a short LP working jib when you have enough breeze. When it gets light or you want to bear off you will need to roll up the small jib and go with the genoa. You would need to roll up that genoa in order to tack it with any panache. If I had one of these 41s I think I’d go with the standard single forestay.

I don’t think you would call this type of styling conventional but given the pressures of the accommodation plan conventional styling would have resulted in an odd-looking boat.