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Text and photographs by Gianni Ferraretto
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SE.RI.GI. DI AQUILEIA - SOLARIS 59
The Solaris 59 is a sail-yacht were luxury and sportsmanship are
happily married. The deck is fully equipped and include: hydraulic
jib furling system, electric winches, fully hidden hydraulically
actuated cockpit table, hydraulic vang and backstay, and a
sophisticated centralized control panel placed in the steering station console.
Below deck as well, the boat offer all comforts,
including a reversible air-conditioning plant with control unit in
each cabin. The true yacht spirit is, anyway, sporty. The well
designed hull feel even the most light breeze, performing
powerfully and comfortably when the wind force grows.
The yacht has been conceived with two different deck lay-outs.
The tested unit was the "one cockpit" version with sloop rigging,
mainsail and jib, but a cutter rigging with forestay and fore
staysail is available. Thanks to the light breeze, we had
performed an excellent sea trail with this beautiful yacht, which
reflect the quality of the 70 Solaris' yachts already built and
sailing world wide.
The sail boat market has never been easy but the quality-oriented
yard's philosophy have been proved to be successful, with
important internationals achievements.
According to this concept Se.Ri.Gi has been working with famous
designers: Frans Mass who designed the 37', 39' and 36 between
1978 and 1981, Sparkmann and Stephens who created the 47 and
Douglas Peterson who signed the 43' (Solaris Two), the 48 CC, the
59, the 59 CC and the prestigious Solaris Zero 67. Douglas
Peterson is the designer of the two racing sail-yachts which have
won the America Cup in 1992 and 1995, respectively America 3 and
Black Magic. Gigi and Rinaldo, the yard's owners, ensure that
designs for larger yachts, in the 25-30 meters LOA range, are
already on the drawing board. The yard's tradition tell us we will
not wait long and, meantime, we have had a very pleasant sailing
time on board the Solaris 59.
 TECHNICAL DATA
Builder: SE.RI.GI di Aquileia; via Curiel 49; 33051 Aquileia (UD); tel.: +39-431-91304, fax: +39-431-919484
Project by: Douglas Peterson, San Diego California, USA
LOA: 17.90 mt
LWL: 14.50 mt
Hull length: 17.40 mt
Max. beam: 4.80 mt
GRT: 18 tons
Max. draft: 2.45 - 2.75 mt
Full load displacement: 22000 kg - 23000 kg
Ballast: 8800 kg
Max. passengers capacity: 10 persons
Engine: Volvo Penta TAMD 41 DHD 145 HP
Light displacement to ballast ratio: 38.2% ; 36%
Top speed under power (declared): 9.2 knots
Hull speed: 13 knots
Fuel capacity: 1950 liters - placed amidship
Fresh water capacity: 800 liters - placed amidship
Bathrooms: 3
Berths: 8 in 4 cabins
Cruise speed fuel consumption: 7 l/h
Rigging: sloop ; cutter (the yacht can be fitted with cutter rigging by adding a predisposed baby stay)
Mast height: 22.80 mt
Total sail area: 180 square meters
Genoa: 150% on hydraulic furling system
Mainsail: 71 square meters-Spinnaker: 255 square meters
MPS or Gennaker: 190 square meters
Tested boat price: not declared
Remarks: the Solaris 59 is available with single or double
cockpit. The items, on the above technical specifications, with
double values refer respectively to the single cockpit version
(first value) and to the double cockpit version (second value).
The tested unit was single cockpit.
CONSTRUCTION PARTICULARS
Hull bottom: round sections with wing keel.
Construction material: Deck: fiberglass sandwich
construction. Gelcoat and resin: SP System and SAVID, vinylester
and isoftalic polyester. Fibers: OWEN-CORNING glass. Core
material: AIREX close cell vinyl polyclorure. Structures: marine
plywood covered with fiberglass. White hull finishing; white or
gray superstructure finishing. All deck horizontal surface are
lined with 40x12 millimeters teak strips with Boston Navseal
sealing. Each teak plank is screwed and glued into position with epoxy resins.
Deck to hull joint: bolted hull and deck flange with toe
rail (aluminum or wood)
Keel to hull joint: the keel is made from a single lead and
antimony casting fixed to the hull with stainless steel through-
bolts (D. 35 mm) connected to the keel itself by a stainless steel
structure drowned into the casting
Fore deck: Reckman hydraulic jib furling system RF 90-2
with R 30 profile, mounted 3/4 below deck so to obtain a lower
sail on deck to improve the center of effort as well as
aesthetics. The watertight housing for the hydraulic furling is
separated from the windlass (Falkon 1500W) compartment where the
up and down control are located together with its electric system.
Deck hardware: all the deck hardware is in stainless steel
and manifactured by the yard. The bow anchor hawse is made of
stainless steel and include the bow fairleds, the nylon anchor
roller for CQR or Bruce anchors and the Solaris mooring roller.
The stern hardware is one piece including fairleads and Solaris
mooring rollers. Stanchions and handrails are 25x2 mm. Stainless
steel guardrail with turnbuckles. Stanchions height 610 mm. 4
eyebolts are mounted on the wooden toe-rail. 2 eyebolts for
spinnaker poles with removable rings. One deck connection for
forestay and one deck connection for babystay, both fixed to the
hull bottom. Attachments for spinnaker pole on deck. Trough-deck
mast fitting. Halyards hardware. Two fairleads amidship.
Rigging particulars: light alloy mast built by Velscaf with
AS 282 section profile. Mast weight: 12 kilos per meter. Sloop 4/4
rigging with 3 spreaders orders. Light alloy boom built by Velscaf
with AS 250 section profile. Boom weight 7.2 kilos per meter.
Shrouds: sides 1x19 stainless steel; vertical 1 diameter 16 mm;
vertical 2 diameter 10 mm; vertical 3 diameter 12 mm; diagonal 1
diameter 14 mm; diagonal 2 diameter 10 mm; diagonal 3 diameter 10
mm. Fore topmast stay and backstay: Navtec 9.5 mm. The fore
topmast stay feature a mechanic turnbuckle on the Reckman furling
system. The backstay feature a Navtec hydraulic piston with
control unit which supply power to the hydraulic vang, and to the
babystay piston as well. The forestay is removable and feature a
custom turnbuckle. Hood sails including: ultraspectra mainsail,
ultraspectra genoa with UV rays and SEAFOAM protection, dracon
fore top mast fore staysail, ultaspectra genoa 3, dracon stormjib.
Rackman hydraulic jib furling system. Mainsail reduction with
reefs. Lazy-jacks. One mainsail Harken track with multi-purpose
slider and tackle, two jib tracks with Harken ends, 10 halyard
blocks, boom topping lift, spinnaker pole lift, two mainsail
sheets blocks. Harken aluminum winches: two 56.2 ST for spinnaker
or top mast fore staysail sheets, one 53.2 ST for mainsail sheet,
four 48.2 ST for halyards, two 48.2 ST for mainsheet and spinnaker
pole lift, two 44.2 for shrouds.
Steering station: mechanic steering with chain and cable
transmission, Solimar built. Stainless steel steering wheel (diameter 1.4 meters).
Cockpit particulars: its dimension are: 2.8x1.8 meters. The
cockpit sole is an electrically actuated lifting table. Three
scuppers are fitted with 70 mm diameter each. The engine room air
inlet is placed in the cockpit. Two loudspeakers are fitted. The
steering console feature: Riviera 6" compass, B&G Hydra Pilot
multi-function display, hydraulic jib furling system controls,
anchor windlass controls, bow-thruster controls, electric cockpit
table controls, light switches, horn, VHF repeater, man-over-board
alarm system connected to the auto-pilot, engine monitoring system, throttles.
Cabin access: spacious and comfortable.
Life raft: placed just forward of the cabin entrance hatch and after the canvas.
Boarding from the sea: the practical stainless steel ladder
placed in the sail locker can be moved to the yacht's sides where
a convenient opening on the guardrail ensure comfortable boarding.
INTERIORS
Lay-out and main features: the interior lay-out is custom
built, but a standard version is available. Furniture finishing is
teak wood, while cabin soles are in teak and maple wood, thickness
20 mm. Cabins' ceiling are mahogany marine plywood with SKY
upholstery. Fuel and water tanks are located amidship, together
with batteries, auxiliaries and the engine room. Each cabin is
air-conditioned, with VECO plant. Two compressors are located in
the engine room, while fan-coils are located in each cabin,
allowing independent temperature control. Two guest cabins
bathrooms are located at the extreme bow, and share the same
shower. Each bathroom include ORVEA toilets and ceramic sinks. The
two guest cabins feature two beds each with 1 meter width at the
head and 0.6 meters at the foot and sky light. Bed to deck
clearance is 0.7 meters. The saloon include teak wood table, 10
persons sofa and two revolving chairs. The chart table is spacious
and both natural and artificial light are provided.
The aft owner cabin
feature: 2.05x1.70 double bed with 1.2 meters of clearance,
wardrobe, chair and lockers. The en-suite bathroom include a
separated shower. The crew cabin is located to the port side; it
include two beds with 0.75 meters width at the head and 0.5 meters
width at the foot. Clearance is 0.6 meters.
Engine room: convenient access is provide by two watertight
aluminum doors covered with wood and placed in the galley passage
way. Acoustic insulation is ensured by rubber and lead panels.
Ventilation is ensured by pipes and automatic blower. The engine
room include: ONAN 6.5kw gen.set air conditioning compressors,
Marinco water-maker (180 l/h).
Galley: the galley is placed between the saloon and the
owner cabin and include: Alpes oven with three burners, stainless
steel sink, 200 liters refrigerator, 130 liters freezer, and 150
liters ice-box. All the refrigerators have their 24v/220v
compressor with salt water cooling system.
ACCESSORIES
Standard equipment: each Solaris is custom built; accessory
may vary according to owner's requirements.
TRIAL RESULTS
SEA AND WEATHER CONDITIONS AT TRIAL TIME
MORNING
wind: force 3/4
sea state: calm
AFTERNOON
wind: 17/18 knots
sea state: moderate swell
OBSERVED PERFORMANCES
During the morning the mainsail and MPS were hoisted up and the
yacht performed a smooth sailing even with the light breeze.
Navigation under power has been tested, showing excellent
maneuverability and docking capabilities also hanks to the
effective bow-thruster. 8.5 knots has been achieved at 2000 rpm,
with low noise emission and vibrations free. During the afternoon,
the yacht achieved 8.5 knots sailing close hauled, increasing to 9
- 9.2 knots when bearing up. The hull performed excellent course
steadiness on wave impact, powerful but light at the same time. On
cross wind routes the speed has been recorded at 9 knots with
excellent maneuverability.
COMFORT AND FUNCTIONALLY EVALUATION
Project: Douglas Peterson is the designer of "Black Magic",
the racing sailboat which won the last America Cup edition winning
5 to 0; surely an excellent guarantee of this design. The Solaris
59 is, however, a cruise yacht although the sporty character is
evident under way. The cutter rigging is surely more relaxing. -
Construction material and detailing: the yacht has been built to
the highest standards available. All building materials are as
close as possible to the best currently available on the market,
from the glass fibers to the resins and to the teak widely used in
the construction. The yard itself manufactures all the stainless
steel fittings. Below deck, the interiors are elegant with
excellent finishing, and clearly seaworthy. The well known yard's
craftsmanship has one of its best example on this yacht.
Deck: the jib furling system storage is innovative and
interesting. The sail locker is really comfortable, and its access
ladder can be used for boarding the yacht from a dingy. The fore
cleats are very practical with a purposely designed wooden cover
to prevent spinnaker sheets from getting caught; just another
example on how accurate is the yacht finishing throughout. The
cockpit canvas is practical and effective. Excellent the cockpit
sole which is an electrically actuated table. The lazzarette
lockers are spacious and well conceived. Every detailed has been
masterly built, including the fairleads, guardrail and handrails.
Standing rigging: the Velscaf mast an boom are practical
and strong. The fullbattened mainsail ensure an easy lowering and
covering with its lazy-jack. The Hood sail set is complete for all wind conditions.
Running rigging: complete, efficient and practical. The
electrical winches and hydraulic jib furling system have the manual option.
Cockpit: deep and sheltered in spite of its dimensions.
Interiors: seaworthy and luxurious. satisfactory lockers
number and extreme care to detailing. The dinette area is elegant
with its white leather finishing. Spacious and comfortable
chart table. The galley, the working spaces and the bathrooms reflect
the high standard concept of the yacht.
Steering comfort: comfortable and sheltered. Impressive
instrument set on the steering console. The floor bow-thruster
controls are very practical.
Life raft position: excellent.
Engine: the Volvo Penta TAMD 41 DHD engine has power at low
rpm. The perfect installation is noise and vibration free. The
engine room is practical with plenty of space around the main engine.
On board plants: the electrical plant is divided into two
sub-sections: 24 v d.c. and 220 v 50 hz a.c. . The main electrical
board feature megnetotermic switches and led for each application,
main safety switch, voltmeter and ammeter. All panels and lines
are easily reachable for maintenance and is safe and reliable. The
fresh water tanks are made of 10/15 stainless steel for a total
capacity of 800 liters, fitted with valves. They are placed
underneath the saloon floor. On board plants include: air-conditioning, battery charger, water maker, navigation
instruments, hydraulic jib furling system, hydraulic vang,
electric winches and hydraulic actuated cockpit table. The bow-thruster f
eature two hydraulic actuated doors which serve the
purpose of closing the tunnel; the system is SE.RI.GI. patented.
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