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Test Sail Sold!
I first learned of the Esse 850 from an SA ad which led me to the Esse website, displaying photos of what looked like a 28 ft version of an America's Cup yacht. Narrow beam, huge cockpit with open transom, plumb bow, and high aspect flat top main with big roach. Add to this a teak cockpit floor, a surprising detail in a race boat, and you have a sexy little yacht with a distinctly Italian flair. My pulse already racing at the sight of this svelte beauty, I moved on to the specs to find a 2600 lb displacement, 59% of which is ballast in the form of a bulb on the end of a tapering keel section. Bells went off in my head. Could this mean that I had found that Holy Grail of a race boat: a fast beautiful yacht that could be raced with fewer crew? That was precisely Josef's vision. I had to find out for myself. So after a few organizational calls to Christian and Tammy Junker, the newly contracted US importers, I found myself on a plane to Zurich. Josef picked
me up at the airport and we drove along the perimeter of the Zurichsee
(German for "Lake Zurich"), where green/grey mountain rise above
a succession of picturesque waterfront villages. We went straight to Stafa,
where a brand new boat destined for Hamburg waited on her trailer. As
we hoisted her up, her retractable keel lowered another 2 feet, and we
set her down in the cool fresh water. The cockpit was huge, and the teak
floor was raised slightly over the outboard storage well, which nicely
served the dual purpose of a foot brace. A lifting strap to a single point
hoist attaches to 2 rings on the cockpit floor on either side of the keel.
All controls are led aft, with sprit control lines and backstay line at
the base of the traveler, which sits at the feet of the driver who controls
them, along with the main. The halyards and winches are just forward of
the traveler. The chute is hoisted and doused from the companionway: no
bow work required on this boat. The tapered aluminum mast is deck stepped,
with a supporting pole running under it through the center of the cabin;
rod rigging, 2 spreaders. Adjustable jib cars (thank goodness!). A couple
of thoughtful details caught my eye: a stainless steel recess in the cockpit
wall to wedge the tiller extension, and a drain running from the aft end
on the sprit tube to prevent water collecting in the small but functional
vee berth. This is a one design racer, not a racer cruiser; that's the
purpose of the boat, so don't expect to find a galley, head or settees.
About an hour later we were joined by 3 other Esses for some informal around the cans races, with the local North sailmaker on a launch as RC. I switched form the motorless new boat to one with an inboard 8 hp Yamaha saildrive (inboard or outboard options exist). I could feel the added weight of the engine, but we were still competitive, with the others. In fact we rolled over one; I'd like to think it was my driving, but it was probably our 3 bodies as opposed to their 2, which shows that weight does play a role, despite the boat's narrow beam. The boat I switched onto was co-owned by Andreas, former international Finn competitor and class treasurer. His beginner sailor girlfriend and I rounded out the crew. He drove the starts, and I was amazed to see that we could actually pull off a dingy-type luff at the line start, still accelerating fast enough off the line to be first to the windward mark. Before long, though, the Esse team boat (Henri Lloyd sponsored) got us, due to the superior skills of skipper Oscar, former Laser World Champion, Swiss national team Star sailor, and Swedish Match Racing umpire. With Oscar at the helm the Esse has done well in European lake racing in the past year. "She is a very special boat," says Oscar. "OK, so she sails great in 8-12; lots of boats can do that," I hear you saying. By scheduling a 3 day visit I hoped to sail the boat in different conditions. Nature and Josef's local knowledge provided the opportunity. The next day we traveled to nearby Lake Wallensee, where high surrounding mountains created a sort of wind tunnel effect resulting in 15-25 knot winds, with some gusts even higher. Both of us are small people, and together weigh less than 300 lbs. This would certainly be a good test of just how much that 59% B/D and 6.5 ft draft could help us. Josef was confident in the performance of his boat. Still, when he suggested life jackets, I was quick to accept one. At the end of the lake where the boat lived it was pretty breathless. We skulled out of the slip (Josef, a purist, didn't even bother affixing the 4hp outboard which lay tucked in the well). A few hundred yards out a tiny 2 knot puff picked us up and we accelerated noiselessly downwind. Soon after, we came into the white caps, still with the wind behind us. Up went the chute in what looked like about 15-20 (no wind instruments). Before we knew it we hit 11 knots boat speed. We were aggressively heading up, trying to duplicate the 14 knots he had seen on that same lake a few weeks before with Christian and Tammy, but we just couldn't coax the speedo any higher. Just them a REALLY BIG gust caught us unprepared, and we were pretty much on our ear for a few moments, but we managed to regain control, pop the vang and douse the chute. (I still think that it wouldn't have happened if we hadn't left the vang on). We got ourselves together and launched the chute again, effortlessly reaching 10 knots at a beam to broad reach, and in the 8knot range nearly dead downwind. Then it was time to head up. This would be no easy matter, I thought, with 300 lbs on the rail and 15-20 knots, gusting higher. Again I was pleasantly surprised: we hung out at 15 degrees of heel. In the bigger puffs she leaned over a bit more, and I feathered up in response. We were pointing ridiculously high and maintaining boat speeds of 7.2 knots, knocked down to 6.5 knots in the big puffs.
As the sun
sets over the Zurichsee, I find myself on the last night of a whirlwind
(sometimes literally as well as figuratively) 3 day visit to the land
of the Esse. The exhilarating sailing, the spectacular landscape, the
sexy little boat…I think I have died and gone to Heaven. But not
the least of is it is the sailors involved with this unique boat. I sailed
with and against these guys; we sat down together over steaks, beer and
wine, and talked sailing, all of them in varying levels of English, mostly
excellent, translating from German for me when necessary. One thing became
overwhelmingly clear: sailors the world over are passionate about their
sport and excited when they find a boat that lets them experience it to
the max. That comes through in any language. The fact that sailors like
Oscar and Andreas love this boat speaks volumes about the exciting dingy-like
quality of this vessel. It is a boat for the sailing purist. And Josef's
enthusiasm and attention to detail will ensure its continued excellent
production quality. So, fellow anarchists, despite the perils of chop,
PHRF ratings and 40 foot symmetric boats, I throw caution to the winds.
This boat is so much fun to sail I can't imagine not being able to hold
that tiller again, so I've taken the plunge. The first US boat, hull 40,
will be delivered to me in the southern Chesapeake Bay sometime in early
September. If you're in the area, PM me and I'll take you out for a spin.
Otherwise I'll be with the Esse, along with Christian and Tammy, at the
Annapolis boat show in October. Cbayracer |
