A very nice quality as standard
The Solaris is offered at 314,000 euros (excl. VAT) with a Sparcraft mast, four Harken winches, oak interior, Jefa steering systems and an impeccable construction in airex/glass/epoxy foam sandwich for the hull and deck. The shipyard's motto "boats made by sailors for sailors" is emphasized here. Thus, it is about 20 to 25% more expensive than the most popular production boats, but the difference in quality rationally explains this difference with superior materials and a sophisticated implementation.
An exhaustive list of options
In this high-end segment, the customer must be able to obtain the best equipment as well as the possibility to customize his boat as close as possible to his desires. The equipment is all to be chosen from a catalog. Our test boat, which was well equipped for cruising, came with an extra 193,780 euros (excl. tax) in options compared to the base price. Teak on the deck, hot and cold air conditioning and Garmin electronics were on the program, but the client remained very sober on many items. It is possible on this kind of unit to have a carbon mast with a Hall Spars in-boom furler, a high-tech set of sails, multimedia galore and a luxury finish with leather upholstery, stainless steel door steps etc... By being greedy on the options, we can easily exceed 650 000 euros HT, but at this price we will have a top boat. When you like it, you don't count.
What about the competition?
If the larger series of boats oriented on cruising alone are not comparable, there are still a few shipyards specializing in the exercise of high-end racing-cruising and the competition is quite present. The Solaris 44 is in the same price range as the direct competitors and the difference will be more on aesthetic or technical issues than on the final bill which will be very similar. Delher with its "small" 46 rises to this level, but with a more conventional deck plan, marks a little the step. This is also the case of the X 43 or the XP 44 which both, despite a very good finish, have a deck plan with winches on the companionway and on the coamings which are a bit dated compared to the rear winches. Finally, Solaris' direct Italian competitor, Grand Soleil, is planning to present its new 44 at the 2020 Cannes Boat Show (alas, cancelled). Judging by the 3D rendering, it will be very interesting to discover it.
