A sailboat to share the passion of family sailing
When Richard set out to buy a boat in 2021, it was not his first sailboat. After having a Muscadet for several years, he had a Grand Soleil 40 in the Mediterranean, but the Lorient native now has his sights set on another program: "I wanted to take over a boat to introduce my children to sailing. I thought of taking over a Muscadet, but in good condition, they are quite expensive these days. With the Grand Soleil 40, I'd seen how impressive the size of the boat can be. So I was aiming for something smaller
A rather Nordic boat
Richard concedes a soft spot for half-tonners, but it's hard to find them in good condition. In 2021, the market is tight, and Richard is looking over a wide geographical area: "I had identified the X-79, but it's hard to find in France, as it's more common in the Baltic and northern Europe. I saw an advert on the internet in Poland. It seemed to be in good condition and well equipped. So I appointed an expert in Poland and carried out the transaction remotely. The boat was ?16,000 with trailer, to which I added ?2,000 for the survey and transport back to Brittany."
An iconic yacht from X Yachts
Visit X-79 the first model of the danish shipyard X Yachts is inseparable from its history, and has greatly contributed to its reputation. Launched in 1979, the 7.96 m long yacht was a great success, with almost 500 units sold between 1979 and 1994, competing with the J24s at the time, with superior habitability. Designed by the shipyard's iconic naval architect, Niels Jeppesen, the boat boasts a surface area of 38.9 m2 upwind and 74 m2 downwind, for just 1.35 T lightship.
The well-protected cockpit features two beautiful cockpit benches for a yacht of her size, and the interior layout follows the usual pattern for boats of this size at the time.
The saloon seating extends into a coffin berth under the cockpit or a storage area, while a couple can sleep in the forepeak.
Between the two, at the foot of the mast, you'll find a small sink on one side and a map table on the other, where you can add your camping stove.
Under the cockpit floor, a vast space is available for storage, making it easy to remove the step from the companionway.
A high-performance small sailboat
After a first summer enjoying the boat, Richard decided to invest to make his small boat big: " I thought about going bigger, but the draught issues didn't suit me for sailing in Southern Brittany. I added a fixed autopilot, 2 solar panels on the aft hatches and a water cow. And I invested in some nice sails. One of the boat's first qualities is that it's fast in light airs. It works well, and when I'm sailing single-handed, I can get up to 10 knots downwind and quickly make 6 to 7 knots upwind."
Richard concedes that on a well-rigged sailboat, you have to reduce the canvas pretty quickly. He doesn't see the problem of low and runabout rigging: "You either like it or you don't. I find it interesting to have extra things to sort out and it's not that complicated."
Warm interior
For the yachtsman, the 1980s interior adds to the warmth of the cabin, compared with the white interiors of modern fast yachts. And the cabin meets his expectations of family cruising: "We manage to put 2 children head to toe on the rear bunks and the parents in the front tip, although I have to admit that managing the latter's diapers can be tricky!"
For Richard, the X-79 has the faults of its qualities - lightness and size - but they're not really faults at all! : "Small boat, small problem. My best sailing memories are on my Muscadet and not on my Grand Soleil 40."
