The Hanse 410 appeared on the scene with a clear family resemblance and spaciousness ideal for speeding along.

When the Hanse 460 was launched two years ago, she represented a significant development for Hanse Yachts.

The changes weren’t radical, but Hanse wanted to make sure she looked different and did everything just that little bit better than her predecessor.

The 460 was the first model from the Berret-Racoupeau design team as opposed to Judel/Vrolijk, with whom Hanse had been working for decades.

She took her place in the range alongside Judel/Vrolijk’s 458 until the older model was discontinued. And what an extraordinary success the 460 has been – over 300 have been built to date.

When I tested her in the summer of 2022, it was easy to see that she would have wide appeal. She was big, fast, comfortable, roomy and easy to handle; still unmistakably a Hanse, yet with styling and detailing that set her apart from earlier models.

The big question then was which boat in the range (all with designations ending in ‘8’) would be the next to be replaced by a new ‘0-series’ Berret-Racoupeau design.

Eventually we found out: the 418 would give way to the 410, which was launched at last year’s Cannes Boat Show shortly before appearing at Southampton.

Not surprisingly, the new arrival looked much like her big sister in many respects.

She had the same reverse bow, a hint of reverse sheer and a pronounced knuckle above the waterline forward to maximise space below decks. Full bow sections would make sure there was plenty of space to maximise.

She had a soft chine aft and a single rudder. Large windows were set into the topsides.

What works in one size of boat, however, doesn’t always work in one bigger or smaller, so there was no guarantee that the 410 would be as impressive as her big sister, size difference notwithstanding.

On the other hand, given the combined experience of Hanse and Berret-Racoupeau, it seemed unlikely that they wouldn’t hit the target pretty well in the middle.

Size matters with the Hanse 410

Over the past few years we have all become accustomed to new boats being incredibly spacious compared with those of similar length from a few years ago.

Beamy, full-sectioned hulls, towering topsides, broad sterns and no overhangs at the ends have made sure of that.

The most recent development has been the full bow, which we have talked about in recent YM tests of new models from Jeanneau, Hanse, Bavaria and Dufour.

I won’t re-introduce the discussion on bow shapes here, given that the full bow on mainstream production cruising yachts is no longer totally new, but it’s worth repeating that designers and builders just love being able to push so much volume forward.

As well as creating enormous forecabins, it also helps to make the boats better balanced than their finer-bowed predecessors and, in some conditions, just as fast if not faster.

Internally, the high-volume hulls with full bows are more spacious than anyone even 10 years ago might have believed the hull of a cruising yacht could possibly be – especially a cruising yacht with a respectable turn of speed.

Such is the space on new-generation designs from some builders that they have given them names to make them sound appreciably longer than they really are, just in case prospective buyers might otherwise imagine they were too small.

That’s not the case with the Hanse 410, whose hull is 39ft 4in (11.99m) long. This is a 40-footer that’s bigger down below than many 45s of the relatively recent past.

While you can experience the space below decks at a boat show, you have to sail one of these boats to see how it handles out at sea.

In the case of the Hanse 410, it acquits itself pretty well.

Very well most of the time, in fact, though an east-north-easterly in the Solent on the day of our test gave us flat water and no opportunity to see how she would cope in a seaway.

At least we had enough breeze to push her reasonably hard, so we did. After briefly discussing whether we should drop a slab in the main, we decided to set off
with everything flying and see what happened.

We had the standard self-tacking jib rather than the optional 105% genoa, so at least we weren’t over-canvased forward of the mast.

Helping us to de-power when necessary were the optional laminate sails from Elvstrom. The standard sails are in Dacron.

During the time we were out, Bramblemet was showing wind speeds in the high teens gusting to mid 20s. That typically gave us 22-24 knots over the deck, with occasional readings of 28.

On our test boat, the Dyneema halyards that are part of the Performance Pack had yet to be fitted, so we struggled to maintain as much halyard tension as
we needed.

Nonetheless, with occasional top-ups combined with plenty of outhaul and a few good heaves on the backstay (a 24:1 purchase plus the bifurcation, effectively giving around 40:1) we got the sails reasonably flat.

In the flat water, keeping the boat on her feet by feathering into the gusts while maintaining decent boat-speed was easy enough in conditions that might have encouraged some cruising sailors to reef.

The Hanse remained light on the helm and engagingly responsive to sail, clocking speeds in the high 6s at just over 30° to the apparent wind and tacking through around 85° by the compass.

If I deliberately provoked her by sailing too deep, she proved to be remarkably tolerant: the weight on the helm increased only slightly and the rudder maintained a limpet-like grip even with the gunwale awash.

This is a boat that will reward those who pay attention to their sailing, yet without punishing those whose idea of a close-hauled course is anything between head-to-wind and a beam reach.

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Twist and go

Downwind we reaped the benefit of carrying the full mainsail. With a self-tacking jib you will inevitably lose much of its power as soon as the sheet is eased a few inches and the leech twists open, so it’s useful to have enough mainsail to compensate.

Good though it is to have a decent backstay tensioner (often not provided on cruising boats), the Hanse approach has always been to keep things simple on the sail front.

That’s great in some ways– it minimises hardware, leading to clearer decks and less cost – but it leaves limited scope for sail-tweaking. You can’t have it both ways.

I wonder, however, whether Hanse might adopt a bridle for the centre mainsheet instead of anchoring the blocks to strong-points on deck.

While it wouldn’t help control twist in the mainsail on a day like we had – a traveller is the answer – it would improve things in light airs.

Further refinements I would like to make in the mainsail department are to have three shallower reefs instead of the two very deep ones.

Both are single-line, the second one probably as deep as the length of the boom allows. So deep is the first that it would take out nearly a third of the area.

It would be like driving a car with only first, third and fifth gears. Four battens also seems a bare minimum in a mainsail of this size.

Otherwise when it came to sailing and handling, life was good.

At either of the wheels, depending on whether you like to helm from windward or leeward, you have a comfortable perch outboard and all the sheets, halyards and reefing lines within easy reach.

They’re led aft under deck mouldings to a bank of Spinlock clutches and a Lewmar 45 self-tailer each side, upgraded to electric self-tailers on our test boat.

If you want to keep the cockpit clear, you can tuck the tails away in the halyard-tidy lockers under the outboard helm seats, where you also find the gas bottles.

From your outboard perch you can keep an eye on the numbers because the helm consoles can incorporate repeaters (Raymarine’s i70s in this case) on their outboard sides.

The starboard console houses the throttle for the 39hp Yanmar saildrive that, on our test boat, drove a two-bladed folding prop. Among the many bolt-on packages and individual extras we had both bow- and stern-thrusters.

A comfortable balance

Because of the flat water we only felt the occasional thud from under the bow. How the boat would behave upwind in a chop I simply don’t know.

Full-scow bows can cope surprisingly well because, when the boats heel, they present an angled section of hull to the waves. On the basis of what we experienced during our test, all I can say is that the Hanse handled very nicely.

With a rudder of a decent size and the hull-balancing effect of the full bow, there’s definitely no need for twin rudders on a boat like this.

You get a better feel through the helm with a single rudder, and many people reckon that single-rudder steering systems are inherently more robust and reliable than twin-rudder equivalents.

Forward of the helm consoles in the wide and relatively shallow cockpit is a table each side, though you can have a central one that incorporates stowage if you prefer.

Needless to say, the twin tables can be lowered at the touch of a button (as an option) to create sunbeds.

Moving forward again, nothing out of the ordinary by modern standards strikes you on deck. The raised bulwarks forming the hull-to-deck joint are widely seen these days and lend security under foot.

In Hanse tradition you’re met with a plethora of deck hatches. What I would like to see is more non-slip: the central section of the coachroof abaft the opening hatch is left smooth, as is the whole of the coachroof abaft the sprayhood.

Boatbuilders seem to assume that no one is ever going to lower the sprayhood and stand on the coachroof either side of the companionway – as you do when stowing the mainsail, for example.

If the sail is new and stiff, that takes a bit of effort and more than five minutes. Hoisting, lowering and reefing might be simple enough, but you still need to put it away.

In this section of the coachroof you find a shallow recess each side for putting small things that you don’t want to slide around.

I would prefer more secure places to keep the essentials that you want close at hand – binoculars, hand-bearing compasses and the like – but they’re rarely found on new boats since the oh-so-useful coaming lockers went out of fashion.

Heading down the companionway you do, however, find another oh-so-useful traditional feature in the form of full-height pillar handholds each side. That’s a big tick in my book.

As for the rest of the interior – well, the pictures tell the story. According to the brochure, ‘radiating a bright, modern, and loft-like ambience, the Hanse 410 envelops you in a sophisticated, feel-good atmosphere.’

What lies beneath

Purple prose aside, it’s light, bright, open and airy. Notable features include the saloon table, which has hinge-up leaves, a pop-up bottle store abaft the compression post, a useful deep recess in the middle and a large drawer opening from the aft end.

Our boat had two double cabins in the stern, but if you choose just the one you have a full-depth cockpit locker to port instead of the half-depth one.

More variations are on offer in the saloon and forecabin: desk and utility space to starboard in the saloon, or a longer settee berth.

In the enormous forecabin with its island berth, you can opt to have a second heads if you wish.

Sole boards are fixed down, with sections dotted around that can be lifted by suction pad in the Hanse tradition. Stowage is better than on many new boats and it’s generally a workable, welcoming and agreeable environment below decks.

On new Hanses now you even get sealed end-grain in the sole boards (apart from the lifting sections) and some of the trim is still solid timber.

The test verdict

I have said it before about the latest generation of cruisers from the mainstream builders, and I’m sure I will say it again: they’re clever pieces of design.

The development of full bow sections has made an enormous difference, because some earlier-generation designs with high-volume hulls and finer bows were verging on the unmanageable when the breeze picked up.

Thankfully, Hanses have always avoided those extremes and been boats that sail nicely.

These relatively recent developments – better-balanced hulls, low-centre-of-gravity keels, bigger rudders and more generous rigs – mean that boats like the Hanse 410 can be amazingly roomy yet still offer a pretty good performance under sail in most conditions.

Both above deck and below the question is how well the designer and builder use all that space they have created.

In the case of the Hanse and the sort of sailing for which she’s intended, they have used it well.

Would she suit you and your crew?

It goes without saying that the Hanse 410 is not for the traditionalist or the purist. She’s not intended to be. She’s an excellent example of a boat that has expanded the centre ground.

Unless you’re searching for something sportier or more suited to serious offshore cruising, there’s a very good chance that she will do all that you want and more.

Hanse offers an impressive range of standard options, from keel, sails and engine (including ‘sustainable’ alternatives) to interior layout, hull colour, interior decor and much more.

You can use Hanse’s online ‘configurator’ to play around with the options and see what your boat will look like.

This is a thoroughly modern boat presented in a thoroughly modern way. If you like what you see at a glance, you’re unlikely to be disappointed when you look more closely.