Nine! Nine point five! Ten! Eleven! Eleven point five!’ Watching the boat speed climb into double figures in the gusts was addictive; we were broad reaching back up the Needles Channel towards Hurst Castle with a Force 5
up our stern, a smooth wake fizzing off the transom of the Saffier SE33 Life and the breeze was building.

I’m not going to lie, this was a fun test sail. You need to be pretty confident that the boat you’re selling is a good sailing boat, given the fact that you don’t get much else for your quarter-of-a-million quid with the Saffier SE33 Life.

You certainly don’t get much accommodation for her size, or even standing headroom for that matter, and nor do you get a kitted-out race machine either. So just what does this 33-footer offer that makes her so special?

As we set sail, Saffier’s founder Dennis Hennevanger explained that this is a ‘luxury daysailer’ that gives you the option to sleep on board every now and then if you so wish. This might sound like an expensive toy, but the yard is now building upwards of 160 boats a year, all of them daysailers of between 24 and 37ft. While the yard is adding its first proper cruising boat – the SL46 – to the range this year, there is clearly something about these daysailers that is striking a chord with the kind of sailing people want.

The Saffier SE33 Life is a completely new model to replace the previous, highly successful SE 33. When one arrived in the UK, I jumped at the chance to find out what this boat is all about, and whether it would really suit British waters. Dennis assured me it would, given that all the boats are tested on the North Sea from IJmuiden, rather than on the Dutch inland seas, but I wanted to find out for myself.

Understated elegance

At first glance, the Saffier SE33 Life (SE standing for Saffier Elegance), lives up to her name. Achingly pretty and with a daringly low freeboard, the first impression is of a boat with extremely clean lines with very little to distract the eye. Her layout is unmistakably modern, though understated, and has resisted temptation towards current fads to retain a timeless appeal.

Polished navy-blue topsides sweep aft from an over one-metre-long carbon bowsprit. Fine bows spread out to a wide but chine-free transom. The decks are mostly flush save for a small coachroof, atop of which sits a windscreen and a sprayhood that can be folded up.

From there a vast cockpit opens up with three distinct secetion; sheltered seating forwards, twin wheels surrounded by controls for all systems on board in the middle, and finally an extensive quarter deck for lounging in the sun and sipping rosé.

Core concept

This tells you a great deal about the boat and the concept that drives most Saffier models. As Dennis Hennevanger explained, ‘The concept grows out of four pillars: Simplicity of sailing and handling, but also of minimal maintenance; comfort for you and your guests on board, both in harbour and underway; safety in the construction of the boat, and the amount of stability she has; and finally speed – this is a boat that is really built for performance and easy, high speeds.’

With that in mind, a crew of three of us slipped lines on a June day that really couldn’t have been much nicer, and with wind due to build into the afternoon, we were looking forward to trying the boat out in a range of windspeeds. We started at the bottom end of Force 4 from the west, which gave us a good beat towards Hurst Castle, the ebbing tide adding to the apparent wind, giving us 17-19 knots over the deck.

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In the flat water we were easily slicing along at almost 6 knots and 28º to the apparent wind. Crack the sheets a smidgen and sailing at 35º to the apparent got us into the low sixes, all of which was achieved with a beautifully light and balanced helm, seasoned with just a enough weather helm in the gusts to let you know where you stood. It was all delightfully composed, even if decorum says we should have been tucking a reef in.

Halyard and backstay tension and dropping the main down traveller kept things under control as the breeze built. What is noticeable about this boat is the amount of heel she would tolerate; in fact, on the wind, we didn’t find a point at which should let go – easily up to 45º of heel, though you’re not sailing her right if you’ve got that much on.

This is in part thanks to her deep single Jefa rudder, from which there is no play in the steering system; her 1.70m bulb keel, giving her a displacement to ballast ratio of just over 40%, and her increased form stability from the wider aft hull sections. The fact that this boat, as most SE33s are, was fitted with the optional carbon mast and boom, carbon curved spreaders, rod rigging, and fathead main, means there’s very little weight aloft and plenty of power.

Perfectly balanced

This isn’t Saffier’s first 33-footer, and it is in her beam being carried aft that the difference between the new and old shapes can most dramatically be seen. A credit to Saffier, however, is how well balanced the boat has remained with this beam.

As Hurst slipped by, we tucked close to the castle for the posing value and to make the most of the ripping tide. The only downside was that we found a hole in the swirling water, crashing through a mini wall of water, sending the wave cascading aft into our laps.

Whilst we had very little spray in the cockpit for the rest of the test sail, it is perhaps the downside of a fine bow, low freeboard and cockpit well forward that makes this a possibility. Our test boat, like most SE33s, wasn’t fitted with stanchions, though it’s an option that lifts the boat from RCD Category C to B. Most will only trouble themselves to mar the boat’s lines in this way if they’re worried about keeping themselves or their grandchildren aboard.

Easing the sheets, we fetched over to the Needles, nudging 7 knots under plain sail, before tucking into the stunning shelter of Scratchell Bay for a fantastic photo opportunity, where we could beat to windward against the backdrop of the Needles.

Manoeuvring here gave us a chance to get to grips with the sail controls, and it couldn’t be much simpler, making the boat easy to sail single-handed. With a self-tacking jib, there’s really very little to do while beating, and sail trim is handled by the two Harken reversible powered winches at the helm, with mainsheet on one and jib sheet on the other.

There are two sets of buttons each side by the wheel – the forward of which controls the winch on your side, and the aft controlling the winch on the far side. With controls for ‘in’ and ‘out’, you barely need to touch a rope, let alone a winch handle. If you did want to sail with the more powerful overlapping jib, these would be controlled by the manual winches outboard of the coamings, for which a willing crewmember would be helpful.

This works extremely well; the only downside to my mind is that finding the right button to press for in and out was a matter of trial and error initially, and slightly got between me and the immediacy of the sailing experience.

That said, I was much happier at hitting the right switch and getting the result I wanted by the end of our day on the water. If your crew start to get bored, you’ll just have to set one of the downwind sails. The steering position is good, whether you want to sit or stand. I did notice the lack of a guardwire to brace against when sitting outboard to leeward, so the angle of the quarterdeck was a good alternative. This would be made even more comfortable by the addition of the optional ‘gentleman seats’ – curved backrests that slot in around the helm positions.

Making headway

It was soon time to head for home – a not entirely straightforward proposition given the three-and-a- half knots of tide now hosing out of Hurst Narrows towards us. We set the 62m2 furling Code Zero from the end of the bowsprit to see if this would help, but we couldn’t resist the temptation of chasing boat speed rather than VMG.

We were soon making 8 knots at between 60-80º to the apparent, but making precious little headway against the tide. Enter the gennaker. Launched from the hatch, 95sqm of canvas soon got to work in our favour (you could add a snuffer for easier recovery). Immediately, the boat speed jumped up to 9 knots at 120-130º apparent wind angle. It was then that we could start chasing our top speeds, and make headway against the ebb.

The need for speed

Thanks to the vast spread of canvas and the boat’s light displacement of three tonnes, this is a boat that loves to accelerate. The gusts lift the bow, the wake drops away and the speed jumps by a knot or three. With the true wind hovering around 18-20 knots – a good Force 5 – we started chasing double digits, and topped out at 11.5 knots in flat water.

We may even have let out some whoops of excitement. I felt like I’d fallen into Saffier’s well-laid trap – this kind of sailing is highly addictive. Then a badly steered gybe by me put the gennaker around the forestay and it was time to drop the kite. Had we had some waves to surf and a bit more searoom to play with, I’m told the boat has been known to push into the high teens.

Scary sailing? Not in the least. I did over-egg it once or twice and end up stalling out the rudder, in part because the mainsheet was too short and we couldn’t fully sheet out. In any case, they were sedate, undramatic broaches and we were soon back on track. All this time, the boat didn’t heel excessively, the crew lounged on the cockpit benches, and I had a grin plastered on my face.

Occasional overnighter

After all of that, I’m not sure you’ll really care that there’s not much by way of accommodation. The owner of the test boat told me that in the year he’s had the boat, they will often sail as far as Chichester or Studland and back in a day. There’s a big double V-berth forwards, a long settee to port and the short settee to starboard can be lengthed by removing the insert from the v berth, so that you could, in theory, squeeze in four friends.

You’ll be able to boil a kettle on the induction hob and wash up your cups at the small galley sink. Clearly, as a Dutch boat, there is also an alcove designed to house a coffee machine. The heads offers just enough space to sit and do your business, with hanging space for wet kit aft of the toilet. Stowage is commensurately limited; there’s a large drawer under the v-berth, bins under the settees and small overhead lockers above the v-berth.

Galley stowage is confined to the companionway step locker, but storage on deck is more generous. The locker under the port bench had space for all our fenders and both offwind sails, while the lazarette is also spacious. At the bow, the anchor locker opens to reveal a fold-out bow roller, keeping the anchor hidden until required, complete with electric windlass.

Finally, while you can opt for electric propulsion on this boat in the form of a 12kW drive from Torqeedo, most sailors in tidal areas would opt for the range and reassurance of a diesel inboard, as on the test boat, which was fitted with a 15hp Yanmar via a sail drive.

Construction is in vacuum-infused isophthalic fibreglass, with solid laminate below the waterline, up to one inch thick in key locations, and foam core above the waterline. To keep the accommodation layout open and devoid of bulkheads, the coach roof and deck is reinforced with carbon fibre to maximise stiffness. This is an incredibly stiff boat that Saffier insist is pretty much bomb-proof.

Saffier SE33 Life specifications

LOA: 11.00m / 36ft 1in
Hull length: 9.85m / 32ft 4in
LWL: 9.75m / 32ft 0in
Beam: 2.85m / 9ft 4in
Draught (standard): 1.70m / 5ft 7in
Draught (shoal): 1.45m / 4ft 9in
Draught (race): 2.10m / 6ft 11in
Displacement: 3,000kg / 6,614 Lbs
Ballast: 1,250kg / 2,756 Lbs
Sail area: 54m2 / 581 sq ft
Bal/disp ratio: 42%
Disp/length: 88.7
SA/D Ratio: 26.4
Engine: Yanmar 15hp / Torqeedo 12kW Pod
Transmission: Saildrive
Water: 40L / 8.5 Gal
Fuel: 40L / 8.5 Gal
RCD: Category C (Cat B with guardrails)
Designer: Dean Hennevanger
Builder: Saffier Yachts
UK Agent: Williams Marine & Watersports
Website: saffieryachts.com

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