Toby Hodges takes a look at some of the biggest and best yachts that will be on show at Boot Dusseldorf 2025, the world's largest yacht and watersports fair
Boot Dusseldorf, the world’s largest yacht and watersports fair, is expected to attract over 200,000 visitors over nine days from 18 January. Exhibitors at Boot Dusseldorf 2025 will comprise all forms of watersports enthusiasts from yachtsmen and motorboaters wanting to see the latest premieres through to windsurfers, paddleboarders and divers.
If you haven’t been before, Boot Dusseldorf is a truly mammoth event, with approximately 1,500 exhibitors spread across 220,000m2 of space in 17 halls.
Some notable new yachts and debuts we know about so far include the new Grand Soleil Blue, which is built out of recycled materials, Saffier Yachts’ new flagship Saffier SL46, which is by far the largest yacht yet from the family-run Dutch daysailer specialists, from Denmark both X–Yachts’ new racer the XR-41, and an exciting new Dragonfly 36 trimaran, plus the European Yacht of the Year 2025 nominated ClubSwan 43 and Yachting World cover model J/40. Nautor Swan will also be showing its smallest model yet, the exciting new ClubSwan 28 sportsboat.
The EYOTY awards will be presented on the opening evening of the show (nominees below). The stunning Contest 63CS is on the shortlist, and will be exhibited on the Dutch yard’s stand alongside the Contest 55CS (a previous winner) and the Contest 49CS, a combination which is sure to make a formidable display.
Also going big again for this show is Solaris Yachts, with its new Solaris 55 which premiered during the autumn shows alongside a Solaris 50 and Solaris 64RS.
While many of these big yards had confirmed their presence in November, there are several notable exceptions for 2025, including Hanse and Moody, Bavaria, Elan Yachts, and very little representation from the catamaran sector – the only cruising cat will be the Excess 11.
With less and less demand for racing or cruiser-racers, Beneteau is increasingly looking at the fast, fun cruising sector… And it wants to get beginners comfortable with planing sailing. Also crucial to this is keeping it to an accessible/ entry-level price of €100,000.
The key is keeping the Beneteau First 30 simple to sail so that an average sailor can get planing easily and enjoyably. Designed by by IMOCA and Class 40 expert Sam Manuard, the First 30 weighs only 3.1 tonnes, with 60m2 of upwind sail area so it should jump onto the plane in 13-14 knots wind. The deck layout is deliberately simplified, while the interior features a large forward cabin and galley, two berths and a single heads.
Saffier Yachts, a family-owned Dutch yard, is now the established name in luxury daysailers.
So this new 46ft performance cruiser marks a step change to its business model. The Saffier SL46 is designed for fast cruising in comfort from a spacious sheltered cockpit. It is offered as a Med or North version, the former with an open aft deck and helm seats which convert into lounge beds, and the latter with a closed cockpit and dinghy stowage. Both have high-class two or three-cabin interiors.
The SL 46 is once again an in-house design. The hull shape shows a flattish run in the aft sections for performance. The vacuum-infused glassfibre hull has a galvanised steel grid for reinforcing keel and rig loads. Price ex VAT: €580,000.
Saffier will have a standout stand as it will also exhibit the previous EYOTY award winners the Saffier SE33 Life, Saffier SE27 Leisure, and the Saffier SE24 Lite.
Boot will see the world premiere of X-Yachts first pure racer for many years. The XR41 is a contemporary shape that includes considerable flare above the waterline aft to reduce wetted surface area in light airs. The size was chosen to make it the fastest boat, capable of getting the best possible results on corrected time, in Class B of the ORC rating system.
It has a comfortable interior for fast cruising, including a spacious owner’s cabin forward and a full galley.
The Danish yard will also be exhibiting an X4º, an Xc47 and an X49 mkII.
This appealing new Grand Soleil Blue is the first recyclable serial production boat built in Italy – A 10m fast and cool weekender. Designed by Matteo Polli and built with the engineering help of NL Comp, the GS Blue is made from thermoplastic resin, which, unlike traditional thermoset resins, can be separated from the glass or carbon fibres and reused at its end of life.
All interior materials are also recyclable and even the sails are made from thermoplastic materials.
The 33ft 3.3-tonne craft is described as ‘a daysailer with extended range’, an easy-to-use boat with a large stern deck area. It has a 36m2 main and can fly a 100m2 gennaker.
Propulsion is via a 12kW electric engine, with lithium batteries charged by solar integrated into the deck and hydrogeneration. The Nauta interior can sleep four.
If it’s not the largest yacht in the show, the Contest 63CS will still surely make for one of the highlights of boot Dusseldorf. This Judel Vrolick shape is now familiar to the modern range from the Dutch family-run yard.
Size-wise the 63CS is right on the limit of being manageable by an owner-operator. Indeed the first example has a crew cabin.
As we found when we sailed it for European Yacht of the Year trials in Palma in October, powered systems that are easy to operate from the helm pedestals are key. Step below decks and you find a seriously impressive, tasteful interior by Wetzels Brown Partners, offered in teak or oak.
The semi-custom layout revolves around the raised saloon and deep long passageway galley. Its finish quality smacks of superyacht class.
Not only does the pink spinnaker of this alluring new first J/40 adorn our January cover, but our full review of this slippery new model is in there too – out now. It’s J/Boats through and through and offers an elegant alternative to the modern voluminous shapes more common these days.
With an increasing trend for and interest in high latitudes cruising, you can be sure that this Bestevaer model will pull a large crowd. Aluminium specialists KM Yachtbuilders are showing MicMac, its latest 54ft custom centreboarder.
It is based on the Dutch yard’s popular and rugged go-anywhere Dykstra Bestevaer design but with some of its family-friendly Stadtship features incorporated too, such as a large pilothouse, spacious cockpit and luxurious interior.
The Danish fast cruising trimaran experts have spent two and a half years working up this new 36. “It’s a scaled down 40, but with some new ideas,” designer Jens Quorning explains. These include a new swing-wing folding system to reduce beam to 2.7m, and a reverse bow on the main hull, which brings more volume, buoyancy and speed.
It is offered as a cruising version with self-tacking jib or a performance version with taller rig. With its two double cabins, the Dragonfly 36 presents a versatile package, from fast shorthanded cruising to offshore racing. dragonfly.dk
Designed for two to live aboard in real comfort, the Heyman 42 PPH (Pocket Pilothouse) combines some of the best of monohull and multihull features into a modern hull shape – an attractive yacht which brings a lot of fresh thinking from a lifetime’s design experience.
It offers beach house-style, inside-outside living, in what Heyman promotes as ‘a level of comfort offered by few, if any, boats under 55ft’.
What does a genuine cruiser-racer look like today? Spicy and seriously appealing if we take Swan’s latest model as an example. Granted, the dark brown water surrounding the ClubSwan 43 (CS43) during this first photoshoot doesn’t quite sell it, but believe me, the lines and details of Juan Kouyoumdjian’s latest rocketship really does get the heart rate spiking. This is one slippery weapon, potentially as stunning to sail as her fiery looks promise.
Nautor Swan will celebrate a new stand location in Hall 16 by showing three of its latest models, including a first boatshow for the ClubSwan 28.
Solaris Yachts always put on a memorable show at Dusseldorf, it’s rigless hulls usually displayed at an appreciable viewing height on a sea of coloured glass. This Solaris 55 is a fitting model to celebrate Solaris Yachts 50th anniversary in style.
A guaranteed crowd-pleaser! The elegant and timeless Hoek lines of the Eagle 46 feature extensive overhangs combined with state-of-the-art appendages under the water and a powerful sloop rig. This Carbon Edition has a Corecell carbon hull and deck, plus carbon mast and boom and North 3Di Endurance sails.
The deck layout is set up for easy single-handed sailing and there’s a large cockpit for family and friends to enjoy. It features a recyclable EcoDeck, and has enough accommodation below decks to spend a few days on board.
It will also be accompanied by an Eagle 38 on display.
UK sportsboat specialist RS will introduce its latest model a 12ft cat, the baby sister to the RSCAT16 and 14, designed as a simple and easy-to-handle entry-level boat for launching off the beach. €5250 ex VAT.
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