We’re proud to announce that Elan Yachts had just won a “Red Dot: Product Design” award for our new flagship, the Elan GT6. The “Red Dot” is the most sought-after industrial design award in the world, and the 2021 winners were chosen out of a pool of 7800 applicants from 60 countries. The GT6 previously won the Oceanway award for Best Interior Design and won the nominations for European Yacht of the Year award, the British Yachting Award and is currently also short-listed for the International Yacht and Aviation award.

The Elan GT6 is an ambitious collaborative project between Elan Yachts, Studio F. A. Porsche and Humphreys Yacht Design. It successfully delivered a segment defining yacht and is a worthy flagship to Elan's existing range. It is designed to be easily handled by a couple, yet capable of exhilarating performance across a wide range of wind and sea conditions. Its hull, drawn by Humphreys Yacht Design, combines race-derived features with the ability to carry a full cruising payload, perfectly optimised for short-handed, medium-range cruising. Combined with extensive CFD modelling, the yacht design produced a thoroughbred sailboat which delivers exhilarating performance on all points of sail.

Above the waterline, the GT6 is the first ever sailing yacht designed and styled by Studio F. A. Porsche, with an elegant silhouette and iconic good looks that will turn heads in any marina. Key features that convinced the Red Dot judges include a next-generation ergonomic cockpit with gull-wing helm pedestals and a segment-defining fully flush foredeck.

Unique styling by Studio F. A. Porsche, focused on elegance and usability; creating a distinct product silhouette with sharp lines and elaborately curved surfaces. As a unique feature, the design creates flares of light as the yacht moves through the water.

Below decks, Studio F. A. Porsche’s interior design flair brings game-changing levels of comfort and luxury to Elan’s new flagship model, while preserving the practicality of the boat as a family cruiser. Premium materials are used throughout, showcasing the fine craftsmanship of Elan’s artisan shipwrights. Focus on ergonomics and embedding a host of innovative design features bring a new level of luxury to life on board, unparalleled in a sailing yacht of its size.

‘We’re honoured that our innovative flagship won the Red Dot award,’ says Marko Škrbin, head of the Elan Yachts shipyard. ‘The GT6 truly is a small superyacht: high-level woodwork, best in GRP technology and unique design inspire true "grand turismo” spirit”.

The “Red Dot” is the award for high design quality. The international jury only awards this sought-after seal of quality to products that feature an outstanding design.

Elan’s dedication to innovative design is also evident from the fact that the Elan ski division was awarded a “Red Dot: Best of the Best 2021” award for their revolutionary Voyager foldable all-mountain ski series.

The winner for the best interior design

We’re proud to announce that the new Elan GT6 won the prestigious Oceanway China Yachts Award for Best Interior Design Monohull Sailboat over 40‘. It is the first Oceanway Magazine award received by an Elan Yacht, and a true testament to the design consciousness of both Elan R&D and Studio F. A. Porsche. Oceanway China Yachts Award is the most prestigious award in China for the Yachting Industry.

Our representatives in China, Sunwave Yachting, were at the ceremony on December 11th to receive the award.

Our flagship GT6 is a next-generation Grand Tourer that delivers the perfect balance of speed and power, comfort and luxury, good handling, and precise control.

Elan GT6 Walkthrough

Welcome to the video tour of the new sailing yacht Elan GT6!

Step aboard on the brand new Elan GT6 with Theo from Great Harbour Yachts Scotland

Theo will show you all the amazing features of this 49 ft long sailing yacht Elan GT6. Our flagship has also been nominated for the European Yacht of the Year as well for the Cruising Yacht of the Year at the British Yachting Awards. This super stylish yacht is a result of a great collaboration between us, Studio F. A. Porsche and Humphreys Yacht Design.  Strong, seaworthy, and built to last sailing yacht. The high-performance hull of the GT6 has been carefully optimised with extensive CFD modelling to be fast, stable and easily driven in a wide range of sea states. Combined with a powerful and perfectly balanced sail plan, it delivers a huge amount of fun for the helmsman and crew on all points of sail. 

This amazing sailing yacht is one of the first ones we have built and delivered to the United Kingdom. It's a 3 cabin yacht with 2 heads and has plenty of additional equipment. Enjoy the video, and don't forget to leave a big thumbs up.

Are you searching for the best beaches for your holiday. Is your chosen destination Croatia? Do you want to know which are "MUST SEE". We visited islands in Kvarner region and took drone shots of best beaches in the region. We searched islands Krk, Lošin, Rab, Ilovik, Susak, Unije, Grgur, Goli, Prvič, Plavnik, Cres and Trsteniuk and took drone shots to shov you the most amazing beaches in the region of Kvarner.

Some beaches are reachable with car or bike, but form some of them you must have a boat. But don't worry. There is always some water taxi to take you to the beach.  And even more. Some are not so famous and you will be able to enjoy your summer vacation alone on your private beach.

15 Top Beaches In Croatia

Micro locations of the beaches:

• 15. San Marino - island Rab (accessible by: car, bike, bus, boat)
• 14. Bok - island Susak (accessible by: ferry + by foot, boat)
• 13. Surbova - island Krk  (accessible by: car, bike, boat)
• 12. Golden Bay - Zlata - island Krk (accessible by: boat)
• 11. Vela Luka - island Krk (accessible by: boat)
• 10. Maman - island Rab (accessible by: boat)
• 09. Meli - island Cres  (accessible by: car, bike, boat)
• 08. Fox Bay - island Krk (accessible by: boat)
• 07. Portijel - island Cres (accessible by: boat)
• 06. Trstenik - island Trstenik (accessible by: boat)
• 05. Planka - Rab (accessible by: boat)
• 04. Jamna - island Lošinj (accessible by: boat)
• 03. Zala Draga - island Krk  (accessible by: car, bike, boat)
• 02. Kruščica - island Cres (accessible by: boat)
• 01 .Paržine - island Ilovik (accessible by: boat)

Overnight only race leader Charlie Dalin (Apivia) is the only skipper among the top 10 to have  managed to hold speeds in double figures as the leaders of the Vendée Globe continue their slow but steady progress south, trying to wriggle their way across a band of light winds to get to the Southern Ocean.

Dalin and second placed Thomas Ruyant (LinkedOut) are desperately trying to track and stay with the breezes they have, a narrow, isolated band of wind which they are working to get the most, Successfully staying under this wind flow could reward them with a perfectly timed arrival on the top of an eastwards moving low pressure system which in weather modelling would slingshot them east to more than double their 298 miles lead on third placed Jean Le Cam (Yes We Cam!). Dalin is certainly benefiting from leading into stronger breeze and appears to have a faster sail combination, likely a spinnaker, than his rival Ruyant. Their regime is demanding, manoeuvre, nav station, rest. Repeat, as described by Ruyant this morning tracking the wind in real time is key. 

“We spend time at the chart table to find the way. We know the basics, but there are a lot of subtleties to deal with and, for now, Charlie (Dalin) does it very, very well. My position in second  with a good cushion behind me is quite satisfying but we are not in the Indian Ocean yet. That is to say we are far from the goal. There is a rhythm from the star and thay is still the case, and there will be more in the coming days we will run through the whole sail inventory and combinations." 

Behind the top duo, Le Cam is sticking to his philosophy of sailing fewest miles, working a more direct route, always on the inside of the fleet relative to the centre of the Saint Helena high pressure which is now to their north. He seems intent on staying with this straight line to the SE and working as best he can through the very light winds which are ahead of him. Le Cam has repositioned slightly to put himself directly ahead of Kevin Escoffier.

In contrast Louis Burton (Bureau Vallée 2) gybed away from the second pack yesterday afternoon and is looking to work a more direct course due south. He will forego south-eastwards miles in the short term – the optimal direction – but believes that his gain will be by getting reaching a fast moving train ride east.

Meantime Alex Thomson has clearly been on the nightshift on HUGO BOSS. After resuming race mode yesterday afternoon, taking the opportunity to trundle down the track in relatively benign breezes and flat seas after the first phase of his repairs to the internal longitudinal framing in the bow of his IMOCA, the British skipper followed his plan to work the cooler night hours to finish his laminating repairs. As a consequence he has been slow during the night and slipped to seventh but he is in a good pack of boats and is very much still in the race.

Elan Yachts has brought together the expertise of designers Tom and Rob Humphreys and luxury motorcar manufacturer, Porsche to create their line of GT luxury cruisers, which are bringing about a sea change in the performance cruiser market.

The relationship between Elan Yachts and Humphreys Yacht Design has been developed over many years, bringing an array of impressive cruising yachts to market. But with the GT5, and now the latest GT6, Elan is making luxury cruisers to take on the world’s best. The GT6 in particular can boast not only the fine design skills of Tom and father Rob Humphreys, but also the talents of designers from luxury motorcar marque, Porsche to help design a truly remarkable performance cruiser.

“As an office, we’ve always had a very close affinity with Elan,” explains designer Tom Humphreys. “We’ve been working together for 25 years now and definitely have a special connection with the Elan brand.

“But I’m really excited about the new developments in the GT range. That line is going in a great direction to make it a little more luxury and more owner-focused. The GT range is all about taking the liveaboard comfort up another level”

When it comes to making a luxury cruiser that is also sporty enough to give an owner everything they crave in terms of pure sailing performance, Humphreys Yacht Design and Elan Yachts have been able to draw on their years of designing together, and technological advances in construction techniques, to deliver a performance cruiser that works for owners looking for a step up in terms of both onboard luxury and performance.

“Designing a yacht is obviously always a technical challenge, and that’s something we really enjoy, but in a sense, the biggest challenge is fulfilling an owner’s expectations,” explains Rob Humphreys.

“There is a great pride of ownership and that is really important for us. We want owners to feel really proud of their boats, and tell their friends “I’ve got a whatever,” whether it’s a race boat or a luxury cruiser.”

“For the GT6, we worked very closely with the Elan in-house team, getting a wish-list of what they would like to see on the boat,” Tom Humphreys states.

“Elan were very early adopters with the whole resin infusion process and in adopting vinylester as a resin system. That has allowed fairly significant changes, because it results in quite a bit of weight reduction on the composite structure parts.

“Really you can look at the GT6 as an evolution of everything we’ve done with Elan up to now, even building on the previous GT5 model.

“It’s a fast-cruising yacht with a very comfortable interior. It is a great concept and very much an owner’s yacht.”

“For us the process has all been about trying to optimise all these features that go into making it a really comfortable, well-mannered, easily managed design,” adds Rob Humphreys. “And the work Elan have developed in-house with the Porsche team, means the overall model makes for a unique boat with a big future.”

Getting the features right

The work Tom and Rob Humphreys have been doing in recent years on some short-handed offshore and ocean-going performance yachts was key to the development of the GT6, particularly in creating a hull form that can deliver easy performance with a short-handed couple in mind.

“Simple sail handling systems are key, as is a well-proportioned rig to keep sail handling easy and simple,” Say Tom Humphreys. “But that must all be balanced by the hull and appendages, and the righting moment to keep loads manageable. It’s also very important to make sure it’s a really easy, fun and enjoyable boat to sail, that balances nicely on the different sail configurations and in different sea states.

“In terms of the features, the twin rudders are a key ingredient to the whole thing, coupled with the fairly high form stability hull form. The high form stability gives us many benefits. Obviously, from a physical point of view it gives us quite a high internal volume, which has significant and obvious benefits in terms of creating a luxury cruising yacht. It also allows us to carry or share a lot of the righting moment requirements and carry that in the hull form. That means we can look at moderating the keel ballast weight, which all helps to drive the displacement down and thus increase the performance of the hull.”

Both Tom and Rob Humphreys point to the regular repeat customers Elan achieves as a key element in helping them develop each new model and focus their direction by drawing on the vast amount of input from the owner’s side. This means they can be sure the direction they have taken in recent boats like the GT6 and before that the GT5 are what owners are looking for. Increasing performance from a luxury cruiser has shown time and again to be an important factor, so too increasing usability for short-handed crews. As such the design team are able to deliver the GT6, with its increased internal volume to allow a more luxury feel below, but also keep performance by reducing displacement, all in a hull that is easy to get to maximum performance from, with features like the twin rudders helping to deliver ease of use for couples.

“As the clients demand more from their yachts and from their new Elan models, all this information that’s generated really helps to flow into each new project,” concludes Tom Humphreys.

“I mean, it’s what we are all striving to do, isn’t it? Improve and constantly evolve each project as much as we can, and refine the balance of all the different criteria to all these designs. It certainly helps being able to draw on that wide knowledge base, and the GT6 is a product of just that.”

The European Yacht of the Year Award is the most important, influential and most widely communicated boatbuilding prize worldwide. Which yacht will receive the prize in category will be known on the first day of Boot fair in Dusseldorf in January next year.

Next year we will have only three winners.

These are the nominees:

Family Cruiser:

Elan GT6

Length: 15.20 m ● Beam: 4.49 m ● Draft: 2.45 m ● Displacement: 12.45 t ● Sail area: 113.7 sqm

Oceanis 40.1

Length: 12.87 m ● Beam: 4.18 m ● Draft: 2.17 m ● Displacement: 7.9 t

Bavaria C42

Length: 12.38 m ● Width: 4.29 m ● Draft: 2.10 m (opt. 1.70 m) ● Displacement: 9.7 t ● Sail area: 100.6 sqm

Bali Catspace

Length: 12.31 m ● Beam: 6.56 m ● Draft, boards up: 1.10 m ● Displacement: 12.8 t ● Sail area: 101 sqm

Excess 11

Length: 11.33 m ● Beam: 6.59 m ● Draft: 1.15 m ● Displacement: 9 t ● Sail area: 77 sqm

Luxury Cruiser:

Contest 55CS

Hallberg-Rassy 40C

Moody 41 DS

Bluewater Cruiser:

Boreal 47.2

Garcia Explocat 52

Ovni 400

Pegasus 50

Viator Explorer 42 DS