Welcome, everyone, to this beautiful spot on the Slovenian coast, and the town of Portorož. We are located in what used to be an old, sea-salt warehouse, built over 200 years ago. And what are we here for? We’re here, to meet the dream team behind the design and construction of the new Elan Yacht, the new Elan E6! I would like to start with inviting on stage Marko Škrbin, director of Elan yachts Marko was recently honoured with a Rising Star award in the METSTRADE 2021 Boat Builder Awards and is the driving force behind the ambitious project we’re about to present. Marko, please, join me on stage! Welcome! Hi, Hello Please, sit down. Thank you.
Marko firstly congratulations for the previously mentioned award, and at the same time for the realisation of such an ambitious project Thank you Let me immediately touch upon Elan a little bit and then, what’s so special about Elan Yachts, and what about the E6? Yes, firstly I think I need to emphasise that Elan as a shipyard has a long history We’re one of the oldest shipyards in the world, at least in our segment, and through this history we gained a lot of experience that transferred from one generation to another. We made huge advancements throughout history, so whenever we start doing new projects, it’s always important that we follow our vision, our DNA. We say that we create products and solutions that enable our clients unforgettable experiences and memories. Also, we’re always looking for, with any new yacht, what we call, a crossover balance. What I mean by that is, the balance between on one hand performance, and on the other hand comfort and commodities that one needs in these modern times.
When it comes to the E Line specifically, and E6 in particular, the performance part needs to be even more expressed. In some way, we’re look for a dual purpose craft, for instance, a person enters a regatta with friends, and achieves very good results, high speeds, and on the other side takes their family easily on a three-week sailing vacation with all of the features that one needs on a vacation of that type. You described Elan DNA in a very colourful and wonderful way, in particular the merging of two worlds. Let it flow like that in the future as well. Sincere congratulations for such an ambitious project, and the fact that you finished it, and brought the yacht among us and the world. Thank you.
Thank you Marko, we’re switching back to English, as we’re being joined via video call with Tom and Rob Humphreys, the brains behind the naval architecture of the E6. Humphreys Yacht Design have been collaborating with Elan for more than 25 years, and together they have introduced off-shore shorthanded racing features into the cruising segment. This story started with the legendary Elan 333, and reached its first peak with the introduction of the multiple award winning Elan 350. Hello Rob, hello Tom, thank you for your time and thank you for joining us! Hi, thank you for having us.
Good to see you, good to hear you! Can you tell us a little bit more about the brief Elan sent to you for the Elan E6 and how does it relate to the history of the Elan E Line? The brief was really to try and push the performance of the E6 beyond what would typically be considered feasible for a mid 40 foot high volume production yacht, so, in many ways it was building on the past in terms of where the E Line has been but looking to really trying to take things to a new level and there was a much more aggressive approach to weight saving for instance, so building off of Elan’s own in-house vacuum infusion process, but also bringing in composite engineering from Gurit, so that’s just really allowed things to be pushed to a new level. How has the hull form evolved and what is special and exciting about the E6? I suppose from my side, key drivers, really, to enhance the performance, you know, it’s really been about minimising - you know, finding ways to minimise the displacement, whilst at the same time trying to maximise stability and, you know, which essentially gives you the sail carrying power when you’re sailing, so those features have obviously trying to be addressed with lighter composite structures, and then really the stability comes out of really the hull form and the keel. We’ve got a relatively deep draught on the boat which has allowed us to carry quite a bit of mechanical stability, with the deep T keel and then with this lighter displacement, we’ve just been able to be a bit more aggressive with how we shape the hull form, and you know, we’re relatively slender on the water line, but - relatively wide beam, and the chines, which start to pick up a lot of stability as soon as we start to heel and lean on those chines.
You were talking about the hull shape, and sail plan that needed some accommodation, and of course, they need to accommodate many different sailor profiles, but, this combining the two worlds sounds very exciting, but also the next question is exciting how fast did you design the yacht to be? Well, yes, I mean, it certainly is a good point, we’re trying designs for different configurations, different keel options, different sailor profiles, and things like that, but, yes, I mean certainly, when you start to look at the performance rig with the performance keel, you know, the performance is getting pretty exciting for this sort of yacht and we’re certainly seeing well over 8 knots of boat speed upwind in anything over 12 knots TWS and then double digits downwind in anything from sort-of 12, 13 knots upwards, so, no, it should be an exciting performance profile for the yacht. The boat is capable of doing many things but it’s a good family yacht as well. The short handed nature of sailing these things, where sometimes it is difficult to get big crews, and just general family sailing. With the twin rudders, the control is pretty important, and Elan are very experienced in this market sector, and this takes it to another level. You’re talking about this exciting project, it was fun to be creative, and co-work, again, how was it for you two, personally? We see things pretty much the same way, really, but it’s good to have two heads on the same problem, and, really, sort of three heads, because Elan is a big part of the team.
With Marko running the team, there've been great decisions, internally! Thank you for sharing with us your two heads, and your insights and your energy and inputs. I kindly and warmly say goodbye and thank you for your time, as we continue on! As we have just learned, designing the sail plan is mostly a scientific endeavour. And the hull plan is a mixture of art and science. But what we will talk about next is mostly art; it’s pure creative design, merging aesthetics with functionality, style with ergonomics. Leading the aesthetic part of the design, and joining us today, is Daniele Mazzon, Chief Transportation Designer from the world-renowned industrial design powerhouse, Pininfarina. Daniele, please, join me on stage!
Hello, nice to meet you, take a seat! How are you, you OK? Aha, good. Good? Excited? Yeah, good! Pininfarina is quite an exciting company to talk about as well. It's the studio behind some of Ferrari’s most iconic cars, and more than 600 other projects in transportation design. Pininfarina won more than 50 awards in the last 10 years. Congratulations! And in the nautical world, you’re behind the Wally 101, Persico F70 and Tango WallyCento yachts among others. How will the E6 add to the legacy of Pininfarina? Since the beginning of the history of Pininfarina, we had always had great pace on performance, and design of the supercar.
We worked on different major brands in the world. And sustainability on the other hand is always included in this process. In the 70’s, during the energy crisis, Pininfarina opened the first wind tunnel in Italy, and in the 78’ also developed the first electric vehicles. Performance and sustainability is always included in the design process, and so a sailing boat, like the E6, is a perfect fit. And being fast, obviously. Fast cars, fast yachts! What inspired you in E6 design? Sure, we started from the characteristics of Elan, so what they already developed in their design history, and mixed it with Pininfarina character. We gave this performance and muscular shape,
in order to give the feeling of racing and performance to the boat. Can you tell us about the challenges and opportunities you had during the design process? Did you have a lot of ideas, were you struggling or was it good to begin from zero? Yeah, we started from scratch. So - it’s also always a good opportunity in order to design something new, something special.
We always work in parallel with naval architects, and with the shipyard, so it’s really important to us, this challenge in order to make a really iconic and good product. Do you have your favourite feature from the design, is it the exterior, is it the interior, what do you like the most, personally? Yeah, we like the boat, because we finalised every detail, we designed every detail, everything. But probably on the exterior is the main port-light on the deck, that became really iconic, really fit in the design of the characteristics of Elan. And in the interior, another good example is the stairs, the main stairs in the saloon, that is a really important and iconic piece of art in the middle of the saloon.
And that just pushed forward the classical stairs that we have in this type of sailboat. Do you have your favourite materials incorporated in the yacht? Which materials did you use? We played with the interior on really the details. We have a piece of black par- matte black parts, that give a technological and performance approach. And what about the wood? How is …? Yes, wood and fabric, we selected all these materials. We reduced, in this boat, a bit the wooden feeling, but we integrated more white to give a clear ambiance, and also this fabric, fabric more technological, with really good touch and this type of pattern on it.
And so this detail in black, gives this feeling of, sure, of performance. Thank you for your insights, and your answers, I can’t wait, I think we all can’t wait to see the Elan E6 in person, it sounds like a unique design, and it will definitely stand the test of time. Thank you, Daniele! - Thank you to you too. And now I would like to invite back to the stage Marko Škrbin, director of Elan Yachts, and actually people who built them.
Head of R&D, Blaž Javornik, technical director Primož Vilman, and head of product development and quality, Matic Škerjanc, joining us on video call. Guys, warmly welcome! Greetings, once again! Please sit down. Hello, pleasure to meet you. Hi, please And hello via the video call, do we hear each other, everything OK? All OK. Perfect. Welcome! Tell me, why Elan E6 specifically? Who is this yacht intended for?
After 9 years, since we stopped with the construction of Elan 450, it was time to complete our core line, that is also our DNA with the long awaited model Elan E6. E6 is meant for demanding buyers, that are involved in sailing for a longer period of time, and already owned several yachts in the past. At the same time, they have the soul of a true sailor.
This yacht merges regatta-style sailing on the one hand, as well as all the needs of a family for a longer cruise. Thank you Matic, would anyone elaborate, is there a pinch of something to add? Yes, actually this is a sailboat for experienced sailors that have a clear idea of what they wish for. Usually these are not beginners, they have had some boats before, and know exactly what they want, and those are really the people that enjoy the primal sailing experience. What are the technological specifics of this yacht, how was Guirt involved in the project? Yes, our director was constantly warning us that we need to keep the weight of the craft low.
That is why, for example, we included vinyl ester hull in the standard configuration. If we talk about Gurit, they are extreme experts for laminate plan calculations, and they were beautifully complementing our laminate know-how. Their task was, and they also spent the most time in determining which laminates go where, so there’s not too much, which would mean that on the one side, the boat would be too heavy, or on the other hand, that there’s not too little of them, which would endanger the structural rigidity of the craft. Yes, I think that’s it, a nice summary. That’s it! Engineering solutions on the E6 are special, different. Other yachts don’t have exactly the same approach. So - how did you actually achieve the low weight that we focus on, and even worship, today? Now… The yacht itself is built modularly. This means that it can be equipped for classical family sailing,
still fast, and on the other side, you can make the yacht, shall we say, sporty. We kept the displacement down because, well, on the one hand, the director was always reminding us that that is the goal. The solutions themselves, how we actually achieved it, were also for example that we introduced the structural parts of the yacht into the interior furniture, which means that parts don’t repeat, so the weight does not repeat. And that is how we reached this ambitious goal. Primož, do you want to add anything? Yes. We had many meetings with Gurit, during the development, as well as the production of the yacht.
Together, we were mostly searching for the right materials that are appropriate for installation at our facility, and at the same time ensure high standards and quality. Is the director the biggest visionary in the company… No, no That gives the hardest tasks, the wittiest tasks? Was it hard? No, he gives optimistic goals, and our job is to try and realise them. We’re always pushing ourselves to be better with every project.
I need to admit, that, as the guys said, we are demanding, but I think that at the end of the day, when we see the result, we all know why, and we’re overjoyed. I believe then that also the guys are more understanding despite the pressure that’s put on them sometimes. I’m sure that everyone is satisfied, when a goal is achieved, and the results are successfully ticked off. What were the challenges during the manufacture, and how can we ensure such good quality of construction? The main challenges were firstly the choice of correct materials, creating the furniture in three colours, and manufacturing the stern as part of the hull. Of course for this project, we utilised all gathered knowledge and know-how from the past. The quality itself can only be achieved and maintained by high goals for the construction, control and oversight of these goals, and a highly proficient staff that advances and improves on a daily basis.
Staff that we’re getting to know in person today, and some via video call, and that’s where I’m addressing my next question to. How can we specify the yacht to make it more regatta-style, and how to make it more cruising? Let’s start with Matic, and then you too can add to the answer. The yacht can be customised with the selection of optional equipment and options that are meant for more regatta-style sailing. You can specify the yacht without the platform, extra lockers, refrigerators.
It can be built using standard techniques, but it can also be upgraded, for instance, on the deck with vacuum infusion, and in that way, make the yacht even lighter. So… There are many options. What is vacuum infusion, how can you explain it to me, a layman. Can you explain it in a simple way? Simply put, this means that we lay down dry composite fibre into the mould. Then, on one side we supply the resin, which on the other side is pulled through with the help of a vacuum through the mould. This is a closed system, and it means that it's tightly controlled.
It’s also ecologically irreproachable, because the worker and the environment do not come in contact with volatile substances. It looks like you’re forward-looking in manufacturing as well. Thanks very much to all four of you, for some to be with me again, and for the others for the first time. And congratulations for the Elan E6.
Thank you! And now I would like to invite on the stage Luigi Coretti, The CEO of Adria Ship, the distributor of Elan in Italy, Luigi - welcome, where are you, join me on stage! Hello, nice to meet you! Ciao! - Ciao, take a seat. Luigi, Adria Ship has been Elan Yachts distributor for over two generations. The company was started by your father. How many years, how long have you been Elan’s partners? Yes, it's a long time. Because we started in 1997,
actually - we signed the first contract during the boatshow in Genova, so next October will be 25 years that we are working together with Elan. So we can say that, you know, almost 50 percent of my life was together with Elan, we are part of the family, and that’s why today we are here. Quarter of a century anniversary! A quarter of a century, yes! Actually! The Elan E line yachts are very popular in the Mediterranean sea, we could say. Can you think, can you guess why, why is it? I would say that Elan was always one step forward, actually. Many milestones that we know from this nautical world are coming from Begunje, coming from the Slovenian shipyard.
Concerning the E line, that is the most popular, at least in Italy and in the Med area, actually, the 60/60 concept was the strongest one. Because the idea, to have a boat, that you can perform, that you can enjoy, that you can sail, that if you want you can even perform, but even make regatta, having fun, not just motoring, bringing the mast around, like we say, but at the same time you use the same boat to go to the holiday, to go with your family, to go with your girlfriend, to have your holidays, at the end was a concept that was very strong, and is the main thing that brought Elan popular on the market. And when we talk about this concept, the milestone from Elan was for sure the introduction of the twin rudder system with the 450, that they then implemented with the chine hull and with the 350 that became, that was awarded as boat of the year, made a very big step forward.
Because at the end, thanks to this concept the boat is even easier to steer, easier to control. You know, in the beginning we had a lot of problems, to persuade clients that the boat was so easy. But when you sail the first time with Elan, you immediately feel that you always have your boat under control. And you don’t have to fight with your wife or girlfriend, because at the end, when you go inside, you have everything that you need.
So this was the concept that made Elan, and the E line in particular, very very popular, very very strong in the Med area. Combining the best of all worlds. Just what said Rob before, and Tom. Yes.
How big is the potential of the E6, what excites you personally about the yacht? I think that from what we see, that with the E6, we’re making one step forward. One step forward, because we are moving from a 60/60 to a 70/70. Because the boat will have even more performance, will be even faster, will be for sure, always easy to control, because all the boats from Humphreys Design were very easy for handling, but on the other hand, when you go inside, thanks to Pininfarina, thanks to the style of the interior, for sure, it will be a boat that will make you say WOW! And in the end you will have WOW when you are sailing, especially in light winds, I think that the boat will be really really fast, and WOW, when we go inside. So - two WOW will make for sure a great boat.
The boat that we were expecting, and the boat that I am sure will have great success. How many times did you see the E6 in person, did you spend time together, did you meet the yacht already? It’s a bit of, you know, a secret, so I cannot say that, but we will discover the boat altogether now, yes. I think so, yes, I will take you for your word, thank you Luigi, thank you to all our speakers and guests, thank you audience, and thank you viewers, watching us from wherever you are. And now I think it’s time to stop talking, stop teasing, and finally reveal what we’re here for. In front of us, new, fresh, Elan E6 yacht! Thank you for staying with us so far, but this is still not the end. Now we will hop on board, and I will take you on a quick tour. Stay tuned!
Welcome back, we’re on board this beauty with David, head of marketing at Elan Yachts, David, can you show me around? Absolutely Ula, thank you very much for coming aboard this beautiful yacht. We’re here in the cockpit of the E6. This cockpit has been optimised by a team of experienced olympic sailors, especially when it comes to the position of the on-board equipment.
We have three sets of winches, the halyard winches, the genoa winches and the mainsheet winches right here, and there’s a lot of space. Either for nice cruising, enjoying on board, and of course for a team, which can do really good manoeuvres in a regatta situation. In standard specification, the cockpit comes equipped already with Permateek, which is this artificial teak on the floor, which of course you can upgrade with real teak.
As every sailor knows, you need a lot of space on board the yacht, especially in the cockpit, there’s a lot of equipment you need to store around. That’s why the E6 has a lot of storage lockers, first I want to show you these here. These are basically rope storage lockers. You can feed your mainsheet lines inside through this convenient channel.
Also you can keep in cables, additional sheets, also here you have a showerhead, which you can pull out and use on the bathing platform. On the cockpit benches, here you have on both sides nice storage lockers for any other equipment, they’re fairly deep and long. Yes, very spacious! - A lot of space. And this is of course on both sides.
Additionally, there’s another storage locker right here in the bottom. Here, you can either keep a liferaft, or any other equipment you wish. This E6 comes equipped with a large bathing platform.
You also can order the E6 with the small bathing platform, which comes to the height of the cockpit floor. If you are configuring a more performance version of the E6, of course you would choose to go without the platform at all, to save that bit of weight. The E6 also comes equipped with cockpit boxes, that’s what we call them, these are optional, and can either be also large storage lockers, or in a more cruising specification, a grill… - WOW! And on your side, if you can move away a little bit… - Yes, I will assist you! …the refrigerator. - Oh, great! So you have everything on hand, here, moored in a bay. Nice grilling, cold drinks. Beautiful! Through the things that we’ve seen now, I think you already can see the mark of Pininfarina. They have really designed all of the lines around the cockpit, and the whole yacht, of course, to be compatible, to be beautiful.
And this is I think fairly evident when you look at these steering pedestals, they are really nicely shaped, and of course, very practical, as well. You have a lot of space here for large electronic equipment, of course, steering wheels, we have composite steering wheels in standard, which you can upgrade to even carbon fibre steering wheels. When you’re sailing, when you’re heeled, of course the yacht can heel quite a lot, you have these footrests that you can pop-up, so you’re stable even when the boat is heeled. The E6 has a backstay that is split - it goes on both sides, that's why you can have this clear transition to the platform, or to hop on and off. But also on both sides, optionally, you can have hydraulic backstay tensioners, so either you’re on this side, or that side, you have quick access and adjust the tension.
The mainsheet on the E6 comes installed in this recessed mainsheet situation, where the lines of the mainsheet are inside the cockpit, so you don’t trip when you walk over it. On a performance cruiser like the E6 you need a clean cockpit, so the crew can work, do the manoeuvres without any impeding elements. But for the cruising part, of course, you need a table, in the cockpit, to enjoy outside. So the E6 can either come with a removable table, it has carbon fibre legs, a teak top, or you can choose a fixed table that has foldable wings. As I mentioned before, the E6 comes equipped with three sets of winches. These in standard are all Harken winches, which can be upgraded to Harken Performa winches, or even electronic ones, which come especially handy on these winches here at the front which are for the halyards.
Of course you can do it with your hand, but at a certain point it’s just more convenient to press a button. The E6 is the latest and the newest yacht within the Elan E Line. Elan E line has been around for a while, and it already has a recognisable design style on the water. So when Pininfarina took the project in their hands, they had to pay homage to the already recognisable shapes and lines of the Elan E Line, with giving their own touch, and with giving their own interpretation. And one of the distinctive elements that they’ve included is this beautiful fold of black windows that continues and then folds up on the coachroof. Industrial design is not only about something being beautiful, but also about being ergonomic, practical, useful.
And before, I mentioned the lines and the fold that Pininfarina made here, and this also, from the styling perspective continues all through the yacht and the coachroof, but we also put raster everywhere that you need, so you don’t slip when you work. The E6 comes equipped with the Selden aluminium mast, but for real performance configuration of the yacht you can choose a taller carbon mast that comes in combination with a deeper composite keel. Here at the bow, we have a very large sail locker, I could climb inside, no problem, or you can store several sets of sails, gennaker, code zero, or a full set of fenders for the yacht.
Continuing on we have the anchor locker with the anchor windlass, and right at the front here is the carbon fibre bowsprit. It’s completely made out of carbon fibre, and it’s included in the standard specification of the yacht. Welcome inside the E6. It’s amazing! It has a fairly traditional layout, this is a three cabin version, also a four cabin version is available, but within this let’s say, sailing tradition, which every sailor is used to, you have this amazing flair of Pininfarina, you can really see the Italian styling around the interior.
Allright, let me show you the galley. This is kerrock, you have a front opening fridge right here, and a top opening fridge in this position. Wow, so three fridges altogether! Three fridges all together, exactly. Or, you can choose not to have this one, and you can install - or we can install - a microwave, or a coffee machine, that sinks inside, and comes up when you need it, basically, so you have a flush countertop. Here we have a double sink,
of course the stove. In reality, it looks like you don’t have any space. But there’s a lot of little cupboards, here, here behind I think you have a lot of space for little oils, spices, and stuff like that, and it’s kept tightly inside… Yes. And of course two large cupboards right here. Since we’re already here, I think I should say something about these stairs.
Traditionally, on the E Line and a lot of other yachts, the stairs are wooden. But in cooperation with Pininfarina, we’ve created these out of GRP, they’re very stable, and of course they are quite an imposing centrepiece of the interior, that I think really, is beautiful. In every E6 layout, we have two aft cabins. They are fairly spacious, because of the wide beam that the E6 has. You also have a lot of space inside for any luggage you might have, and a nice snuggle comfy place to sleep. The E6 also has two heads, one here in the saloon, and an en suite in the master cabin.
Can I check this one out? Yes, sure. Wow, full shower, a lot of space, a sink, loads of mirrors, I could stay here comfortably. So now we’re entering the… Saloon. - Saloon.
Can I sit? - Yeah, absolutely, please do. You know Elan has been building yachts since 1949. And the first boats that we’ve been building were wooden. So our tradition with woodwork actually started there, a long time ago.
And this craftsmanship has stayed within - this mentality of really detailed, hand made wood, really stayed with us. And I think you can see the difference with a lot of other yachts, our woodwork is top notch. And on the E6, we are using natural wood veneered plywood, in combination with solid wood finish, especially on elements, where they experience more wear and tear. Otherwise, the standard furniture is made to be light, you can also upgrade it, with an even lighter wood combination with okoume core on elements where you can really save weight on the interior.
As you can see, this is quite a large saloon. There’s a lot of seating space here. Why? Because in the 4 cabin version of this yacht, ten people can comfortably sleep inside. That’s why the saloon is this large. We are actually quite dwarfed by all of this space here. The table opens up, and creates this large surface area, for dinners, for board games, for enjoying evenings, and also, this part of the saloon converts into another double berth. You might ask me - where is the navigation table on this 47 foot yacht.
Right? Well, we have this very mature design, that we’ve actually taken from other E Line yachts, and we have this swivel settee right here, that you can turn around, and this whole space becomes your navigation table, your mini office, if you wish, inside the navigation table there’s a lot of space for different tools and actually in this backrest, there’s a large space for all of you maps. Continuing on, I want to show you this control panel. We’ve actually started including this control panel for the first time on the GT5.
We’ve developed this with a company called SiMarine and since then we’ve had to include it on all of our yachts. It was also awarded by DAME design. Here you have all of the information you want, right here, on this little display, about the yacht, and all of the switches right here, they are touch, and they also indicate if there’s something wrong.
If everything is fine, you have this green colour, but it also switches to red if there’s any problem in the electronics. So everything is totally digital. Well - not really, right? Because you want that security - if something goes wrong, you know, with digital, you never know. So that’s why we have manual overrides Another secret compartment! Right here, exactly. Right here in the back. So for all of the switches, you have manual overrides right here,
so you know that you’re secure, you can control the yacht you know, in different conditions. And here you have also quick access to all of the fuses. On a large space like this, right, and when you’re on a longer voyage, sailing upwind, you’re heeled, you need a thing to grab, when you’re moving around, right. That’s why we’ve included these grab rails here on the coachroof, on the ceiling, and Pininfarina has made sure that they are stylish as well.
Nicely curved, included in all of this ambient lighting, so it’s functional, but also beautiful. I think, you know, it’s a really good feature. I think you’ve already noticed 3 different colours that Pininfarina chose, that actually everything, you know, fits well with each other, you have a nice colour palette within the yacht. But here of course is especially prominent. These lines, that actually surround the island bed, that we have here in the master cabin, it’s a large space, there’s a lot of storage behind me, here on the side, and all around, and I think the Pininfarina design really made it a comfortable, luxurious space in the front.
And definitely a plus point is having your own en suite. So your own sink, toilet, shower, and I can see where it closes in. very spacious, very elegant. Beautiful. Thank you David for this wonderful and unique, first hand tour, it was really an unforgettable experience.
Yes, thank you Ula, I was glad to have you on board. My pleasure. Thank you for spending time with us on this amazing Elan E6, thank you for watching, and stay tuned for more!
2022-03-17