A TOUGH CHOICE
+ OVNI 400
Back in the mid-2000s the niche market for aluminium centreboarders was disrupted by the arrival of a new upstart, Allures Yachting. Until then, the undisputed market leader was French company Alubat, builders of Ovni at Les Sables d’Olonne.
Last autumn Alubat launched the Ovni 400, a substantial evolution of its original concept, which we went to test sail in Les Sables. Then, just a few days later, it was the turn of competitor Allures to reveal its new 40.9. The opportunity to carry out a comparison of these two ocean cruising prospects was too timely and tempting to ignore.
The original Ovni concept dates back to the 1970s. With their shoal draught and raw, chined aluminium hulls, Ovnis have captured the imagination of serious ocean sailors over the past four decades. More than 1,500 Ovnis have been built, and fulfilled thousands of sailors’ bluewater cruising dreams. Jimmy Cornell famously completed a five-year curcumnavigation aboard his Aventura III, an Ovni 43.
In 2003 engineers Stéphan Constance and Xavier Desmarest created Allures Yachting, with the ambition of revitalising the aluminium centreboarder concept. Starting with a 39.5 the Cherbourg-en-Cotentin-based yard quickly extended its range to 45ft, then a 50-footer.
