I’m sticking with you

It was some years ago that yacht designers spotted that racing yachts of the IMOCA generation possessed hulls that could be easily adapted to cruising yachts. At the most basic level, you just need to take a look at Ellen Macarthur’s Kingfisher circa 2000 to see a racing yacht with a hull form resembling a cone. Combine that with a chined hull and you have a yacht that is not only optimised for a predominantly downwind racecourse but can also provide masses of internal volume. Thus designers such as Finot/Conq started producing rather wild looking cruising yachts with extraordinary amounts of beam aft. Unfortunately, although owners of these yachts benefit from increased internal volume, the yachts lack sufficient sail area and are generally too heavy to provide blistering performance. It’s all rather a shame.

This brings me to the Pogo 44, another Finot/Conq design that sticks unapologetically to the high volume/ masses of beam aft template. Yet, unlike its full blooded cruising sisters this is a boat that backs things up with a modest displacement (5,900kg) and a