Daring to be different

One of the fascinating things about boat tests is that every boat designed and built then proudly presented to you is the culmination of many thousands of man hours, often many years of development. You step aboard, take a look around, go for a sail and then say ‘well, yes it’s ok’ – or whatever. In the very worst case the boat is so forgettable you struggle to think of anything to say at all. This is not a concern I had after quitting the Pegasus 50; a reviewer’s dream in that it is wilfully different.

Concept number one was a fast, lightweight blue water cruiser made out of carbon. Fair enough; concept number two seems to have been to ditch the aft cabin. This seems odd but in fairness, get rid of that inconvenience and you open up all sorts of possibilities – most pertinently the eternal problem of the cockpit and saloon being extremely separate areas. The main advantage of no aft cabins as here, is that you can then lower the level of the cockpit substantially, meaning that the transition from cockpit to saloon is suddenly not a dramatic one. Add into the equation massive sliding patio doors, which let in masses of light and open up the space, and you have what