FIRST TEST ARCONA 385
SPECIFICATIONS
MAKE/MODEL Arcona 385
PRICE FROM £272,000
DESIGNER Stefan Qviberg
BUILDER Arcona Yachts
Plenty has changed in the last 10 years. We’ve come through Brexit, Covid and TikTok dance crazes. Some things haven’t changed much though. Swedish yard Arcona has just launched its new 385, effectively a Mark II of its highly successful 380 from 2013. So confident is the yard in the Stefan Qviberg-drawn hull that they’ve left it almost entirely as it was, with nothing but the faintest nod to chasing the latest trends. No hard hull chines, full bow sections or double rudders to see here. Yes, she has square hull windows now, but her twin wheels are original and she’s just as fine-bowed and low-topsided as she was before. Other changes include larger coachroof windows, additional instrument mounting space and an open transom doing away with the aft helm seats to increase space on deck and lazarette stowage as well as getting rid of weight in the stern. Below decks, light fittings have been moved and that’s about it.
I’m not surprised this was Arcona’s approach, given the 380’s reception at the time. When first reviewed the 380, Chris Beeson said that in 30 years on the water, he had never sailed a boat that felt better; the experience was one of ‘pure driving pleasure’. When Arcona got in touch to say they had a new 385 ready to sail in the UK, I jumped at the chance to find out if she was not only as good as the
