{ BLUEWATERBOATS }
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he morning after the Annapolis Sailboat Show that we got to go for a test sail of the 40.3, the breeze was light and the sky overcast above the Chesapeake Bay. Aboard with us that morning was the North American distributor, Slavek Krolikiewicz, and the new dealers
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in the Mid-Atlantic region Jack and Sharon Malatich of S&J Yachts. We fired up the 55-hp. diesel engine and eased the boat out of her slip at the Port Annapolis Marina. The engine was quiet and the vibration in the cockpit sole minimal. In reverse, the 40.3 handled very well as the big spade rudder bit the water and spun
the bow around with alacrity. We motored down Back Creek and out into Annapolis Harbor and the Bay. Once clear of the channel we put the throttle down and were happy to see that the 40.3 will make close to eight knots at maximum revs and will cruise at a comfortable 6.5 knots at cruising revs of 2200 rpms. At cruising speed and in flat water, the engine will burn approximately half a gallon per hour, which translates into a safe cruising range, with 55 gallons of fuel in the tanks, of over 600 miles. That’s comforting to know. The design has a seven eighths rig with a large full battened mainsail. We hoisted the main and then fell off the light breeze and rolled out the genoa. The main traveler sits on the cabintop forward of the companionway, so it is out of the cockpit and not in anyone’s BLUE WATER SAILING • January 2016