luffe 40 yacht

Interesting Sailboats

Tuesday, may 4, 2021, luffe 40.20: narrow, fast, beautiful and classic.

This is a yacht for lovers, not for the ones that are rational about interior space, cruising amenities or even overall top speed, for a 40ft cruiser-racer. No, this boat is about sailing fast, but in a particular sailing spirit, a traditional one, where the boats are supposed to heel and glide over the water, slicing the waves, going fast with small sails.

Then he took us to the nearby marina where he had the first 40.04, his personal yacht, that as I have found later was fully equipped for racing. It was a windy and cold morning blowing over 20 knots, gusting 30 but the waters of the Kolding Fjord were protected, and we (me and my wife) were used to sail in strong winds. 

The Bavaria 36 was a 2003 model bought in 2002, in Palma de Maiorca, and sailed home by us to Portugal. Equipped as it was it had many qualities: it was very light, sailed very well in light to medium winds, was fast downwind, but with strong wind and waves, against the wind, it was a deception: it had not the power or stability to sail close to the wind, and I had to open the angle a lot to generate the power to sail, resulting in a very poor VMG. 

Because I was faster than friends that had similar boats (faster upwind than an Oceanis 393) I soon understood that it was not about the Bavaria but about the type of design, beamy boats with a low B/D, and my trip to Denmark, to test the Luffe 40.04, had to do with finding out how it would be to sail a boat that was the opposite from the Bavaria, narrow and with much more ballast, one that I was sure would have not the problem Bavaria had, sailing upwind, in strong conditions.

When Oluf took the Luffe out of the Marina and started to pull the main out I was really surprised: it was a racing 3D carbon sail with no reefs! I had no idea how he was going to sail the boat with that big sail with no reefs in a strong wind. 

I loved the boat and the way it sailed but my wife, that knew already something about boats (we had already tried several different types of sailboats), excluded it right away from the list of possible replacements for the Bavaria: 

The narrow hull gives a lot less form stability than a beamy one but to the bigger stability corresponds a bigger drag and the need for bigger sails. Because the Luffe had a much bigger B/D on a deeper and more efficient keel, the power/drag was much bigger than the one on our Bavaria, and the motion upwind more comfortable, due to finer entries and less beam but to get power the Luffe needs to heel, to maximize the ballast effect.

The difference between the way this Bavaria will sail, compared to the Luffe, will be bigger than the one with my older Bavaria, and the difference in speed, in most situations, also. I find this Bavaria a mystery and it is hard to understand how the 2003 Bavaria 36 displaced 4700kg and the C38 (also a 36ft) displaces 9070kg. 

That shows on the results, being the Luffe overall only 25th in 34 that finished the race, but even if we know that the boat was not sailed as well as others, the comparative results in real-time can give some good information, especially because we can access the times in different phases of the race, with different wind and points of sail.

If we consider the full race, which had many different points of sail and wind conditions, the  Luffe in real time made it in 5 days, 16 hours, and 38 minutes, slower by 4 hours and a half than a very well sailed J109 (8th overall), one hour and a half and two hours faster than the other two J109, also better sailed (13th and 14th overall).

It was about one and a half-hour faster than a Sunfast  3200 and a JPK 10.10, also better sailed (11th and 12th overall). It was slower than a J122E by 18 hours and slower than a JPK 10.80 by 12 hours, but these two boats were extremely well sailed, and that's why they were 4th and 5th overall, while the Luffe was only 25th overall. 

If we look at the first part of the race, which was raced with very weak winds, mostly upwind, we can see from the real times at the end of the Messina Strait, that, even if in the overall provisional classification the Luffe was only 23th, in real-time it was faster than the JPK 10.80, faster than all J109 and only 16 minutes slower than the J122E, with 1 day, 3hours and 29 minutes of racing time.

To understand how good Luffe is in light wind and upwind performance if compared with the lighter but much beamier Pogo style sailboats, even racing ones, we can see that in Stromboli the top racing Class 40 "Made in Midi", professionally skippered by Kito de Pavant, with a full crew,  had only 4 hours and a half advantage (in 38 hours of racing) and the Luffe was 2 hours and a half faster than Vaquita, the other racing Class 40 and 4 hours faster than the Pogo 36.

It is good to remember that the Class 40 is a full racing boat, very light, almost without interior, huge draft, water ballasts, the Pogo 36 is much lighter than the Luffe with a very spartan interior, and that the Luffe 40.04 had teak on the deck, over the cabin and cockpit and had a very high-quality cruising interior.   

Overall a J122E or an XP38 are faster than a Luffe 40.20, except in light wind; downwind with medium-high winds and strong winds the Pogo 36 will be much faster, but not faster in what regards to overall performance, depending on wind strength. In what regards to sailing performance maximization it is pretty much the opposite of the Pogo, having a stellar performance where the Pogo is weaker, and vice-versa.

The interior, the galley, the head and the cabins would be the size you would expect on a 36ft boat and smaller than the one of the very beamy 36ft boats, like the Bavaria C38 or a Pogo 36.

The sailors that would buy a Pogo 36 or a Luffe 40.02 have in common the love for fast sailing, but a different type of fast sailing, and the ones that will buy a Pogo would never buy a Luffe, and vice-versa. Having in common being fast the two yachts are opposed in many sailing performance aspects and in the interior concept, as a cruising boat.

Both sailors will not need much to be happy while cruising, but the guy that likes the Pogo enjoys having much more space, doesn't mind a spartan interior, the guy with the Luffe, doesn't mind having a much smaller interior, but would not miss a luxurious and cozy interior, the kind of guy that prefers small and perfect, than bigger, even if functional. 

Having a Luffe 40.20 has another advantage: the hull is 17 years old and it looks almost as well now as it looked 17 years ago and the boat performance, 17 years later, continues to be a great one. How many boats will look that good 17 years after their launch? And presumably, it will look as good 17 years from now, simply because that type of hull, maximized for light wind and upwind sailing has reached a plateau, many years ago.

The finish is amazing in both boats being the Faurby more traditional on the interior design and cabin design. The Luffe is just a bit more performance-oriented and with a better regatta track record, but in what regards cruising I would say that they are pointed to the same type of sailor, the boat dimensions are very similar.

If not for using it mostly as a racing boat, the choice between them will be a question of personal taste since what they offer in sail performance, cruising amenities and prices is not very different. The new 40.02 looks just a bit less classic than the Faurby 400.

The Luffe costs standard 243 624 € and the Faurby 277 143 €, the Faurby seems to come with slightly more equipment standard but both boats have a big list of options that will be needed to make them look like the ones on the photos. Both prices are at the shipyard without taxes. Beauty, perfection and quality do not come cheap, that's for sure.

These boats offer Hallberg Rassy quality, if not superior (in fact in what regards hull building they have a superior quality) and because they are much narrower and with a much smaller interior they offer a better performance/interior quality/ price ratio and will be an interesting choice for individualists that have very particular tastes, as different from the herd as these cruisers are different from all others.

And I am very happy that is the case, it would be a shame that such beautiful boats like Luffe or Faurby ceased to exist. The boat market would be poorer without these two family brands, still owned by the same sail enthusiasts that had created them.

Their sailboats remind us of the true meaning of the word yacht, by opposition to sailboat cruiser, remembering us that a yacht was once always connected with a luxury finish, perfection, and beauty.

8 comments:

Paulo, this is an excellent analysis! Great job. I really enjoyed your article. I yet have to experience Luffe and Faurby in reality, but am pretty sure that both are right up my alley ... ;-)

Dude, can you please make vids for your posts? Its pure gold and im sure that me and everyone else would enjoy quality content like this. Also, that murky thing that you use in-between pages is kinda wonky, sometimes it wont appear at all and some other time it can take like 10 seconds straight before it tries to load the page.

Interesting article, thanks. Two other possible comparators that you may have mentioned perhaps are the Arcona 38 and 410, albeit that they may be a little longer or shorter overall but also very well built and great to sail.

Yes, the Arcona are very nice boats, fast and with a good interior but are not boats with the same type of narrow hull and sail in a different way. The Arcona 410 and the Luffe 40.20 have the same LOA, 12.20m, but while the Arcona has 3.90, Beam the Luffe has 3.40m, a huge difference. Even if considerably more narrow the hull of the Luffe is more similar to the one o the J122e, that has about the same Length, but a beam in between (3.63m), closer to the Luffe than to the Arcona.

Thanks for this great article. In terms of reaching / downwind capacities do you have any ideas if the Luffe will stay with some dignity in front of very different competition as JPK 11.80 or a J122e ? Many thanks in advance

Well, dificult to say what you mean by dignity. If we are talking about speed both the J122e and the JPK 11.80 will be faster but the Luffe will not be much slower and with light winds I would not be surprised if it was faster than the JPK 10.80. Anyway the Luffe is not about pure performance but about performance with a given style of sailing that only a narrow boat can offer. You would like it, or you would hate it, but if you are interested and have doubts you should sail one and the differences would be immediately clear to you.

If judged by the standards of performance as a sail powered commuter boat, iow as a means of transportation, yachts like the Luffe are hard to beat. Compared to virtually all other types, they are about as conditions-agnostic as sailing craft come. Perhaps compared to absolutely all others, unless you are commuting with a racing crew. The Luffe shape, is the shape of all displacement craft designed for getting from A to B, sail as well as power, unless they are purpose built for a set of very specific conditions (trade winds, maximal load carrying per length.....). If you live on Menorca and commute to Mallorca, Ibiza, Portugal, Sardinia, Greece, Lisboa, London, Madeira, Germany; or ditto if you live in Denmark; and have to be at your destination on some sort of predictable schedule "regardless of conditions", this is the 40 foot sailboat you want (Although I do suppose not many do that....). Especially if you then live aboard for a week or more for each job, and you don't want to subsist on energy bars in an unfurnished carbon tub. For any given race, there are no doubt faster boats. But as a practical means of comfortable transportation, I'm not so sure. It's a bit like a Porsche Panamera compared to race fleets of F1 carts and Baja trucks. The latter two no doubt "faster" as racers, but hardly as a means for commuting/travelling around Europe.

I love the Luffe and it is a fast boat but I believe you are exaggerating when you say: " The Luffe shape, is the shape of all displacement craft designed for getting from A to B, sail as well as power, unless they are purpose built for a set of very specific conditions (trade winds, maximal load carrying per length.....). If you live on Menorca and commute to Mallorca, Ibiza, Portugal, Sardinia, Greece, Lisboa, London, Madeira, Germany; or ditto if you live in Denmark; and have to be at your destination on some sort of predictable schedule "regardless of conditions", this is the 40 foot sailboat you want....For any given race, there are no doubt faster boats." There is a well crewed Luffe 40.1 (4004) that has made some "Middle Sea Races", a race that normally has all kinds of winds, and you can compare the Luffe performance with other cruiser-racers with about 40ft. The boat you are describing is not the Luffe 40 but the JPK 11.80. The JPK 11.80 is so much faster that to win in IRC has to arrive many hours ahead. On the sme IRC group the J122 is overall faster than the Luffe. You can look here for a direct comparison: https://www.rolexmiddlesearace.com/race/results?year=2020&race=5e25756baec57e0000a2a44c&category=5e25756baec57e0000a2a42f&transitpoint=5e25756baec57e0000a2a429 The J122 that come ahead for 16 hours was Buran. Now you can look here at the comparative performance of the J122 Buran towards the one of a JPK 11.88 (Sunrise) and see that the JPK left behind the J122 by about 10 hours (about the same as the other top J122). https://www.rolexmiddlesearace.com/race/results?year=2021&race=5ff4998b42707c00008e7786&category=5ff4998b42707c00008e7769&transitpoint=5ff4998b42707c00008e7763 Of course Sunrise had made a fantastic race, in fact it should have own that edition overall, but the two J122 were also very well sailed and if the difference could have been a bit less than 10 hours, it could not have be much less than that (not with top crews on all the boats).

Luffe 40.04

Year of production: 2011

Location: Holbæk

Manufacturer: Luffe

Price: 1 775 000 SEK

( 156 730 € / 1 169 504 DKK )

Sold 2022-12-03

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Luffe 40.04 is a performance cruiser with a strong emphasis on performance. Once you have thrown the moorings and the sails are set, you will experience the great speed potential and you do not want to do anything else than to just sail on. And if you are into racing, then there is a good chance to win many races with a Luffe 40.04.   The boat was designed and developed in 2005 and is one of Oluf Jørgensen's most successful and popular designs. The boat hadles incredibly well in all kinds of weather, and the layout and accommodation is functional both at sea and in port, and as always in a Luffe Design, everything is done in a very nice and inviting built made of the best materials based on a standard concept, but with room for customers' individual wishes regarding materials and composition.   The accommodation in this edition is made of American cherrywood, where the doors, drawers and table tops in the pantry are white. This creates a beautiful contrast and an impression of light and warmth in the best union.   Hull and decks are built in epoxy, where the underwater hull is treated with copper, and the deck and cockpit are covered with teak. She has been fitted with the new performace keel.   The list of equipment is long and can be downloaded in pdf above.   The boat is sold by the first owner.   Data: LOA:                 12,00 M LWL:                 10,80 M Beam:                 3,40 M Draft:                 2,08 M Displ.:              6.000 Kg Keel weight:    2.400 Kg Fuel:                    90 Ltrs Water:             160 Ltrs Blackwater:       65 Ltrs  

Oluf Jørgensen

Luffe Yachts

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Review of Luffe 40.04

Basic specs..

The boat is equipped with 4+2 berths and 100.0 liter fresh water capacity.

The boat equipped with a fractional rig. A fractional rig has smaller headsails which make tacking easier, which is an advantage for cruisers and racers, of course. The downside is that having the wind from behind often requires a genaker or a spinnaker for optimal speed.

The Luffe 40.04 is equipped with a fin keel. A boat with a fin keel is more manoeuvrable but has less directional stability than a similar boat with a full keel.

The boat can only enter major marinas as the draft is about 2.08 - 2.18 meter (6.82 - 7.12 ft) dependent on the load. See immersion rate below.

Sailing characteristics

This section covers widely used rules of thumb to describe the sailing characteristics. Please note that even though the calculations are correct, the interpretation of the results might not be valid for extreme boats.

What is Capsize Screening Formula (CSF)?

The capsize screening value for Luffe 40.04 is 1.89, indicating that this boat could - if evaluated by this formula alone - be accepted to participate in ocean races.

What is Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed?

The theoretical maximal speed of a displacement boat of this length is 8.0 knots. The term "Theoretical Maximum Hull Speed" is widely used even though a boat can sail faster. The term shall be interpreted as above the theoretical speed a great additional power is necessary for a small gain in speed.

The immersion rate is defined as the weight required to sink the boat a certain level. The immersion rate for Luffe 40.04 is about 246 kg/cm, alternatively 1377 lbs/inch. Meaning: if you load 246 kg cargo on the boat then it will sink 1 cm. Alternatively, if you load 1377 lbs cargo on the boat it will sink 1 inch.

Sailing statistics

This section is statistical comparison with similar boats of the same category. The basis of the following statistical computations is our unique database with more than 26,000 different boat types and 350,000 data points.

What is Motion Comfort Ratio (MCR)?

What is L/B (Length Beam Ratio)?

What is a Ballast Ratio?

What is Displacement Length Ratio?

SA/D (Sail Area Displacement ratio) Indicates how fast the boat is in light wind: - Cruising Boats have ratios 10-15 - Cruiser-Racers have ratios 16-20 - Racers have ratios above 20 - High-Performance Racers have ratios above 24 Sail-area/displacement ratio (SA/D ratio): 23.71

Maintenance

When buying anti-fouling bottom paint, it's nice to know how much to buy. The surface of the wet bottom is about 44m 2 (473 ft 2 ). Based on this, your favourite maritime shop can tell you the quantity you need.

If you need to renew parts of your running rig and is not quite sure of the dimensions, you may find the estimates computed below useful.

This section is reserved boat owner's modifications, improvements, etc. Here you might find (or contribute with) inspiration for your boat.

Do you have changes/improvements you would like to share? Upload a photo and describe what you have done.

We are always looking for new photos. If you can contribute with photos for Luffe 40.04 it would be a great help.

If you have any comments to the review, improvement suggestions, or the like, feel free to contact us . Criticism helps us to improve.

Steckbrief für Luffe 40

Abmessungen

Die Luffe 40 ist eine renommierte Segelyacht, bekannt für ihre Eleganz und herausragenden Segeleigenschaften. Sie bietet genügend Platz für bis zu fünf Personen und zeichnet sich durch ein klares, skandinavisches Design sowie eine hochwertige Verarbeitung aus. Ihre Leichtbauweise und das ausgefeilte Rigg ermöglichen exzellente Geschwindigkeiten und eine beeindruckende Manövrierfähigkeit, was sie besonders bei Regattaseglern beliebt macht. Das Interieur der Luffe 40 ist modern und funktional gestaltet, wobei Komfort und Effizienz im Vordergrund stehen. Diese Yacht ist ideal für anspruchsvolle Segler, die Wert auf Leistung, Design und Qualität legen und sowohl an Regatten als auch an komfortablen Freizeittörns interessiert sind. 2021 wurde nach einem Mastbruch ein neues Rigg installiert, inkl. neuem Baum, Kicker, Backstagen, Furlex. und Segeln. Unterwasserschiff und Ruder wurden im Zuge einer Osmosesanierung, durchgeführt von Wrede im Jahr 2016, abgezogen neu komplett neu aufgebaut. Das Boot wird im Kundenauftrag verkauft, für den Käufer entstehen keinerlei Kosten / Maklerprovision für die Vermittlung des Bootes. Motor -Volvo Penta 2002 ? 18 PS -2-Flügel Faltpropeller -Saildrive Tanks -Dieseltank: 60 l -Frischwassertank: 100 l -Fäkalientank: 45 l Rumpf und Deck -Kabinen: 2 -Kojen: 4 + 1 -Pinnensteuerung -Teakdeck (2006) -Teak im Cockpit (2008) -Kobra Anker 14kg mit 35m Leine -Fortress Anker mit 25m Leine -Seereling -Badeleiter Rigg und Segel -7/8-Rigg, Selden (2021) -Backstagen aus Dyneema (2021) -Rollreffanlage, Selden Furlex 204S (2021) -Spinnaker-Baum -Spinnaker-Ausrüstung -Rodkick, Selden 10 (2021) -Alle Fallen umgelenkt in das Cockpit -Dyneema-Fallen -Selbstholende Genua-Winschen, 2 x Andersen 46 ST -Selbstholende Fall-Winschen, 1 x Andersen 46, 1 x Lewmar 40 ST -Selbstholende Spinnaker-Winschen, 2 x Andersen 46 ST -Kugelgelagertes Großsegel-Traveller-Schienensystem, Frederiksen -Genua-Persenning -Baum-Persenning, JAN-Segel (2021) -Lazy-Jacks -Fullbatten Großsegel, JAN-Segel, DCX-Laminat, 41,5m² (2021) -Fullbatten Großsegel, MAXX, Kohlefaser Aramid-Laminat, 41,5 m² (nur 3 Saisons gefahren) -Genua I, Elvström, Aramid Laminat, 40,5 m² -Genua II, Elvström, Aramid Laminat, 33,5 m² -Selbstwendefock, JAN-Segel, DCX-Laminat, 24,5 m² (2021) -Spinnaker, Diamond, ca. 100 m² Elektronik und Navigation -Starterbatterie, AGM 60 Ah (2018) -Verbraucherbatterien, 2 x LiFePO4 Eco-Worthy, 100Ah (2024) -Batterie-Ladegerät, Sterling (2024) -Batterie-Kontroller, b2b-Lader, Votronic (2024) -220 Volt-Landanschluss -Solarmodul faltbar, 120Wp (2019) -MPPT-Regler, Victron (2024) -Radio mit SD, USB -Lautsprecher im Salon -Lautsprecher im Cockpit -Echolot, Silva -Log, Silva -Windinstrument, Advansea S400 (2021) -Kompass, Plastimo (2022) -GPS-Empfänger -Autopilot, Raymarine SPX5 (2011) -Seekartenplotter, Standard Horizon CP 300 (2011) -AIS Empfänger + Sender, Weatherdock (2011) -UKW-Funkanlage, Standard Horizon Eclipse DSC+ (2011) Sonstiges -Dieselheizung, Eberspächer Airtronic 4Kw (2014) -Warmwasserboiler, Quick 25l (2018) -Fäkalientank -Kühlschrank, Vitrifrigo -Kocher mit Backofen -Polster + Bezüge im Salon erneuert (2023) -Premium-Matratzen im Vorschiff (2013) -Matratze in der Achterkoje (2018) -Sprayhood, O+H (2022) -Sprayhood-Anhang (Kuchenbude) mit Stehhöhe und herausnehmbaren Fenstern, O+H (2022) -Cockpitpolster -Rettungsinsel, Plastimo (2013) -Winterplane (2014) Änderungen und Irrtümer vorbehaltlich

Standard Specification

A small yacht that lives big 

The Luffe 3.6 is the yacht with the illusion that it is small. On the inside the boat appears larger that it does when looking at it from the outside.

The cabins are large and are not only very practical, but also comfortable. In spite, the design has been kept light weight and aesthetic as on all Luffe boats.

The Luffe 3.6 handles effortlessly and has with its modern keel an extremely high stability. All halyards and sheets are conveniently accessible and winches have proper dimensions to match their purpose. The joy of sailing is thus not ruined by strenuous work.

The Luffe 3.6 is like the Luffe 40.04 equipped with a fully integrated self-tacking rail for the front sails. Sailing upwind becomes playtime for everybody on board.

The accommodation is as always both of the highest quality and customized to the wishes of the customer. The customer can among other options to pick which sort of wood the accommodation is made of, which fabric is used, and the color of it.

The magazines have quoted the Luffe 3.6 to ”become a new classic” and ”extremely homely”.

Displacement

Sail Area Winward

Sail Area Downwind

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A beautiful sailing machine.

From the very early stages the concept of the Luffe 45 has been to unite aesthetics with premium quality and splendid handling characteristics.

The Luffe 45 is a beautiful yachts built after simple and clean Scandinavian principles at its best. It matches in its own way the quality and design of southern european minimalist super yachts.

The many years of racing experience and boatbuilding of the designer have produced a fast performance cruiser which handles effortlessly even with a very small crew.

The German boating magazine Yacht wrote: With the Luffe 45 the designer and shipyard owner Oluf Jørgensen has created a genuine sailing machine. Due to the electrical support on board the potential can be fully exploited by a simple crew of only two people.