The Jetten Beach 45 was the talk of the town at the Cannes show, but does that fast-displacement hull live up to its bold claims?
The annual Cannes boat show is always awash with new model launches so it takes something special to cause a stir among its well-heeled visitors. However, last September, the normally conservative Dutch boatbuilder Jetten was the talk of the town.
Berthed at the end of a pontoon in full view of all its glamorous neighbours was a craft unlike anything showgoers had seen before. With its razor-sharp lines, dramatic
axe bow and hunkered-down profile, it had an aura about it which belied its modest proportions.
Not since the original Audi TT can I remember something that looked as taut and fresh as the new Jetten Beach 45. Every line, curve and join seems to slot into place
to create a single cohesive shape that looks right from every angle.
And yet the striking styling isn’t even the most interesting aspect of the new Beach 45 – that honour belongs to its unusual aluminium hull, whose fast-displacement form allows it to cut through the water at well over 20 knots without climbing on to the plane.
That’s like a horse winning the Grand National without breaking into a gallop or jumping over the fences. The logic is simple; why bother with all that expended energy jumping over fences (or waves) when you can simply glide through them instead?
Yt’s a compelling argument that Jetten says allows its new boat to cruise at speed in comfort through seas that would have a planing boat trying to smash itself to pieces. Nor is this a case of all talk and no trousers – the Jetten’s category A RCD rating is normally reserved for oceangoing trawlers not stylish Mediterranean cruisers.
That brings us to another of the Beach 45’s strange dichotomies; this is a boat designed in Holland to tackle the worst the North Sea can throw at it, yet its target market is the beach-going crowd of the
Med, as its name so blatantly alludes to. Confused? We were, so we asked for a sea trial to find out what this intriguing craft is all about.
VIDEO: Jetten 50 MPC Fly in Dutch test drive
In this video, we head over to the Netherlands to put the new Jetten 50 MPC Fly to the test
