After the incredibly good performance of the big sister, the Neo 400 on the last middle sea race, under gale conditions, there was no doubt that the boat had a big offshore potential and also that the inverted bow helped to control water projections and to keep its nose up. A big design success for Ceccareli and after such a good boat we all wanted more and more to come.
The first one after the Neo 400 is a 350 that can have waterballast for racing offshore. The boat is as beautiful or even more beautiful than the big sister and contrary to it, it is not made of carbon. To keep costs down it is basically a vacuum infused epoxy e-glass boat with some parts in carbon (spars, rudder, bowsprit,tiller, bulkheads, keel frames).
Keeping costs down is a way of speaking because such a high quality built is expensive and this beauty costs a bit less than 200 000 euros (with VAT). Two versions will be available, a cruising one with aluminium spars and a racing one but I bet that even the "slower" version will be a very fast sailboat, able to win races.
The Neo 350 will have a hull length of 10.70m will weight only 3650kg of which 1500kg are ballast on a lead bulb at the end of a steel foil. The beam is considerable (3.53m)the draft is moderate (2.05m) and the RM is huge, allowing for 72sqm of sail upwind.
The interior disposition is interesting, similar to the bigger boat, but only when the first boat comes out we will see if it is as much spartan as the one of Neo 400 or if this is a boat that is pointed to a more vast clientele with a nicer finished interior.
Anyway a very beautiful boat that will make proud any owner and will raise a lot of envy looks: Italian design and boat building at its best ;-)
The Neo 400 blasting on the last Middle of the sea race:
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