Voile Magazine Review – Translated from French

The N’FUN 30 yacht presented at the Cannes Yacht Show was a success and seriously dusted off our ideas about Polish yacht constructions. Their image was significantly rejuvenated after the excellent Maxus design, which was popular in France. N’Fun has also perfectly filled a niche that has not been of interest to eastern manufacturers so far, i.e. daytime sports boats. This slick 30-foot yacht with balanced hull lines has racing features. No wonder, since its creator Marek Stańczyk has been competing in match-racing at the highest level for many years. Succumbing to the charm of a racing yacht, he did everything to expand its purpose into an all-day yacht or even a weekend yacht. Thus, the N’Fun perfectly fulfils the various navigation possibilities, which forced the constructor to make some compromises, which we will talk about in a moment.

It is possible to fulfil every wish.

The shipyard offers customers a great deal of freedom in choosing yacht variants, although with the risk of losing the assumptions of a racing yacht. In Cannes, a yacht well equipped in options was presented, although a huge steering wheel mounted on a solid pedestal raises some surprise. Just like the significantly oversized inboard engine with a power of up to 30 hp and the retractable bow thruster. Marek agrees with us, but emphasizes that „our client, our master“.

But these initial impressions quickly disappear when the yacht sets sail on the waters of Cannes Bay. It quickly turns out that it is necessary to put 1 reef on the mainsail, despite the fact that the yacht has a ballast bulb weighing 550 kg and it is 1.60 m below the waterline (the keel is lifted on a hydraulic cylinder).

It turns out, however, that Marek, as a good sailor, likes big heels without reefing the mainsail. This is a good test for the hull, which is well equipped with footrests and supports of all kinds.

Our N’Fun quickly reaches speeds of 6 knots and even more. We handle our „cruiser“ effortlessly by handling a powerful mainsheet tackle. Even with a well-trimmed sail, the sheet rope does not hurt your hands. Also, keeping the yacht on course is not a problem. The boat is extremely stable despite the high heeling. Handling a large genoa is also not a problem for Kacper, who has been accompanying Marek in international regattas for years. The genoa trimmer position is well placed so as not to obstruct the helmsman’s view.

With such sailing, under full sail and in a bank, it is difficult to determine the critical tacking angle. We sail 50 degrees into a wind speed of 20 knots (gusts 23-24 knots). The yacht sails relatively well close hauled in these conditions and everyone has a lot of space for themselves.

The crew is well protected from splashing water thanks to a sprayhood on the cabin roof. It’s worse when it comes to protection against water falling on the deck. Wide half-decks without bulwarks direct the water directly under the crew’s buttocks. This goes away when we hoist the gennaker and Marek adjusts the keel position. Immediately the speed increases to 9 knots and after a while to 12 knots. It’s exciting to sail in planing. Fun, as the name suggests, provides us with a lot of fun. But it doesn’t end well. The halyard of the spinnaker breaks and the fun is over.

Marek realizes that he overdid it a bit, but bursts out laughing. And he’s right. Fun is full of inexhaustible energy and can provide quite an experience, which makes you like this yacht.

We have doubts about the possibility of using this yacht for a cruise. Before calling at the port, we descend to the cabin, where a lot of space is taken up by the keel lifting mechanism. Water also soaked the mattresses in the bow cabin. She got there through the hatch through which the spinnaker passes, or by connecting a telescopic bowsprit (edit. N Fun Yachting: the problem was eliminated by draining the water from the bowsprit guide). In addition, the cabin has everything you need for a leisurely cruise, from a kitchen alcove to a marine toilet isolated from the cabin.

The yacht perfectly fulfils the tasks set before it: fun and pleasure of sailing a small yacht in splashes of water, which it is clearly not afraid of.

Our observations:

Program: regatta sailing on a small yacht.

The day boat is very dynamic and pleasant to sail. It gives many possibilities for the implementation of various programs, with the proviso that the basic version does not necessarily provide such possibilities

• Practical: The hingeless rear hatch covers give access to a large cargo space.
• Practical: Toilet cabin well planned, giving the impression of a much larger yacht.
• Practical: A small kitchen with a sink, located at the front of the cabin, which gives you plenty of space to work.
• Practical: The mainsail sheet deck is very well planned, the pulley system gives a good gear ratio, additional support is unnecessary.
• Not practical : After a short sailing, the bow mattress very damp… Is it really necessary?

PICTURES:

• Description under the photo: Since we did not reef the mainsail, we had to manually adjust it with the mainsheet track.
• Description under the photo: A large cockpit, a short cabin and a telescopic bowsprit : everything for planing sailing.
• Description under the photo: The interior is almost comfortable, if it weren’t for the lifting keel, which makes the passage a little difficult.

Text: F.-X. De Crecy

Photographs : D. Bidaine