I haven't seen anything designed by this team that I haven't liked(I'll warn you up front ). This one started on performance first. Often it seems that speed and some preconceived style come out of the designer gate at the same time, and you can get a pig in poke.

The accommodations are spartan for a boat this length, they look like they followed the speed parameters. On the other hand, they were able to make a sort of two version plan afloat;one for racing and crew work, and one for the guests. That's not a new idea(some of the huge old racing yachts could do that).

There was no way to make ISOBEL look like a traditional yacht, I'm glad they didn't try. It's unusual but I think it's a sophisticated design work. No production boat will follow but I find it hard to tell sometimes what is driving boat design these days, production boat building, or are they following some of the new ideas like this in subtle ways?

"Design partner Bob Stephens gives some insight on the upwind trials so far: “We have had some excellent sailing and although it is early days, we are very happy with the speeds that Isobel is showing. Under the huge square top mainsail and blade jib only we quickly reached wind speed, settling in at a steady nine plus knots in 11 knots of true at an apparent wind angle of about 26 degrees. What little sailing we have done indicates that the boat will be fast and fun to sail. She is very light on the helm and easy to handle, the cockpit layout works really well, and the deck layout and sail inventory are both flexible and versatile.”