Cruiser/racers around 12m (40ft) aren’t exactly thin on the ground. With the Grand Soleil 40, Elan 40, Dufour 40, First 40.7, IMX 40, C & C 121, J/120, Ro 400, Arcona 400, Dehler 39, Finngulf 41 and Hanse 400 – among others – already on the market, there’s something to suit most tastes.

So where does the Salona 40 fit in? Doesn’t it seem strange for a boat tilted towards the International Measurement System (IMS) rule to be making an appearance in the UK? And since the IRC rule is now taking a firm hold in both the Med and the USA, where IMS has long held sway, what’s the future for an IMS-orientated design?

Those questions would be more relevant if the Salona were a race boat whose seakeeping, performance or handling had clearly been compromised in the interests of a better rating. But this newcomer from Croatia (the Adriatic is still an IMS stronghold) shows no signs of suffering from excesses of rule-induced distortions, such as a light keel and internal ballast to avoid stability penalties.

What’s more, as I have found, she’s thoroughly pleasant to sail and easily handled by a small crew. She’s also reassuringly stiff, and fast enough to have shown a clean pair of heels to well-sailed 40.7s.
How she will fare in IRC competition remains to be seen, but under IMS there’s nothing to doubt: the Dutch dealer, Jascha Bach, has recorded an impressive tally of race-wins in The Netherlands. Since any non-extreme boat should be treated fairly under IRC, there’s no reason why a well-sailed Salona 40 shouldn’t acquit herself equally well on this side of the North Sea.

As a fast cruiser, once again the 40 appears to have what it takes. She looks racier than her 13.7m (45ft) sister (see PBO 453), with a relatively taller rig and, in line with IMS thinking, a fuller bow and narrower stern than we’re used to seeing in this part of the world. There’s also a steeper rise to the transom, making one wonder whether upwind and light-airs performance have been given greater priority than the ability to scorch downwind in heavy weather.

Otherwise, there’s nothing unusual about her lines or ratios: this is a moderately light boat for her length, with a shallow canoe body, a good spread of sail in a triple-spreader, keel-stepped fractional rig that places most of the area in the mainsail, a fin keel of unextreme proportions, and a generous spade rudder.

Like the 45 and the new 37, she’s designed by the Slovenian team of J & J. If that sets alarm bells ringing, it needn’t. While J & J have created plenty of middle-of-the-road cruisers aimed at those for whom positive handling is well down the priority list, they’re equally adept at producing boats that slip along nicely – just take a look at the Shipman 50 and 63 and some of the Grand Soleils, for example.

Sailing performance was one of several factors I liked about the Salona 45, and I have sailed three different examples in a wide range of conditions. So I had high hopes for the 40.

My first spin was more of a drift around the Adriatic in a souped-up race version with the deep 2.27m (7ft 5in) keel, rod rigging and flush seacocks. It wasn’t an exciting sail, but even with the standard Dacron delivery sails and a roller-reefing system in place of the racing headfoil, she reached 5.3 knots upwind when the breeze peaked briefly at 12 knots over the deck.
My next sail was in the UK on a shallow fin version (draught 1.99m/6ft 6in) and, again, Victory’s standard Dacron sails. This time, however, we had 20 knots of apparent wind.

Given that she was straight out of the box, the boat went pretty well, though there should have been scope to squeeze a good deal more upwind pace than the 6-and-a-bit knots we logged. Her record on the race course – the help of the deep fin keel, laminate sails and other go-fast-goodies notwithstanding – suggests that there shouldn’t be too many worries on that score. And you certainly need have no concerns if you want a boat that’s easy, relaxing and enjoyable to sail: handling the Salona is a doddle.

As you would expect, the narrow waterline allowed her to heel fairly easily at first before the 2.7 tons of ballast made its presence felt and she began to stiffen up at around 15°. She carried just a tad of weather helm (more might be desirable for optimum performance) and could easily be trimmed to sail herself upwind, while the Lewmar (now Harken) 48 self-tailing primaries made short work of grinding in the headsail during the tacks.

Heaving to presented no problems: she hardly moved, and could be gybed around with the sheets pinned in to carry on sailing. Once the sheets were cracked, our speed quickly climbed to eight knots.
Despite conditions that were far from the most testing, it was hard to find any faults in the Salona’s handling. Rudder grip was positive even when she was deliberately provoked and it was hard to stall either the keel or the rudder by spinning tightly or pinching.

Boats like this really do give the lie to the common misconception that sporty boats are more of a handful to sail than their cruisier counterparts. In the case of the Salona, directional stability is excellent and it’s harder to induce a broach than on many cruisers with less sail, shallower draught and tubbier hulls. She goes where you point her and makes life easy for the crew. If only more boats did the same.

More designers and builders could also follow the example of good design in the cockpit. For a start, it’s not excessively wide. The coamings are well inboard by modern standards – in line with the relatively narrow coachroof, which is needed for an efficient sheeting angle with an overlapping headsail. This keeps the distance between the seats down to a practical 81cm (32in), allowing most people sitting on one seat to brace their legs on the opposite side.

Another result of this sensible width is a comfortable and secure perch on the high side of the coamings for the trimmers and helmsman, the latter able to pick a spot well outboard thanks to the 1.52m (60in) wheel that’s recessed into the cockpit sole.

Abaft the primary winches on the coamings is a second pair of Harken 48 self-tailers for the split mainsheet, so the tail each side is within easy reach of the helm or crew. A 6:1 traveller runs across the full width of the cockpit sole immediately forward of the pedestal. Stowage volume in the cockpit is determined by whether you opt for one or two double cabins in the stern. Even with the latter you get a full-depth (if fairly short) locker each side opposite the wheel, plus three smaller bins in the removable stern seat that’s left ashore on race days.

Although the cockpit layout is efficient for a racing crew, it allows for easy short-handed cruising – and the same applies on deck. The genoa cars are controlled by a 6:1 purchase, the teak toe-rail is reassuringly chunky (a flattened version is available if the standard one digs into the back of the thighs) and cruising concessions can include central fairleads and cleats for springs. As on some other Mediterranean designs, there’s no hatch garage.

One minor irritation under sail was that the foot of the genoa just caught the forward stanchion and needed skirting: thumping the guardwires from the cockpit didn’t free it. If you’re cruising with a roller genoa, get it cut a couple of inches higher. Above deck, the Sparcraft rig is supported by standing rigging in conventional 1x19 wire – including discontinuous upper and lower intermediates – over spreaders with a sweep-back of 16°. The backstay exerts plenty of influence on forestay tension with such high-fractional configurations, but I couldn’t help thinking that checkstays might be useful in a seaway: the mast was pumping a little even in relatively flat water.

Our test boat had the optional Facnor track on the mast, which made hoisting and lowering the main a simple operation. An integral sail cover and lazyjacks were further evidence of cruising aspirations.
After completing our manoeuvres under sail, we fired up the 39hp Yanmar 3JH4 saildrive harnessed to the optional two-bladed folding prop and found that an easy 2,500rpm pushed us along at seven knots. Increasing the revs to 2,900rpm brought 7.8 knots up on the log and full throttle (3,250 rpm) sent the speed up to 8.2 knots, from where we could stop in about a boat’s-length.

As you would expect with a right-handed prop, the boat exhibited a slight tendency to veer to port in ahead. High revs over-balanced the rudder, though not enough to be a serious nuisance, and kick in astern was minimal. My principal grouse on the engine front was the noise: more insulation was needed.

Another unusual feature on boats of this nature are the watertight forward and aft bulkheads: wiring and plumbing passes through glands, so the boat should stand a good chance of remaining afloat in the event of a head-on collision or serious rudder damage. As on the Salona 45, the 40’s hull-to-deck joint is through-bolted in the conventional manner. On the new 37, by contrast, AD place their faith in Plexus adhesive. Airex foam is used in the topsides – above the waterline only – and in the deck. Resin is isophthalic in the skin coat and first couple of layers; the rest is orthophthalic.

On reaching the foot of the companionway steps, you’re greeted by a pleasantly woody saloon in mahogany that is, on the whole, neatly finished.
Our British test boat had twin aft cabins and the heads forward, but you can have the heads aft if you don’t mind perching on the end of a shorter starboard saloon berth (instead of the 2.06m/6ft 9in full-length version) and facing aft to navigate at a smaller chart table. Alternatively, you can have a heads at each end.

With a two-cabin arrangement (one double in the stern) the heads moves aft, as you would expect, and there’s space for a generous locker between it and the aft bulkhead. But you can still have the second heads in the bow if you like, creating two en-suite double cabins. Partly because the Salona 40 is built with a minimum of internal mouldings, it’s relatively simple to gain access to the plumbing and mechanical installations. Little space is wasted, and there are no holes feeding pipes or cables through hollow members into which water (or worse) could disappear and fester for years. All the joinery is bonded directly to the outer hull. Beneath the deck, the headliner consists of vinyl-covered plywood panels in the saloon and mouldings in the cabins at each end.

Stowage is under both saloon bunks except aft on the port side, where the compressor lives. Fuel and water tanks are in the stern, the latter sharing its space with the calorifier which, in the event of a problem, can easily be bypassed. This suggestion was made by a shop-floor worker, not an engineer, and is cited by AD Boats as an example of how they are open to ideas for improvement from all quarters.

Points I found to criticise included the lack of lighting over the saloon berths. Other details, such as the proud hinge on the chart table and the need to find a screwdriver to open the switch panel, were on AD’s list of things to be changed.

Conscious of this, I could nonetheless find little to take issue with on the Salona 40. Her IMS origins appear to do her no disservice when it comes to handling and performance, at least in moderate conditions, and she’s mercifully free of eye-catching surface gloss hiding shoddy workmanship where boat-show visitors rarely look.

In terms of value for money, she’s no longer the bargain she was a year or so ago and, yes, there are lots of other good sporty forties out there. But if she lives up to her promise, this Croatian newcomer will prove to be a worthy competitor.

LOA: 11.99m (39ft 4in)
LWL: 10.65m (34ft 11in)
Beam: 2.47m (8ft 1in)
Draught – deep fin: 2.27m (7ft 5in)
– shallow fin: 1.99m (6ft 6in)
Displacement: 7,200kg (15,873lb)
Ballast: 2,800kg (6,173lb)
Sail area: (main and 100% foretriangle) 82.4m2 (887sq ft)
Displacement/length ratio: 165
Sail area/displacement ratio: 22.92
RCD: category A
Engine Yanmar: 3JH4 39hp saildrive
Headroom: 1.90m (6ft 3in)
Designer: J & J

Builder: AD Boats, Croatia www.adboats.hr
Distributor: Wittey Marine Ltd, Unit 29 Saltmakers House,
Hamble Point Marina, School Lane, Hamble,
Southampton, Hants SO31 4NB.
Tel: 01844 344723; Fax: 01844 342004
Email: info@witteymarine.com
Website: www.witteymarine.com