Now with just a few weeks until world´s leading boat show, Boot Duesseldorf, opens its doors again for the 2025 edition, I thought it might be a good idea to do a walkthough in advance. I chose the Elan Impression 43 primarily because of the fact that sadly this brand (as a number of others) won´t have a real boat on display at the Rhine this year.
I saw this boat last week when visiting one of my clients, Blue Yachting, which is an Elan dealer in Germany. This beauty is a brand new yacht delivered last summer. Elan Yachts are well known in the scene for their high quality building, pretty nicely performing boats and – above all – for their signature special boat designs. The Impression 43 has exactly the perfect size for a family cruiser: An oceangoing vessel, large enough to tackle the challanges of offshore sailing, offering decent volume for a crew of 6, max 8, people. But also „small“ enough to go easy on the owner´s budgets: The boat as shown is on offer right now for 340.000 Euros ex VAT.
„I don´t want to show her this way …“
Nils Schuerg, boss of Blue Yachting, was at first a bit reluctant. The boat is propped here under free sky since months now and of course – being subject to the Northern German weather in autumn and winter – does not come in shiny white polished high-glossy brochure make-up. But you know what? This is how a GRP hull does look after a few weeks. Why hide it?
I mean, this is the reality. And besides, that´s the reason why we as skippers and boat owners are spending so much time cleaning and polishing our precious yachts. So, no problem for me and I guess no problem for you? I am sure that this yacht, once sold to a happy buyer or put to the water as a show yacht, will be brought back to cover picture-mode pretty fast. In this, let´s start our Boot Duesseldorf ersatz-walkthough.
Quite impressive from the start
Upon coming down the entryway I am instantly re-assured of Elan´s specialty: This is really a „different“ yacht compared to the majority of the other production boat companies. You may know Elan Yachts´ more advertised ranges, the GT- or E-series, which are far more excessive and flamboyant. Their design – exterior and interior – had been developed in collaboration with Pininfarina and Porsche Design. So, design truly is a major selling point with an Elan.
You can clearly see this at first glance arriving down below in the saloon. I am not necessarily reminded of being in a boat, but I feel kind of like „at home“. The design with the large wooden panels conveys a loft-like character. This one could easily also be a nice and lush Air b´n´b-flat in the Austrian Alps. The „theme“, if you will, of this boat is wood. The whole interior breathes a rustic, „forestal“ feeling.
Woodworks par excellence
The quality and heavy haptic experience of the joinery is exceptional. The bulkheads as well as the modules of the furniture are kept in „Oak Rustico“. In times when especially the big series production companies are using lookalike-veneers, mostly Alpi, to save on wooden surfaces, this boat comes almost as a relief: Seeing so much real wood in such big „chunks“ has almost a squandering taste to it. And I mean it in a good way.
The bulkheads for example are covered with large, some 30 centimeters wide boards which appear to be massive planks. The joiners back in the shipyard chose the veneers in such a nice subtle way that „darker“ toned planks are alternating with lighter toned ones. This makes for a tweedy and rustic appearance – but also a rich feeling like a reminiscence to the Golden Age of Sail where ships were entirely made of thick wooden planks.
Of course, these are veneers. But cut out of real Oak planks. And when looking closely onto the edges you clearly see the thickness of the veneers: Not those fraction of a millimeter laser-cut almost look-through vapor-coated high tech veneers which will peel off at an instant after the slightest contact. Nope, this joinery will last.
A true family cruiser
The Impression 43 is perfectly sized. I personally find that cruising yachts between 42 and 45 feet, the „mid-range“ if you will, are the best choice for sailing families. This boat is available as a standard 3-cabin yacht, as shown here, or as a 4-cabin-boat. The forward owner´s bathroom is then substituted with a 2-bunks Pulman cabin. Of course, we´d go for the classy 3-cabin boat.
The layout is nothing new: The salon features a starboard-located dinner area with a large U-settee. The cushions are extra-thick and cozy. Again, following the „brute“ wood idea of the interior, the dining table is made of a simple, massive, one-piece tabletop. Vis-a-vis, a bit offset to the foward main bulkhead, an L-shaped galley.
Again, the galley has a spotless „no frills“ appearance: White Corian worktop that can be closed completely covering sink and 3-flame stove integrate seamlessly into the overall design. There are more than enough cupboards and cabinets for crockery, kitchen utensils and provisions. A large standard fridge and another smaller toploader will keep your food and drinks nice, cold and fresh.
In this, the boat in this 3-cabin-version is surely fitted to house a crew of six persons, the overall appearance and the feeling of volume down below is much larger than my pictures can convey: With a length of 13.32 meters (hull) and a max beam of 4.25 meters the internal volume is impressive. For a boat this size, she offers massive comfort. That´s what she does best.
Down below: Not a punishment anymore
That´s an effect you can see in many boats nowadays: They are clearly designed for offering maximum comforts up on deck. Which is logical as you are supposed to spend most of the time outside sailing or at anchor, enjoying the sun, having a drink or dinner with your loved ones. Down below, for the most part, it should work – but there are also yachts where being there almost feels like a punishment of some sort. Not so in the Elan 43.
Apart from the large volume and the rich „alpine“ feeling at least of the interior of the boat I am showing, there is an enormous amount of natural light. Two hull windows, elongated portlights in the coachroof and a number of skylights (some of which can be opened to allow fresh air ventilation) make for an exceptionally light-suffused salon. Even in the midst of a dark, overcast Northern German afternoon this yacht appears friendly and welcoming.
That´s a good thing! Not all skippers have the luck to be sailing in the sunny warm waters of Greece or the Caribbean – many of us are based in rainy, subtropical latitudes where not so nice weather is the rule. Having a boat that offers such a friendly, light-suffused and welcoming atmosphere even below deck is quite an attractive selling proposition and could be the one aspect for some to go for this boat.
Vacation or blue water cruising? Both!
The Impression 43 is marketed as a true family cruiser by the shipyard. She surely won´t beat speed records nor win races, but equipped with some decent cruising laminate sails this yacht will make for a nice vacational cruiser for sure. This can best be seen at some nice details, for example in the chart table-area:
Instead of just putting an all-odd standard nav-station somewhere bolted to the back of a bulkead or bathroom, the Elan Impression 43 offers quite a decent navigator´s place you can really use for chartworks or doing your logbook entries. There´s a foldaway stool in very heavy quality: Not many shipyards are investing in such a dedicated way. Again, all is kept simple and easy, just as the overall concept of this boat.
Not a cheap chap at all
Elan is not on your radar? It should be! Made in Slovenia, as a winter sports-guy some bells should ring now. Yep, that´s the same company that is making the composite ski equipment that is used by so many World Champions in skiing today. These guys know all about composite materials: No wonder, companies like Seascape or Ocean Tec are also well known for high quality composite boats, be it GRP or carbon.
The priceworthiness (and even the bargain on this brand) can also be seen when looking at the details. The main switch board for example is made by Simarine. A specialist in digital switching and – you already guessed it – also a Slovenian company. Some others, amongst them Hanse Yachts for example, have those products installed in their boats.
Sometimes, the make-up is nice but when wiped off, or, as in our case, when you look behind the corners, it´s merely disappointment. Not so on the Elan Impression 43: As seen above (and I´ve checked also below the floor boards, behind access hatches and so forth) there is spotless cleanliness and neat regime. Just look how orderly and nicely the wiring has been done: It´s like this throughout the whole yacht.
Save the best for last: The cabins
Yes, the best for last. Normally I am not so into cabins as I am also more focused on the deck layout and cockpit. As this is due to the shitty weather impossible for now I re-focused and I must say, it was worth it! I am also not so much into cabins as for me these are just places where you sleep, so in my eyes, way too much time is wasted by people roaming through the cabins and basing their buying decisions on these things.
Anyways, on the Elan Impression 43 there is something special about the cabins. Not so much the owner´s in the bow: This one is a nice, simple, roomy cabin with a half-island bed, two hull windows for more natural light (sadly, again, placed way too high so that you cannot look through when laying in your bed) and some stowage, no, the real kings of the cabins are the two aft-cabins for the guests (or your kids).
I mean, just look at the picture: The sheer size of these cabins is awesome, remember, we are on a 43-footer! Also, bed sizes are comfortable and the amount of wooden panels is astonishingly high for „just“ an aft-cabin. Normally, these are kept a bit sparsely fitted as they are just meant for the guests and on 3-cabin-yachts we all know that one of the cabins is usually utilized for storage of sails, cockpit cushions and alike. Here, again, the friendly atmosphere, the amount of natural light, the standing heigt and volume amazed me very much.
Wood where it belongs
As much as Elan uses its „Oak Rustico“ almost abundantly throughout the yacht, as much do they save it in the bathrooms. Which makes quite some sense: Here people just come to take a dump or brush their teeth. Why waste precious material in a room frequently used, but only for a few minutes?
Also, when showering, bathrooms on yachts tend to be soaked. Do you dry your bath after each shower thoroughly? Yep, me neither. Bathrooms also tend to be damp and moist for the most part, so that´s not the best environment for wooden panels or veneers of all kind. Not later than your first encounter with onboard mildew you will start to appreciate easy to clean GRP-surfaces. In this, I like the approach to not over-decorate these bathrooms with wooden surfaces.
Both bathrooms aboard the Impression 43 are well-sized and offer all amenities you wish for in a modern boat: Electric „Spa“-grade luxury toilets by Planus, closed-off shower-areas and some stowage for personal hygiene items. Again, a small detail I would change: Wooden shower gratings would immediately grade up the appearance and increase the comforts as they are so much more comfy on the feet than bare, cold GRP. Just a detail …
A thorough mid-sized sailing yacht
Elan yachts are powered by Yanmar Diesel engines which are well known for almost maintenance-free and effortless running. Access to the engine room is done via foldaway entryway and two side-access by removing large panels. By the way, the small closing mechanisms for these panels are just ingenious …
Up on deck – and sorry for not showing the cockpit with winch layout and such – I especially like the huge front locker whoch is something special for a boat that size. I normally only see dedicated front lockers like these on boats starting +45 feet. On the Elan Impression 43 there´s a crashbox and large stowage for fenders, Gennaker or your shore-bike (it should be foldable though).
Again, it´s in the details: For example, the dock clamps on deck. Normally you see these standard cheap clamps all yachts nowadays have. Which is okay: They hold on tight, are cheap to replace and nothing special. On the Elan, they went for the polished stainless steel dock clamps which so much more beautiful. And that´s just one example: If you happen to see an Elan yacht yourself, try to look for these details, you will be astonished.
In this, let´s resolve the little riddle of this article´s headline: What did I mean with „The alternative draft“? Well, it has two levels of interpretations. The first is Elan-internally. As both the GT- and the E-series are the more extravagant ranges (and you may absolutely check out my Elan E6 walkthrough here) it seems that the Impresssion-boats are the inhouse counterparts. A bit less flamboyant, down to earth, classic. But in this, also beautiful and „special“. The second level would be in the true sense of the word: The Elan Impression 43 (or 45 as she is called now) is truly a very nice alternative to your ordinary production boat brand´s offer when it comes to a family cruiser.
How does she sail?
After this walkthough, all that is left to do is to sail her. I have refrained from showing the cockpit area, the running rigging and cockpit winch layout on purpose: You can imagine how uninviting and not very attractive it looks after a few weeks on the dry. Nils Schuerg of Blue Yachting promised to put this boat to the water in spring and invite me for a follow-up. And this will be the „under sails“ article.
As I am now very much looking forward to this occasion, I invite you to seriously take the Slovenian brand Elan into account when you look for your next cruising yacht. There is no squeaking floor board, no nimble or shaky installation – the building quality looks absolutely seamless and although Elan and Seascape are not the same, I have only good things to say about companies based in this country. I am sure that customer experience at Elan is similarly good – so, maybe that´s the alternative draft you have been looking for?
You might as well be interested in these related articles:
Walkthorugh of a diva: Elan E6