During last weekend´s Hamburg ancora Yachtfestival I´ve had the pleasure to roam the pontoons and take a look at some pretty interesting yachts again. You may have read the previous article on the Shogun 43 – standing at the stern of this planning sailing machine, I just had to move my head slightly to bring another absolute gem into my field of view: Meet the fantastic Linjett 39! Lin….what?
A Swedish opera
You have never heard of the brand Linjett? Well, you have definitely missed something! Linjett is a brand or ship type built by the Rosättra Shipyard. A small family run and family owned business near Stockholm, the Capital of Sweden. It may be a small brand with a low two-digit output of boats, but it is surely a company with a long tradition in boatbuilding. Rosättra had been founded back in 1886, which is a staggering 138 years tradition! As I said – still owned and rund by the same two families which founded the company in the first place.
Apart from that, identifying a boat of quality is pretty simple: If there is a long blue sticker on the coachroof between the windows, your chances are pretty good you´ve detected a high-class Scandinavian yacht! The Linjett 39 is one of four current models the shipyard offers: 34, 36 (recently announced), 39 and the flagship, 43 feet. I must confess I haven´t heard of Linjett up until a few years ago. Which is a shame, because their product might be one of the best “Nothern” style cruising yachts you can have these days.
Sweet spot of sailing
There aren´t many brands left making boats like these. There´ll be Luffe and Faurby first and foremost, to a certain extend – but with a much more modernistic and “Mediterranean” approach – Arcona and X-Yachts. Linjett is certainly ana advocate of the classic Scandinavian sailing school. Standing at the stern, her transom is a statement affirming this assessment: No wide transom, no fancy big bathing platform. Just a fold-down bathing ladder and a stern anchor. Period.
39 to 40 feet, well, that´s the sweet spot of sailing. Those boats are not so small any more you can without hesitation call it a “yacht”, but their size isn´t that big so that both buying budget, maintenance cost and berthing the yacht won´t pose too much of a problem. As most people are sailing single- or double handed mostly, owning and operating a boat in the range 12 to 13 meters is probably the best choice for most European sailors. She is of course rated CE Cat A and could easily go from coastal to true offshore cruising.
Scandinavian to the bone
The Linjett 39 sticks to the Scandinavian boatbuilding traditions which can be described with two simple words: Quality and performance. In both, Scandinavian boats and brands exceed the common standards. Those yachts are made for sailing enthusiasts, connoisseurs who want something truly special – both in building quality as well as in sailing capabilities. In this, Linjett is perfectly positioned well in the range of available brands, like the above mentioned.
Her cockpit fittings scream: Sail me! There are Andersen winches (of course!), an impressive keyboard of lines for the sails trim. Operating the lines is ergonomically perfectly arranged to suit the active solo skipper or a minimal (couple) crew. At the same time, the cockpit will suit perfectly to enjoy a nice meal for two or easily host onboard guests for a sundowner.
Her pure data are pretty impressive for a 40 footer: 12.15 meters long, she has some nice overhangs. Her waterline length are 11 meters, which make her a 36-footer truly. As she does not carry the max beam all the way abaft, the hull gets narrower to the stern again. She will sail nicely beating upwind for sure. Comparing her to our Oceanis 40.1 reveals some interesting differences: The Oceanis is almost 700 kilogram lighter, but with 61 against some 91 square meters of upwind sail area, the Linjett is much more powerful!
The Linjett can be equipped with a mighty full Carbon rigging by Selden/Pauger. Having most of the weight as much down as it gets, the Linjett 39 carries 3.5 tons of ballast in her narrow lead L-keel. That is an impressive 40 per cent ballast/weight ratio (compared to 25 percent in the Oceanis). In this, the Linjett will surely sail impressively stiff and stable, being powered by her large sailplan.
Rod rigging is a must, of course and I liked the many details of her running rigging. You will see many more of those modern improvements without touching the classy appearance down below. For example, having a mainsheet traveler is key to mainsail fine trimming – this boat offers a pretty wide track on which the main could be trimmed. Two main choices for the headsail, be it the self-tacking Jib or an overlapping Genoa make her sail plan pretty versatile. But the real surprise and pure joy is down below …
This. Is. A. Yacht!
If I could only convey the smell of the salon, you´d know what I mean. The odor of Mahogany paired with a scent of freshly applied glossy paint. There is not the slightest sniff or GRP, resin or even styrene, as it is common with most modern cruising yachts. This boat´s smell could be sold as a car freshener … Just look at this interior:
Matti Wikholm, Sales Manager of Linjett Yachts, welcomes me down below and takes me on a tour. The impression of this classic Mahogany interior is overwhelming. This is how boats used to look like in the Seventies and Eighties, no matter which brand, and it easily makes you feel at home, kind of beams you out of time and brings you back to the – honestly – “good old days”. But the interior is far from being corny or over the top. Somehow the design team managed not to make her appear like those dark Mahogany basements from long ago.
This is achieved by utilizing natural light, inviting it to enter the salon (and the cabins, which is even more exciting to see later) and by counterbalancing the Mahogany-tone with lots of white surfaces. As a devoted reader of NO FRILLS SAILING.com you may know about my attempts to refit the King´s Criuser 33 some years ago. She was a “dark cellar” and I tried exactly that: Counter balancing the wood-colors by having white roofing panels. Those of the Linjett 39 are surely 1.000 per cent better than my hands could have ever produced. And that is why this interior works so nicely for me.
Light colored cushions and surprisingly lots of windows make for lots of light in this salon. For a classic hull shape, the Linjett 39 has a lot of those windows. Two large skylights in the roof, lots of windows in the cabin and large hull windows as well. It will never get dark inside here, for sure. Her interior layout is pretty classic too.
I am a fan of L-shaped galleys as I somehow hate to look at the dirty dishes in those (admittedly otherwise practical) longitudinal galleys. The Linjett 39 has some pretty impressive stowage to offer in the galley and, I don´t know if you have noticed, there is also a small nav-station vis-à-vis where the skipper will find the main switch panel and a small chart table. That is exactly the configuration of my Omega 42 as well – I felt re-assured roaming this yacht that my own boat comes with a modern, yet functional classy interior layout.
A versatile boat
The Linjett 39 can be built in two main configurations. I was a bit sad that on this boat show a 3-cabin layout was on display. I would guess that the 2-cabin layout is the most common choice for the sailing couple. In this boat, there are two cabins to the stern and an owner´s cabin in the front. Which, on the other hand, was a quite interesting layout to look at as well.
As the 3-cab boat has only one bathroom in the front (I would hate to being forced to listen to the noise made by my guests up here in the forepeak!) there is a small hanging locker abaft where wet clothing could be brought to dry. A nice utilization of space in the 3-cabin boat.
The bathroom in the front is sufficiently sized with an electric toilet and a sink to wash hands and get a decent shave. Again, sailing with four other guys, trying to get a good night´s sleep – this configuration with the only bathroom up here right next to “my” cabin would make me go crazy! I´d really prefer to have the 2-cabin version.
In this configuration, there would´nt be a bathroom up front but a large bathroom where now the wet locker is situated. To the stern a large shower would be adjoined with a huge aft locker in the back as well. I´ve documented the huge win of comforts between a 3- and a 2-cab version in this article. Depending on your use-case, both versions have their raison d´etre. But here´s the true detail that really sets the LInjett apart from the others … the cabins.
Masterclass in cabin design
I have the feeling that interior design nowadays kind of neglects the cabins. Foremost, the aft cabins. And I can really see the reason for that: Usually, you only come here to get undressed after a long day of sailing, crawl into your sleeping bag or under a blanket and try to fall asleep as fast as you can. I´d say that the importance of a “nice” cabin is overrated as 90 per cent of time spent here is spent … unconscious. Nevertheless …
The aft cabins of the Linjett 39 are probably the nicest ones I´ve seen in years. I mean, look at the detail here: Lots of Mahogany and even the nice white ceiling is absolutely gorgeous. There is not a single spot left with bare GRP! I´ve already stated that the Linjett has a conservative hull with converging lines. Normally you would guess that there is less volume down here – but it isn´t! The space available is just huge, absolutely sufficient for two adults to sleep in here.
Again, you may have read my countless efforts back then refurbishing OLIVIA as I tried to fit a nice white ceiling to her cabins (especially to the front cabin). Seeing this here aboard the Linjett 39 is absolute role model! The craftsmanship and execution is spotless to the detail. I´s a feast of boatbuilding delicacy.
Absolutely atypical for an aft cabin – especially for a boat that “smal” size – is the amount of natural light. I mean, usually, you will get a small skylight and, mostly as a surplus option – a small hatch for ventilation to the cockpit. Not so with the Linjett 39: The large hull window will make waking up under sails become a delight, two really bug opening hatches will make for nice fresh air ventilation. This is a definitive mega-plus in comforts! Well done, Linjett!
Same goes for the front cabin, which is shown some pictures above: A nice composition of white and Mahogany as the basic colors. A large skylight hatch that functions as emergency exit as well and two big hull windows make it a light suffused place. In the two cabin version, when the large bathroom is not installed, the available interior volume is even bigger, making this a very nice place to rest.
Tantalizing Counterbalance
The Linjett-range is not the only type of boat being built by the Rosättra shipyard. You´ve probably read my article on the Shogun 43 which is also made by the Swedes. Isn´t that an interesting combination? An all-out lightweight Carbon racer on the one hand an a classic Swedish sailing yacht on the other? I think both just wonderfully counter balance each other, maybe here and there taking over little details: The Linjett maybe the powerful lightweight Carbon rigging from the Shogun, the Shogun some of the nice classy interior.
No matter which boat teases you the most, both will be built by the same craftsmen, which is good to know. I´d put Linjett in between Luffe, which is a yacht more set on performance, and Faurby, still the sleek classy shape but with an emphasis on lots of massive wooden details. I am absolutely happy having “discovered” this brand and a shipyard visit with sea trial on a Linjett is definitely set on my to-do list. What an absolutely nice yacht she is indeed!
You may also like these related articles:
A day at Luffe Yachts
What is Scandinavian sailing all about?
Arcona Yachts: Swift and fast