This is the sixth boat I bring back from this year´s edition of Boot Duesseldorf boat show. It´s a small boat, it´s a different boat in many respects. It´s been quite a while since I had featured the Austrian sailboat brand Sunbeam, to be honest. The company, widely known in Europe for high quality manufacturing and very good sailing boats, went through a reconstruction a few years before Covid hit, re-focusing from mid- and bigger-sized cruising yachts (like the Sunbeam 46.1, click here) to their original raison d’être: Well performing sailboats from 22 to 32 feet.
In this, 2021 the company launched the brand new Sunbeam 32.1 (then called 32.i) – and at that time it wasn´t so clear if this revolutionary and quite radical new design language would be a success. I´d rather call it a “violent rupture”, clearly a shift and break with their old style. Back at that time the new CEO, Andreas Schöchl, told me that it was necessary not just to reboot the brand, but to set the company on a course to cope with a market that had changed and customers who have changed.
Grown up, based, a bit less “crazy”
The Sunbeam 32.1 is quite a commercial success indeed, she didn´t revolutionize the business, but sold numbers and reputation of this boat are satisfying. Satisfying enough so that the company was able to start a huge investment-program: The are currently building a huge new production facility at Mattsee in Austria from scratch. A state-of-the-art shipyard to deal with increased demand for their boats. Now, the Sunbeam 29.1 about which I´m writing here, followed suit in 2024. Not a brand new boat, but quite new.
At Duesseldorf boat show both boats were on display. By looking at my pictures above you can clearly see the familiarity between both – but moreover, you will come to realize that the Sunbeam 29.1 does indeed display many differences as well. She appears a bit less massive with her thin, fine lines and a low freeboard. Especially the signature bow sections had been kind of “reduced” compared to her bigger sister. It looks much more filigree, slimmer and more dynamic, yet I displays the same aggressive “wavepiercer”-style.
This also goes for the rest of the boat, which indeed still comes with the hard chine that is dynamically rising from bow to stern section, but it´s not as pronounced and present. Also, the “catlike” hull-windows and portholes in the cabin´s coachroof had been reduced in their aggressiveness. Overall, the Sunbeam 29.1 is not as “loud” in terms of looks, but clearly belongs to her bigger sister. This design, I think, is more compatible with a broader mass-taste, yet it still retains the distinctiveness of a “new Sunbeam”. That´s a big plus.
Clean and tidy: Sunbeam´s cockpit
It was the day before the boat show opened, when I went to the booth, so it wasn´t as shiny and tidy as the others. Thanks to the guys, I was allowed to roam the boat at will. First of all, upon nearing myself from abaft, you´ve got to give credits to this wonderful stern section! I mean, these lines are clearly a work of art: The “swing” of the open transom-less is just beautiful. The hard chine has been reduced to a round hull-shape. There is nothing that obstructs this shape. Just a single line, following the curvature of the hull. The bathing ladder is nicely integrated so that nothing interrupts this view.
The Sunbeam 29.1 is a tiller-steered sailboat but also available with a twin-wheel steering, which I wouldn´t like. With a length overall of 8.99 meters and a width of 2.49 meters she has about the size of my old First 27 SE. Such small boats need to be helmed by tiller, which is simpler, more direct and responsive and saves a lot of space. The double helm option, apart from the price tag, will add surplus weight and obstruct this clean and neat lush “emptiness” of the cockpit, which is what makes it so sexy.
Besides, it also fits her sailing characteristics. The numbers are promising: With a displacement of 2.4 tons and a ballast of some 800 kilograms (hydraulic swing keel), this sailboat can bring 47 square meters of sails area to the mast. She has the reputation of sailing very well, with a nice pointing capability and downwind rush. Want it more aggressive? No problem, the weight-optimized GT-version comes with only 1.9 tons displacement and all the bells and whistles (like carbon rigg) – this way she indeed can win races. So, yep, I am rooting for tiller steering, sure.
The cockpit layout is ergonomic and set for single- and double-handed use. Of course, the Sunbeam 29.1 is a daysailer/weekender and as such you don´t expect her to being boarded by many people. The winch layout is reduced to two winches dealing with all the lines from halyards to sheets, from vang to reefing lines. Even the Gennaker will be sailed with these two winches. The mainsheet, simple and nice, is worked via snatch pulley connected to a padeye in the cockpit floor. Besides this, the cockpit benches are long enough to lay down and refill some Vitamin D in the sun. Nice!
Making “small” appear “large” – down below deck
Back in the day, when I was talking to Sunbeam-boss Andreas Schöchl, he told me that according to their customer´s data, many interviews and a lot of research they are clearly seeing a shift in how sailboats are used. Maybe also foreseeing the current crisis of the mid-size “bread-and-butter” cruising market, he said that there is a trend towards smaller, more performance- or “active sailing”-oriented boats which do not have to offer the whole set of amenities anymore. A trend towards simpler boats – yet without sacrificing onboard comfort.
I would agree to this analysis too. I this, the interior concept of the then-new Sunbeam 32.1 was literally revolutionary: They did to a sailboat what is common sense in power boats since long ago. Removing all bulkheads and doors (except for the heads, of course) and integrating a lounge-like, very modern, sexy, lofty one-room-concept. The boat is used by one, maybe two persons only anyway, so why separating and compartmenting the already scarce internal volume anyway? This was the true “revolution” of the 32.1 – and the advancement of it can be seen below decks in the 29.1 as well.
The atmosphere is very modern, very light-suffused and surprising. In a way that the boat´s interior visually looks much bigger than it really is. This is achieved with a pretty simple, yet absolutely clever “trick”. The beautiful wooden side panels running all along the hull´s inner face are arranged like “shingles”. Boosted by a clever LED-light concept, these create the illusion of depth and width. It´s absolutely amazing what you can do with modern LED, be it visible or indirect lighting. The interior designers at Sunbeam make light, materials and colors work together in a way that this little boat does by no means appear so little anymore. It´s an effect I´ve noticed very nicely in the new First 30 as well – and not so nicely done in the new Saffier SE 28 Leopard, a boat that will come up later in this article again.
As it is customary for a daysailer and weekender, the Sunbeam 29.1 offers berths for twi adults in the forepeak, which in this case is a nice, big “playground” that seamlessly transforms into the side-benches of the salon. On these – if necessary – two more adults could find a makeshift berth for the night as well. The options list offers different color-modes and materials, of course, for the floorboards, the linings and the cushions, yet I find the one displayed very appealing. Modern, lofty but also significant. It kind of masks or diverts your attention from the ceiling, which has no roofing panels or any liners. Bare GRP may appear “cold” or cheap, but it´s done quite nicely and really doesn´t bother me at all.
Lush and quick weekend-sailing or racing?
A quick word to the keel options for the Sunbeam 29.1 again: In standard, the boat comes with a nice swing keel, around 800 kilograms, that is operated manually by a handle that connects directly to the keel-hydraulics. Upgrade to electric and it´s a mere push of a button to reduce the 1.85 meters to just 0.85 meters. This way, the boat can be operated in shallow sail areas and harbors, but is also fully trailerable for road transport and rapid, frequent change of sailing areas. If you seek to squeeze out the full potentials of the powerful hull, choose the GT-version …
The Sunbeam 29.1 GT comes with a fixed 1.75 meters deep modern T-keel. The overall displacement of the boat has been reduced to 1.9 tonnes (by getting rid of the “comfort” modules, like the galley) hence ballast ratio increases from standard 35 percent to just under 40 percent. Combine this with the carbon-rigg package and fit high-class laminate sails and your Sunbeam 29.1 becomes a serious performer. And indeed, Sunbeams are frequent winners in many regattas, especially inshore or coastal ones – albeit, the Sunbeam 29.1 is CE-rated C. That means “demanding” inshore conditions with waves up to 2 meters and winds up to Beaufort 6 and coastal areas. More than enough for your daysailing fun boat, I assume.
Customizing your Sunbeam: Modules and options
Speaking of “modules”: The Sunbeam 29.1 can be customized with quite a few options. If you´re planning to enjoy an occasional meal or prepare a cup of coffee or tea, there´s a galley module. It comes with a little fridge (should have around 25 liters), some stowage and if you like a single-flame cooker that might be fitted. There is a trash bin as well – compact, but useful. It´s much more than I had in my First 27 SE galley. If you don´t need this, don´t have it fitted: Instead there´s the option to have a nice, big sails bag here, for the Gennaker for example.
Much more important that a hot beverage might be the possibility to relieve yourself. In this, the Sunbeam 29.1 offers a small head-module to starboard side. It´s decently sized and will be fitted with a chemical toilet or a more luxurious “zero black water” vacuum WC. There´s no option for a classic pumping bowl with a black water tank and/or seacock. I´d prefer a no-mix toilet, but I am sure they would fit it if I had ordered it.
This head doesn´t come with its own sink so that you´ll have to utilize the one in the kitchen module on port side, which is perfectly fine. From here you can enter the rear stowage compartment (aft panel removed in the picture below). Also, if you utilize your Sunbeam 29.1 strictly for quick a few hours long bursts out, short daysailing, you might also don´t choose the head-module. Instead you gain more stowage and salon-volume.
And here´s the thing: You might have checked my walkthrough of the all new Saffier SE 28 Leopard. Admittedly, I was a bit disappointed and “shocked” to see the discrepancy between her outside appearance – which is very nice – and the uninspired, partly boring and, in terms of hygiene, (for me) unacceptable toilet-arrangement. The Saffier is longer and a bit wider as the Sunbeam 29.1, so it´s a bigger boat. Yet, the interior layout and integration of such integral and important things like a toilet is executed so much better in the smaller Sunbeam.
Building quality has its price
Which brings us to the price-tag. You know that I don´t really like to talk about budgets: Boats are luxury goods and of course they are expensive. Even the smallest, simplest and most basic of them indeed cost a lot of money. Many people still think boats are made like cars, but that´s not true: Building a boat still today requires almost 100 percent handcraft, robots simply cannot put together a sailboat like a car. So, you have high labor costs for skilled boatbuilders and craftsmen. Furthermore, GRP boatbuilding is quite energy intensive, since the halls must be kept at a certain temperature and humidity level. And last not least, crude oil-based materials didn´t go down in price as well.
In that, Sunbeam is not a cheap brand. They have a great track record of making high-grade sailing boats and yachts and taking care of their customers in after sales services. A well-equipped Sunbeam 29.1 will indeed need a budget of 180.000 to 200.000 Euros. This is a lot of money for a sub 10 meters boat, but reasonable (again, compare it with the Saffier-price …). Look at the details and you will see that these boats are fitted with upper shelf equipment.
There are the Nomen cleats, the most upper-shelf part in this respect you can get on the market right now, there is nice Facnor stuff … you name it. The idea is that a competitive price could almost always only be achieved by lowering either the manufacturing quality, the finishing quality or the quality of the third-party equipment installed in the boat. Best example are the lines and ropes. Sunbeam definitely doesn´t cut corners here. And in the end, the last First 27 SE I sold (back in 2024) clocked out at just above 210.000 Euros as well. So maybe that´s the price level we all have to live with now, I guess?
Does the new Sunbeam-style work for me?
Well, the more important question should be, if it works for you, right? But summing up all of my impressions gained in this walkthrough, I´d say that the Sunbeam 29.1 definitely does tick many boxes I´d deem necessary for a good daysailer/weekender. I find her design appealing, very modern and she is definitely a headturner, both moored and under sails. Nevertheless, she is “grown up” now, much less aggressive and “crazy” as her bigger sister, the 32.1. I applaud to the modular interior concept and the thought-through concept. She appears much bigger than she is, utilizes the little volume she has and offers quite nicely done comforts and amenities.
From her outside design, she follows on principle the KISKA design language started with the 32.1, but is a bit toned down, more “feminine” if you like, displaying less hard edges and aggressiveness. This aggressiveness however can re-appear in form of sailing performance. The decision to have a GT-version that aims at even more active and sailing-fun oriented clients will surely unlock a broader group of potential clients.
So all that is left to do is to sail these boats! I hope that in the near future I will be able to board a 29.1 and a 32.1 to see for myself if their nimbus and the hearsay of the Sunbeam-performance is a real thing. For now I leave this beautiful little boat which truly is a further step of the shipyard in renewing their product range. Well done, I shall say.
You might as well check out these related articles:
How the new Sunbeam design language has been invented
Complete and detailed walkthrough in the Sunbeam 32.1
A role model cruiser: Sunbeam 46.1 (not available anymore)
