This New 40-Foot Dayboat Brings La Dolce Vita to the Water—With a Modern Twist
The first thing that stood out about the Solaris 40 Open at the Cannes Yachting Festival was its profile. Even with a quay filled with all kinds of new dayboats from the world’s top builders, the the 40’s exterior aesthetics just popped.
The fluid lines move like quicksilver. A snubby flare at the bow twists and turns aft along the gunwales, culminating in the right amount of tumblehome aft. The lines are enhanced by the hull’s paint quality—muted silver, platinum and gold that give these boats a rich luster.
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“It’s a great-looking boat,” says Juan Morillo, the Italian builder’s Miami-based broker. “It’s the kind you can take to the Hamptons or Miami, and it’s going to look good no matter where you end up.”
The 39-foot, 3-inch dayboat was designed largely with couples in mind. Forty feet is a manageable size for two, but is also large enough to offer privacy down below with a berth—or two, depending on configuration—and head with a small but workable shower. (An outdoor shower at the transom will be welcome by swimmers.)
There are also nice details that distinguish the 40 among its dayboat peers, including hidden, stainless cleats that pop up for easy line handling. The list also includes a sizeable sunpad aft—a given for any Italian-built boat in this class. A carbon-fiber T-top provides shade for most of the space. And in the after end of the console is a sink and barbecue that offers service to a dining settee that ostensibly seats eight people, though that seems optimistic if everyone shows up at the same time.
As for performance, the 40 has a brisk top end of 43 knots and cruises at 32 with twin 480-hp Volvo Penta D6s. Not blow-you-away speedboat numbers, but enough for a thrill, particularly when combined with a hull shape designed with maneuverability as one of its primary features.
“One of my favorite features is the hull and the way it slices through the water,” says Morillo. “Plumes of water shoot out on the sides, but never get the deck wet. It’s a pleasure to drive.”
Given the open stern, the 40 also looked like an ideal launching point for sports like diving, swimming and e-foiling.
Fun, performance and spiffy lines. The Solaris 40 ticks off the boxes that are essential for any day boat, with a gleaming exterior to boot.
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