The perfect racer/cruiser yacht ?

The JP54 is a fast cruising yacht inspired by the designs of the IMOCA 60 racing class.
Veteran singlehanded sailor Jean-Pierre Dick is behind this new venture, which he dreamed of while racing the Vendee Globe and built under his company "Absolute Dreamer".
Designed for fast, shorthanded offshore cruising, the JP54 hull is constructed from carbon fiber : lightweight and powerful, the JP54 is equipped with a seamless high modulus carbon spar from Hall.

"I imagined the yacht in my dreams during last two Vendée Globe, when i asked myself what would be the ideal boat for a cruise. I wanted to sail on the ocean and at the same be able to stop over. So i started to scribble down a few ideas here and there, and i made a note of what could be transferred from a racing yacht to a cruiser."

The mast is deck stepped and measures 22.3m. Hall engineer Mike Elley, who worked on the design, notes that "with a righting moment roughly twice that of a TP52, the JP54 will be very fast on a reach. And, like all canting keel boats, it should plane much of time". The mast has three forestays to handle a variety of headsails, with three checkstays to balance the rig. The checks are tensioned by the same runner tail, and the top ends are lashed to the mast wall.

The boat has a canting keel and a rotating living space.
The chart table, galley, batteries and hydraulics are all part of this "cell" that can rotate to weather for ballast, or can be used to offset the canted keel and reduce draft.
So the JP54 has incorporated a dramatic interior that allows the transfer of weight to windward direction in a few seconds. Placing the feature in the main saloon, this futuristically styled yacht accommodates eight persons (four adults and four children). The rotation of this satellite module is controlled while sitting down at the navigation station to keep things steady onboard.

Designed by Guillaume Verdier, the boat was built in Cookson shipyard in New Zealand.
Link :

• SailWorld.com : a look aboard the new JP54, above decks a one sided yacht