VIDEOPROBE Stream 40, the helmsman? No need!

How can you come to Trieste in the days leading up to the Barcolana and just sit on the ground? Today the opportunity presented itself and I jumped at it: trying out in the water the Stream 40, the racer-cruiser churned out by the Alto Adriatico shipyards and designed by Gianluca Adragna. Featuring a truly revolutionary fin-hull combination (we’ll tell you about it in depth, promise!), a significant sail area and a hull designed to the millimeter, Jack Sparrow (this is the name of the tested boat) won the last Barcolana in its category (Cruise 2).

EXCEPTIONAL TESTERS
Yes, cruise, because as Adragna assures, “with this boat you can safely go on a cruise.” In fact, the minimal but functional interior can accommodate up to 8 people: two double cabins in the stern, two sofa beds in the saloon, and a technical area in the bow that actually converts into a double cabin with the only bathroom covered by the bed. But for now we are not interested in the interior: this is a boat that was born and built to be enjoyed under sail, on deck. On board was an exceptional tester at the helm: Gabriele Benussi, whose palmares is endless (six Giri d’Italia a Vela, two European World bronze medals, European J22, countless titles including European, World Maxi, IMS). Here in this video is the navigation in the various gaits and Benussi’s impressions:

VIDEO: LOVE IS BORN BETWEEN BENUSSI AND STREAM 40

ME TOO, ME TOO!
I on board was pawing. I wanted to try my hand at helming, too, and Gabriel accommodated me. Happy as a clam I get on one of the two wheels and…boy. I turn to Gianluca who is next to me, “But you designed a boat where you don’t need a helmsman!” Gianluca smiles; this is not the first time he has heard this comment: thanks to a clever play of weights, an important blade (1.95 m), and the structure of the hull, to say that the boat is balanced is almost reductive. You can let go of the rudder: sailing upwind, the boat will neither go to the windward nor to the leeward. Unbelievable. With 7 knots of air and a flat sea we get up to 6.2 speed tightening to 26° apparent wind; at the carriers, with an asymmetrical rigged on a bowsprit directly mounted on deck, we touch 6.6. Very good acceleration capability after maneuvers: from 3 to 5 1/2 knots in 10 seconds, to use an “automotive” formula. At the end of the rehearsal Gianluca says to me, “Eugenio now hold on tight.” Boat “steering” test. Down sails, motor blown (a 40-horsepower with Lombardini saildrive) and once at 7 knots sudden turn. Check out the stuff in the video below.

VIDEO: THE TEST OF “STEERING”

DATA SHEET STREAM 40

Overall length 11.99 m
Length at waterline 10.70 m
Maximum length 4.00 m
Maximum draught 2.35 m
Dislocation 5,500 kg
Engine + Sail Drive 30-40 hp
Mainsail 52 sqm
Jib 38 sqm
Spinnaker 140 sqm
Asymmetrical 140 sqm
Diesel fuel 120 l
Water 200 l