Design and Construction
The 400 was the first Arcona to carry a hot-dip galvanized steel chassis bolted to the main bulkheads, a structural departure from the reinforced fiberglass grids of earlier models that absorbed dynamic loads from keel and rig. The hull itself is fiberglass, hand-laminated as a sandwich using a high-density Divinycell core, multiaxial rovings, and ISO-polyester resin, with solid fiberglass deck and hull skins and no interior liners — structural bulkheads and berth fronts are laminated directly to the shell. Boo Marine (Boo Marin AB) built the boat in Sweden. At 39.3 feet overall with a 12.5-foot beam, the length-to-beam ratio of 3.14 and a ballast ratio of 41 percent (5,952 pounds of lead in 15,432 pounds displacement) mark a deliberately beamy, firmly ballasted hull. The fin keel with bulb draws about 6.6 to 6.9 feet dependent on load, which limits her to major marinas but anchors a stiff, light-racer profile with a displacement-length ratio of 179.
Rig and Handling
The fractional sloop rig is unambiguously muscular: the Arcona 400 carries more rig than 86 percent of all similar sailboats, a significantly overrigged posture that, with a 135 percent genoa, lifts the sail-area-to-displacement ratio to 23.1 (19.9 on the ISO reference sail). That power sits on a hull whose wetted surface runs about 495 square feet and whose theoretical displacement hull speed is 7.9 knots, while the calculated maximum under the Volvo Penta MD2040 saildrive is about 6.6 knots. The capsize screening value of 1.96 and a motion comfort ratio of 23.4 to 24.8 place her in credible ocean-capable territory — she holds a CE Class A (Ocean) certification. Recommended running rigging is generous: mainsail, jib, and spinnaker halyards each run 39.7 meters at 12 mm, while sheets and the mainsheet (30 meters) are 14 mm, figures that tell you the original spec expected sustained loads from that large sail plan.
Accommodations and Layout
The builder's choice to laminate berth fronts and bulkheads straight to the hull, rather than drop in a molded liner, gives the interior a structural honesty that suits a boat certified for extended ocean use. The 34.5-foot waterline and 69-gallon water capacity support liveaboard-style cruising, and the 40-gallon diesel tank feeds the single 38-horsepower Volvo Penta. With an immersion rate of about 1,504 pounds per inch, she settles predictably under cruising load — a useful trait when provisioning for the passages her CE rating implies.
Known Issues
The known constraints are inherent to her specification rather than faults: the 6.6-to-6.9-foot draft restricts her to deeper harbors, and the saildrive transmission — efficient and clean under power — is a unit that demands disciplined anode management and seal inspection over time, as all saildrives do. The overrigged sail plan is a performance virtue that also means aged halyards and sheets should be assessed against the original 12 mm and 14 mm diameters rather than casually replaced with lighter line.
The Verdict
The Arcona 400 is the boat that earned its yard a place among serious cruiser-racer builders: a Qviberg-designed, CE Class A Swedish yacht with a galvanized chassis, a genuinely overrigged fractional sloop, and a linerless hull built for load. She is quick, stiff, and ocean-rated, but her draft and saildrive are the two realities a buyer must plan around.
Pros
- Commercial and critical breakthrough design for Arcona, launched 2000
- Galvanized steel chassis and linerless laminated structure
- Significantly overrigged fractional rig; CE Class A ocean certification
- Light-racer displacement-length ratio with comfortable motion numbers
Cons
- Draft of 6.6–6.9 ft limits marina access
- Saildrive transmission requires ongoing seal and anode vigilance
- Large original rigging diameters mean no casual downsizing of running gear
