Design and Construction
The hull is a foam-PVC-cored fiberglass sandwich finished to a fin-with-bulb profile and steered by a spade rudder, a combination that keeps weight low and wetted surface controlled for a 9,600 kg displacement hull type of fin with bulb and spade rudder. Her ballast of 3,100 kg sits at 32.29 percent of displacement, a figure that pairs with the bulb keel to plant a low center of gravity and resist heel without recourse to excessive weight. The 13.9-meter LOA stretches over a 12-meter waterline, and the 4.26-meter beam gives the section the breadth to carry that ballast usefully. Cantiere del Pardo's Grand Soleil line had, by this era, moved into Judel/Vrolijk collaboration with the 44 Race in 2002 and this 45 in 2003–2010 production run; the construction approach here is the foam-core fiberglass hull.
Rig and Handling
She carries a fractional sloop rig over 105 square meters of sail area, returning a sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 23.73 and an S# of 4.17 — numbers that place her firmly in the lively, modern performance-cruiser band rather than the sluggish end of the spectrum. The displacement-to-length ratio of 154.83 describes a hull that is moderately loaded: not featherlight, but quick to accelerate and capable of reaching the calculated hull-speed maximum of 8.41 knots without fighting her own bulk. A capsize screening formula of 2.03 and a comfort ratio of 23.66 tell the offshore-minded reader that she is balanced toward windward control and seakeeping over sofa-grade placidity. Draft is offered in three cuts — 2.3 meters standard, a deep 2.7-meter bulb, and a 1.95-meter shallow keel — letting an owner trade absolute righting moment for anchorage access.
Accommodations and Tankage
What separates a performance hull from a racer is the room to live, and the 45 Performance carries 400 liters of water and 230 liters of diesel, generous for a boat of this speed bias. The 1,966 lbs-per-inch immersion figure shows how little she squats under load — a function of the long waterline and beamy midship section — so provisioning for a long passage does not murder her waterline efficiency. The interior volume implied by the 4.26-meter beam is the cruising dividend paid by the Judel/Vrolijk layout, and the foam-core construction keeps structural weight out of the cabin so that tankage and gear can live there instead.
Ownership and Specifications
Propulsion is a single 40-horsepower Volvo Penta diesel, sized to push the 9,600 kg hull at sensible motoring speeds without dominating the aft compartment. Production ran a six-year span from 2004 to 2010, a tight window that means surviving examples share a coherent specification set rather than drifting across a decade of mid-life revisions. The deep and shallow keel options were both factory offerings, so a used buyer's draft is a choice made at birth rather than a later modification.
The Verdict
The Grand Soleil 45 Performance is a well-resolved expression of the early-2000s performance-cruiser ideal: a foam-cored Judel/Vrolijk hull with a bulb keel, a fractional rig that planes the numbers toward 8.4 knots, and enough water and fuel to cruise the way her handling invites. She is not a lightweight racer nor a heavy disco-platform; she is the considered middle.
Pros
- High sail-area-to-displacement ratio (23.73) and S# of 4.17 for lively performance
- Three factory draft options (1.95 m, 2.3 m, 2.7 m) suit varied cruising grounds
- Generous 400 L water and 230 L diesel capacity for a performance hull
- Foam-PVC-cored fiberglass construction keeps structural weight low
Cons
- Comfort ratio of 23.66 favors speed over passive smoothness
- Six-year production span limits model-year diversity for shoppers
