Design and Construction
The hull is a foam-PVC-cored fiberglass sandwich with a fin-and-bulb keel and spade rudder. This combination keeps weight low and controls wetted surface on a boat displacing 9,600 kg hull type of fin with bulb and spade rudder.
The 3,100 kg of ballast represents 32.29 percent of displacement. Paired with the bulb keel, it produces a low center of gravity and resists heel without excessive weight. The boat’s 13.9-meter LOA extends over a 12-meter waterline, while its 4.26-meter beam provides the breadth to carry that ballast effectively.
By this period, Cantiere del Pardo’s Grand Soleil line had moved into collaboration with Judel/Vrolijk, with the 44 Race in 2002 and the Grand Soleil 45 Performance in a 2003–2010 production run. Production of the 45 Performance is also reported as spanning 2004 to 2010. Its construction uses a foam-core fiberglass hull.
Rig, Keel Options, and Performance
The Grand Soleil 45 Performance carries a fractional sloop rig with 105 square meters of sail area. Its sail-area-to-displacement ratio is 23.73, and its S# is 4.17. Those figures place it firmly in the lively, modern performance-cruiser category rather than at the sluggish end of the spectrum.
A displacement-to-length ratio of 154.83 describes a moderately loaded hull: not featherlight, but quick to accelerate and capable of reaching its calculated maximum hull speed of 8.41 knots without fighting excessive bulk.
The capsize screening formula is 2.03, and the comfort ratio is 23.66. For offshore-minded readers, those figures suggest a balance that favors windward control and seakeeping over sofa-grade placidity.
Three draft options were available: a standard 2.3-meter keel, a deep 2.7-meter bulb keel, and a shallow 1.95-meter keel. These options allowed owners to trade absolute righting moment for better anchorage access.
Accommodation and Tankage
What separates a performance cruiser from a pure racer is room to live aboard. The Grand Soleil 45 Performance carries 400 liters of water and 230 liters of diesel—generous capacities for a boat with this emphasis on speed.
Its immersion figure of 1,966 lbs per inch shows how little the boat squats under added load, a function of the long waterline and beamy midship section. As a result, provisioning for a long passage does not murder its waterline efficiency.
The interior volume implied by the 4.26-meter beam is the cruising dividend of the Judel/Vrolijk layout. Foam-core construction also keeps structural weight out of the cabin, leaving capacity for tankage and gear instead.
Engine and Ownership
Auxiliary power comes from a single 40-horsepower Volvo Penta diesel. It is sized to push the 9,600 kg hull at sensible motoring speeds without dominating the aft compartment.
Production ran for six years, from 2004 to 2010. That relatively tight window means surviving examples share a coherent set of specifications rather than reflecting a decade of mid-life revisions. Both the deep and shallow keels were factory options, so the draft of a used example was determined when it was built rather than through 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, performance figures pointing toward 8.4 knots, and enough water and fuel capacity to cruise as its handling invites.
It is neither a lightweight racer nor a heavy disco platform. It occupies the considered middle ground between the two.
Pros
- High sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 23.73 and S# of 4.17 support lively performance
- Three factory draft options—1.95 m, 2.3 m, and 2.7 m—suit varied cruising grounds
- Generous 400 L water and 230 L diesel capacities 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
