Pelle Petterson conceived the boat with Tony Castro and remained closely involved in the design. Petterson said the aim was to make the Maxi 1200 very fast, very comfortable, pretty elegant, and easy to handle. Yachting World found it fast, comfortable, and elegant.
Design and Construction
Built by Maxi Yachts/Delphia, the Maxi 1200 measures 39 feet 11 inches overall, with a 34-foot 9-inch waterline, a 12-foot 4-inch beam, and a 7-foot 7-inch draught. Displacement is 16,094 pounds, including 5,445 pounds of ballast, for a ballast ratio of 33.8 percent.
The hull and deck are laminated in vinylester resin over a PVC core. Carbon reinforcements strengthen the internal grid carrying the keel, rig, and chainplate loads, along with the rudder frame, stem, and bowsprit. The boat has an RCD Category A rating for offshore capability.
Petterson’s brief called for a boat that was simple, fast, ergonomic, safe, and durable, while Polish production was intended to keep it affordable. The result is a genuine blend of the racer-cruiser and family-cruiser ideals for which the Maxi name once stood.
Rig and Handling
The sail plan carries 904 square feet of sail area, giving a sail-area-to-displacement ratio of 22.7. A fully battened mainsail on multi-directional in-mast cars was standard.
Petterson’s aim of keeping the cockpit tidy led to halyard stowage in the coamings and sheet-tail stowage beneath the cockpit table. The primary winches sit inboard around a central mainsheet pedestal, which incorporates a single reversible winch. Petterson vouched for the arrangement after checking it on his own boat.
Steering is through chain-and-cable Jefa gear connected to lightweight carbon-fibre wheels. The narrow rudder blade does little to deflect propwash from the saildrive.
The standard reversible electric winch will only release the sheet under load, but its jolty acceleration and deceleration shake the power out of the sail. Later hulls were slated to carry a 110 percent jib rather than the smaller foretriangle fitted to the review boat.
Cockpit and Interior
Tony Castro drew the interior, making this the first Maxi cabin not designed by Petterson. The treatment is deliberately simple and elegant, with white panels set against teak trim and solid-wood frames. Buyers could choose a two- or three-cabin layout.
Practical details include a flip-back chart-table seat that creates more saloon lounging space to port, a pull-out extractor fan above the cooker, and both top- and front-opening fridges. Solid teak fiddles and deck-height stainless-steel handrails provide useful security.
Ventilation is especially thorough. Every cupboard door and panel is ventilated, as are the mesh backs of the seat cushions. One limitation is the cockpit seating: at 5 feet 3 inches long, the benches are too short for most people to stretch out flat.
Equipment and Standard Kit
The Maxi 1200 came with a generous standard specification. It included a teak deck, retractable bow thruster, race-spec winches, two fridges, and the fully battened mainsail. The anchor stows on a single roller in the carbon-fibre bowsprit, although a windlass was oddly not standard.
Power comes from a 28-horsepower Volvo Penta diesel with saildrive. Fuel capacity is 150 litres, while water capacity is 260 litres. The tested boat was hull number one off the line and showed the production baseline before later jib changes.
Verdict
The Maxi 1200 is a thoughtfully engineered revival of the marque’s dual-purpose heritage. Its structure shows clear intent, and its cockpit was laid out by a sailor who tested his own ideas. The standard equipment list is generous, while the interior ventilation and detailing are genuinely well considered.
The reversible winch’s rough control is the one clear blemish on an otherwise coherent cruiser-racer.
Pros
- Carbon-reinforced load grid and PVC-cored vinylester laminate construction
- Inboard primary winches, central pedestal, and tidy cockpit stowage designed by Petterson
- Generous standard kit, including a teak deck, bow thruster, two fridges, and fully battened mainsail
- Castro-designed interior with thorough ventilation and clever port-side details
Cons
- Reversible electric winch’s jolty acceleration and deceleration shake power out of the sail
- No standard windlass despite the otherwise comprehensive equipment
- Cockpit benches are too short for most people to lie flat
