Design and Construction
RM's signature approach is evident throughout: a plywood hull with hard chines, built without female molds, paired with a more conventional GRP deck lined in wood. The yard has continuously improved its boats, and the 970's modern lines — reverse sheerline and voluminous forward sections — create a spacious, versatile platform rather than a stripped racer. She is offered with a single keel and twin rudders or, at the other extreme, twin keels with a single rudder that let her take the ground with ease; the twin-keel version draws just 1.65m against 2.10m for the single-keel boat. Multicoloured hulls are available for those who want the visual signature RM has cultivated. At 3,900kg displacement (4,100kg with twin keels) and 1,235kg of ballast on a 31.7% ratio, she is RCD category B and carries a 20hp Volvo Penta diesel on saildrive with 65 litres of fuel and 140 of water.
Rig and Handling
The deck layout is the boat's quiet masterstroke. RM worked with INO Rope on the arrangement, siting the primary winches inboard — a superbly practical solution — while the genoa winches flank the companionway so a short-handed crew can work the boat without scrambling. One person can trim both genoa sheets through a tack without moving their feet or leaning over the coaming, then step forward and up to tend the coachroof winches standing upright. A 3D genoa on an inhauler/barber system is a particularly neat set-up, and fine-tune on the mainsheet is led back to the helm. There are plenty of control lines for those who love to tweak, but constant fiddling is not required to keep her happy.
On the water she is direct. Yachting World's testers found the helm neutral with real traction from the twin rudders, and great fun especially with the kite up; in 15–18 knots of wind with full sail they averaged 8.5 to 9 knots under gennaker and noted she starts to plane just over 9 knots. Upwind figures hovered around 7 knots at a low angle even under staysail, and in lighter air Yachting Monthly recorded over 5 knots to windward in 10 knots of apparent wind, albeit without cruising payload. A cutter rig option works well for cruising, and the boat can be had with wheel or tiller steering.
Accommodations
Below, the white-painted interior and open vee berth forward throw light and space into the saloon, which adjoins a galley and a proper little navstation. Reviewers from Germany, Spain and Switzerland all remarked on the fresh, bright, contemporary feel and the incredible sense of volume for the length. The two-cabin layout places a large heads aft with wet hanging space and access to a utility area, though there is no solid door to the forepeak. Soft closures on locker doors are a detail more expensive yachts omit. The foredeck is flat and broad — good for sunbathing or inflating dinghies — with a vast anchor locker suited to fenders and a single bow roller set into the optional bowsprit for the bower anchor.
Known Issues
A few practical caveats came up in testing. The technical area aft of the heads is awkward to use daily and will scratch its paintwork if treated as routine storage. Twin-rudder boats like this lack propwash over the rudders in tight manoeuvres, so those used to single-rudder feedback may find the neutral helm a little disconnected. When specified with wheels rather than tillers, the helmsman is squashed against the backstay. A swinging mooring requires a bridle to be rigged.
Refits and Ownership
Equipment levels are generous for the class. Antal deck hardware, Dyneema halyards and UV screens on the windows all appear, and the builder's continuous-improvement ethos means later boats refined early details. The comparatively expensive purchase price relative to past RMs, as testers noted, is the main ownership caveat, balanced by her low weight and the ease of the short-handed-friendly deck.
The Verdict
The RM 970 is a rare thing: a lightweight plywood cruiser that sails like a sportboat yet lives like a proper family boat. Lombard's lines and RM's construction give her a speed potential and stability that impressed testers across Europe, while the inboard-winch deck plan makes short-handed cruising genuinely easy. The neutral twin-rudder helm and daily-access gripes are minor next to the versatility of twin-keel or single-keel configurations.
Pros
- Light, easily driven hull more than a tonne under a comparable GRP cruiser
- Inboard primary winches and companionway-flanked genoa winches make short-handed sailing effortless
- Twin-keel version takes the ground; single-keel version for speed
- Bright, voluminous interior with proper navstation and large aft heads
- Sparkling performance — planes over 9 knots, 7 knots upwind at low angle
Cons
- Neutral helm lacks single-rudder feedback and propwash for close-quarters steering
- Technical area aft of heads is awkward and scratches easily
- Wheel steering crowds the helmsman against the backstay
- Comparatively expensive for her size
