With a vacuum-infused vinylester hull and a carbon-fiber keel grid replacing the marque’s older steel girder, the XP 33 is a thoroughly modern expression of X-Yachts’ high-performance lineage rather than a detour into pure cruising.
Design and Construction
Jeppesen’s design team gave the XP 33 low freeboard and a fashionable hard chine aft. The beam carries all the way to a vertically cut transom, maximizing both sailing length and aft deck space. The waterline itself is fairly beamy, and the distinctive, flat U-shaped sections forward generate considerable form stability, even at rest. The beam carries all the way to a vertically cut transom, maximizing both sailing length and aft deck space.
A T-bulb keel carries a 1.7-ton lead bulb and comes in two draft configurations: 6 feet 3 inches as standard or 6 feet 10 inches as an option. The forefoot knuckle sits above the design waterline, a detail reviewers appreciated for the cleaner entry it implies.
Structurally, the yard touts the light, strong result of vacuum infusion, vinyl ester resin, and a carbon frame. The hull is fully cored, with a GRP floor system and carbon fiber reinforcement.
Rig, Handling, and Performance
The XP 33 carries a tall fractional rig with swept spreaders on an aluminum section designed by X-Yachts. She was the first model in the range to feature a retractable carbon bowsprit, which moves the gennaker tack roughly two meters ahead of the forestay. The sprit makes large asymmetric downwind sails far easier to handle than a traditional spinnaker, although a conventional racecourse setup remains optional.
Test sailors found the boat’s stability remarkable. She barely heeled with two people standing on the side deck and reached only about 25 degrees of heel in 15 to 17 knots without a full crew’s weight on the rail.
The helm transmits pressure changes directly from the rudder blade. Two fingers on the perfectly balanced tiller extension are enough to hold the boat on the breeze; loss of control from detached flow on the rudder was, in the testers’ words, “an alien concept.” The keel also maintains attached flow in bumpy seas. However, its shorter fin chord means the boat needs to be kept moving through maneuvers. Weight concentrated amidships, combined with the carbon rig, can also produce an abrupt bucking motion.
VPP figures promise 6.7–6.8 kt closehauled, with competitive pace both upwind and downwind.
Accommodations
Below, the XP 33 offers compact, performance-minded living space. The long cockpit sits over an interior dominated by white fiberglass liner surfaces, with matte-varnished Fineline teak veneer used where wood appears.
The standard boat has no forward V-berth. Ahead of the main bulkhead are only the head, a sink, and an open sail locker. A folding double berth was offered at extra cost for racing. Mirror-image quarterberths extend beneath the cockpit, while a compact galley sits aft to port beside a small navigation station.
Forward of the settees, the head spans the full beam and has no door separating it from the berth area. Maximum headroom is just 179 cm beside the companionway.
Stowage is genuinely scarce. The batteries and water tank occupy nearly all the space beneath the settees, leaving little locker volume. The pantry also lacks effective ventilation, so cooking fumes can escape only through the open companionway hatch.
Ventilation and Early-Build Issues
The lack of interior stowage is the XP 33’s best-documented shortcoming, compounded by the pantry ventilation problem. Openings are also limited: apart from the single forward hatch and companionway, there are no opening ports. The builder promotes this as a weight-saving choice, while a partly opening window was available as an option to improve ventilation.
Reviewers also found sloppy bonding of the vinyl hull coverings on hull number one, which had been finished in a rush. That defect was tied specifically to the hurried completion of the first hull rather than to the series as a whole.
Equipment, Refits, and Ownership
The standard jib winches are non-self-tailing. Owners planning to cruise may find them better replaced with self-tailing units.
A composite Hall Spars mast was available at significant cost, although it loses the damping provided by the heavier aluminum spar. Removable cruising cabinets and cubbies can also be added, and the folding bow berth gives owners a dual-purpose accommodation option.
The auxiliary Yanmar diesel sits beneath the companionway ladder and is very accessible for servicing. A single-point lifting eye makes transport easier.
The Verdict
The XP 33 is a taut, thoroughly modern cruiser-racer. Its stiff, intuitive platform and race-bred handling reward small crews, but the limited living space, scarce stowage, and restricted ventilation demand real compromises. Those trade-offs make it better suited to weekend sailing and club racing than to long-term liveaboard use.
Pros
- Exceptional stability and an intuitive, balanced helm with direct feedback
- First X-Yachts model with a retractable carbon bowsprit for easier asymmetric-sail handling
- Accessible engine beneath the companionway
- Vacuum-infused, carbon-reinforced structure
- Competitive upwind and downwind pace, with a 6.7–6.8 kt VPP closehauled promise
Cons
- Scarce stowage, with batteries and tankage filling the spaces beneath the settees
- Poorly ventilated pantry; fumes escape only through the companionway
- Limited headroom, with a maximum of 179 cm
- No door on the full-beam head
- Few openings and no ports by design
- Hull number one showed sloppy vinyl bonding after being finished in a rush
