And the winner is:

For many years, we at Saare Yachts have been deeply engaged in the development and optimization of modern energy supply systems on sailing yachts.

A lot has changed in recent years. Batteries, charging technology, and many other components are now designed and built completely differently than they were just a few years ago.

History of Onboard Electronics

Sixty years ago, most sailing yachts had only one battery—a standard lead-acid car battery with 50 or 70 Ah. This single battery was responsible for powering all onboard consumers as well as serving as the starter battery. Family yachts of that time measured between 7 and 9 meters in length, and their electrical needs were limited to navigation lights, some interior lighting, and an echo sounder.

In the 1970s and 80s, additional equipment such as cooling boxes and, eventually, diesel heaters were introduced. Batteries were charged with portable chargers, often reaching their capacity limits, which meant that conserving power onboard was a constant concern. It was common practice to switch off navigation lights in open waters, turning them on only when other vessels were nearby.

Since a dead battery meant the engine couldn’t be started, the industry gradually shifted towards using a dedicated service battery separate from the starter battery. The service battery powered onboard electronics, while the starter battery was solely responsible for the engine.

With the introduction of diode isolators, both batteries could be charged via the alternator without being directly connected, preventing mutual discharge. Additionally, the service battery was charged via an integrated charger.

Modern Onboard Electronics

As yachts grew larger and expectations increased, more and more electrical equipment was introduced, significantly raising onboard power consumption.

Lead-acid batteries remained the standard for starter batteries, but service batteries evolved to include more efficient gel batteries and later AGM batteries. These offered higher capacity, lower self-discharge, and required little to no maintenance—no need to top up distilled water. Integrated chargers became common, and over the past two decades, new charging technologies emerged. Solar panels, wind generators, hydro-generators, and fuel cells were introduced, allowing batteries to be charged independently from shore power.

Self-Sufficiency is Key

The desire for greater self-sufficiency has grown steadily, but at the same time, so have energy demands.

Initially, onboard electricity was primarily needed for a cooling box and sometimes a bow thruster. Over time, additional systems were added—coffee machines, electric winches, more refrigeration units and freezers, televisions, bow and stern thrusters, electric stoves with ovens, and many other devices now require power. The challenge is to run all these systems for as long as possible, independently of shore power.

To achieve the desired self-sufficiency, there are now well-functioning alternative charging options in addition to high-quality chargers and improved alternators.

A wind generator, for example, is an effective and powerful solution that operates day and night as long as there is wind. However, mounting it on a stern mast is often not very aesthetically pleasing, and the noise can be disturbing.

A hydrogenerator provides a good charging current as long as the boat is moving at a reasonable speed. The drag effect is negligible, and aesthetically, this solution poses no issues. However, a hydrogenerator only generates power while the boat is underway—it does not produce electricity when anchored.

Modern solar panels, on the other hand, are much more versatile. There are now highly efficient and powerful modules available on the market. Custom-made panels can be screwed or bonded onto the deck and superstructure. They are durable and even walkable. However, their charging efficiency is significantly reduced due to heat buildup, especially when the sun is at its strongest.

A better solution is to mount solar panels on the railing or install large panels on a stern-mounted equipment rack. These setups allow for better ventilation, making them much more effective.

A solution that always works is a generator. It can be designed to be very powerful and can run while moored, at anchor, or at sea.

However, it is important to keep in mind that a generator is a diesel engine—it does not produce green energy, generates noise and exhaust fumes, and requires just as much maintenance as the main engine. Additionally, a generator is heavy, takes up a lot of space, and its diesel consumption must also be considered.

A fuel cell is a real alternative. It operates continuously, produces neither noise nor exhaust fumes, and requires very little space. However, its power output is relatively low, and the costs are quite high. For long-distance or global sailing, sourcing the necessary methanol fuel can be challenging.

For shorter journeys lasting only a few weeks, stocking up in advance eliminates this issue.

We have implemented and continuously refined all these solutions on various Saare Yachts. The best choice depends largely on the cruising area and the type of voyage. In many cases, a combination of different solutions is the most effective approach. We are happy to provide our customers with detailed consultations on these questions. Our approach is always based on using the best brand-name products and proven solutions.

Until now, almost all onboard systems have been based on 12V setups, originating from traditional 12V car batteries.

However, alternative battery technologies, such as lithium batteries, are becoming more common, and 24V systems are already in occasional use. Surprisingly, large shipyards have been slow to adopt this technology. In the automotive industry—especially in buses and trucks—24V systems have long been the standard. In yacht building, only the largest and most high-end yachts have been equipped with 24V or 48V systems so far.

At Saare Yachts, we offer 24V systems as standard or optional on all our models.

More on this topic and the compelling advantages of modern onboard power systems will be covered in part two of Innovative Onboard Electronics.

The rudder is an important and safety-critical component on any sailing yacht.

A well-designed profile, an appropriate aspect ratio, a narrow gap between the hull and the rudder, and maximum strength are essential. The rudder blade has a significant influence on the sailing characteristics and steering behavior. The degree of forward balance is particularly important for achieving optimal and energy-efficient autopilot steering. The rudder’s positioning also plays a crucial role in maneuverability.

Two rudder blades offer advantages when sailing with very wide stern hulls at high heel angles. However, the mechanism for connecting the two rudders and steering is complex and somewhat less responsive.

There is a drawback when maneuvering in tight spaces in a harbor: targeted reverse motion is not possible without bow and stern thrusters. The propeller stream does not hit a centrally positioned rudder blade but flows between the two blades.

A single rudder blade, centrally positioned under the hull, enables precise and straightforward reverse maneuvers in a harbor. The boat can turn tightly, and the propeller’s flow is optimally directed.

We install rudder blades that extend deeply enough into the water. However, our rudder blades are always less deep than the keel to avoid damage in the event of grounding.

With the combination of a deep-reaching rudder blade and the relatively narrow hull of a Saare yacht, it is almost impossible for the feared flow separation at the rudder blade—and the subsequent “round-ups” (loss of control)—to occur.

The Rudder of a Sailing Yacht is Subject to Significant Loads and Forces

Construction of Rudder Blades

We manufacture the rudder blades for the 38- and 41-foot models in-house.

To do this, we laminate several layers of fiberglass laminate with vinyl ester resin into two molds. On one side, the rudder shaft is inserted and laminated into place with several layers of fiberglass.

The rudder shaft on our yachts is always made of stainless steel. Although significantly heavier, it is much more corrosion-resistant. The aluminum rudder shafts commonly used are very vulnerable, especially when copper-based antifouling paints are applied.

These two halves of the rudder are bonded together, and the molds are securely bolted. A precisely calculated amount of liquid epoxy foam is poured into the cavity, which quickly expands and fills the entire volume with high-strength, waterproof epoxy foam.

A rudder blade built this way is robust and durable. Vinyl ester as a laminating resin and the epoxy foam filling make the rudder resistant to osmosis. The stainless-steel shaft prevents pitting corrosion, which is common with aluminum shafts.

Saare yachts are built entirely with vinylester resin.

The entire laminate and all reinforcements, the laminates of the bulkheads, etc. have been made exclusively with this high-quality resin since 2016. Only very few shipyards do this in such an elaborate way.

Previously, our yachts were laminated with a high-quality ISO polyester resin, the two outer layers of the laminate structure were also laminated with vinyl ester resin to provide better osmosis protection.

With the introduction of the vacuum infusion process, we decided to use only vinyl ester resins.

Basically, the choice of laminating resin is of great importance.

Better quality on the one hand, different technical properties and a significantly higher price on the other hand have to be weighed against each other.

The laminating resin in fiber composite materials such as those in a yacht (glass fiber reinforced plastic) fulfills two main functions. It must bind the reinforcement material, in yacht construction these are glass fiber mats, scrims and rovings, but also the sandwich materials. The resin must hold the reinforcements in the right position and connect them to each other to ensure the mechanical properties.

But the resin also contributes to a variety of advantages, such as corrosion and temperature resistance and electrical insulation. In combination with the sandwich material, it also provides excellent thermal insulation.

Of course, price also plays a major role in the selection of the resin.

They are the resins most commonly used in yacht building. Most polyester resins consist of a polyester solution and typically styrene. Styrene is harmful to health and often evaporates for a long time. In some series yachts you can smell the styrene for a very long time.

Polyester resins are available in very different qualities. So-called orthopolyesters, for example, are inexpensive; they are not recommended for boat building, but are still used by many shipyards.

ISO-NPG resins are significantly better, stronger and, above all, more water-resistant / hydrolysis-resistant. They are also based on orthopolyester, but are significantly higher quality thanks to the appropriate additives. More expensive, but they are used successfully in yacht building, especially by good shipyards. However, they must be protected against diffusing moisture, which then leads to osmosis, by a sufficiently thick epoxy coating (2-component primer).

Vinylester resins combine the best properties of polyester and epoxy resins. They are much more mechanically resilient than polyester resins, but they are also more resistant and tougher than epoxy resins. Vinyl ester resins are a hybrid form of polyester resin that has been reinforced with epoxy.

They are more stretch-tolerant and can absorb shocks better, and they are also less prone to stress cracking than polyester resins. Vinyl ester resins are used as an alternative to epoxy resins due to their good mechanical properties and in particular their high osmosis resistance (around 300 times better than polyester resin).

They are much more expensive than polyester resins.

If you are interested in buying a yacht, ask the manufacturer or dealer for specific, contractually guaranteed information about the laminating resin used and the construction process.

On our Saare yachts, built after 2016, we provide a 5-year guarantee against the occurrence of osmosis in the hull and deck.

Saare yachts impress with the best materials, high-quality components and first-class craftsmanship in combination with the most modern construction methods.

But from a commercial perspective, the small, fine shipyard also offers clear advantages and security when buying a Saare yacht and far beyond.

Both the company Yachtsport Eckernförde Nielsen GmbH & Co. KG and the Estonian shipyard Saare Yacht OÜ have been 100% privately owned by the Nielsen family from Eckernförde since their founding. Two generations, a total of four people, manage the companies. There are also 10 employees in Eckernförde and a further 24 people in Estonia. The Saare Yachts OÜ shipyard is completely debt-free.

The managing directors of both companies are the founder Thomas Nielsen and the second generation Niels Nielsen.

We have been on the market for almost 40 years and have sold hundreds of yachts from a wide range of shipyards from Germany, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, the Netherlands, Great Britain and France. Since 2008 we have been concentrating entirely on Saare Yachts; we are significantly involved in the development of the yachts and know the ships, owners and sailors.

We do not use dealers when selling our yachts – everything from one provider. Only we can guarantee individual ordering and support during the purchase and, above all, all subsequent steps in this comprehensive and personal form. A dealer could never have the necessary detailed knowledge and would only add a burden to the purchase price.

Whether you order your Saare in Estonia or in Eckernförde, you always buy directly from the shipyard and with short distances. We can usually answer and decide all questions immediately or within a few hours. We will also give you the costs for special equipment quickly and in a binding manner.

When you order from Yachtsport Eckernförde, you are purchasing under German law.

If desired, we can secure your deposits with a bank guarantee. As your direct contractual partner, we are responsible.

We can make deliveries and professionally carry out service and warranty work both in Estonia on the island of Saaremaa and in Eckernförde. We offer berths for our Saare customers in Kuressaare and Eckernförde and also an indoor winter camp with full service.

As a certified specialist company, you can get Raymarine’s 3-year guarantee free of charge. For three years, defective Raymarine devices will be repaired directly on board or replaced free of charge.

As a Saare owner, you can enjoy special shopping advantages in our large sailing sports shop in Eckernförde. In addition to oilskins, maritime clothing and board shoes, we also offer all the necessary technical things to equip your yacht in one of the largest specialist shops on the Baltic Sea.

Everything from a single source also means that there are clear competencies and responsibilities. We are there for you directly.

A rub rail on the outside of the hull is generally a good thing. It is very helpful when mooring in narrow boxes with stern posts, even if you are moored alongside the pier or a neighboring boat. Harbour maneuvers alone or with a small crew become much easier and safer. In any case, the outer skin is protected and protected from damage.

If you then make sure that the fenders rest on the rub rail and not on the hull, the fenders cannot leave dull scuff marks on the gelcoat.

The rubbing strip of a Saare is also protected with a profile made of V4A stainless steel. This means you can lie directly on a wooden post without getting a scratch.

Of course, you can also later install a wooden or rubber rubbing strip on any yacht. However, you then have to drill a lot of holes in the area for attachment to the outer skin.

Our skirting board profile is integrated into the design. This not only looks very elegant, but is also very stable and also acts like a solid frame in the outer skin.

This area is first coated with gelcoat. Fully done by hand, the narrow and narrow profile cannot be reliably processed with a spray gun with a consistent layer thickness.

Then, again by hand, several layers of glass mat with vinyl ester resin are laminated into the profile using the hand-laying process. The profile is then completely filled and laminated again with 2 layers in order to then have a flat surface for the vacuum infusion process. From there, the vacuum infusion process continues to build the hull.

The rub rail also stiffens the hull like a surrounding ring beam.

Will Saare Yachts soon be the last shipyard to build with such great effort?

While other shipyards are increasingly moving away from the best keel construction, with a deeply laminated bilge and a lead keel bolted into the bilge under the yacht, for cost reasons, we are sticking to this solution.

There is nothing better!

In addition to the optimized sailing characteristics, this construction method ensures maximum safety in the event of a grounding.

Even a strong grounding will not cause serious damage to the hull, the repair is usually only cosmetic and inexpensive.

(Of course, we cannot always rule out damage to the hull in the event of a very serious grounding.)

When comparing with other shipyards, make sure that all yachts, and not just the older models, really meet these high standards.

A keel that is screwed under the flat bottom of the boat transfers the forces that occur when sailing, and especially the forces of a heavy grounding, much more strongly and directly to the hull. The damage to the hull and the boat can be quite significant if the boat touches the ground.

The entire keel of a Saare yacht is made of lead. (antimony hardened lead)

Lead keels are rarely used today; they are significantly more expensive compared to a cast iron keel.

In addition to a maximum low center of gravity and thus optimized sailing properties, lead naturally has the great advantage of not rusting. This makes a lead keel much easier to care for and the whole boat better.

The specific gravity of lead is around 1.6 times higher than that of cast iron. This means that the keel profile can be designed to be slimmer and the center of gravity is lower.

Now you might think that rust on the keel, e.g. after a light contact with the ground and scraping off the paint build-up, is no big deal. That’s true, it doesn’t cause any technical problems and it’s just a visually ugly thing.

However, the rust corrosion is critical at the seam between the cast iron keel and the hull. Sooner or later, every cast keel begins to rust at this connection to the hull, no matter how the keel is attached. This rust spot is then practically impossible to remove permanently.

You can only have peace of mind for a few years if you remove the keel completely, clean the hull and the keel surface very thoroughly and then sand the keel clean and re-prime and coat it several times on the contact surface and a few centimeters on the sides. It is best to remove the rust in this area using sandblasting; sanding does not completely remove the rust from the pores. Then, after a multi-layer paint build-up, you can reassemble the keel with adhesive and sealant and re-seal the surrounding seam with a permanently elastic material (e.g. Sikaflex, Tikal, Pantera, etc.).

If you don’t do anything about this increasingly rusting seam, over the years the rust surface will move deeper and deeper into the joint and onto the surface of the keel. It undermines the bond between the keel and the hull and removes it. Water penetrates deeper and deeper and the sealing of the keel bolts can become leaky.

The entire keel is no longer firmly and securely attached to the boat.

With a lead keel these risks are eliminated! Lead doesn’t rust.

An at least equally important argument in favor of a lead keel is the elastic deformability of the material.

If a cast iron keel hits the ground strongly, it will only get a few scratches at the point of contact with a stone or rock, but due to the material properties (high modulus of elasticity), it transmits the impact very directly and undamped to the hull. Strong tensile forces then occur, particularly at the front edge of the keel; at the aft edge of the keel, the narrow and pointed keel is pressed hard and powerfully into the hull.

Depending on the construction and quality and the design of the keel fastening, this can lead to serious and severe damage to the hull and also to the internals in the boat, depending on the impact and the speed of the boat.

Although it is usually possible to repair such groundings, the costs can quickly amount to tens of thousands of euros or much more.

Particularly if the reinforcements in the bilge (bottom wrangles and stringers) consist of a steel structure, this can partially or completely come off and often has to be completely removed for repairs. The effort can then be so great that a repair is not economically worthwhile.

Even with a lead keel, damage to these areas cannot be ruled out. However, they only occur at significantly higher speeds and even then only to a reduced extent. The reason is the high plasticity and good formability of the relatively soft material lead. The modulus of elasticity of lead is 5 to 7 times lower than that of cast iron, i.e. lead is significantly softer and more plastic. The lead deforms significantly at the point of impact and thus takes away a lot of energy from the impact. The forces between the keel and the hull and therefore the damage to the hull and the interior are correspondingly lower. The dented and compressed lead can easily be filled with epoxy filler and painted with antifouling.

The material of the keel and the type of installation are also of utmost importance for the sailing properties. A keel should not be too heavy and increase the total weight of the yacht, but it should ensure that the center of gravity of a sailing yacht is as low as possible. Of course, this is easier to do with lead than with a cast iron keel. In addition, the keel on a Saare is attached to a deep, strong laminated bilge and is therefore around 40 to 50 cm lower than the usual construction.

If you compare different yachts and calculate the ratio of keel weight to total weight, the so-called ballast proportion, this statement is not very meaningful without including the center of gravity of the keel in the considerations for the righting moment. Saar yachts have relatively heavy keels (37 to 41% ballast content) and these keels are mounted well below the bottom of the hull on the deep S-frame bilge.

The righting moment of the Saare keel construction is particularly high.

The performance when sailing is better with a lead keel.

The shipyard Saare Yachts OÜ buys the keels from a foundry in Finland. The quality is very good, the surfaces are smooth and strong. 14 keel bolts made of stainless steel, each with a 24 mm diameter and metric thread, are cast into the solid lead keel of the Saare 41 with a connecting frame, also made of V4A steel. The distance between the adjacent bolts is large and the force application is perfect.