Maxi has produced over 16,000 yachts but, as with many Scandinavian yards, the high cost of hand-made quality has led to tricky times over the past decade. The Polish company Delphia Yachts now owns Maxi, after it had a brief stewardship under Najad. The intention is to stay true to its quality heritage and Swedish Olympic sailor Pelle Petterson remains involved in the design.

The Maxi 1200 is the second model under Delphia’s ownership, following the 1300 a year ago, and resembles the Maxi yachts we remember, a design that melds the worlds of racer-cruiser and family cruiser.

She promises to be simple, fast and ergonomic, as well as safe, durable and, thanks to her Polish production, affordable. “The Maxi 1200 is meant to be very fast and very comfortable, pretty elegant and easy to handle,” says Petterson.

Attention is paid to strength and stiffness, with carbon reinforcements used around the grid that takes keel, rig and chainplate loads, plus the rudder frame and the stem and bowsprit. Hull and deck have a PVC core and are laminated in vinylester resin.

An aim of Petterson’s was to keep the cockpit tidy, so there is halyard stowage in the coamings and sheet tail stowage below the cockpit table. I like the siting of the primaries inboard and the use of a central mainsheet pedestal with a single reversible winch. “I assure you that this [mainsheet] solution works really well,” says Petterson, “I’ve checked it on my own boat.”

Tony Castro created a simple, elegant interior design, finished with white panels contrasting with teak trim and solid wood frames. It is the first time anyone other than Petterson has designed a Maxi interior, and it is offered with a two or three-cabin layout.

Price ex VAT €178,000 (£140,200). www.maxiyachts.com

Dimensions

LOA 12.16m/39ft 9in

LWL 10.60m/34ft 8in

Beam 3.75m/12ft 3in

Draught 2.00m/6ft 6in

Displacement 6,900kg/15,212lb

This is an extract from a feature in the February 2015 issue of Yachting World