Southerly 47

A 2012 Southerly 47, a fantastic long-distance cruiser from the historic shipyard in Ithenor, in southern England. Top quality, but with a variable draught.

The Southerly 47 is a well-built and elegant blue-water sailing yacht built by Northshore Shipyard in Itchenor. The Southerly 47 is a deck-saloon yacht designed by Stephen Jones and, like all Southerly models, features a variable draught keel, ranging from 1.20 to 3.20 for the 47. Ballast is located both in the keel blade and within the hull, providing high stability. As the keel blade folds aft, this design is also very safe, for example should the keel blade strike an obstacle.

The variable draught adds an extra touch to what is otherwise a well-built premium yacht in the same league as, for example, Contest, Oyster, Hallberg-Rassy and Najad. A beautifully built yacht with three cabins below deck. At the stern is the owner’s cabin with its own bathroom (as it should be), and at the bow is a cabin that can actually rival the stern cabin as the owner’s stateroom. For guests on board, this means they need not envy the owner’s comfort; they are just as comfortable themselves. The third cabin, the ‘crew cabin’, has plenty of storage space and, under the current ownership, has mostly been used as a storeroom.

The deck saloon layout provides excellent all-round visibility, both in harbour and whilst underway, whilst also offering ample space beneath the saloon floor for installations, the engine, etc. The advantage of this is that much of the weight is centred in the boat, resulting in a smoother ride.

Although the owner’s cabin is located at the stern of the boat, it is not a centre-cockpit design. This makes the cockpit very spacious and sociable, and the twin steering wheels allow the helmsman to find the best position, whilst also providing easier access to the stern and the swim platform.

The current owner has owned the boat since 2015 and has sailed both in northern Europe and the Mediterranean. The boat has been a means of realising a number of sailing dreams and has more than lived up to the current owner’s expectations. Many upgrades have been carried out under the current ownership – see the equipment list – and if you’re interested in sailing near and far, with the ability to access places where most monohulls cannot, it’s hard to imagine a finer or better boat than this Southerly 47.

This is number 5 of a total of 8 built. Following Discovery’s acquisition of Southerly, the model continued as the Discovery 48, available both with a fixed keel and with Southerly’s solution for variable draught.

The boat is very well equipped, featuring, amongst other things, both bow and stern thrusters, new sails, twin forestays plus a removable inner forestay, large battery banks, a gen set, a watermaker… the list could go on almost indefinitely.

The Southerly 47 is a boat with virtually no limitations.

Further information and images can be found on the boat’s own website, https://southerly47.com.

Specifications
Length: 14.40 m
Beam: 4.46 m
Draught: 1.20–3.20 m
Weight: 17,250 kg
Water: 499 l
Diesel: 660 l
Engine: Yanmar 4JH5TE, 75 Hk, approx. 3,200 hours, ZF30 reverse gear 2.70:1 Max-prop 3-bladed feathering propeller, 3-bladed fixed propeller as spare
Bow Thruster – Sleipner variable with joystick (2017)
Stern Thruster – Sleipner variable (2016) with joystick (2017)