Never heard of it. I was stunned. A European brand making such beautiful boats and I never heard a word of it?! After the trip I searched the web and read in to the brand, grabbed the phone and arranged an interview with Torgny Jansson, the owner of the yard and the “brain” behind Arcona Yachts. Here´s what we were talking about:

Lars Reisberg | NO FRILLS SAILING.com: “Torgny, thanks for spending your time answering my questions. First of all, as I told you, I shamefully must admit that I´ve never heard of ARCONA Yachts in my life before: How would you describe the brand and the yachts to somebody unknowing like me?”

Torgny Jansson | ARCONA Yachts: “Well, Lars, we are a Swedish company of course. Compared to other bigger brands, we are a small yard making some 35 boats per year. The reason that ARCONA isn´t know to you may be explained by the fact that our main markets are the United Kingdom, where we have our strongest fan base and most clients, Norway and Denmark. Because we aren´t making too many units, it´s clear that you don´t see many Arcona yachts out there sailing. In Germany we do not sell too many units. In UK, on the other hand, we have more than 100 ARCONA yachts in the water.”

NFS.com: “Which is a pity, speaking of Germany, because your boats are extraordinarily beautiful!”

NFS.com: “How would you describe and ARCONA yacht?”

Torgny Jansson: “That´s easy: An ARCONA is a new fresh approach to sailing. I want to make sexy hulls sailing particularly pretty well with a tall and efficient rigg to gain speed. The boat is very, very stiff, boasts a load of stability and is a true racy performer. Yet we want to offer a classic interior design with superior material quality. We don´t make compromises here.”

NFS.com: “When I read more into ARCONA I was fascinated by the family´s heritage as the base of the yachts …”

Torgny Jansson: “… yes, the story is nice. I am a sailor in the third generation. My grandfather was into commercial shipping and all around the world, my father was into sailing and I myself sail since I can walk literally. In the late Sixties my father founded the yard near Stockholm which is the core base of our activities still today. When I left school in the Nineties I immediately started working at the yard. Back then we build some 10 boats per year but the most income was generated by our marina service and winter storage, a product we maintain still today. But making boats is most fun. When we started ARCONA with the ARCONA 400 we sold a total of 160 units. This was the real beginning of our brand and the business. As I said, now we produce around 35 units per year, best year lately was 60 units before the financial and economic crisis in 2008.”

NFS.com: “When I first saw the ARCONA yachts approaching, I mistook them for being X-Yachts. Does this happen often? What made me think I saw an X?”

Torgny Jansson: (laughs) “Fortunately this does not happen too often, but I know what you mean. You see, X-Yachts, which I like very much I must admit, make boats that have virtually the same core principles and target groups. When we made the ARCONA 400 we have been very impressed by the competing model of X-Yachts for sure. Both X-Yachts and ARCONA feature a rather more aggressive, sportive look and target the same sailors who seek sleek, stable, stiff and fast performing yachts. And indeed, we very much have the same clients. But from my point of view, when X-Yachts introduced the split between Xc and Xp lines, that left a lot of clients with ARCONA who were seeking a boat placed virtually in the middle between Xc and Xp. A modern, very fast boat with classy interior.”

NFS.com: “ARCONA offers yachts starting from 34 feet to 46 feet. What are the most sold models?”

NFS.com: “Who is the principal architect of ARCONA Yachts?”

Torgny Jansson: “We are very happy to be able to employ Stefan Qviberg who is a very, very capable and well known yacht designer. You see, a lot of people can do yacht design. All you need is a CFD-capable computer, some knowledge. But that´s not the point. Stefan Qviberg came to my father´s business after he examined in the late Seventies and that´s the beginning of our partnership. Since then he is the principal designer and I must say I am so delighted by his work. For example, when we introduced the ARCONA 380 we found out that the boat was still one ton – one full ton! – lighter than the competing Xp 38 by X-Yachts! Stefan´s designs are fully race capable yachts with loads of stability which are a joy to sail. Yet very safe and simple. For us, speed is extremely important as weight is as well. Stefan really knows how to make the boats stiff and perfectly smooth and we are very, very happy having him attached to ARCONA.”

NFS.com: “I feel that Scandinavian yachts are special in many respects. And I´ve talked to some people about it as well (read my Interview with Niels Jeppesen of X-Yachts and Magnus Rassy here), what would you think is a “Scandinavian approach to sailing” and how does an ARCONA meet these things?”

NFS.com: “With an ever shrinking market of classic ownerships, a shift towards charter-optimized boats and the current trend to bigger and bigger boats, what´s the perspective of ARCONA boats in the future? Will we see a 60 feet 5-cabin and 4 heads ARCONA next?”

Torgny Jansson: “I would say no because ARCONA has a very different client base compared to the big brands. But I know what you mean: People nowadays don´t want to own a boat but have fun sailing one week and maybe next week go climbing. Still, ARCONA has maintained a classic owner base. You see, 35 boats per year as a sales target isn´t that many people. We can find those people and enthrill them becoming an ARCONA-owner. That´s the advantage of a smaller company like ours. Yet, it´s difficult and we understand we have to do something to get along with the ever changing market. That´s shared ownership for example. And yes, we have a bigger ARCONA in the making yet I don´t want to talk much of it. All I can say is there will be a 54, 55 feet boat in the future as there is much interest in this 50 feet-size.”

NFS.com: “A bigger cruising ARCONA?”

NFS.com: “At last, Torgny, where does the name ARCONA Yachts come from?”

Torgny Jansson: “That´s a simple story: One of the yachts we built in the first years back in the Seventies was a Carl Beyer design, the APHRODITE. We couldn´t keep that name for the company for obvious reasons but I wanted our brand start with an A. We came up with lots of ideas but when we had the charts of the Baltic Sea on our table somebody pointed to the German Island of Ruegen where Cape Arkona is situated …”

NFS.com: “… with most beautiful tall white cliffs …”

Torgny Jansson: “… exactly! And apart from ARCONA Yachts with a C, the name comes from this German Island. It´s a maritime connotation and a place in the Baltic Sea where we are situated. The funny thing about ARCONA as a name is that it is mentioned in Swedish weather forecast 4 times in a row, which is a nice advertising.” (laughs again)

NFS.com: “Thanks so much, Torgny, for answering my questions.”