Grand Soleil 40 (Polli)
Cantiere del Pardo · Matteo Polli · 2022
Updated
The Grand Soleil 40 (Polli) is a 11.89 m displacement racing yacht designed by Matteo Polli and built by Cantiere del Pardo, first launched in 2022. It races in Class B. Across the measured fleet it goes better than its own numbers promise, ahead of 89% of the designs it races against. It is at its best in light air and struggles to hold that once it blows.
Goes better than its own measurements promise, and does it better than 89% of the boats it races against.
11th of 92 in its class.
This design has been found in real race results — 31 starts across 10 events — not only in measurement files.
Length
11.89 m
39′ 0″
Beam
4.07 m
Draft
2.16 m
Displacement
8.6 t
Sail area
91 m²
On the podium
Where a Grand Soleil 40 (Polli) finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
39%
of 31 starts by 3 boats
Wins
10%
Read from 31 starts by 3 boats between 2023 and 2026, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a Grand Soleil 40 (Polli) was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
73° Loro Piana Giraglia2026- Pasquavela - Inshore2026
- Campionato Invernale dell'Argentario - Coastal Race2026
- Pasquavela - Inshore2025
- Campionato Invernale dell'Argentario - Coastal Race2025
Raced one we are missing?
Report a regattaRound the buoys, or offshore
A short windward-leeward and a night at sea ask different things of a boat. Here is how this one does in each.
Round the buoys
—
Not enough data yet: 9 races of 10 NM or less carry a published distance.
Offshore & coastal
45%
of these races end on the podium
Who she races against
The designs a Grand Soleil 40 (Polli) actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
Bonin 31 (7 meetings), Sun Odyssey 45.2 (7 meetings), Grand Soleil 43 (Carkeek) (6 meetings), Sun Fast 40.3 (6 meetings), J/35 (6 meetings), Farr 30 (6 meetings), Azuree 46 (6 meetings), J/40 (6 meetings), First 35 (Farr) (6 meetings), Elan E4 (6 meetings), Swan 42 (6 meetings), X-43 (6 meetings), Salona 37 (6 meetings), Bavaria Match 35 (6 meetings), Oceanis 41 (5 meetings)
Some of the boats it races against
How the Grand Soleil 40 (Polli) has fared against each of them, boat against boat on corrected time. Ordered by how often the two meet, not by who wins.
Speed at every angle
The shape of this design's speed, drawn from the measured fleet. Pick a wind and watch it stretch.
Upwind VMG
5.39
39°
Beam reach
8.78
90°
Broad reach
9.98
135°
Downwind VMG
8.10
170°
Speed in knots at 20 knots of true wind. Green marks the angles that pay: the closest useful beat and the deepest run worth sailing.
Where it wins and where it pays
Every boat is judged against its own measurements — length, weight, sail area. The quicker those say it should be, the more it has to deliver just to break even. Going fast is not enough: it has to go faster than its own numbers promised.
It does its best work before the breeze fills in. In the light it does more than its numbers promise, and gives some of that back when the wind arrives.
Where it gains
Its best ground is off the wind in light air, where it outruns what it looks like on paper, and by a margin worth having.
Where it pays
It falls short running deep in a strong breeze, giving away time it never gets back. That is a displacement hull working to its designed speed.
Above the line it delivers more than promised and gains on the fleet. Below, it falls short. Move the wind: plenty of boats sit on one side in the light and the other when it blows.
Full width is 0.6 kn either way.
At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the broad reach.
How fast is a Grand Soleil 40 (Polli)
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 3.48 | 4.79 | 5.25 | 5.39 |
| 52° | 5.36 | 7.02 | 7.57 | 7.75 |
| 60° | 5.67 | 7.26 | 7.80 | 8.01 |
| 75° | 5.91 | 7.46 | 8.04 | 8.42 |
| 90° | 6.02 | 7.74 | 8.27 | 8.78 |
| 110° | 6.18 | 7.96 | 8.66 | 9.39 |
| 120° | 6.08 | 7.91 | 8.79 | 9.73 |
| 135° | 5.42 | 7.61 | 8.54 | 9.98 |
| 150° | 4.57 | 6.81 | 8.02 | 9.16 |
| Run VMG | 3.96 | 5.89 | 7.05 | 8.10 |
How they are set up
The range each sail spans across the fleet.
Nearly all carry a folding propeller. A bowsprit is standard across the fleet. Crew weight is declared around 720 kg.
Rigging
Grand Soleil 40 (Polli) rig and sail dimensions
A Grand Soleil 40 (Polli) carries 15.00 m of mainsail hoist on a 5.40 m boom, a forestay 15.13 m above the deck and a 6.72 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 8 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails
The spinnaker spreads widest of all — 120 to 165 m² depending on bowsprit and set-up. Before ordering a sail, read the figure on your own measurement record rather than the typical one for the design.
Other designs under the same name
The name has been carried by more than one design. They are different boats.