Soto 40
M BOATS · Javier Soto Acebal · 2008
Updated
The Soto 40 is a 12.34 m planing racing yacht designed by Javier Soto Acebal and built by M BOATS, first launched in 2008. It races in Class A. Across the measured fleet it goes better than its own numbers promise, ahead of 99% of the designs it races against.
Goes better than its own measurements promise, and does it better than 99% of the boats it races against.
1st of 46 in its class.
Not verified. On planing hulls this score has no match in the race results we hold: designs scoring the same win anywhere from one race in ten to seven in ten. Read it as what the measurements say, not as a ranking.
This design has been found in real race results — 15 starts across 2 events — not only in measurement files.
Length
12.34 m
40′ 6″
Beam
3.80 m
Draft
2.61 m
Displacement
4.4 t
Sail area
106 m²
On the podium
Where a Soto 40 finishes when she goes racing.
On the podium
20%
of 15 starts by 2 boats
Wins
0%
Read from 15 starts by 2 boats between 2019 and 2022, counting races with six boats or more.
Recent regattas
The latest events where a Soto 40 was on the start line, named as the organisers publish them.
ORCi European Championship2022
ORC European Championship2019
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
17%
of these races end on the podium
Offshore & coastal
—
Not enough data yet: 3 races over 10 NM carry a published distance.
Who she races against
The designs a Soto 40 actually lines up with, most often first. The bar shows how those meetings ended.
Also met, too few times for a figure:
TP 52 (Reichel/Pugh) (7 meetings), Latini 52 (7 meetings)
Some of the boats it races against
How the Soto 40 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
5.96
39°
Beam reach
10.77
90°
Broad reach
13.74
135°
Downwind VMG
11.78
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.
This is a boat that wants breeze. Give it a fresh day and long legs and it delivers more than it promised; in a drifter it is working uphill.
Where it gains
Its best ground is downwind once it pipes up, where it goes better than its measurements say it should, and by a margin worth having. It holds that advantage on a broad reach as well, so the gain is not down to one leg of the course.
Where it pays
It falls short to windward when it blows, giving away time it never gets back. That is a hull that wants to get up and go, and needs pressure to do it.
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 2.4 kn either way.
At 10 knots this design makes back more than its rating asks on the broad reach.
How fast is a Soto 40
Boat speed in knots, by true wind angle and wind strength.
| Angle | 6 kn | 10 kn | 14 kn | 20 kn |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beat VMG | 4.38 | 5.53 | 5.84 | 5.96 |
| 52° | 6.66 | 8.01 | 8.35 | 8.57 |
| 60° | 7.04 | 8.31 | 8.71 | 9.02 |
| 75° | 7.33 | 8.72 | 9.34 | 9.82 |
| 90° | 7.22 | 8.92 | 9.89 | 10.77 |
| 110° | 7.10 | 8.94 | 10.04 | 11.94 |
| 120° | 6.95 | 9.20 | 10.56 | 12.40 |
| 135° | 6.27 | 8.82 | 11.04 | 13.74 |
| 150° | 5.24 | 7.78 | 9.66 | 13.60 |
| Run VMG | 4.54 | 6.74 | 8.36 | 11.78 |
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 830 kg.
Rigging
Soto 40 rig and sail dimensions
A Soto 40 carries 16.29 m of mainsail hoist on a 5.78 m boom, a forestay 16.05 m above the deck and a 7.30 m bowsprit. Typical figures across the 15 boats measured under the current VPP, with the range each one spans.
Rig
Sails
The spinnaker spreads widest of all — 166 to 189 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.