From vision to reality - the XR 41's journey from sketch to World Champion
by Mark Jardine 2 Sep 17:00 UTC
XR 41 at Sjælland Rundt 2025 by Møns Klint © Mads Tolstrup
In 2023 I took part in my first X-Yachts Gold Cup at Aarhus in Denmark. It was a glorious event, balancing fun and competition perfectly, and was a weekend where new friendships were formed with sailors who I continue to chat with regularly.
I sailed on an X43 with Torben Kornum and Kevin Wallis amongst others, which really is a fun yacht to sail, has a great hull form, and a turn of speed when needed, but at its heart it's a performance cruiser. Nothing at all wrong with that, and it's the core of many people's sailing, but it's not where X-Yachts started.
It all began back in 1979 when Niels Jeppesen designed the X-79 to compete in the Sjælland Rundt - a race organised by Elsinore Sailing Club around the Danish island Zealand.
The X-79 challenged the norm, with a wide, open cockpit and game-changing performance, combined with a build quality that was second to none. She won on handicap, built into a big one-design class, and was even used in a thrilling match racing final in very strong winds.
X-Yachts went on to build 468 X-79s over the next fifteen years, with the class still being active in five countries. During this time, many championship-winning yachts were built, but gradually the yard moved more and more into the high end cruising yachts.
During the 2023 Gold Cup in Aarhus, X-Yachts Chairman Ib Kunøe talked to all the sailors during the gala dinner about the X-Yachts heritage, and then CEO Kræn Brinck Nielsen unveiled their intention to design a new racing yacht to win the 2025 ORC World Championship. Naturally my interest was piqued as this was a lofty aim. The Worlds was under 24 months away - could a sketch become a world championship-winning boat in that timescale?
I spoke with Kræn to find out what the initial reaction was amongst the team:
"When Ib and I brought the idea to the boardroom there were a lot of happy smiles in the company, because we still have employees who made the X 41, and even were involved in the One Tonners 35 years ago. Some of the sailors in the yard have won World Championships decades ago, so there was definitely a positive vibe about that, but also a humbleness with the thought of 'can we do it?'"
From the X-Yachts sailors at the Gold Cup there was a murmur of excitement. Many had been pushing for a thoroughbred, and they'd got their wish. Owners signed up for the new yacht before even the overall length had been decided. They believed in the idea and, more importantly, the goals for how the yacht would sail, as Kræn described:
"If you look at the X 40, 43, 46, 49 and 56, they are basically driven by the same concept - a stable boat which sails really well. You can do a regatta if you want to, but you would always feel comfortable handling the boat as a couple. With the XR 41 we wanted a boat that was really strong on its rating, because that's how you win, always first at the windward mark, but it also had to be really, really fun to sail.
"For me we ticked all the boxes. We have a strong rating, we were first at the windward mark in most races, and downwind we outperformed the fleet with the fun factor. When they did 10 or 11 knots downwind, we did 18. It wasn't a 10% difference, it was a whole different level."
To find the right hull form X-Yachts went through thousands of iterations of design. AI computer modelling honed shapes and ideas to come up with the perfect boat. Along the way some ideas which could have produced an even better rating were discarded because they would have been, as Kræn put it, "damn boring to sail because it's stuck in the water". What's the point of winning if you're not having fun in the process?
It must have been incredibly tempting to go down some of those design routes, but having the fun-factor as a major part of the concept kept them on task to create the superb boat the XR 41 is.
There are various design features which are very different to previous norms - the pronounced V at the stern, the relatively forward positioning of the rudder, and the bow flair being the most noticeable - but there is far more nuance to the XR 41 than I could see with my layman's eye. When I sailed the yacht in March this year I really noticed how the yacht liked a certain heel angle, and was quick to get up and go, but I had the gnawing feeling that I was barely scratching the surface of her potential performance. I came off the water with more questions than answers, and found myself wanting to sail the boat more... if only there were more hours in the day!
The XR 41 didn't just win ORC B at the World Championship, 'Formula X' did it with a race to spare. Also the XR 41 team on 'Dixi', who'd only had their yacht for 50 days, finished second, and Jens Kuphal's team on 'eXciter' finished fourth. The XR 41 dominated the class. Kræn and Ib had delivered on their promise and then some.
Excitement is building around the world, and Kevin Wallis of X-Yachts Australia is looking forward to the first yachts racing down under:
"Hamilton Island Race Week is predominantly sailed using ORC, where the XR 41 will be a weapon off the shelf, but the numbers we've just had through for IRC look incredible. With a 2.7m, slightly heavier IRC optimised keel and a deeper rudder she'll fly and be superb for events like the Rolex Sydney Hobart. The famous X-Yachts steel frame makes changing out the keel a doddle, so you could easily race under both ORC and IRC with the same boat.
"With the definitive ORC Worlds results in, it won't be long until the XR 41 is winning in Australia, with the added benefit of the modular interior allowing them to be a sporty cruiser in between events, or later in the yacht's life."
The first X-79 now sits proudly at the X-Yachts headquarters in Haderslev, after Birger Hansen and Lars Jeppesen, fellow X-Yachts founders with Niels Jeppesen, picked up the boat from Jersey in 2018, having been gifted it by UK dealer Conor Fanning.
Over the next four years Birger, who spends much of his time nowadays restoring and creating some extraordinary motorbikes, lovingly and meticulously brought the boat back to the exact same condition as when built 46 years ago.
Was the sight of the beautiful red X-79 at the headquarters the catalyst for Kræn and the team to go back to their roots and create the XR 41? Did the nostalgia of the great championship wins prompt them into reminiscing about the glory days? I'm willing to bet they played their part.
Either way, the glory days are back at X-Yachts. With the XR 41 they have a proven winner. A boat that dominated ORC B at the World Championship, and which I feel is only just showing what she's truly capable of.
For sure, the majority of X-Yachts business is being the Aston Martin of the yachting world, creating beautiful and incredibly comfortable performance cruisers that last the test of time, but like the famous motor brand, there's a racing pedigree, and they're back in the winner's circle.
It's a tough time in the yachting market right now, as it is elsewhere in the global economy, but the XR 41 has breathed a new determination into the Danish yard. There was always great pride in what they produced, but now there's an extra twinkle in the eyes of the workforce. It's an eXciting time.
Mark Jardine
Sail-World.com and YachtsandYachting.com Managing Editor