HELSAL IV

Helsal IV — Dynamique 62, Hobart Few yachts carry their double life as convincingly as Helsal IV. On deck, she is unmistakably an ocean racer, a 62-foot cutter with several Sydney to Hobart campaigns behind her. Below, she is something else entirely: leather, teak, and a saloon you can stand up in without ducking — seven feet of headroom, which anyone who has spent time on a racing hull will recognise as a genuine luxury. That duality is by design. Drawn by Philippe Briand and built in France to cruise the world with an even balance of comfort, safety and pace, she falls into the cruiser-racer category in the truest sense of the term. You get the pull of a fast, powerful yacht driving toward its destination, then the reward of going below to a proper table, good food and a glass of something worth opening. Accommodation is arranged over three cabins for six guests, each with a double bed and generous locker and cupboard space. Three heads serve the interior, accessed directly from the double cabins — a practical detail that makes a real difference on longer passages. For day charters, she is licensed to carry up to twenty guests. When the Tasmanian breeze deserts you — it happens — a 150-horsepower six-cylinder diesel takes over, with a separate generator supplying 240-volt power for overnight charters. Both live in a soundproofed engine room, so the shift from sail to engine never intrudes on the evening. Her berth is King's Pier Marina, right on the Hobart docks, a short walk from Salamanca Place and the city's best addresses — a rare case of stepping off a serious offshore yacht and directly into town.