{"id":158862,"date":"2025-07-08T06:24:58","date_gmt":"2025-07-08T05:24:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/?post_type=review&p=158862"},"modified":"2025-07-08T06:25:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-08T05:25:08","slug":"southern-wind-108-review-the-power-on-tap-from-the-sail-area-is-phenomenal","status":"publish","type":"review","link":"https:\/\/www.yachtingworld.com\/reviews\/boat-tests\/southern-wind-108-review-the-power-on-tap-from-the-sail-area-is-phenomenal","title":{"rendered":"Southern Wind 108 review: ‘The power on tap from the sail area is phenomenal’"},"content":{"rendered":"

When it\u2019s on, it\u2019s on. There\u2019s no delaying showtime. Exactly 20 hours after leaving my UK home, while still hopelessly trying to rub the jetlag out of my eyes like an overtired infant, we were docking out of Cape Town and I was handed the keys to this souped-up super-cruiser. This was better than any caffeine hit.<\/p>\n

The opportunity to sail a Southern Wind from its South African yard is one I\u2019d craved for many years, but would a quick sea trial of the new award-winning SW108 during its commissioning phase, and before the yacht was even handed over to its owner, actually be possible?<\/p>\n

More than that, how about a sail trial that allows you to move through the gears in response to the changing conditions, get fully powered up and steer this brand new yacht pedal to the floor at late teen speeds? Yes, in Cape Town, it seems it is!<\/p>\n

The photos paint the scene well, but try also to picture being aboard. The feeling of helming this near 80-tonne beauty as it smoked along, planing offwind under the auspicious watch of Table Mountain, is formidable, and one I shan\u2019t forget.<\/p>\n

As someone who has spent his life in or on the water or plotting how to do so next, I have a heightened respect for any aqua-based activity around the \u2018Cape of storms\u2019. It\u2019s wild. Indeed, later that evening, and for the following 48 hours of my visit, the wind swung offshore and really howled.<\/p>\n

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an iconic Cape Town backdrop to sail from, as Kiboko 4 slices to weather. Photo: Oriol Esteve\/Photonautic<\/p><\/div>\n

Watching the swell breaking off the trendy beachfront of Camps Bay, I witnessed with awe as the merciless Cape Doctor rifled down the mountainous backdrop, ripping through the wave crests, while tourists struggled to hold their phones still enough to get their Insta sunset shots.<\/p>\n

Yes, when you\u2019re on the Cape, you feel at the end of the world. And those building boats here face the many challenges that presents, topmost of which the craft launched from its shores need to be up to the significant task of taking on that wild weather. Southern Wind has built its reputation on that over 30 years, its roots burnished in its entirely appropriate brand name.<\/p>\n

One look at the sporty lines, flush decks, and shallow cockpit lead you to presume the SW108, and indeed the modern Southern Wind style, is not so fitting for such gnarly prospects. Granted, the Italian styling and lack of shelter is designed more for light wind Mediterranean glory sailing than Cape bashing.<\/p>\n

But, and it\u2019s a big but, they are built to take on the weather typical of these parts, both during the commissioning and sea trial phases, and of course for their shakedown voyage which is typically thousands of miles to the Med. I can now say this with confidence, having done a full tour of the yard following the trial.<\/p>\n

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A prime feature of the SW108 is the large tender garage and bathing platform space. Kiboko 4 has a twin set of steps leading down to this. Photo: Oriol Esteve\/Photonautic<\/p><\/div>\n

Kiboko 4<\/em> is the second SW108 to launch, the second Kiboko I\u2019ve trialled, and the fourth for this owner and skipper. It represents an evolution that really is in tune with that of the brand itself \u2013 larger, faster, smarter-built yachts on a semi-custom platform basis. Southern Wind is now building its largest model yet, in the SW123.<\/p>\n

Tension mounts<\/h2>\n

Back to our trial, a big day for the yard too. We have the CEO, COO and technical manager aboard as well as the commissioning team, a select few wide-eyed media, and the pro crew. Their window to fine-tune is running out, with handover and worsening weather looming. When a stackpack fitting fails during the mainsail hoist, the intense pressure which comes at the culmination of a 20-month build becomes palpable.<\/p>\n

With the main and genoa hoisted, we lean over onto a fetch and instantly match the early double-digit windspeeds off Cape Town\u2019s waterfront.<\/p>\n

Article continues below…<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n

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Wallywind 110 review: \u2018I\u2019ve never ticked off stretches of coastline so effortlessly\u2019<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/header>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t
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There are very few times I feel the need to video the scene from a day on the water simply…<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t