The Blue Djinn in 1995
In 1995, the B2 Marine shipyard, located in the Bordeaux area, launched the Blue Djinn a small habitable and transportable sailboat of 6,09 m in integral dinghy. If this model is ideal for coastal sailing and short trips, the interior is really modest. Thus, it is impossible to stand upright and it is often necessary to adopt the layout to its navigation, the bed of the front point overflowing on the square to spend the night on board.
This small lack of space is compensated by the fact that it is very easily transportable. No need to have a large engine to transport your small sailboat on the road. Its marine qualities are also highlighted by aficionados and some owners even leave for a whole week to sail along the coast.
A more habitable version with the Djinn 7 in 2002
In 2002, the shipyard decided to expand its small sailboat and launched the Djinn 7 with a length of 7.18 m. This Fauroux design, updated 7 years after the launch of the first Blue Djinn, has nothing old-fashioned about it.
Yvon Le Bars, President of the AsPro Djinn, an association dedicated to these two sailboats and owner of a Djinn 7 explains: "More than a meter difference makes a big difference. I can stand up in the cabin under the hood and my wife can walk over a large part of the boat. The advantage is that we really have the night space âeuros the bunks can stay in place âeuros and the day space. The disadvantage is that it is also much heavier and that it is necessary a more consistent vehicle to pull it. This does not prevent some owners from sailing solo and doing all the launching maneuvers alone."
A custom design
Solid and seaworthy, these two boats are easy to launch and to sail. If the interior may seem basic at first, everyone can arrange his boat as he wishes, one of the advantages offered by the Djinn.
Yvon explains: "With a monolithic construction, you can easily tinker with it. In fact, I don't think any two Djinn 7s are alike. Each skipper can customize it as he or she wishes, even though they are basically designed as dayboats. But there is all the necessary equipment to have a good time on board, a front berth, a sufficient water supply and a large cockpit to receive people during the day. In my boat, I also have a saloon table, a kitchen block with a 2-burner stove on a gimbal, a stainless steel sink and trash cans underneath, the water pump and even a marine toilet. It is perfectly equipped for coastal sailing."
The president of the association is constantly praising the merits of this "small, fully equipped boat that allows you to have everything at hand once you sit in the saloon."
As far as the motorization is concerned, the Blue Djinn and Djinn 7 are equipped with outboard motors, installed on the transom, whose 5 HP power is more than enough.
A small boat equipped like a big one
Despite their size, the Djinn are equipped like "big ones": Battened mainsail, leasybag and leasyjack, gennaker on bowsprit, automatic reefing, solar panel, automatic pilot, electric, solar shower, w.c. or even iceboxesâeuros¦
But their small size allows them to sail easily single-handed or as a couple, without too much physical effort, as Yvon explains: "Among the owners of Djinn, there are many former owners of big boats who could not stand the physical effort or people who have been on the water and who find their own satisfaction with this boat. "
Day or week cruise
If many of them sail only by day, especially in the Arcachon basin, their equipment and their good seaworthy behavior, but especially their construction as a full dinghy is ideal for coastal sailing or for one or two weeks' cruising. Thus, it is possible to sail as close to the coast as possible, to spend a night on a beach or at the bottom of a river, where others cannot go.
The Blue Djinn will easily accommodate 2 people, and up to 3 on board while the Djinn 7 allows 4 people to sail comfortably.
A financially accessible boat
If the size of the Djinn is an incomparable asset for the owners, the budget is also one. Yvon explains: "These are transportable boats, so there are no port or storage fees."
Today, the shipyard does not produce almost any more Blue Djinn and Djinn 7, the second hand market allowing to find boats in very good condition. Count between 7âeuros000 and 8âeuros000 euros for a second-hand model (everything depends on the age and the condition).
Yvon concludes: "These boats are slowly coming down in value, the smaller they are the more they retain their value."
