SW96 "Fortissimo"
| LOA 29.75 m hull / 31.9 m over bowsprit (Southern Wind build listing; general SW96 range page gives 31.41 m / 29.3 m instead) | |
| LWL 26.8 m | |
| Beam 6.95 m (max) | |
| Draft 3.4 to 5.5 m on lifting keel | |
| Displacement 58.8 tonnes lightship (58.5 t on Southern Wind's generic SW96 model page) | |
| Naval architecture | Farr Yacht Design |
|---|---|
| Interior and exterior design | Nauta Design |
| Hull number SW96-06, sixth hull of the SW96 line | |
| Engine | Cummins B4.5-M diesel with SCR for IMO Tier III |
| Construction | full carbon hull and deck, twin rudders, high-modulus rig |
| Classification | RINA Charter Class |
Hull and Construction
Like every SW96, Fortissimo is built as an advanced composite sandwich, carbon fibre and epoxy resin skins over a Corecell foam core for the hull, with the deck available in a lighter carbon/epoxy prepreg and Nomex honeycomb layup for performance-focused owners or a standard Corecell version for cruising-focused ones. Southern Wind's own build listing gives Fortissimo a hull length of 29.75 metres (31.9 metres over the bowsprit) and a lightship displacement of 58.8 tonnes. The shipyard's general SW96 model page gives slightly different figures, 31.41 metres LOA with bowsprit (29.3 metres without) and 58.5 tonnes, the kind of small rounding gap that is normal between a model-range page and a build-specific one, and worth flagging rather than picking one number silently. Beam is a consistent 6.95 metres across every source checked, and draft swings from 3.4 to 5.5 metres on the lifting keel Fortissimo was ordered with.
Twin rudders, standard on the SW96 since Sorceress, are as much a handling choice as a stowage one. Farr Yacht Design's Jim Schmicker has said the configuration is superior to a single rudder for both performance and ease of handling, and that it permits creating huge stowage elsewhere in the hull, since a single central rudder trunk and its skeg no longer need to run through the aft accommodation. The result on earlier SW96 hulls has been a boat owners describe as easy to drive short-handed: one SW96 owner reported the yacht handled well with fewer than normal hands on sea trials, a meaningful claim on a boat built to be sailed by a couple or a small delivery crew as readily as by a full regatta team.
Rig, Sail Plan and Racing Intent
Fortissimo carries a high-modulus carbon rig, and Southern Wind fitted her with a new J4/baby stay arrangement, using a halyard lock and hydraulic tensioner, that is not standard across every earlier SW96. She also has a third set of winches in the aft cockpit, beyond the two sets fitted to a standard cruising-biased SW96, specifically so a crew can run more complex sail-handling manoeuvres while racing. Southern Wind's technical manager described the extra running backstay winches as a clear signal of racing intent rather than a cosmetic upgrade. No public material discloses a sail area figure for Fortissimo or for the SW96 range in square metres, which is a genuine gap for anyone trying to compare her against a sistership on paper rather than on the water.
The owner's own framing of the boat matches the hardware. Fortissimo, he said, comes from sheet music: it means play fast, play strong and that's how I feel about this boat, adding that when it comes to racing he believes strength is critical and the yacht represents that. He is an experienced regatta sailor, and the build plan follows through: after June 2026 sea trials and July delivery, Fortissimo spent the summer cruising the Western Mediterranean before her competitive debut at the Ibiza JoySail in September, with the Caribbean and further Mediterranean and Americas regattas planned to follow. A Cummins B4.5-M diesel handles auxiliary power and manoeuvring, fitted with a Selective Catalytic Reduction system to meet IMO Tier III emissions rules, alongside the mechanical racing gear.
Fortissimo comes from sheet music: it means play fast, play strong and that's how I feel about this boat.
Layout and Accommodation
Below decks Fortissimo carries six guest berths across three cabins, built around a raised saloon with panoramic windows rather than the flush-deck arrangement some SW96 owners have chosen. The owner's suite sits forward, with a dedicated dressing area and its own lounge seating, and there is a further guest cabin aft of the saloon. Nauta Design, which has styled every Southern Wind interior since 2000, mixed carbon-look accents with ultraleather and soft furnishing textiles rather than the more traditional joinery-heavy interiors Southern Wind built in its earlier years, and added a dedicated TV and relaxation area forward of the saloon, a concession to cruising comfort on a boat otherwise built to race.
Crew accommodation is aft: two en suite cabins, a captain's cabin to port and a crew cabin to starboard, plus a galley and crew mess, sized for the kind of professional delivery and race crew a serious regatta programme needs without turning the boat into a full-crew superyacht. Southern Wind built Fortissimo to RINA Charter Class rules, meaning the same accommodation plan can go to commercial charter guests as well as the owner's own racing and cruising use, a dual purpose the yard has built into the SW96 line since Sorceress.
Cape Town Launch, Delivery and What Is Not Published
Fortissimo was launched at Southern Wind's own yard in Cape Town on 21 May 2026, went through sea trials in June and was formally delivered to her owner on 27 July 2026. Southern Wind and the owner have been open about the build story and the racing calendar that follows, less so about the numbers that matter most to a buyer comparing her against the SW96's sisterships or against rival composite performance-cruisers of similar size. Neither Southern Wind's own listing nor any of the marine press covering the launch discloses a purchase price for Fortissimo; brokerage listings for the SW96 model generally are marked price on request, standard practice for a semi-custom composite yacht built to individual owner specification rather than sold off a fixed price list.
Sail area, generator specification and tankage are likewise absent from every public source checked, including Southern Wind's own build listing. That gap matters for anyone treating an SW96 comparison on paper as complete: the hull, rig architecture, construction method, beam and keel range are well documented and consistent across sources, but a genuine like-for-like comparison of performance or running costs against a sistership would need figures Southern Wind has chosen not to publish.
Engines and systems
| Main engine | Cummins B4.5-M diesel, shaft drive, with a Selective Catalytic Reduction system for IMO Tier III compliance. |
|---|---|
| Generators | Not disclosed in Southern Wind's public listing or press coverage of Fortissimo specifically. |
| Rig / sails | Full carbon high-modulus rig with a new J4/baby stay system (halyard lock, hydraulic tensioner); no sail area figures published. |
| Tankage | Not disclosed in Southern Wind's public listing or press coverage of Fortissimo specifically. |
| Winches / deck gear | Three sets of cockpit winches (two standard plus a third aft set for racing manoeuvres), twin rudders, lifting keel 3.4 to 5.5 m. |
| What to check | On any SW96 resale, confirm keel-lift hydraulics and rigging tune history; the line spans hulls built from 2017 (Sorceress) to 2026 (Fortissimo), and deck gear such as the extra winch set and J4/baby stay is not standard across every earlier hull. |
What owners and crew report
SW96 owners find the twin-rudder hull genuinely easy to sail short-handed
Farr Yacht Design's Jim Schmicker, who drew the SW96's twin-rudder configuration, said it is superior to a single rudder for both performance and ease of handling and frees up hull volume for stowage. An SW96 owner reported the yacht handled well with fewer than normal hands during sea trials, commentary about the SW96 line and its handling rather than a claim about Fortissimo specifically.
Megayacht NewsThe line's first hull impressed on the water
Sorceress, SW96 hull number one and delivered in 2017, was the first Southern Wind yacht built with twin rudders. Her owner, a keen racer who had previously owned an 80 ft custom carbon yacht, said after testing her that she sails like a dinghy, a comment about that earlier hull, not Fortissimo.
Boat InternationalThe SW96's interior work has been independently recognised
Seatius, the second SW96 hull, won Best Interior Design for sailing yachts at the 2019 Boat International Design and Innovation Awards and a sailing yacht award from the International Superyacht Society, both judged on the same Nauta Design studio that carried its work over onto Fortissimo six hulls later.
Boat International / PressmareSouthern Wind frames Fortissimo's extra racing gear as functional, not cosmetic
The yard's own technical manager said the additional running backstay winches fitted to Fortissimo signal a clear racing intent, distinguishing her deck layout from more cruising-biased sisterships in the same line.
YACHT magazine
What is good, and what to watch
Strong points
- A proven, race-tested platformSixth hull of a line running since 2017, with keel, rudder and systems engineering refined across five earlier owners.
- Full carbon construction and a twin-rudder hullBuilt for genuine short-handed performance, not just marketing language.
- Strong design pedigreeFarr Yacht Design naval architecture and Nauta Design styling, backed by an interior line that has already won industry awards on an earlier SW96 hull.
- Built to RINA Charter ClassSo she can earn charter income as well as race and cruise.
What to watch
- Pricing is completely opaqueNothing in Southern Wind's own materials or the marine press gives a purchase figure to plan around.
- Sail area and full systems specification are not disclosedGenerators and tankage figures are absent too, making a paper comparison against sisterships incomplete.
- Still unproven in actual racingBeyond June 2026 sea trials, her regatta debut at Ibiza JoySail had not yet happened when the delivery press ran.
Practical detail
| Price new | Not published; broker and shipyard listings for the SW96 model are marked price on request. |
|---|---|
| Price used | Not published; no SW96 resale listing was found in public brokerage sources at time of writing. |
| Charter | Built to RINA Charter Class, so eligible for commercial charter; no published charter rate found for Fortissimo specifically. |
| What is not published | Sail area, generator and tankage specification, and purchase price. |
Questions owners ask
How big is the Southern Wind Shipyard SW96 "Fortissimo"?
LOA 29.75 m hull / 31.9 m over bowsprit (Southern Wind build listing; general SW96 range page gives 31.41 m / 29.3 m instead). LWL 26.8 m.
What does the Southern Wind Shipyard SW96 "Fortissimo" cost?
Not published. Southern Wind's own build listing and every press account of the launch omit a purchase price; SW96 brokerage listings are marked price on request, standard for a semi-custom composite build.
Who is the Southern Wind Shipyard SW96 "Fortissimo" for?
Owners who want to race a proven, six-hull-strong composite line as hard as they cruise her, not a first-time owner looking for a turnkey blue-water cruiser.
What is the Southern Wind Shipyard SW96 "Fortissimo" good at?
A proven, race-tested platform. Sixth hull of a line running since 2017, with keel, rudder and systems engineering refined across five earlier owners.
What are the drawbacks of the Southern Wind Shipyard SW96 "Fortissimo"?
Pricing is completely opaque. Nothing in Southern Wind's own materials or the marine press gives a purchase figure to plan around.
What do owners and crew report about the Southern Wind Shipyard SW96 "Fortissimo"?
Farr Yacht Design's Jim Schmicker, who drew the SW96's twin-rudder configuration, said it is superior to a single rudder for both performance and ease of handling and frees up hull volume for stowage. An SW96 owner reported the yacht handled well with fewer than normal hands during sea trials, commentary about the SW96 line and its handling rather than a claim about Fortissimo specifically. (Megayacht News)
Design
| Naval architecture | Farr Yacht Design |
|---|---|
| Interior and exterior design | Nauta Design |
| Builder | Southern Wind Shipyard, Cape Town, South Africa |
Who it is for: Owners who want to race a proven, six-hull-strong composite line as hard as they cruise her, not a first-time owner looking for a turnkey blue-water cruiser.
Guide price: Not published. Southern Wind's own build listing and every press account of the launch omit a purchase price; SW96 brokerage listings are marked price on request, standard for a semi-custom composite build.