FINNISH BRANDS
Saxdor’s 340 GTWA is the Finnish brand’s first wheelhouse walkaround
Saxdor – represented by DCH Marine across Asia-Pacific – continues to emerge as Axopar’s most visible competitor, announcing over €100 million of turnover in 2024 and predicting €160 million for 2025, with almost all the year’s production already sold.
Created by Finnish designer Sakari Mattila – who earlier founded or co-founded Aquador, Paragon, XO Boats and Axopar – the company is the definitive ‘Covid brand’, having launched its Saxdor 200 in March 2020 as Finland followed many others by going into lockdown.
Headquartered in Helsinki, the brand has been a success from the start and continued to expand both its range of models and its production facilities in Elk, about 45km west of Augustow in northeast Poland, while also adding a 4,000sqm facility in Larsmo on Finland’s west coast. It has over 600 employees and produces over 500 boats a year.
Saxdor includes drop-down sides on the 320, 340, 400 (above) and 460 boat lines
After the Saxdor 200, it has added the 320, 270 and 400 lines, with the 320 and 400 available in open (GTO) or enclosed (GTC) versions, and both featuring drop-down sides. Last year, it also debuted the 340 GTWA – Saxdor’s first wheelhouse walkaround – and there’s much anticipation surrounding its upcoming flagship 460 GTC, with even larger models already in the plans.
Saxdor recently became the first boatbuilder outside the US to use the Fathom e-power system, an integrated lithium-ion auxiliary power-management solution that includes a generator function in the Mercury outboard engines. The Finnish builder has debuted the technology on its flagship 400 GTC, which was among six Saxdor models on display at Boot.
It’s also developing Saxdor AI, a digital experience allowing customers to explore the brand and its products through personalised, interactive conversations, as well as create and customise a boat, with a virtual showroom offering a photorealistic experience. After purchase, the AI can even assist with delivery, onboarding and ways to enjoy the boat.
Finland’s XO Boats recently debuted its flagship EXPLR 44 in two versions, both with 1,200hp of power
Mattila’s first two brands, Aquador (1994) and Paragon (2003), were sold to Nimbus Group in 2000 and 2007 respectively. In 2006, he teamed up with Erkki Talvela to create XO Boats, which is headquartered in Helsinki and produces hardy aluminium boats in Finland (Ähtäri) and Poland (Suwalki and Augustow).
At Boot Dusseldorf this year, XO debuted its flagship EXPLR 44 in two versions: in grey with two 600hp Mercury outboards and in metallic champagne with three 400hp versions.
Measuring 13.4m in length without engines, the 44-footer is a huge leap in size from its other models which include the EXPLR 9 and 10 Sport – enclosed models with vertical windscreens – as well as the DFNDR A8, 8 and 9, and DSCVR 9 Open and 9 T-Top.
The enclosed Cabin Tourer version of the Quarken 35
Quarken, a newer Finnish brand, was founded in December 2021 by designer Osmo Roukala, Jussi Hurskainen and CEO Antero Sundberg. It’s notable for using Yamaha engines and producing its boats in Finland, between the west-coast city of Kokkola – where it has its headquarters – and Savonlinna in the southeast.
Quarken produces two lines of boats, with the 35 available in Cabin Tourer, Sport Tourer and Grand Tourer versions, and the 27 in Cabin, T-Top and Open editions.
Other Finnish brands include Finnmaster, which was founded in 1990 by Niilo Seliö – father of two-time F1 powerboat star Sami Seliö – and whose Pilot series of enclosed cabin boats fits the ‘adventure boat’ genre.
ORIGINS NEARLY 60 YEARS AGO
Sargo could be viewed as one of the spiritual fathers of the adventure boat sector, having been founded in 1967 by Edy Sarin and now headed by his sons. Built in Kokkola, its models are as tough as they look, with the company also building for police and rescue authorities. For private owners, the family-owned shipyard produces the Sargo 28, 31, 33, 36 and 45, all available in Explorer editions.
Founded in 1968, Sweden’s Nimbus debuted its flagship 495 Flybridge in 2024
Nimbus, started in Sweden in 1968, is another historic Nordic boatbuilder and has a strong presence in Asia, through Asiamarine. Traditionally a builder of premium day boats, the brand was focused on inboard coupe models until responding to the recent popularity of outboard models by creating a new series that could be categorised as adventure boats.
Today, the brand’s most popular series are the Tender (open), Weekender (semi-enclosed) and Commuter (enclosed), which all share common platforms starting with the 8, 9 and 11, the latter featuring an overall length of almost 41ft. However, the biggest Nimbus is now the 495 Flybridge, which is part of its Coupe Cruisers line and debuted at last year’s Cannes Yachting Festival.
As well as the Aquador and Paragon brands founded by Mattila, the publicly-listed Nimbus Group includes Alukin, EdgeWater and Falcon, having sold the Bella and Flipper brands in January.
The semi-enclosed W11 weekender by Nimbus
Windy is another historic Nordic brand, founded in Norway in 1966. The company has a head office and a production facility for its bigger boats in Västervik on Sweden’s east coast, while all sub-40ft models are built in Poland (Ostroda and Slupsk).
Windy boats don’t typically fit the adventure boats mould, but the brand looks set to enter the sector with the SR40, set to premiere in Spain at this year’s Palma International Boat Show (April 30-May 3).
Featuring an exterior by superyacht designer Espen Øino and an interior by Design Unlimited, the SR40 has the option of inboard or outboard engines, and features dropdown sides, an aft sunpad that folds up to reveal storage for water toys, and a roof rack for kayaks, surfboards and paddleboards.
France’s Beneteau Group and the US-owned Brunswick Group, two of the world’s largest boatbuilding conglomerates, are among non-Nordic companies to enter the sector in recent years. Wellcraft, owned by the Beneteau Group since 2014, has been producing boats since 1955 and is best known for offshore fishing boats.
Wellcraft’s flagship 44 Explorer can be powered by three 350hp Mercury V10s
However, the American brand entered the adventure boat sector with the enclosed 38 Explorer in 2022 and 44 Explorer in 2023, followed last year by a 38 T Top. All three models feature concept and styling by Italian Camillo Garroni and naval architecture by American Michael Peters.
Brunswick Group moved into the adventure boat market with Navan, a brand that debuted its enclosed C30 and S30 with hard top at the 2023 Cannes Yachting Festival, built on the same twin-step hull and offered with single or twin Mercury Verado outboard engines.
Arksen, founded in the UK by Jasper Smith in 2017, produces its Arksen 28 and 30 models from its Adventure series in Poland and southern England, and has also added the Arksen 8, an 8m RIB from its new Discovery series.
NEWCOMERS
Highfield – whose Asia dealers include Simpson Marine – is one of the world’s leading aluminium RIB manufacturers, but has switched to GRP for its entry into the adventure boat sector. At Boot, Highfield attracted an Axopar-like crowd for the world premiere of the ADV 7 or Adventure Seven, a 7m RIB that was also unveiled indoors for its US debut at the Miami International Boat Show in February.
Highfield’s Julien Carussi, Steve Harrison and Mathilde Delfour at the ADV 7 premiere at Boot 2025
“This is the ideal moment for Highfield to introduce a bold new product,” said Julien Carussi, CEO of Highfield, which the Frenchman co-founded in China’s Shandong province in 2011. “The launch of the ADV 7 marks a significant milestone in Highfield’s ambitious growth journey. I’m thrilled with this first model in the ADV range, and I look forward to what is coming next.”
To date, Highfield has produced well over 56,000 RIBs in its 26,000sqm factory in the coastal city of Weihai. Its RIBs series comprise Sport – over a dozen models up to 30ft – and the commercial-quality Patrol line, while its portfolio includes a selection of Jet models, plus three Tender ranges (Roll Up, Ultralite, Classic) of small models ranging from 6-15ft.
For the ADV 7, Highfield worked for the first time with VOM Creations (exterior), Alpha Creations (engineering) and Justin Yacht Design (naval architecture), three Slovenian studios that have worked extensively with Saxdor.
Highfield has entered the adventure boat sector with the fibreglass ADV 7, with bigger models to come
The ADV 7’s deep-V fibreglass hull has a 22-degree transom deadrise and is powered by a 250hp outboard, while the design is also distinguished from other Highfield boats by a much thinner tube, which sits high off the water and acts more like a wraparound fender and spray deflector.
The 23-footer, with an almost 9ft beam offering 6ft 7in of internal width, seats up to eight people in twin helm seats below a T-top, an aft C-shaped sofa and seating in the bow, while a WC can be included forward of the windscreen. Highfield has stated that this is just the beginning of its journey into the adventure sector, with bigger ADV models already in the pipeline.
Just as notable at Boot was the global debut of Aiata, a new brand backed by an initial €15 million investment from Turkey’s enormous Anadolu Group. For its first models, Aiata has teamed up with Jarkko Jämsén, the Monaco-based Finnish designer who has worked with leading brands including Axopar and Swan.
Aiata staged its brand debut at Boot by showing three versions of its Wayfinder 38
At Boot, Aiata showcased its Wayfinder 38 walkaround in three versions – cabin, sun top (open) and fishing – to illustrate its emphasis on modularity, with the company stating that it has secured global patents for some of its design features.
Yutkun Tok, General Manager at Anadolu Motor, said: “With the Wayfinder 38, an open-deck boat can be converted into a closed-deck model and vice versa, even years later. Such flexibility is
unprecedented in this category.”
Aiata – Ay Ata translates as ‘Moon Father’ and is the name of a moon god in Turkish mythology – stated that it plans to build almost 40 units this year at its 20,000sqm factory in Cayirova, east of Istanbul, and scale up in the coming years. It’s also developing the Wayfinder 48 with Jämsén and his team at Navia Design, with plans to unveil the model at Boot Düsseldorf 2026.
Aiata’s Wayfinder 38 by Finnish designer Jarkko Jämsén is available in enclosed, open and fishing versions
“The enthusiastic feedback at Boot Düsseldorf this year reinforced our confidence in the Wayfinder 38’s potential to reshape expectations in this category,” Tok said. “Our modular approach and commitment to quality craftsmanship have resonated strongly with visitors, and this is just the beginning.”
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sargoboats.fi
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highfieldboats.com
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