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Yachtsnet's
archive of boat details and pictures
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The following information and photographs are
displayed as a service to anyone researching yacht types. HOWEVER THE PHOTOGRAPHS AND TEXT ARE COVERED BY COPYRIGHT, AND MAY NOT BE REPRODUCED WITHOUT THE PERMISSION OF YACHTSNET LTD. Details and photographs
are normally based on one specific yacht, but could be a compilation.
No reliance should be placed on other yachts of the same class being
identical. Where common variations exist, we have endeavoured
to indicate this in these archive details. |
Feeling 286 |
Brief details |
Builder |
Kirie Construction Nautiques, Les Sables d'Olonne, France |
The Feeling 286 is a modern styled fast cruiser, the'owners' version having one of the best double aft cabins you will find in a yacht this small, though the double aft cabin option inevitably has smaller berths. She is a beamy yacht with a substantial sail area, and offers excellent sailing performance plus an attractive and light interior in what appears to be a light elm timber finish. Nominally six berth, she is ideal for two to four - actually cruising with six or eight would be a real squeeze. |
LOA |
28' 6" |
Sail area |
463 sq ft main and genoa |
LWL |
23' 5" |
Rig |
Sloop |
Beam |
9' 10" |
Cabins |
Saloon & aft cabin |
Draught |
5' 6" |
Berths |
4/6 or 6/8 |
Displacement |
5,500 lbs |
Engine |
Volvo diesel |
Ballast |
believed approx 2,000 lbs |
BHP |
9 |
Keel type |
Iron fin keel and rudder on part skeg |
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The Kirie boatyard at Les Sables d'Olonne was founded in 1912 by the Kirie family, originally as a wooden boatbuilder, mainly of motor boats. They launched the 'Feeling' series of production GRP yachts in 1980, and various Feeling models were still in production until around 2010, although the company had several changes of ownership
The Feeling 286 was designed in 1986 by Gilles Vaton for the builders Kirie, Vaton having already designed several very successful yachts for Kelt, and went on to design yachts for Jeanneau and Beneteau. The Feeling 286 was built from around 1986 to 1995, with about 300 built in total, of which a substantial number were the "charter" version with two aft cabins, no chart table, and an amazing 8 berths on a 28' 6" yacht. On the charter versions the heads were fitted where the chart table is on the "owners" version illustrated here. Most Feeling 286s were fin keel, with a shallow winged fin as an option.
The single aft cabin versions appear to have been marketed as "Feeling 286 Special", and these seem to be more common in the UK. The charter versions were for a time popular in charter fleets in the Mediterranean.
Feeling were one of the first builders to start the trend towards using light coloured interior joinery, a trend that it took many other builders many years to follow. The interior design expands the aft cabin space (some models of this design actually had twin aft cabins) by moving the engine forward to under the saloon table. The large aft cabin plus good-sized galley and chart table pushes the saloon seating forward, which leaves only a relatively small open forepeak area - typically used for stowage or for child's berths.
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The Feeling 286 is one of a string of French designs from Beneteau, Jeanneau, Dufour, Gib'Sea, Kelt and Feeling - designs that more or less caused the demise of the British mass-production boatbuilding industry. At the time most British builders produced heavier, narrower, more traditional designs, boats that although they might be better in heavy weather, were less spacious and comfortable than their lighter, beamier, and often cheaper, French equivalents. The Feeling 286 is typical of the breed - she is designed to sail well in the sort of light to moderate winds that most owners actually want to sail in. |
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